This is part of a series of such "articles" from earlier postings...

I thought it should be here.

#XI: ALEX NORTH (1910-1991)
by Addison DeWitt

Alex North was born December 4, 1910 in Chester, Pennsylvania; the son of a blacksmith. After his father died, his mother took in boarders to make ends meet. North's musical talents were sufficient enough to earn him music scholarships and study at both the Juilliard School of Music as well as at the Moscow Conservatory of Music. In the 1930's, North studied with renowned composers such as Aaron Copland, Ernest Toch, Silvestre Rivueltas and Anton Weprik. He supported himself by teaching at such colleges as Bennington, Finch and Briarcliff. He also composed ballet music for Martha Graham and Agnes DeMille. During WWII, North (he was a captain in the Army) composed music for films made by the Office of War Information. After WWII, Benny Goodman commissioned North to write a concerto for clarinet and orchestra and wrote his first symphony under a Guggenheim Fellowship.

But it was his music for the original theatrical production of Arthur Miller's 1949 play Death Of A Salesman (he would go on to score the 1951 film version as well) which brought him to Hollywood's attention. His first film score for Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire was a groundbreaking score in its use of jazz as an underscore. The jazz influence was so strong and so sensual that reportedly the Legion of Decency objected to North's use of the saxophone as too carnal. From the success of …Desire, North became one of the most revered and influential film composers in Hollywood, perhaps only Bernard Herrmann is cited more as an influence or favorite when contemporary film composers are asked who their favorite film composer is or who influenced them. Ironically, although Alex North contributed music to more than 50 films, he never won an Oscar. He received 15 well-deserved nominations but never won a "competitive" Oscar. In 1986, Quincy Jones presented North with a lifetime achievement Oscar for his contributions to the art of film music.

Herewith, recommendations of some of North's extraordinary film work:

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Time has not dimmed the power of North's superb score. The powerhouse performances of Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando and the beauty of Tennessee Williams' prose are subtly aided and abetted by North's underscoring from the steamy New Orleans hothouse jazz influences to the poignant themes for Blanche's slow descent into madness. With all due respect to the great Franz Waxman, it's this score and not Waxman's Place In The Sun that should have won the 1951 scoring Oscar.

Viva Zapata! (1952) North lived in Mexico and studied with the renowned Mexican composer Silvestre Rivueltas. He knew authentic Mexican music and hated the phony pseudo Mexican music so many composers ladled onto their films for "color". North actively disliked Max Steiner's score to Treasure Of The Sierra Madre for just such a reason. Thus, North was the perfect composer for Kazan's film on the Mexican revolutionary, Emilio Zapata. Perhaps the most notable moment, among many, in the film's core is the "gathering forces" sequence which begins with the peasants rhythmically hitting stones together to alert other peasants and as their numbers grow so does the music build to a smashing crescendo.

Desiree (1954) This biopic on Napoleon's (as played by Marlon Brando) love life is not well regarded but it's probably North's most unabashedly romantic score. His lovely waltz which is used as the film's main title remains along with Steiner's waltz for Jezebel and Russia’s waltz for Madame Bovary among the best original waltzes composed for cinema.

The Rainmaker (1956) North's Oscar nominated score to this Burt Lancaster/Katharine Hepburn film about a con man and a lonely spinster is a beauty. Just listen to North's The Tack Room cue when Hepburn realizes that she will always be a spinster and her stifled flight for air and you'll see just how good North's writing can be.

The Long Hot Summer (1958) Can a film score be sexy? Along with John Barry's Body Heat, North's erotic …Long Hot Summer score is testament that, yes, a film score can be sexy. The sexual heat and tension of Paul Newman as a hunky drifter and Joanne Woodward's repressed virgin fairly crackles thanks to North's sensual undercurrents. With lyrics by Sammy Cahn, the film's title song is among the best (and appropriate) film songs ever written. You're lucky if you've ever heard jazz singer Chris Conner's cover of it.

Spartacus (1960) North was most as home with intimate storylines rather than spectacle. However, this epic score, perhaps his finest achievement next to the …Streetcar… score, is probably one of the greatest film scores ever written. From the brassy dissonance and percussion of the main title to lovely theme for Varinia (Jean Simmons), perhaps North's best love theme, North proves that not all epic film scores are sound and fury but reflection and poignancy too.

The Children's Hour (1961) North's underscoring to William Wyler's second adaptation of the Lillian Hellman play (he filmed it in 1936 as These Three with all lesbian references removed) is in some ways weaker than it's censored predecessor but one of its stronger elements is North's brooding score.

Sanctuary (1961) The casting of Yves Montand probably ruined any chance of Tony Richardson's film adaptation of the Faulkner novel succeeding but North's score for this little seen film stands among his best work. North's complex melodies deserved a better film. Ironically, considering how many times bad movie songs are stuffed into movies, North and Alan & Marilyn Bergman wrote a lovely song for the film which was sung by Julie London, never made it into the movie.

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Since this was a dialogue driven music, North didn't think it would require much music and toyed with the idea of a jazz score or a twelve tone score but eventually North decided to go the other way. Rather than underscoring the hysteria and cruelty inherent in the George and Martha relationship went instead with a quasi baroque romanticism to counterpoint the on screen fireworks. To those who have seen the film, it works stunningly.

2001: a space odyssey (1968) Perhaps it's a cheat including this since Kubrick tossed out North's score. But still, North's score was recorded and is available on CD so I'm including it. 2001's legion of fans are no doubt wedded to the Strauss (both Johann and Richard) music tacked onto the film by Stanley Kubrick but North's own brassy fanfare (modeled on Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra as according to Kubrick's wishes) is a much more thrilling an opening and North's delicate airy music for the space docking preferable to the tired Blue Danube that Kubrick used. I'm not attacking the Strauss pieces as music but their effectiveness as film music.

Addison's appreciation left out many I'd've included;

Cleopatra, in many ways a comtinuation of the Spartacus without its angularity, and Bite the Bullet, a marvelous if poorly recorded score. One of the truly GREAT film composers.


"Principles only mean something if you stick to them when they're INconvenient"