Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini

• Ceremony was on September 22, 1982

Recording Star for Henry Mancini

Location: 6821 Hollywood Boulevard
https://www.google.com/maps/place/6821+Hollywood+Boulevard

The Hollywood Musicals

The Hollywood Musicals is exactly what the title implies, a collection of songs that were written specifically for the screen. From the forties to the present, songs from movies have had a tremendous impact on American popular music.

A love for the great Hollywood musicals gave Johnny Mathis the idea to record an entire album dedicated to the genre. Columbia Records producer Denny Diante recommended introducing Henry Mancini to the project, and the duo was born. Renowned musicologist Richard Loring served as the musical consultant on the album.

Few people have had as much to do with the combination of music and movies as Henry Mancini. As a composer, conductor and arranger, Henry Mancini has been the creative scoring genius behind over 70 motion pictures including Charade, Darling Lili, Days Of Wine And Roses and Victor/Victoria, to name but a few. He has won countless Grammy and Academy Awards for his motion picture music achievements.

Combine Henry's talent with America's best-loved balladeer, Johnny Mathis, and the result is a wonderful new recording of classic songs from some of the best-loved movie musicals of all time.

A 45-piece live orchestra was utilized along with a chorus of 12 voices. This album combines the feeling of Henry Mancini's musical signatures with the unmistakable singing style of Johnny Mathis.

Although some compositions on this album are nearly 40 years old, Denny Diante's production expertise, combined with Henry and Johnny's individual style signatures, make the songs as current and vital as ever.

The Hollywood Musicals begins with "You Stepped Out Of A Dream," written by Gus Kahn and Nacio Herb Brown, from Ziegfeld Girl. MGM pulled out all the stops for the film that traced the lives of three Ziegfeld girls: Judy Garland, Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr. Busby Berkeley masterminded the production numbers, and Robert Z. Leonard directed. The visual aspect of the film was splendiferous. The men in Ziegfeld Girl included James Stewart, Tony Martin, Dan Dailey, Jackie Cooper and Edward Everett Horton. Tony Martin sang "You Stepped Out Of A Dream."

"Taking A Chance On Love" from Cabin In The Sky, written by Vernon Duke, John Latouche and Ted Fetter, has become an American musical standard. Vincente Minnelli made his directorial debut with this 1943 film. Ethel Waters starred along with Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne, Kenneth Spencer and Rex Ingram. Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Butterfly McQueen also made appearances in this story of a like-able gambler (Anderson) who cannot resist temptations of the flesh. Ethel Waters recreated her Broadway starring role and performed "Taking A Chance On Love," along with Eddie "Rochester" Anderson.

"When You Wish Upon A Star" from Pinocchio, written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, won the 1940 Academy Award for Best Song. Pinocchio was Walt Disney's second full-length animated feature. The film combined music and animation so successfully that it has remained the standard for over 40 years since its release. Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske were the supervising directors. Cliff Edwards was the voice of Jiminy Cricket and sang this song.

Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby sang "True Love" in the 1956 picture High Society. Written by Cole Porter, the song was nominated for song of the year. High Society was a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story. Kelly starred as a Philadelphia heiress about to marry her second husband (John Lund). Bing Crosby played husband number one, and Frank Sinatra co-starred as a newspaper reporter. Also featured were Celeste Holm, Hugh Boswell and Louis Armstrong. Charles Walters directed the film.

Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer wrote "Whistling Away The Dark" for the 1970 picture Darling Lili. Both the song and score for the film were nominated for Academy Awards. Blake Edwards produced and directed the film, which starred Julie Andrews as a World War I stage star who also happened to be a German spy. Rock Hudson co-starred. Julie Andrews sang "Whistling Away The Dark." "Time After Time," written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, was featured in the 1947 film It Happened In Brooklyn. Sung by Frank Sinatra, the song went on to become one of his standards. Sinatra starred as a G.I. returning home from the war who meets and falls in love with a pretty music teacher, played by Kathryn Grayson, and loses her to Peter Lawford. Jimmy Durante also appeared. Richard Thorpe directed the film and Jack Donohue staged the dances.

