The Russian-born film composer Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) famously thanked all the classical greats when accepting his 1955 Academy Award for The High and the Mighty. But Beethoven and Tchaikovsky would not have thought of having a whistler warble a memorable (and eerie) theme for one of their works - a theme that would become a huge popular success.
Tiomkin may have had roots in the classics, but he also was a powerful hit maker, writing both sweeping scores for his film assignments and theme music that often topped the charts.
Today we look at both sides of Tiomkin via:
- The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin, a set of 21 theme songs from his most fertile decade (1952-61), representing both huge successes and more modest but still worthy efforts.
- Movie Themes from Hollywood, Tiomkin's own 1955 LP of his compositions
- Return to Paradise, his unusual 1953 album of music from the film, with star Gary Cooper narrating the story
- Dimitri Tiomkin Obscurities (on my other blog), with such items as his first record (from 1934), foreign language versions of his themes, a mambo rendition of The High and the Mighty, and other items
The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin
Tiomkin's first huge hit was the theme from the Western High Noon, also known as "Do Not Forsake Me" with Gary Cooper's Quaker wife (Grace Kelly!) threatening to leave him if he shoots the bad guys. It's a bleak tale, with no one in the town willing to stand up to evil, except for Coop.
The story goes that the film was a flop in previews, so the studio wanted to shelve it. But Tiomkin paid for a recording of the title song - the version by Frankie Laine, which became a hit. That led the studio to release the film, which did well. The soundtrack version was by the sonorous Tex Ritter, who also recorded a single for Capitol that sold nicely. Both Laine and Ritter are in our collection.
It of course helped that the simple song was unforgettable. Catchy themes (and Westerns) would mark Tiomkin's career henceforth. The lyrics for "High Noon" were by the brilliant Ned Washington (1901-76), who won his second Oscar for this collaboration with Tiomkin. (The composer won a total of four.)
Our second film is another Western, The Big Sky, but it did not yield a hit for Tiomkin. From that score we do have a heartfelt ballad "When I Dream," sensitively done on a Capitol release by Bob Eberly, the former Jimmy Dorsey vocalist. I don't believe this is sung in the film.
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| Dimitri Tiomkin with Frankie Laine, Paul Francis Webster (seated), probably producer Milton Sperling, and Ray Heindorf, likely at the Blowing Wild sessions |
Like South Pacific, Return to Paradise was based on a James Mitchener story, with Gary Cooper the filmic protagonist. The atmospheric title number was sung by the excellent Kitty White for the soundtrack, but here we have the fine singer Alan Dale with his lovely version for Coral.
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| The 'Hajji Baba' creative team: Nat King Cole, Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington |
Hollywood (and the musical world) were fixated on exotica in the 1950s, and Tiomkin and Washington managed to make it pay off with their hit title song for The Adventures of Hajji Baba. For "Hajji Baba" they had the good fortune to have the perfect vocalist, Nat King Cole, on both the soundtrack and the Capitol recording, arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.
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The song is very dated - and more than a little creepy - but nonetheless memorable, and a big hit.
The Rock Hudson-Elizabeth Taylor-James Dean epic Giant actually had two theme songs: "Giant" and "There's Never Been Anyone Else But You (Love Theme from Giant)." Both were recorded, but the love theme more often, so I've chosen it for this collection. It gives me a chance to showcase some excellent vocalese from June Brown on the Mercury record by David Carroll and band.
We're back in the old West with Tiomkin, Washington and Frankie Laine for the title song of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It's a legendary tale loosely based on real incidents in Tombstone, Arizona in 1881, involving the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday and a band of outlaws. In the film, Burt Lancaster is Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas is Doc Holliday.
The film Wild Is the Wind takes place on a ranch but only in that sense is it a Western. Otherwise it's a tale of love, loss and betrayal among Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn and Tony Franciosa.
The promotion for the Western A Bullet Is Waiting promised "Explosive and overpowering hate and drama in the High Sierras!", but the single from the film spares us the angst and instead provides a pleasing instrumental number called "Jamie," here performed by LeRoy Holmes and his orchestra. The title is mysterious because none of the film's characters is named Jamie. Also, the song has lyrics (which seem to be by Manny Curtis), but those aren't included here. Still, a nice number.
