MovieChat Forums > Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) Discussion > Opening credits

Opening credits

posted 15 years ago by GMJames
5 replies | jump to latest

I have no idea how long this video will be online. Nonetheless, it's nice to see the credits and hear the theme by Alex North.

Enjoy.

YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zagG8BxiXYI

[–] Noir-It-All 15 years ago

Wow, what a treat. I also remember a waltz-like theme they would play after this, as the drama began.

I'm glad you posted this. I remembered Ray Milland but I forgot how many big Hollywood stars of the past (at that time), current, and future appeared in this.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] g_mcoll 15 years ago

The waltz-like theme was generally played over the end credits of each episode and this piece of music was initially entitled "Rudy"; the musical score was composed by Alex North who won an Emmy Award for his work on the production.

The Hollywood names of the time in the series featured: Ed Asner, Dorothy McGuire, Robert Reed, Bill Bixby, Dorothy Malone, Van Johnson, Gloria Grahame, Craig Stevens, Fionnuala Flanagan, Murray Hamilton, Talia Shire, Steve Allen, George Maharis and Kay Lenz.

Fabulous!

[–] ridgerunner72160-609-362419 13 years ago

I kind of wondered about one of the credits though. Ex-NFL football player Dick Butkus was in the credits, but his role was little more than a cameo. He was the soldier that Tom got in a fight with outside the movie theatre right at the beginning of the series. After that we never see Butkus' character again. I realize Butkus was well known at the time as a former pro athlete and I think he was an announcer for CBS or NBC at the time too. But it sure was a small role compared to the roles of everybody else who got screen credit.

[–] susanleslie2 13 years ago

I recently watched this movie as a rental from NetFlix. It includes a special feature with Peter Strauss supplying commentary for the first hour.
One of the first things he said, after commenting he had not seen this film in 30 years, was watching all the names go by and realizing how many of them we have lost. He took a moment to compose himself.

In general, its a very interesting commentary from his perspective. I enjoyed listening to him.

[–] mamacassfan 8 years ago

I love those opening credits with that gorgeous Alex North theme! Agree that a few of the stars' parts were so small they should not have been listed (Steve Allen, Dick Butkus).
The sketches (drawings) were very good but the artist was given no credit.