Two Weeks in Another Town

Label: Film Score Monthly

Catalogue No: FSMCD Vol. 8, No. 5

Release Date: Jun-2005

Total Duration: 54:34

Golden Age Classics - Limited edition of 3.000 copies

Two Weeks in Another Town (M-G-M, 1962) was a sort of sequel to The Bad and the Beautiful directed by Vincent Minelli for M-G-M in 1952. That celebrated film was Hollywood on Hollywood, the lid taken off seamier side of life there – the tack behind the glamour. The film gathered Oscars for screenwriter, Charles Schnee, Robert Surtee’s cinephotography, for its art direction, and for Gloria Graham’s supporting actress performance as Rosemary Barlow the unfaithful wife of writer James Lee Barlow played by Dick Powell. The star, Kirk Douglas, as Jonathan Shields (a role modelled on David O’ Selznick) was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. The illustrious cast also starred Lana Turner as Georgia Lorrison (a role modelled on O’ Selznick’s wife and protégé, Jennifer Jones) and included Walter Pidgeon, Barry Sullivan and Gilbert Roland. 

The score for The Bad and the Beautiful was by David Raksin who created a masterpiece that blended jazz and impressionistic elements in music of bitter sweetness and haunting beauty. In fact I would rate this score among my top ten best film scores of all time. [I recommend the Suite from The Bad and the Beautiful (together with music from two other marvellous Raksin scores: Laura and Forever Amber) performed by the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Raksin himself on RCA Victor GD81490; plus the original soundtrack recording, Rhino R2 72400 that has liner notes by the composer].

Fragments of Raksin’s fine The Bad and the Beautiful music are used as source music to underscore the scene in Two Weeks in Another Town (Rome) where film director, Kruger ( Edward G Robinson) is trying to impress his current cast and crew by screening scenes (Kirk Douglas appearing with Lana Turner) from one of “his” earlier films, none other than The Bad and the Beautiful.

In Two Weeks in Another Town, Kirk Douglas is an actor rather than the producer/director of the earlier film. The film opens with him recovering from a nervous breakdown and being summoned to Rome by Kruger to assist him on his new film being shot there (“Hollywood is a state of mind”) On arrival, Jack not only finds he is no longer needed but he also bumps into his faithless ex-wife Carlotta who taunts him. All this takes him close to the edge once more with only the love of a sympathetic young actress Veronica (Dahlia Lavi) to save him.

Fragments of themes from Raksin’s The Bad and the Beautiful music are used throughout Two Weeks in Another Town. These are developed into a score that is bitter and ironic, and tender for the moments of romance between Jack and Dahlia, cold and cruel to underline the poisonous Carlotta’s appearances, and dissonant and remote for Jack’s increasingly mental instability. Again Raksin fuses with great effect jazz blues (and blousy seedy jazz music for cues like ‘Whorse and Buggy’) with impressionistic material. More buoyant music underscores the glamour of Rome’s ‘ViaVeneto’.

Considering Jack’s ill-fated obsession with Carlotta , ‘Don’t blame me’ (...I am under your spell) is the appropriate source song. It is sung by actress and singer, Leslie Uggams. In the film the song segues into Raksin’s frantic hysterical string figures for the cue, ‘Don’t scarf’ as Jack pursues Carlotta and her latest conquest, fights him off and races away recklessly in his sports car with Carlotta to a near accident – and a catharsis that enables Jack to free himself at last of her evil influence; his freedom signalled by Raksin in upbeat mode as the movie draws to a close. [An alternative version of ‘Don’t blame me’ is sung again, even more expressively, by Leslie Uggams in a final bonus track.]

The 20-page booklet, as usual, has informative notes about the production of Two Weeks in Another Town. We learn, that producer John Houseman originally wanted the film to have been far more potent and uncompromising but M-G-M executives considered the initial cut to be “distinctly unfriendly to family audiences”. (And we learn that Clark Gable and William Holden had both been considered for the Kirk Douglas role). The booklet carries many stills from the film and, of course, track-by-track analyses.

For those film music fans who admire David Raksin’s marvellous score for The Bad and the Beautiful, here is the follow-up – it may not be as memorable, nevertheless it is a must-have album for Raksin fans.

Originally published @ MusicWeb International © 2005 / Text reproduced by kind permission