Total Time: 63:37 - Chelsea Rialto Studios

Recommendations

Info

he most popular American illustrator of his era, Norman Rockwell, was engaged by 20th Century-Fox’s director of advertising and publicity Charles Schlaifer to create a painting for The Razor’s Edge to be used on billboards and in magazines and newspapers. Schlaifer had previously hired him to paint the promotion and advertising art for Fox’s The Song of Bernadette (1943). Rockwell is particularly famous for his over 300 Saturday Evening Post magazine cover paintings that began in 1916 and ended 47 years later when he switched to Look magazine for a ten-year run. The earlier decades were when general interest magazines represented the dominant form of home entertainment. Rockwell’s sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous scenes of Ameri- cana depicted life as he (and his audience) wished it to be. Said the artist: “I unconsciously decided that if it wasn’t an ideal world, it should be.” Immensely prolific over the decades, he illustrated books, magazine stories, painted advertisements, Christmas cards, calendars, postal stamps, playing cards, murals, etc. The output had an emotional quality that gave personal meanings to many different kinds of people. Rockwell was commissioned to create the advertising art for a few films over the decades, including Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and the 1966 remake of Stagecoach. “Whenever we got the idea that we needed outside art, we always went to fine artists,” recalled Fox’s Charles Schlaifer. “Norman Rockwell’s art for Bernadette was one of the most effective pieces . . . ever created for a motion picture. When he said that he’d have to charge me a lot of money – ‘twenty-five’ – I thought he meant $25,000, but he meant $2,500. “I used him again on Razor’s Edge and, after Bernadette, every other film company hired him at $25,000 for a piece of work.” For The Razor’s Edge Fox launched the most extensive billboard campaign in the history of the corporation up to that time. —R.B.
lfred Newman’s affinity for spiritual matters was always apparent, especially in his music for such films as The Song of Bernadette, The Keys of the Kingdom, The Robe and The Greatest Story Ever Told – all of which dealt with aspects of Christianity, from ordinary men and women who lived holy lives to the death and resurrection of Jesus himself. But with The Razor’s Edge, Newman faced a unique challenge: A man’s quest for universal truths that takes him into the Hindu belief system and beyond. In 1946, Newman was at the top of his game. He had won three Academy Awards (for Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Tin Pan Alley and Song of Bernadette) and 18 additional Oscar nominations for his work on such classics as The Hurricane, The Prisoner of Zenda, Wuthering Heights and How Green Was My Valley. He ran the 20th Century-Fox music department and regularly conducted an orchestra of Hollywood’s finest musicians. Newman’s boss, Darryl F. Zanuck stated in a 1945 memo: “This is the only picture that I am going to put my name on as an individual producer this year.” That made it Newman’s number-one priority for 1946 as well, although he also worked that year on Centennial Summer, Three Little Girls in Blue, Margie, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim and My Darling Clementine – as well as supervising or conducting many other Fox films being scored by other composers. Newman’s involvement began even before production commenced, in part because Zanuck agreed (presumably at director Edmund Goulding’s request) to have a small orchestra on the set throughout much of the filming. Records at Local 47 of the American Federation of Musicians indicate that, from late March through the end of May, as many as 17 sideline players (sometimes, records say, for “atmosphere”) were employed for The Razor’s Edge. “It created a mood that often is lacking on cold sets,” Goulding later told a Fox publicist. “In the silent days the practice of playing music on the stages was very effective but, because of sound, it seldom is employed today.” On several of the days, it wasn’t just any random group of freelance musicians, either – it was the orchestra of John Scott Trotter, perhaps best known as Bing Crosby’s musical director for many years. In addition, Newman oversaw the choices and arrangements of a good deal of source music for the film, including several songs for which on-set playback would be necessary. Music for dancing at Elliott Templeton’s party, for example, and the scenes of Parisian nightlife that featured musicians on-camera, required advance work by Newman’s associates And then there was the matter of Goulding’s insistence upon contributing to the score via songs of his own composition (see sidebar). This required Fox music department personnel to take down Goulding’s whistled tunes and adapt them for appropriate use in the film. His “J’aime ta Pomme,” the Parisian café music associated with Sophie, required several arrangements, mostly for small ensemble including accordion, violin, bass and drums. Most of these were written by Fox veteran Arthur Morton. Maurice dePackh, another
Page 1 and 2: 1. Main Title 1:35 • 2. “April
Page 3 and 4: Religious novels (and films) were e
Page 5 and 6: the Marine Transport Command, havin
Page 7: to then. Obviously, the timing of t
Page 11 and 12: In fact, the high point of the scor
Page 13 and 14: Love shone through the dark But ala
Page 15 and 16: 5. “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles
Page 17 and 18: “J’aime ta Pomme.” As the vei

Total Time: 63:37 - Chelsea Rialto Studios

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?