Towards More Rarefied Air.

Here are the last five Honorables.
Any one of them could have easily made my Top Ten.
But I had to draw the line somewhere.

I'll list them in descending order numerically, from 5 to 1, from least well Honorable to Best well Honorable.

5- "The Catered Affair"

A terrific movie.
One of Bette Davis's best performances.
Accompanied by a musical theme that captures its atmosphere perfectly .
It sounds very Irish, as are the characters.
It stays with you.
At least it stayed with me.
The theme is by Andre Previn, but doesn't seem very Previn-like.

4- "The Court Jester"

ALL of the songs in this great Danny Kaye musical are wonderful.
But the opening song, which bookends the film, and thus is the theme, is my favorite.
It's called "Life Could Not Better Be", and has Kaye introducing the movie to the audience.
The songs are credited to Sylvia Fine and Sammy Cahn.
As Cahn is only a lyricist, I suspect that Fine did all the music.
As the lyrics are so good, I suspect that Fine is also the lyricist.
And that maybe Cahn had his hand in some of the ballads.

3- "East of Eden"

The 1955 version, starring James Dean,
With a very atmospheric theme.
Not dissimilar to the theme for "The Catered Affair"
It was written by a great composer, Leonard Rosenman, who also wrote the theme for
"Edge of the City"
Again, it's very Irish.

2- "Rebel Without A Cause"

It's the James Dean, Leonard Rosenman hour.
The "Rebel" theme is, in my humble opinion, way better than the "East of Eden" theme.
In his brief career, James Dean was very well served musically.

1- "Picnic"

What a lush score this is!
And the highlight of the film is the slow dance between William Holden and Kim Novak
to the theme music, used contrapuntally with the standard song "Moonglow"
It is an unforgettable scene, and an unforgettable use of music.


Next time, we start the Top Ten.

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My books ,"Show Runner" and it's sequel,"Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperback, "Mark Rothman's Essays" is still available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings remaining, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one, contact me at macchus999@aol.com.
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne & Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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