Falling In Love Again: Kritzerland Revisits "The Blue Angel," "Ranchipur" and "The Seven Cities of Gold"

Though Hugo Friedhofer’s name isn’t among the most recognizable in the pantheon of film composers, Kritzerland is determined to change all that! The 1947 Academy Award winner for The Best Years of Our Lives has been fêted by the label over the past couple of years with impressive restorations and reissues of his scores to One-Eyed Jacks, The Adventures of Casanova, The Barbarian and the Geisha and Violent Saturday, while Intrada has also gotten into the act with Two Flags West. The versatile Golden Age composer is saluted today with a 2-CD set of 3 scores for the price of 1 CD! (Got that? Good.) These scores from the 20th Century Fox vaults and show off Friedhofer’s impressive range: 1955’s The Rains of Ranchipur and Seven Cities of Gold, plus 1959’s remake of The Blue Angel.

The Rains of Ranchipur had previously been released in truncated form: about thirteen minutes of stereo cues. Since that initial release, other sources have been revealed, making it possible to present virtually the entire score. Though the “new” material is in mono, all that’s now missing is roughly seven minutes of cues that are thematically covered in other cues. This restored presentation makes Disc One of this 2-CD set. Seven Cities of Gold has been paired with The Blue Angel on the second disc. Seven Cities had also been previously released, by Varese Sarabande, but our friend Mike Matessino has completely remixed the score for Kritzerland’s presentation, and has also uncovered two previously unreleased cues. Friedhofer’s The Blue Angel, rounding out the package, has never before been released outside of the film itself, and all eighteen minutes of his score appear in full, including the interpolation of “Falling in Love Again” from the original 1930 Marlene Dietrich/Josef von Sternberg film.

Kritzerland’s limited edition of 1,000 copies is available now, along with the label’s world premiere soundtrack of the 2012 musical science-fiction homage The Ghastly Love of Johnny X, starring Creed Bratton (The Grass Roots, The Office), Kevin McCarthy (the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Paul Williams (who needs no introduction around these parts). Both CDs are due to ship by the third week of November, though pre-orders from the label frequently arrive an average of four weeks early. Hit the jump to read the complete press release for the Friedhofer trio! You’ll also find the track listing and a pre-order link!

Hugo Friedhofer could do anything. From noirs, to romance, to fantasy, to drama, to lighter fare, he simply was one of the greatest film composers in history. His work for Twentieth Century Fox was especially impressive and from the mid-1950s to the end of that decade he would deliver one incredible score after another in just about every genre.

The Rains of Ranchipur came out in 1955 and starred Lana Turner, Richard Burton, Fred MacMurray, and Michael Rennie. The director was Jean Negulesco, who’d directed many films for Fox, including Titanic, How to Marry a Millionaire, Three Coins in the Fountain, Daddy Long Legs, Boy on a Dolphin, to name a few. Beautifully photographed in Cinemascope and color, the film had Oscar-nominated special effects, and a stunningly beautiful Hugo Friedhofer score, filled with glorious themes, some exotic, some heartbreaking, some majestic – a true Friedhofer classic. Ranchipur had only about thirteen minutes of its music previously released, in stereo, due to the deterioration of the original mag tracks – that was really all that could be salvaged. Since that release, other sources showed up, and while those were mono, it is finally possible to present almost the entire score complete – all that’s missing is about seven minutes of cues that are thematically covered in other cues.

Also from 1955, Seven Cities of Gold was yet another colorful Fox Cinemascope film, this one a historical adventure film starring Anthony Quinn, Richard Egan and Michael Rennie. The film’s tagline basically said it all: “This is the story of the making…and the forging...of California…when men chose gold or God…the sword of the Cross.” Once again, Hugo Friedhofer provided a score that perfectly captured the drama, the characters, and the flavor of the film. Spanish rhythms, grand themes, and fantastic orchestral colors are the order of the day. Seven Cities of Gold was previously released on Varese Sarabande and has been out of print for some time. For this release, Mike Matessino has completely remixed the score and found two short unreleased cues – the resulting sound is spectacular in that incredible Fox stereo.

Four years later, Fox remade Josef von Sternberg’s classic film, The Blue Angel. Obviously it’s not the Dietrich/von Sternberg film – this time The Blue Angel got the Cinemascope and color treatment, with Edward Dmytryk at the helm. It starred Curt Jurgens and May Britt, who both turn in wonderful performances. Since some of the film takes place in a cabaret nightclub, the film has a few musical numbers, and includes the great song, “Falling in Love Again” by Frederick Hollander with English lyrics by Sammy Lerner (used in the original film of The Blue Angel). Friedhofer’s actual score is brief (eighteen minutes) and we’ve included all of it. Naturally, he interpolates “Falling in Love Again,” but there’s also classic Friedhofer scoring and it’s just his usual great work. This is the film score’s world premiere release.

The Rains of Ranchipur/Seven Cities of Gold/The Blue Angel is limited to 1,000 copies only. The price is $19.98, plus shipping. It can be ordered below!

Hugo Friedhofer, The Rains of Ranchipur/Seven Cities of Gold/The Blue Angel (Kritzerland, 2012)

CD 1: The Rains of Ranchipur (1955)