This week on “Picture Perfect,” on St. Nicholas Day, we’ll have music from movies based on books that have delighted generations of young readers.
Among the many enduring charms of “Little Women” is a memorable Christmas chapter, in which the March family helps out a neighbor in need by donating their Christmas breakfast – only to be rewarded later in the day with a feast of their own.
Louisa May Alcott’s magnum opus forms the centerpiece of a musical sampler of girls’ literary classics. Of course, readers of either gender have enjoyed these books (I’ve read two of them myself), but with female protagonists and female authors, they have proved great favorites down the years of female readers. All of them have been adapted for film numerous times.
We’ll hear selections from “The Secret Garden” (1993). Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel tells of an ill-tempered child who loses her neglectful parents in India, only to blossom at the discovery of the titular garden on her uncle’s otherwise gloomy estate on the Yorkshire moors. Agnieszka Holland directed. The film was released through Francis Ford Coppola’s independent studio, American Zoetrope. Zbigniew Preisner provided the music.
Alfonso Cuarón directed an adaptation of another popular novel by the same author, written in 1905, “A Little Princess” (1995). In Cuarón’s version, a well-bred English girl, again brought up in India, is placed in a boarding school in New York. Her fortunes change when her father goes missing in action during World War I. The girl entertains her fellow students by reciting tales from the Hindu epic, “The Ramayana.” Her Indian connection is reflected in Patrick Doyle’s score.
“Little Women” (1994) follows the four sisters of the March family, through their formative years at their home in Concord, Massachusetts, around the time of the American Civil War. A sensation on its publication in 1868, the book remains one of the most beloved of all time. In its fifth adaptation for the big screen, Winona Ryder plays Jo and Susan Sarandon is Marmee. Thomas Newman, one of the sons of famed film composer Alfred Newman, and a cousin of Randy Newman, wrote the music.
Finally, we’ll turn to “Heidi” (1968), after the popular novel of Swiss writer Johanna Spyri, about a young girl who shares a home with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. There have been roughly 20 film or television productions of “Heidi” to date. This one stars Jennifer Edwards, daughter of Blake Edwards, and stepdaughter of Julie Andrews. Maximilian Schell, Jean Simmons, and Michael Redgrave are in the supporting cast. The music was written by an up-and-coming composer then known as “Johnny” Williams. And there’s plenty in the score to indicate great things to come.
(Parenthetically, football fans will recall the notorious first airing of “Heidi,” as the broadcast preempted the climax of a thrilling AFL game between the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets, infuriating viewers. The event continues to live in infamy as the “Heidi Bowl.” Learn more about the catastrophe here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game)
Then escape to a secret garden of literary classics for little women, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday at 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!
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