Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Tall Ships

Tall Ships Movie Music Picture Perfect on KWAX

Summer vacation may be winding down, but it’s never too late to run away to sea. This week on “Picture Perfect,” we listen to music from movies featuring tall ships.

Though Gregory Peck cuts a dashing figure as “Captain Horatio Hornblower” (1951), the movie itself is a bit episodic, adapted as it was from three of C.S. Forester’s Hornblower novels. Canadian-born master of British light music Robert Farnon wrote the music, lending another dimension to this nautical adventure.

Alan Ladd and James Mason engage in a battle of wills in “Botany Bay” (1953). Ladd plays a doctor wrongly accused of a crime, being transported to a penal colony in New South Wales on a ship under the harsh command of Mason. In perhaps the film’s most memorable sequence, Mason has one of his charges keelhauled. Franz Waxman wrote the score.

If it all sounds a mite familiar, it’s because the story was by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, authors of “Mutiny on the Bounty.” The classic film version dates from 1935, with Clark Gable butting up against Charles Laughton’s Captain Bligh. The 1962 version bears a certain notoriety, mostly for Marlon Brando’s eccentric performance, which turns Fletcher Christian into a fop, and the fact that he essentially directed all his own scenes himself. The film was colossal failure, earning back only $13 million of its $19 million budget. Nonetheless, it managed to inspire Bronislau Kaper to compose one of his most monumental scores.

Finally, we’ll hear music from a release on Sepia Records of the soundtrack to “Windjammer” (1958), the only film shot using the Cinemiracle process. The film documents the round-trip, transatlantic journey of a Norwegian vessel from from Oslo to the Caribbean to New York to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and then back home again. Morton Gould wrote the evocative score, which alternates dance rhythms and sea shanties with a recurring melody suggestive of the sweeping romance of the high seas.

Join me as we recommission these tall ships 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 EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

August 15, 2025
Ross Amico Double Feature Tall Ships & Westworld

Get set for another Classic Ross Amico double-feature.

First, at 6:00 EDT, we traverse the open seas, with an hour of music from films featuring tall ships – including selections from “Captain Horatio Hornblower” (Robert Farnon), “Botany Bay” (Franz Waxman),” “ Mutiny on the Bounty” (Bronislau Kaper), and “Windjammer” (Morton Gould) – on “Picture Perfect,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Then at 7:00 EDT, so much for wide-open spaces! The intractable frontier closes in on itself, real fast, in Michael Crichton’s “Westworld” (1973). Roy Bjellquist and I discuss this dystopian nightmare of an amusement park gone horribly wrong, which laid the groundwork for today’s HBO hit revival as well as Crichton’s “Jurassic Park.” The conversation will be live-streamed on Facebook at “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.”

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/.

The next time you get a computer virus, thank your lucky stars it’s not Yul Brynner with a six-shooter!

July 24, 2020
Tall Ships Music from Classic Movies

Ahoy!

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we give in to the impulse to run away to sea, with music from movies featuring tall ships.

Though Gregory Peck cuts a dashing figure as “Captain Horatio Hornblower” (1951), the movie itself is a bit episodic, adapted as it was from three of C.S. Forester’s Hornblower novels. Canadian-born master of British Light Music Robert Farnon wrote the music, lending another dimension to this nautical adventure.

Alan Ladd and James Mason engage in a battle of wills in “Botany Bay” (1953). Ladd plays a doctor, wrongly convicted of a crime, who is transported to a penal colony in New South Wales on a ship under the harsh command of Mason. In perhaps the film’s most memorable sequence, Mason has one of his charges keelhauled. Franz Waxman wrote the score.

If it all sounds a mite familiar, it’s because the story was by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, who also wrote the book that became the basis for “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1962). The classic film version of “Bounty” dates from 1935, with Clark Gable butting up against Charles Laughton’s Captain Bligh. The ‘60s version bears a certain notoriety, mostly for Marlon Brando’s eccentric performance, which turns Fletcher Christian into a fop, and the fact that he essentially directed all his own scenes himself. The film was colossal failure, earning back only $13 million of its $19 million budget. Nonetheless, it managed to inspire Bronislau Kaper to compose one of his most monumental scores.

(Interesting fact: the enlarged replica of the 1787 HMS Bounty, constructed specifically for the 1962 film, sank off the coast of North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The ship had also been used in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.)

Finally, we’ll hear selections from “Windjammer” (1958), the only film shot using the Cinemiracle process. The film documents the round-trip, transatlantic journey of a Norwegian vessel from Oslo to the Caribbean to New York to Portsmouth, NH, and then back home again. Morton Gould wrote the evocative score, which alternates dance rhythms and sea shanties with a recurring melody suggestive of the sweeping romance of the high seas.

Join me for these tall ships recommissioned on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

July 13, 2018
Tall Ships Movie Soundtracks Picture Perfect

Summer vacation may be over, but it’s never too late to run away to sea. This week on “Picture Perfect,” we listen to music from movies featuring tall ships.

Though Gregory Peck cuts a dashing figure as “Captain Horatio Hornblower” (1951), the movie itself is a bit episodic, adapted as it was from three of C.S. Forester’s Hornblower novels. Canadian-born master of British Light Music Robert Farnon wrote the music, lending another dimension to this nautical adventure.

Alan Ladd and James Mason engage in a battle of wills in “Botany Bay” (1953). Ladd plays a doctor wrongly accused of a crime, being transported to a penal colony in New South Wales on a ship under the harsh command of Mason. In perhaps the film’s most memorable sequence, Mason has one of his charges keelhauled. Franz Waxman wrote the score.

If it all sounds a mite familiar, it’s because the story was by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, authors of “Mutiny on the Bounty.” The classic film version dates from 1935, with Clark Gable butting up against Charles Laughton’s Captain Bligh. The 1962 version bears a certain notoriety, mostly for Marlon Brando’s eccentric performance, which turns Fletcher Christian into a fop, and the fact that he essentially directed all his own scenes himself. The film was colossal failure, earning back only $13 million of its $19 million budget. Nonetheless, it managed to inspire Bronislau Kaper to compose one of his most monumental scores.

Finally, we’ll hear music from a recent release, on Sepia Records, of the soundtrack to “Windjammer” (1958), the only film shot using the Cinemiracle process. The film documents the round-trip, transatlantic journey of a Norwegian vessel from from Oslo to the Caribbean to New York to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and then back home again. Morton Gould wrote the evocative score, which alternates dance rhythms and sea shanties with a recurring melody suggestive of the sweeping romance of the high seas.

Join me as we recommission these tall ships on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies. You can enjoy it this Friday evening at 6, or catch it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org,

September 4, 2014

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