[78-L] Song from 1933 film Viktor und Viktoria by Franz Doelle

[David Lewis]

At the risk of a "me-too" post, I too was watching "Hans Christian Anderson" and
caught the "Little Mermaid Ballet" and had precisely the same response; the music
was fantastic and completely avoided the feel of pastiche, even though the Lizst music
from which it was drawn was instantly familiar. The sets and choreography were truly
eye-popping in a way that recalls Powell and Pressburger's "The Tales of Hoffmann"
but was perhaps not quite so extreme as that. The imdb may state that the film is
"inaccurate and very outdated" but that is only because we live in a time where 
entertainment and critical valulation is dominated by idiots.

This time I also appreciated that Zizi Jeanmaire and Roland Petit both appear in
"Hans Christian Andersen;" when I was a kid I had no idea who they were. To 
bring this screechingly close to topic, I'd like to mention that they made at least
one album, "Paris 1925," released over here as Adventures in Sound (CBS) WL 128 (1957).
Backed by André Popp, it is a terrific album, I feel, which attempts to capture
the Roaring 20s from the Parisian perspective, though as reconstruction it may have
no more value than the Grand Award LPs that Enoch Light in the 1950s on a similar
theme. But that doesn't mean that it isn't great on its own.

I assume that "Paris 1925" originated with Philips in France. Does anyone know if
they made other recordings? This is the only one I've ever seen. We lost Petit in
2011, but Zizi Jeanmaire is still around; she'll be 88 this April.

Uncle Dave Lewis uncledavelewis at hotmail.com    
 
 Mr. Lennick wrote:

Speaking of soundtracks, we were just watching Hans Christian Andersen (part of 
TCM's 100th Birthday Danny Kaye blitz, which they turn out to be doing on the 
wrong day and the wrong year). Haven't seen this one in over 50 years and my 
over-familiarity with the Decca album and Gordon Jenkins' arrangements had kept 
me away from it on purpose. Two things (aside from far more interesting 
scoring) jump out.

(1) The Little Mermaid Ballet..no credit for the arranger, but this is one of 
the best pastiches I've ever heard of music from one composer, in this case 
Franz Liszt. Far better than what usually passes for ballet in film, the worst 
example being the mutilated American In Paris (which is even worse on the album 
because it was further chopped to fit 4 78RPM sides).

(2) Frank Loesser got his reprise! (Read the stories about Guys And Dolls to 
understand that one.)

dl