At least on the small screen. Among recent interesting DVD releases with great vintage musical scores: ( NOTE: contains SPOILERS)

A movie I've never seen, and one of the relatively little-known early 20 th Century-Fox CinemaScopes is THE GIRL IN THE RED VELVET SWING (1955), a period piece in which Joan Collins plays a NYC showgirl caught up in a lurid 1906 scandal when she becomes involved with a mentally unstable millionaire. This one has music by composer Leigh Harline who won two Oscars for his score for Disney's PINOCCHIO which included the classic "When You Wish Upon A Star." GIRL is part of a Joan Collins DVD compilation.

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (1955) - You may love and/or hate both the film and score of this camp classic in which Joan, in highest dudgeon, plays a conniving Egyptian Maleficent who SPOILER comes to a horrendous and well-deserved bad end. William Faulkner co-scripted this mess, and Dimitri Tiomkin produced one of the most bizarre epic scores ever, but one that nevertheless resulted in one of Dimi's signature title tunes. Sample lyric:

"Come, love, to the LAND OF PHARAOHS.

Let's recapture all the rapture that the ancients have known...."

This tune did not exactly match the Hit Parade success of Tiomkin's buffo "High Noon" hit. It's not actually sung in the film (at least in English) but a singer and I once performed it on a concert at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster, Pa. And they loved it.

MGM's THE PRODIGAL (1955), is another camp classic, but with (as those of you who may have the great Film Score Monthly soundtrack CD already know) a truly great Bronislau Kaper orchestral score. Though it does have a great melody (for Lana Turner's seductive evil pagan priestess) there was no title song. (But there could have been, and Leroy Holmes recorded the lyrical main theme on a vintage mono-only MGM LP, "Lush Themes from Hollywood"). Dancer James Mitchell (THE BANDWAGON) appears in a dramatic role as key 'ScoperStar Edmund (THE STUDENT PRINCE, THE EGYPTIAN) Purdom's best buddy, a mute slave. LES GIRL Taina Elg is also in the cast. SPOILER: Lana also comes to a spectacular bad end in this one.

PRODIGAL and LAND OF THE PHARAOHS are part of a DVD compilation, "Camp Classics - #4 - Historical Epics." Also including Rory Calhoun in Sergio Leone's 1960 THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES, this collection might be subtitled "Hysterical Epics...."

Last, but definitely not least is the new 2-disc set of the 1960 remake of THE LOST WORLD. (Yes, they were still filming in durable CinemaScope in 1960). I have not seen this film since it was first released but who could ever forget Jill (Tiffany Case/DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) St. John screaming through the jungle in hot pink Capri pants with grotesque ersatz dinosaurs (i.e., real lizards blown up for 'Scope a la JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH) in hot pursuit.

The original 1925 silent version is included in this Special Edition DVD set.

The CinemaScope LOST WORLD would be great on the big screen. Are you listening American Cinematheque????

And what the heck, just show these all while you're at it.

Ross Care