Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Born Free

Wild Movie Music Picture Perfect on WWFM

This week on “Picture Perfect,” March goes out like a lion… and a bear… and a baby elephant… and the tiger Shere Khan!

We’ll hear selections from John Barry’s music for “Born Free” (1966), based on Joy Adamson’s memoir about the raising of Elsa, an orphaned lion cub who grows to adulthood and is eventually released into the Kenyan wilderness. The music proved a double Academy Award winner for Barry, who was recognized for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Jerome Moross, best known for his music to “The Big Country,” had such a strong personality that his immediately recognizable sound extended even to his work on the National Geographic special, “Grizzly!” (1967), a documentary about a pair of ecologists studying North American bears. “Grizzly!” sports an energetic Americana score that is very much cut from the same cloth.

The Korda Brothers’ adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” (1942) stars the charismatic Indian actor Sabu, as Mowgli, raised by wolves, who yearns to reconnect with his human roots. (For the record, Kipling pronounced “Mowgli” so that the first syllable rhymes with “cow.”) Miklós Rózsa wrote the enchanting score.

And we can’t get through the hour without hearing Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk,” from “Hatari!” (1962). So many exclamation points in these wilderness titles! The film was directed by Howard Hawks and starred John Wayne. In case you’re wondering, “Hatari!” is Swahili for “Danger!”

Take a walk on the wild side, with a spring in your step, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

March 25, 2023
Picture Perfect: Cinematic Animal Music

This week on “Picture Perfect,” it’s a cinematic carnival of the animals.

Take a walk on the wild side with music from “The Jungle Book” (1942), the classic Korda Brothers’ adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s tale of tails. The film stars the charismatic Sabu as Mowgli. (For the record, Kipling pronounced the name such that the first syllable rhymes with “cow.”) Miklós Rózsa wrote the enchanting score.

We’ll also hear selections from John Barry’s music for “Born Free” (1966), based on Joy Adamson’s memoir about the raising of Elsa, an orphaned lion cub who grows to adulthood and is eventually released into the Kenyan wilderness. The music turned out to be a double Academy Award winner for Barry, who was recognized for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Jerome Moross is probably best known for his music to “The Big Country.” His “great outdoors” style lends verve to the National Geographic special, “Grizzly!” (1967), a documentary about a pair of ecologists studying North American bears. The energetic Americana score is both memorable and motivating.

And we can’t allow the hour to pass without hearing Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk,” from “Hatari!” (So many exclamation points in these wilderness titles!) The film is directed by Howard Hawks and stars John Wayne. In case you’re wondering, “Hatari!” is Swahili for “Danger!”

No danger in treating yourself to a musical menagerie of classic film scores, on “Picture Perfect,” this Saturday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

July 17, 2021
Jungle Book & Wild Film Scores

This week on “Picture Perfect,” with the box office success of the most recent incarnation of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book,” I thought it might be fun to revisit music from the 1942 Korda Brothers’ version. The film starred the charismatic Sabu as Mowgli (for the record, Kipling pronounced “Mowgli” so that the first syllable rhymes with “cow”), and Miklós Rózsa wrote the enchanting score.

We’ll also hear selections from John Barry’s music for “Born Free” (1966), based on Joy Adamson’s memoir about the raising of Elsa, an orphaned lion cub who grows to adulthood and is eventually released into the Kenyan wilderness. The music proved a double Academy Award winner for Barry, who was recognized for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Jerome Moross, best known for his music to “The Big Country,” had such a strong personality that his immediately recognizable sound extended even to his work on the National Geographic special, “Grizzly!” (1967), a documentary about a pair of ecologists studying North American bears. “Grizzly!” sports an energetic Americana score that is cut very much from the same cloth.

And I can’t get through the hour without playing Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk,” from “Hatari!” (So many exclamation points in these wilderness titles.) The film was directed by Howard Hawks and starred John Wayne. In case you’re wondering, “Hatari!” is Swahili for “Danger!”

No danger in treating yourself to this cinematic carnival of the animals. We’re going wild this week on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6 EDT, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.

May 13, 2016

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