MrT

Hello all,

Recently watching Roy Baker's film of "Morning Departure" (1950) I realised that the opening music was the same as what had been used in the 1947 film The October Man (both films with John Mills in the lead). Does anyone know of any other films that had identical scores (presumably to save on costs?)

Best wishes
Mike (MrT)

Marky B

I think the Carry On......films had a similiar theme tune in most of their films. Seriously,though,if you listen to Trevor Jones' theme for the Stallone film Cliffhanger,it is not too dissimiliar to his excellent music for the Last of the Mohicans.
Listen also,if you can of course,to Franz Waxman's music for the Bride of Frankenstein and then listen to Richard Rodgers' music for Balihai from South Pacific and you might find a similiarity.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

penfold

The British Emil and the Detectives reuses the Allan Gray score from the German original....and Powell and Pressburgers short(ish) film The Volunteer reuses its score from an earlier PnP film...but I can't remember which...!!!

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Nick Dando

Michael Powell also re-used some music from Mikis Theodorakis. The theme from Ill Met by Moonlight was recycled for They're a Weird Mob.

Nick

Steve Crook

P&P re-used music quite often.
"Commando Patrol" was used in Blimp & ACT.
"I See You Everywhere" was also used in Blimp & ACT.
The music used for Bob & Alison's ride in the cart in ACT is used again in IKWIG

Steve

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

An instance of this only yesterday broadcast on channel 4. "The Dark Corner" (1946)opened with a bluesy number, which I believe is called "Street Scene," that I've heard in quite a few American films from around that period. It's played in the orchestral prelude to "How to Marry a Millionaire" conducted by Alfred Newman who I believed to be the composer. "Dark Corner" however credits the film-score to Cyril Mockeridge.
The piece, whomsoever the composer, was used in the opening titles of a TV series which was broadcast quite a few years ago (BBC I think) about the great stars of American cinema.

siriami

You are right, the composer is Alfred Newman - and the piece crops up often in Twentieth-Century Fox films.
It was originally composed for the 1931 Goldwyn film of the same name, and Newman used it in many of his Fox films later.

Alistair

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Thanks for clearing that up, siriami. It's a piece of pseudo-Gershwin (lovely though!) unlike Newman's usual film-score style. I don't think he was named at all in the credits to "The Dark Corner" which is why I became confused.
I believe Newman composed the 20th Century Fox fanfare.

Marky B

[
I believe Newman composed the 20th Century Fox fanfare.[/quote]

Indeed he did
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

alan gowdy

Not having viewed either film for some years my memory might be playing tricks but are the themes from Deerhunter and The Family Way not quite similar? Mind you I haven't heard the latter for a long time!

Marky B

The music for The Deerhunter (Cavatina) was written by Stanley Myers. The theme music for The Family Way is credited in Halliwell's Film Guide to Paul Mccartney.
Also,note Nino Rota was denied an Oscar nomination for The Godfather,because parts of the famous music had been used for the 1958 film Fortunella and the rules of the Academy that it had to be written especially for the film. Rota did win the Oscar for the music for The Godfather Part II. There is a difference between the music of both films.
Vito Corlelone is the only character in movie history to provide Oscars for two different actors for two different movies:Best Actor for Brando in The Godfather and Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro in The Godfather part II.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

Steve Crook

The IMDb lists Newman as having contributed to The Dark Corner but not being credited on screen for it.

Steve

djdave

Even if they don't mean to - unlike Rota with The Godfather - film composers can subconciously self-plagiarise. So, certain musical ideas surface again and again in their work.

And, of course, with films which are part of a series - such as James Bond, Star Trek, Star Wars, the Carry Ons - familiar musical elements are deliberately placed.

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

There is also the case where certain entertainers/comics had their own particular theme tune ( Laurel and Hardy's eccentric little cuckoo theme and Eddie Cantor's "Making Whoopee" come to my mind) which played behind the opening credits in many of their pictures.

CC1

The Theme to the deerhunter "Cavatina" written by stanley Myers and performed by John Williams, was also used as the theme to a 1970 film called "The Walking Stick"