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Rivergoat |
Invaders From Mars - Choir as the sand melts |
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Anyone have information as to who the choir was? While watching Amos 'n' Andy TV shows recently it dawned on me that the opening theme of that show had
a choir with similar characteristics as the fabulous IFM sounds, and since both were produced at the same time period, I imagine it's not too far fetched
to think it was the same vocal group. TIA
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TomWeaver999 |
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Don't ask me where this INVADERS FROM MARS info originally came from; all I know is that it's in my files. Probably Robert Skotak's fabulous
FANTASCENE article on the making of the movie:
The Santa Cecilia Orchestra Conducted by Raoul Kraushaar Music Recorded at Fono Roma, Rome, Italy Choral Group Supervisor: Ricky Ricardo |
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TomWeaver999 |
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Yes, Skotak WAS the source. He even has quotes from Raoul Kraushaar about the choir, the recording of the music, etc.
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TimCMurphy |
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Ricky Ricardo!?
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Ted Newsom |
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Which probably indicates that it was recorded non-union in the states, and attributed to an offshore orchestra to skrit union rules.
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Ted Newsom |
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I thought I'd read some funky stuff about ol' Raoul. Latterly more of a music broker than a composer:
As the movie business began retrenching after WWII, he branched out to other production companies, working on films made for Allied Artists and other smaller studios. It was during this period that Kraushaar became associated with various sci-fi genre films such as Prehistoric Women, Invaders From Mars, and The Unknown Terror. Several of the films to which Kraushaar contributed his talents during the early '50s are today considered highly respectable, even classics of their respective genres, most notably Fritz Lang's The Blue Gardenia and William Cameron Menzies' Invaders From Mars. Kraushaar also began an association with Abbott and Costello (on Abbott & Costello Meet Captain Kidd) in 1952 that resulted in his writing the theme music for The Abbott & Costello Show for television.*** The small screen was where Kraushaar made most of his mark (and his money) during the 1950s and early '60s, as musical supervisor and sometime composer for series such as Lassie, Mr. Ed, the cartoon shows Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound, The Untouchables, Dennis the Menace, My Three Sons, The Donna Reed Show, and The Fugitive. It was also the medium, however, in which his creative contribution has proved to be the most suspect -- for example, for decades Kraushaar's name had appeared on the composer credit for the theme from Lassie, but it has since been well established (principally through the work of scholar Paul Mandell) that the Lassie theme was actually written as a work-for-hire by William Lava, a veteran film and television composer. This kind of arrangement was typical during the early '50s, when work was increasingly scarce for composers and nobody was sure precisely what (if any) lasting commercial impact television would have. Kraushaar continued working on low-budget movies through the 1960s and 1970s, though most of his work was centered on television through the 1980s, when he retired. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide*** If they're referring to the first season theme, then the claim is poo-poo: it's an orchestral version of an old song called "Jazz Babies." |
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Bill Warren |
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There are a couple of existing topics on INVADERS FROM MARS; here's one ----> http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/reply/53156#reply-53156
The sand doesn't melt, it kind of drains into a hole, like sand in an hourglass.. |
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Rivergoat profile |
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Thanks for the quick responses! I only just learned of this forum, and I can see spending a LOT of time here
OK, the sand deosn't really melt, though I've always referred to it as this. If you think about it, more inconsistencies in the picture as we should see a load of sand in the tunnel floor when David and Dr. Blake are captured; and what did they use to open the sand? The ray gun was more of an exploding thing, with only an on/off, we didn't see a "phasers on stun" setting....! "Ricky Ricardo" indeed; if accurate what an amusing trivia-style link to "I Love Lucy" One other odd thing I've searched for ages and come up empty....photographs of Luce (Luz) Potter other than as the Martian Intelligence. Any leads? She's reportedly in "The Incredible Shrinking Man," but in watching that the best I could deduce is that she may be so far in the background as to be unrecognizable. She has also been listed as a Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz," though try to figure out which one is impossible....and I've freeze-framed the Munchkin scenes many times |
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TomWeaver999 |
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<< OK, the sand deosn't really melt, though I've always referred to it as this. <<
Wellllll, the Martians below are presumably using their heat rays guns to produce the hole -- melting the solidified once-sand ceiling of the tunnels they've created -- sooooo, "melt"'s close enough for me! Another Luce Potter job: stand-in for the little girl ("Them!! Them!!!!!") in THEM! |
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ryanbrennan |
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For what it's worth, the IMDB lists her as playing Violet (uncredited) in THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. She only has 6 film credits listed. She died in
2005 at the age of 91.
The music for INVADERS FROM MARS is attributed to an uncredited Mort Glickman. Most of his work seems to be uncredited. He apparently died a couple of months before the movie was released. There are later credits indicating that some of his compositions were used as stock cues. Again, this is according to the IMDB.
Last Edited By: ryanbrennan
07/04/09 3:22 PM.
Edited 1 times.
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TomWeaver999 |
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1505121/Luz-Potter.html
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Rivergoat |
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Yes, I've read the obit, and have it saved somewhere. She received comments and letters about IFM the rest of her life. Jimmy Hunt had a comment on one
site (don't know if it's still up) and said, "...she was a neat little lady." She was in street clothes, sitting on a box or some kind of
riser, with her head poked through into the globe. They just wanted her to move her eyes back and forth....and damn effective it was!!!!
I was very intrigued to read about the actual head props being located at one time. Was the head as shown in the remake in the school basement a real prop, or created strictly for that (terrible) remake? IFM remains one of my favorite sci-films. It's a shame the DVD transfer isn't better, but at least it's survived. And how on earth (or Mars) did the producers screw up the added observatory scene in the UK version, with Jimmy wearing a vest, when he clearly wasn't in the original. It's one thing that he had grown since the first filming, but didn't anyone look at the footage they were trying to match??? Helena Carter looks right.... |
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TomWeaver999 |
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<< I was very intrigued to read about the actual head props being located at one time. <<
Bob Burns owns it; there's a photo of it on page 119 of his book IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT. |
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MacXoftheMounted |
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Am I the ONLY person alive who enjoyed Hooper's remake?
MacXoftheMounted.....................formerly known as Professor Von X
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gef the talking mongoose |
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I liked the remake well enough ... but then, at the time I'd never seen the original. I haven't gone back & watched it again to compare.
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Lunkenstein |
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Bill Warren wrote:Like sands through the hourglass, so are the invaders of our lives. Sorry, Bill. I couldn't resist. |
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Lunkenstein |
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MacXoftheMounted wrote:I liked it too. Especially seeing Louise Fletcher's character get it. I kept thinking - take that Nurse Ratched! |
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Rivergoat |
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I was at the first showing the day the remake debuted. The few others in the theater were obviously also fans of the original. Enjoyed Jimmy Hunt as the
policeman ("I haven't been up to that sand pit since I was a kid..." or whatever the quote was...), Louise Fletcher with a frog out of her mouth
(always thought of her that way when she was on DS9 as Kai Wynn), the Luce Potter head seen in the school basement as the cops flash their lights around, and
"William C. Menzies school", but all in all it pales in comparison to the original. The look on (1953) Dad's face as he returns from the sand
pit, the creepy look on Kathy Wilson....man, those are the things nightmares are made of!
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