"It Might As Well Be Spring" is from State Fair. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II won the Academy Award for the song. State Fair was a musical remake of Will Rogers' 1933 film of the same name. Jeanne Crain starred with Dick Haymes and Dana Andrews in the story of a young woman's trip to the Iowa State Fair. Rodgers and Hammerstein scored the picture, which was directed by Walter Lang. Louanne Hogan dubbed Jeanne Crain's vocals. The film was remade again in 1962 with Pat Boone, Ann-Margret, Bobby Darin and Pamela Tiffin in the lead roles.

"I Had The Craziest Dream" was first performed by Harry James and Helen Forrest in the 1942 film Springtime In The Rockies. The picture starred John Payne and Betty Grable as a pair of Broadway actors who have a love/hate relationship. Carmen Miranda and Cesar Romero rounded out the cast along with Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton and Jackie Gleason. Irving Cummings directed the film, which was set in the Canadian Rockies. The year after the film was made Grable and Harry James were married. Mack Gordon and Harry Warren wrote "I Had The Craziest Dream."

"Long Ago (And Far Away)," written by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944. Featured in Cover Girl, the tune was sung by Gene Kelly and Martha Mears, who dubbed the singing vocals for Kelly's co-star Rita Hayworth. In the movie Hayworth plays a Brooklyn nightclub dancer who deserts her lover (Kelly) and becomes a cover girl. She soon learns that money and fame are no substitute for love, and returns to the simple life. The film marked Gene Kelly's transition from hoofer to dancer with his famous "alter ego" dance sequence that later influenced the opening sequence of Singin' In The Rain (1952). Phil Silvers, Eve Arden, Lee Bowman and Otto Kruger were also in the cast.

Blake Edwards directed Julie Andrews and Robert Preston in the 1981 comedy Victor/Victoria. Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse wrote "Crazy World," which was sung in the film by Julie Andrews. Andrews starred as an impoverished chanteuse who becomes acquainted with an outrageously gay nightclub entertainer (Robert Preston). Preston has the brilliant notion of masquerading Julie as the world's greatest female impersonator, and she soon becomes the toast of gay Paree. James Garner appeared as a Chicago gangster who falls for Julie Andrews. The cast also included Alex Karras and Lesley Ann Warren.

The album concludes with a John Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen medley. This talented songwriting team penned "Moonlight Becomes You," "It Could Happen To You" and "But Beautiful in the forties. "Moonlight Becomes You" was sung by Bing Crosby in The Road To Morocco, which also starred Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. The film was an irresistible musical comedy. Set in the Middle East the film was a spoof of the Hollywood "thousand-and-one-night" epics. David Butler directed, Paul Oscard staged the dances, and Edith Head was in charge of the costumes. Anthony Quinn appeared as an Arab chieftain. "Moonlight Becomes You" became one of Bing Crosby's biggest hits.

"It Could Happen To You," sung by Dorothy Lamour and Fred MacMurray, was written for And The Angels Sing. The film starred Betty Hutton and Dorothy Lamour along with Diana Lynn and Mimi Chandler as a quartet of sisters called Angel who are "discovered" by a conniving bandleader played by Fred MacMurray. George Marshall directed the movie and Danny Dare choreographed.

The Road To Rio was the fifth in the series of "Road" pictures. The top moneymaker of 1948, this film again featured Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, this time as a pair of musicians on a cruise ship bound for Rio. On board they meet Dorothy Lamour, a mysterious beauty who is being hypnotized by her aunt (Gale Sondergaard) into marrying a man in Brazil that she does not love. The picture featured another soon-to-be Bing Crosby classic "But Beautiful." Norman Z. McLeod directed the film.

From start to finish, The Hollywood Musicals is a very special album. Johnny Mathis and Henry Mancini are both in top form, and their combined talents create a warm and romantic mood that few artists could hope to equal. So sit back and enjoy...The Hollywood Musicals.

Side One

• You Stepped Out of a Dream
• Taking a Chance on Love
• When You Wish Upon a Star
• True Love
• Whistling Away The Dark
• Time After Time

• It Might As Well Be Spring
• I Had The Craziest Dream
• Long Ago (and Far Away)
• Crazy World

• Moonlight Becomes You
• It Could Happen to You
• But Beautiful