In a very real way, the star of the airplane melodrama The High and the Mighty is the theme music. Based on a tune whistled in the film by the first officer (John Wayne), it has an otherworldly aura that could portend tragedy or intervention by God (and Wayne). The latter is, of course, what happens. Otherwise, the film is an airborne Grand Hotel.
The theme became massively popular because of its haunting quality. The biggest-selling single may have been the LeRoy Holmes record with whistling by Fred Lowery. I've chosen Victor Young's version with perfect and rather godlike whistling by Muzzy Marcellino, who was also heard on the soundtrack. Marcellino was a former Ted Fio Rito vocalist.
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| Click to enlarge |
There were no lack of recordings of the theme. Jumping on the bandwagon (or airplane) in this Cash Box graphic were Tiomkin, Harry James, Perez Prado, Johnny Desmond, Les Baxter, Richard Hayman, Georgie Auld, Eddie Manson, Young, Holmes, Joe Loco, Leo Diamond and the Dorsey Brothers. Prado's mambo version and Desmond's singing can be heard on my other blog. The lyrics, which have nothing to do with the film's plot, were by the ubiquitous Ned Washington. By the way, Tiomkin's own record, which is in his LP below, replaces the whistling with a theremin.
In Friendly Persuasion, Gary Cooper once again starred in a tale of Quaker pacifism contending with a threat to the community The film produced another hit record for Tiomkin, this time working with Paul Francis Webster.
"Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)" was sung both on the soundtrack and on records by Pat Boone, who was otherwise known for covers of R&B hits. (Note that the flip side of "Friendly Persuasion" was a remake of a Big Joe Turner single.) Boone was actually a crooner in the Crosby vein, and quite a talented one as his version of Tiomkin's gorgeous theme song amply displays.
Giant was Dean's final film before his early death in a car crash. About 15 years ago I posted two different Dean exploitation records, while are still available.
Laine's inimitable singing was a popular success, although the record did not become as iconic as High Noon.
Johnny Mathis sang the magnificent theme song both on the soundtrack and on records. It's a unique performance, and a favorite of mine. (I owned the single when I was eight.) It only rose to the 22nd spot on the Billboard listing, but even so sold a huge number of records by virtue of its inclusion on Johnny's Greatest Hits, an LP that was on the charts for 10 years!
This is one of the best things Tiomkin and Washington did, and it shows their range following Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Tiomkin and John Wayne re-teamed for Rio Bravo, bringing along two singers as accomplices - Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. We have three songs from the film, all transferred from a Capitol promo disc in my collection. Dino sings the title song, as he did in the film, and "My Rifle, My Pony and Me," a better song than title. Paul Francis Webster was the lyricist.
Ricky also sings this in the film, but not on the disc. His hit from the film was the traditional song "Cindy," which I've not included here but which can be heard on YouTube in an extract from the Nelson family's TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. You can spy guitarist James Burton in Ricky's band. The appropriate excerpt from Rio Bravo also is online.
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The third number is "El Degüello" (on the Capitol label "De Guello"). Tiomkin patterned this baleful trumpet motto on the music played by Gen. Santa Anna's buglers before the siege of the Alamo in 1836. "Degüello" literally means "throat-slashing" - it portends that the attackers will show no mercy. Santa Anna's men did not.
For the Capitol recording, Nelson Riddle was in charge, Manny Klein the trumpeter. Tiomkin and Wayne soon were to reuse the theme in Wayne's film The Alamo.
"Degüello" was very influential. Such ominous trumpet themes are a feature of the "spaghetti Westerns" of the 1960s.
When it came to the theme song for the Eric Fleming-Clint Eastwood Western TV show Rawhide, Tiomkin and Washington turned to (who else) Frankie Laine, and for inspiration Frankie's 1949 hit "Mule Train." In one, Laine was driving a team of mules, for the other a herd of cattle. In both cases, he got to shout "hee-yah!" to striking effect.
