Jennifer Jones

I always regretted not being more into Jennifer Jones. Not because she died this past week at age 90, but because she was one of those performers that I was quite familiar with yet never embraced. To me, Jones was the actress that people's mothers, aunts, and grandmothers liked. She often played the good girl, dutiful wife, and even the occasional martyr, but she appeared against type in enough films that she got my attention. She certainly grabbed and yanked me to the TV screen when I saw her as the tempestuous Pearl in 1946's Duel in the Sun. Jones was hotter than a Texas Summer in that movie. She got top billing over the likes of Gregory Peck--then a rising star--and Joseph Cotten--an established second lead. I didn't know about Jones' connection to David O. Selznick, big shot studio boss. When I did learn of her marriage to him, I dismissed her Oscar win as politics in action and moved on. Why I did this, even though Jones had received five Oscar nominations in less than ten years, shows what I knew.

Years later, when I became interested in post-war America and specifically, Sloan Wilson's novel The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit ("That sounds warm" said the young female book clerk when I called my local bookstore inquiring as to their having a copy). Of course it was long out of print, but I would run into Jennifer Jones again as she played the long-suffering wife to Peck's preoccupied corporate career climber in the film version. This is when Jones' talent made an impression on me. Her performance alone was the sympathetic role that I clung to when watching this rather depressing movie--with a typically moody score from Bernard Herrmann--and then I no longer dismissed Jennifer Jones as a studio mogul's wife with the right connections.

Jennifer Jones had endured much personal tragedy. Her husband, the actor Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train) died prematurely, and was overwhelmed by devastating emotional problems after he and Jones' divorce in 1945. Jones' daughter, Mary Jennifer Selznick, committed suicide by jumping from the 20th floor of a building, age 22 in 1976.

Perhaps Jones' refusal to give interviews and maintaining an intensely private life hurt her chances of being remembered by the general public. Or maybe the shrill feminism of subsequent decades cast a scornful eye on Jones' roles and "inconvenient" screen persona. If Jones had led a public life and tended to her own legacy like some stars have, it may have kept her in the minds of film lovers. But Jones saw her life with her family and work with mental health issues as more important than her screen career. I respect her all the more for it. It takes a selfless person to turn their back on fame, and Jones no doubt had her fill of it, for better or worse. I was surprised to learn of her death because I mistakenly believed that she had died back in the mid-90s. Chalk up another victory for the privacy-loving actress, who would no doubt find that amusing.

Soundtrack Rundown

I rarely write about film scores here anymore. They're a niche market, even more than jazz and classical music. Most movie lovers don't even pay attention to a film's score unless it's intrusive, too loud, or just plain bad. I don't know why that is, but that's how film music stands among even the most die hard of film buffs. Seeing as the demand for film music releases is slight band only wanted by a hardcore few, the specialty labels that release these long sought-after titles put them out in limited editions of 3000 copies or less and once they're gone, these soundtracks fetch huge prices on the secondary market.

My taste in film scores runs mostly towards 1950s-1970s recordings as I prefer the jazzy, modernistic sounds that came into being as the studio system was in its decline. The Golden Age sound doesn't really appeal to me, though I love those early-1930s scores that sound like a swanky jazz band is playing from a tinny radio in a deco apartment; go figure.

This past year was a great year for soundtrack fans. Two of the scores covered here have a tenuous Golden Age connection, so perhaps someone that will hold someone's interest...

In Harm's Way (1965) (Jerry Goldsmith) This Otto Preminger Pearl Harbor/Pacific Theater epic had a stellar cast and boasts a fine orchestral score from Goldsmith, who has a cameo in the film. John Wayne's character gets a tremendous theme in "The Rock" which is as sturdy as the character himself. Plus there's a fun Les Baxter-like exotica flavor in "Native Quarter" and "native" sounds in "Hawaiian Mood." The tense, edgy combat music is exemplified in "Attack", one of the best tracks on this. Goldsmith always scored the human element and a tender but playful example is "The Rock and His Lady", where Duke and his love interest (Patricia Neal) get to know one another. There are also a few big band source music cues that give off some 1940s period vibe. Intrada's release is of the original LP, so the anachronistic "echoplex" combat music is not present here. Shame.



The Big Sleep (1978) (Jerry Fielding) I reviewed the movie itself in the Philip Marlowe on Film series back in March, and I've come to the realization that I prefer this Robert Mitchum remake (set in London!) to the Bogart/Bacall original! That said, Jerry Fielding's modernistic score has a propulsive main title and some funky tracks and edgy suspense music which are atmospheric like a Noir should be. This was a release I dreamed of for years, and now it's here. Fielding is not to many people's taste, as he eschewed catchy melodies for sound textures and explorations that got into a character's psyche. I still find some of his compositions subversively catchy, though. He's become a favorite composer of mine. Fielding should've worked prodigiously in the 1950s but was blacklisted. He would emerge thanks to...Otto Preminger and make a triumphant return with his score for the director's film, Advise and Consent (1962).

Bullitt (1968) (Lalo Schifrin) Okay, so this is miles away from the Golden Age, but seeing as I have this life-long admiration for Steve McQueen, I was thrilled beyond belief that this CD got made. The Film Score Monthly edition contains both the original 1968 soundtrack--never before released--as well as the well-known and much loved re-record Schifrin did three months after the original sessions were done. "Shifting Gears" is the famous music that serves as a hip prelude to the (unscored) car chase you keep hearing about.

How Many of Your Requests Made It?

Did anyone fare any better with their desired DVD titles, or did you just dub them off of TCM?

Last December I posted an entry about my Unreleased DVD Wishlist. And only one, Johnny Eager (1942), was released, and even that was through the Warner Archives, the burn-to-order DVD syndicate that has offered some truly interesting titles, but not as many from the Golden Age as I would've liked. They're also a bit expensive ($19.95 a shot) for something with varying quality. Warner Archives only ships to US locations, so international movie-lovers have to find alternate means to getting these. Oh, there's also a disclaimer for Warner Archives titles:

"Important Note: This film has been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available and has not been remastered or restored specifically for this DVD and Digital Download release. Click here to preview this film's video quality."


My hat's off to WB for providing a few minutes of video footage--most of which looks fine--but the whole concept just leads me to believe that the DVD "revolution" as far as pre-1950s films go, is essentially over. I still hold out hope that Warner Brothers will issue a DVD box of the "Fast" films and that someone will have the moxy to treat us to William Powell's Thin Man knockoffs made for RKO and Columbia (reviews are here and here).


Since the major companies aren't interested in DVDs much anymore, I guess I'd better quit complaining and buy a DVD recorder and start the revoultion on my own.

Here's My Money, where are the DVDs?

The Shelf Life of a Post

Like many other classic movie blogs, Hollywood Dreamland has the LinkWithin feature below each entry because it brings attention to similarly-themed posts that someone might enjoy. I love reading people's comments, both the critical and constructive, but I can't help but notice how often an entry gets comments initially and then nothing at all. Most blogs are like this; I'm sure this is the case in your corner of the bloggosphere. So I'm pleasantly surprised when someone surfing the 'net finds something I scratched out six months ago and comments on it, whether it be correcting a mistake, praising my "insight", or directing me to "Beautiful Russian Women." It's especially pleasing when someone posts a comment on an entry of which I'm particularly proud. But overrall the shelf life of a blog post--be it a long-winded Thin Man article or short Gene Tierney blurb--is rather brief, but I'm grateful for those who read and above all--comment on what's written.