music used in 'This Happy Breed'

[a_no_1]

Hi,

Does anyone know the name of the music used in the scene in This Happy Breed in which the Parents

(Robert Newton & Celia Johnson) hear of the death of their son in a car accident. The scene has no dialogue as their daughter goes into the garden to break the news to them, just some music on the radio which plays throughout the scene. It sounds like some sort of british big band music. I would very much like to know the name of the music/composer/performer.



Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[MrT]

I think there are two pieces of music in this sequence. The first song is also featured in Alexander Korda's 1937 detective thriller The Squeaker and is sung by Tamara Desni - the title is something like "Can't get along without you"



Mike

[dgw]

I am also trying to find this music. I have written to the LSO who played the music, but they do not keep film scores and could provide no help. I will try to track down the piece of music suggested by MrT as a start.

[LINDY_BOX]

Does anyone know the name of the music used in the scene in This Happy Breed in which the Parents (Robert Newton & Celia Johnson) hear of the death of their son in a car accident. The scene has no dialogue as their daughter goes into the garden to break the news to them, just some music on the radio which plays throughout the scene. It sounds like some sort of british big band music (no vocals) . I would very much like to know the name of the music/composer/performer.



Any help would be much appreciated.



Thanks in advance.

[MrT]

Although not credited in the film, I think the title of this song is "I can't get along without you". It was sung by Tamara Desni in Alexander Korda's 1937 film "The squeaker" which co-incidentally also featured Robert Newton. As far as I know there was no recorded version of the song, although i stand to be corrected on this.



Best wishes

Mike (MrT)

[shinerchina]

After many years on the track of this item, I am finally pleased to announce that the radio dance music in the garden scene is



Dusty Rhythm

by the great Mischa Spoliansky



It comes from the incidental score of 'Paradise for Two' (37)



Alex G.

[MonicaMC]

I'm right in the middle of watching This Happy Breed, and at the 1:21 mark, Celia Johnson turns on the radio before she sits down to tea with her SIL and mother. (This is the scene after Queenie has run away.) The tune that's playing is the same one that's on when Alec and Laura talk in the movie balcony on their first date in Brief Encounter. What is it? I'm thinking likely a Noel Coward tune?

And for that matter, what is Celia Johnson playing on the piano in The Astonished Heart?

[penny765]

My first post - I wonder if anyone can name a piece of music used in This Happy Breed ? It is sung by a female member of the cast seated at the piano in the family's front room early on in the film. She sings it so badly Robert Newton refuses to go into the room, going into the kitchen instead. I think it's probably English and Edwardian. My mother used to play this song on piano when I was young, but I never knew the name of the piece.

Not much to go on, but can anyone help ??!!

[Mark O]

'Pale hands I loved beside the shalimar', is the song Alison Leggatt has a bash at.

[MonicaMC]

While we're on music for This Happy Breed, I'll take another stab at floating my music question. Anyone know the song that is playing on the radio when Robert Newton and Celia Johnson learn of the death of their son and his wife? Same music plays when Laura and Alec are in the balcony during their first date in Brief Encounter.

[Geoffers]

You can hear (and see) it sung properly here:

YouTube - Deanna Durbin sings "Pale Hands - Kashmiri Song"

Coincidently, I watched This Happy Breed last night. I had not realised that Guy Verney, the actor who played Sam Leadbitter, became a successful director of such TV series as Redcap & Public Eye, which I'd also been watching earlier that evening! He appears to have died at the young age of 54.

Still on This Happy Breed, I noticed that right at the beginning of the film, Bob Mitchell mentions that his wife is expecting. We never find out what happened to the baby, unless I missed it.

[penny765]

Wow !! that was quick - thanks folks for your help. I'll endeavour to obtain a copy of this song, it will bring back happy memories for me.

[Caroline Westbury]

While we're on music for This Happy Breed, I'll take another stab at floating my music question. Anyone know the song that is playing on the radio when Robert Newton and Celia Johnson learn of the death of their son and his wife? Same music plays when Laura and Alec are in the balcony during their first date in Brief Encounter.

I think it is an orchestral version of 'Let The Great Big World Keep Turning'

[cornershop15]

The scene with Alison Leggatt at the piano is included here (around 1.30):

I think it is an orchestral version of 'Let The Great Big World Keep Turning'

Welcome to the Forum, Caroline.

I'm not sure if it's heard in This Happy Breed but that tune definitely features in The Monocled Mutineer:
Paul McGann Sings Let The Great Big World Keep Turning

From YouTube:

Tamara Desni, born in Berlin in 1910, appeared in approximately twenty films between 1931 and 1950, mostly filmed in England. In these clips from the 1937 production "The Squeaker", directed by William K. Howard for Alexander Korda's London films, she displays her talents as both singer and dancer. The second number "I can't get along without you" is familiar as background music in the 1944 production of This Happy Breed, where it is heard playing on the radio in the scene where news of the car crash reaches the Gibbons' household.

[Caroline Westbury]

Welcome to the Forum, Caroline.

I'm not sure if it's heard in This Happy Breed but that tune definitely features in The Monocled Mutineer:
Paul McGann Sings Let The Great Big World Keep Turning

From YouTube:

Tamara Desni, born in Berlin in 1910, appeared in approximately twenty films between 1931 and 1950, mostly filmed in England. In these clips from the 1937 production "The Squeaker", directed by William K. Howard for Alexander Korda's London films, she displays her talents as both singer and dancer. The second number "I can't get along without you" is familiar as background music in the 1944 production of This Happy Breed, where it is heard playing on the radio in the scene where news of the car crash reaches the Gibbons' household.

I was watching 'This Happy Breed' this afternoon and I wondered about the car crash news music and then I saw a question had been asked on this forum. The questioner said the same tune had also been used in 'Brief Encounter'. I have access to the Music Cue Sheets for both films and 'Let The Great Big World Keep Turning' is the only work featuring in both films. By the time I dug this information out, the scene (and the melody) had drifted into history and I couldn't find any clip to check....

[MonicaMC]

Thx cornershop! That answers two questions. :)