Henry Mancini - a life in film

In 2003, during its Archive Hour slot, BBC Radio Four broadcast a touching documentary on the life and work of the late great Henry Mancini - the man who composed some of the most enduring popular music on screen and on record.

Presented by conductor and composer Carl Davis this hour long documentary features archive interviews with the man himself along with many memorable reminicences by family and friends including fellow composer Elmer Bernstein and film director Blake Edwards. As well as discovering the stories behind the music there's an all pervading feeling of love for (Henry/Hank/Weirdo) Mancini. The Life of Henry Mancini is a must for all music fans.

Welcome to Sherwood Forest

Warner Brothers' 1938 adaptation of 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' was a perfect example of all the right ingredients coming together to create a timeless classic. An inspired director in Michael Curtiz; a great leading man, leading lady and villain - Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone respectively; plus sumptuous technicolor and of course Erich Wolfgang Korngold's magnificent score.

Orchestrated by Hugo Friedhofer and Milan Roder, Korngold's lush and romantic compositions virtually write the book on leit motif based soundtracks. Each character and scene has its own memorable theme. Who can listen to Capturing Sir Guy without seeing Robin and his Merry Men literally swinging from the trees of 'Sherwood Forest' to do battle the villainous Sir Guy of Gisborne.

There are possibly three classic soundtracks from Hollywood's Golden era that the serious collector must own. Korngold's Robin Hood is most definitely one of them.

Sad fact for movie anoraks #1 - Maid Marion's white horse in the movie was Roy Rogers' legendary four-legged friend Trigger.
Sad fact for movie anoraks #2 - James Cagney was Warner's original choice for the role of Robin

La Femme Nikita

Director Luc Besson, really hit his stride with the stylish thriller, La Femme Nikita. An insipid Hollywood remake followed along with a so-so TV series, but the original was the best.

Starring his then current squeeze Anne Parillaud, Nikita was a triumph. It was cool sexy and above all exciting. It also continued Besson's relationship with his musical partner, composer Eric Serra who provided the score for The Big Blue, Leon and The Fifth Element among others.

Throughout the soundtrack, Serra's signature (pochhhhh) percussion and fretless bass pervade the score as well as his Peter Gabriel style vocals. However it's when he chills out that things really take off. The Free Side and First Night Out are simply stunning and while they frame the movie visuals beautifully, they stand on their own.

It was perhaps on the strength of Serra's Nikita that he got the gig to score the first Brosnan Bond movie Goldeneye. Alas his first stab at the sacred 007 shrine was not a success, in fact even though it's recognisable as a Serra soundtrack alas everything that was good about Nikita is sadly missing from Goldeneye. But don't let the Bond bomb colour your opinion, indulge yourself in the bombe surprise of La Femma Nikita

Belleville Rendez-vous

Belleville Rendez-vous (aka Les Triplettes de Belleville) is without doubt one of the most bizarre yet original cartoons to emerge from France. Only in that country could you produce a film about a septuagenarian triplet singing group, the tour de France, mafia kidnappings and a dog.

The soundtrack for the film by Canadian guitarist Ben Charest is great fun and mixes songs and instrumentals that hint at Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt, Lalo Schifrin, Surf Music, French Chansons, Musique Concrete, Jacques Louissier to name but a few. C'est magnifique

DIVA - a study in style

Oozing style, sophistication and gallic charm from every frame, Jean Jacqus Beineix' Diva was the surprise hit of 1981. Its soundtrack, by Vladimir Cosma is as original as the movie itself.

Given that it was released at a time when the "high concept" antics of Simpson and Bruckheimer et al were ruling the nation's cineplexes, Diva should not have logically been the success it was.

Adapted from the virtually unknown (in the UK anyway) novella of the same name by Delacorta (Daniel Odier), Diva was French for a start so there were those pesky subtitles to deal with and it was about, a postman, murder and opera - hardly a great night out. Therein lies its charm and perhaps the root of its success. It was the perfect 80's yuppie date movie. After all, you could hardly impress a prospective date with Die Hard or Porky's 2. But by taking them to a French movie that looked as stylish as a pack of Gitanes and featuring a beautiful soprano singing opera, you became 'super intellectual' in one fell swoop!

In all seriousness, Diva was, and remains a joy to watch. Vladimir Cosma's stupendous soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment and features the titanic tonsils of real life Opera diva Wilhemenia Wiggins Fernandez and Cosma's own thoughtful compositions, the creme de la creme being the appropriately named Sentimental Walk. The Diva soundtrack is a reminder that not all films in the Eighties had to have the obligatory 'exploding helicopter' sequence and a song by Kenny Loggins.

Hey..get your Car Washed today

Directed by Michael Schultz and written by Joel Schumacher, Car Wash (1976) was generally regarded as the first "disco" movie of the 1970's.

Featuring a lively cast including Richard Prior, Antonio 'Huggy Bear' Fargas, actor/director Bill Duke plus a number of unknowns, Car Wash recounts a day in the life of the employees at a Los Angeles car wash presented as a series of loosely plotted vignettes. When compared to its contemporaries, Saturday Night Fever and Thank God It's Friday, Car Wash looks the least dated despite the preponderance of big 'fro's.

Even with a lack of real plot the film still retains a freshness that is underpinned by former Motown supremo Norman Whitfield's driving funky soundtrack that never misses a beat. Nestling among the familiar hits by the likes of Rose Royce and the Pointer Sisters reside some rock solid instrumentals that are a masterclass for aspiring bass players. Cheesey it most certainly isn't.

Jonny Quest

In the early 1960's, TV cartoon gods William Hanna and Joseph Barbera hit upon the idea of creating an animated adventure series that could appeal to not only a young audience but also keep the adults happy. The result was Jonny Quest.

Mixing adventure, science fiction, espionage and a bit of magic and laughs on the way, Jonny Quest followed the exciting adventures of the titular Jonathon Quest, the 10 year old son of leading scientist and inventor Dr Benton Quest, former footballer Roger "Race" Bannon, Hadji, an 11 year old indian boy and Bandit the bulldog.

Featuring better than average animation for a TV show, Jonny Quest first aired in 1964 and boasted entertaining but intelligent scripts that didn't patronise the audience. The show only ran until 1965, cancelled no doubt by a network concerned over the programme's portrayals of violence. It was updated in the 1990's and repackaged as The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and featured 3-D computer animation and upped the educational content.

For me though the 'real' Jonny Quest was Hanna-Barbera's original series with its big jazzy score by Hoyt Curtin, composer of many of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons' popular theme songs, including those from The Flintstones, Top Cat and The Jetsons. Curtin's Jonny Quest score was later updated to reflect the James Bond craze on the Jonny Quest story LP called 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Even though Curtin's jazz tinged cues were used many times thoughout Jonny Quest and other HB cartoons they always evoked the action magnificently and as such are a legacy to a great and relatively unsung talent.