This stereo version is from Frankie's LP Hell Bent for Leather. The conductor is Johnny Williams, who later turned into famed film composer John Williams.
John Wayne's The Alamo spawned two outstanding songs. "The Ballad of the Alamo," written by Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster, was clearly inspired by Marty Robbins' incredible "El Paso" of the year before. Fittingly, Robbins got the assignment to perform Tiomkin's story-song. It's an affecting record, even if it does use the same Spanish guitar backing as "El Paso," played by the same guitarist, Grady Martin.
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Almost as fine is the elegiac ballad "The Green Leaves of Summer," here in the hit version by the folk group The Brothers Four. They are effective, but I also recommend the intense Spanish language single by the superb Lucho Gatica, which can be found in the collection on my other blog.
There were no big hits from the war film The Guns of Navarone, but the theme music did stimulate several instrumental versions. This collection includes the adaptation by guitarist Al Caiola, who simplified the film's title to "Guns of Navarone."
The final selection from Tiomkin's great period is the title song from "Town without Pity." Washington's lyrics don't have anything to do with the plot except in a general way. I believe the song is used in the film as source music from a jukebox.
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These selections come from Internet Archive and my collection.
LINK to The Popular Dimitri Tiomkin
Movie Themes from Hollywood
The Coral label invited Tiomkin to make an instrumental LP of his finest movie themes in 1955. Here are a few words about each of the songs, many of which are covered elsewhere.
The High and the Mighty - as mentioned above, Tiomkin uses a theremin rather than a whistler in this version. Heretical but ethereal (and spooky).
Champion - For this Kirk Douglas boxing melodrama, Tiomkin produced a tune that veers too close to "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" at times. There also was a ballad from the film called "Never Be It Said," which can be found in the collection on my other blog.
A Bullet Is Waiting - Tiomkin's version of the ballad "Jamie," also in the collection above via the LeRoy Holmes single.
Strange Lady in Town - This ambling Western tune was a tribute to the "strange lady" - Greer Garson as a doctor who moves to Santa Fe.
Dial "M" for Murder - Tiomkin's dramatic theme for the Hitchcock film can also be found in my collection of "Alfred Hitchcock Obscurities."
Return to Paradise - We have full coverage of this score, with Tiomkin's theme here, the music from the soundtrack below, and a vocal version of the theme on my other blog.
High Noon - Tex and Frankie are above, Dimitri here, "Forlad mig ikke" on the other blog.
Land of the Pharaohs - This one involves Jack Hawkins designing a tomb for a pharaoh. Somehow Joan Collins shows up in a bikini. The music is good, though, and if you want to hear it on a harmonica we have that, too. There's also a song based on the the score, added as a bonus below.
Hajji Baba - You certainly don't need anything but Nat Cole above, but Tiomkin's version is from the source.
Duel in the Sun - This dates back to 1946. A Western with Joseph Cotten and Gregory Peck vying for Jennifer Jones. Fiedler and the Boston Pops did an album of the music back in the day.
I Confess - Another score for Hitchcock. An enjoyable theme that also can be found in an odd tea-dance version on my other blog.
Lost Horizon - Tiomkin's first big success was with the score for this popular 1937 film.
BONUS: "This Too Shall Pass" from Land of the Pharaohs. Tiomkin recorded a single of this number for Coral with Johnny Desmond singing Ned Washington's words. Worth hearing even if Johnny is a little overbearing. I don't believe a vocal was used in the film.
The LP is from my collection.
LINK to Movie Themes from Hollywood
Return to Paradise
Return to Paradise came soon after High Noon, and was a departure in locale and music. The soundtrack LP also was a departure - Coral took music from Tiomkin's soundtrack and added a narration voiced by the lead character, Gary Cooper.
It's a good idea that comes across well on the first listen, but I'm not sure how often you might want to listen to Coop's laid-back delivery.
The music is, however, well worth your time.
I remastered this from an LP on Internet Archive.
All the selections throughout this post are in ambient stereo, with the exception of Frankie Laine's stereo running of the cattle in Rawhide.
LINK to Return to Paradise
