BARRY LEVINE: Songs set the moods on the silver screen

This is the second of a two-part series on The Old Rocker’s favorite songs from the movies from 1935 to 1990.

“West Side Story,” 1961 – An adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical by the same name, “West Side Story” starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, The critically acclaimed movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, capturing 10, a record for a musical. Situated in a Manhattan neighborhood, the culturally significant film centered on tensions between the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang of immigrants.

The movie was loaded with terrific songs, but my favorites were “Maria” and “Tonight.” Pianists Ferrante and Teicher had a Top 10 hit with “Tonight” in 1963. Although no version of “Maria” charted in the Top 40, Johnny Mathis easily had the best cover of the song.

“Days of Wine and Roses,” 1962 – The movie featured Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford and Jack Klugman and depicted the downward spiral of two average Americans who succumbed to alcoholism and their attempt to deal with their problem. The film received five Oscar nominations, winning for Best Original Song, “The Days of Wine and Roses.”

Andy Williams had the best vocal of the song, peaking at No. 9 on the charts. Henry Mancini’s instrumental reached No. 33. Mancini’s version was used in the film.

“My Fair Lady,” 1964 – Adapted from the Broadway show, this musical featured pompous phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) who was so sure of his abilities that he took it upon himself to transform a Cockney working-class girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) into someone who can pass for a high society woman who could speak perfect English.

There were more than 20 songs in the movie, which won eight Oscars, and my most memorable were sung by Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle (Stanley Holloway), who performed “With a Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.” Neither reached the Top 40.

“The Graduate” 1967 – Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) had just finished college and returned to his parents’ home while trying to avoid the one question everyone keeps asking: “What does he want to do with his life?” The movie also starred Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson and Katharine Ross as her daughter, Elaine.

Written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon and Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson,” which became the duo’s second No. 1 hit, was the most memorable song from the film. An interesting sidelight surfaced from the song’s last chorus which said, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you, woo. woo. woo.” Miffed at his inclusion in the song, DiMaggio accidentally met Simon at his favorite Italian restaurant in New York and asked the singer why he included his name in the song. “I haven’t gone anywhere,” snapped DiMaggio. Simon explained, to no avail, that it simply fit the lyric.

“The Way We Were,” 1973 – The romantic drama centered on Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) and Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford). Their differences were great as she was a vocal Marxist Jew with strong anti-war opinions. He was a carefree Angelo-Saxon Protestant with no real political interest. The movie followed Morosky and Hubbell from their college days, to marriage and then divorce.

Streisand performed the lead song in the film, “The Way We Were,” which rose to No. 1 on the charts and became her first chart topper.

“Grease,” 1978 – Adapted from the Broadway musical by the same name, “Grease” was a romantic, comedy-drama focusing on two high school lovers, John Travolta and Oliva Newton-John, and their trials and tribulations. Co-starring in the film were Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway and Eve Arden.

Interspersed in the film were original rock ‘n’ roll songs from the 1950s era including “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin; On,” “Hound Dog” and “Tears on My Pillow.” It also had two memorable songs written for the film – “Summer Nights” and “You’re the one that I Want.” Newton-John and Travolta performed both songs along with the Pink Ladies and T-Birds.

“Dirty Dancing,” 1987 – The romantic drama starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey and co-starred Jerry Orbach and Cynthia Rhodes. During her family’s stay at a Catskills resort, Gray met and developed a crush on the resort’s dance instructor, Swayze, who also is the leader of the resort’s working-class entertainment staff. Swayze and Gray then worked together to try to perfect a dance routine.

Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers and Jennifer Warnes performed “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” in the film. It rose to No. 1 on the charts as well as capturing an Oscar and Golden Globe for best original song in a movie.

“Ghost,” 1990 – The romantic fantasy starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg. The plot centered on a young woman (Moore) in jeopardy and the ghost of her murdered lover (Swayze), who tries to save her with the help of a reluctant psychic (Goldberg).

The highest grossing movie in 1990, the film was highlighted by the pottery scene where Moore is working on a piece of pottery with the ghost of Swayze sitting behind her. The scene was highlighted by the Righteous Brothers singing “Unchained Melody.” The song was a reprisal of the duo’s 1965 Top 5 hit.

“Unchained Melody was the theme for the 1955 prison film “Unchained.” Les Baxter’s instrumental version reached No. 1 later that year. Al Hibbler’s cover climbed to No. 3. Roy Hamilton, a native of Leesburg, had a cover that rose to No. 8.

This week in rock history — The Coasters have the top selling single on July 19, 1957, with “Yakety Yak.” … Two weeks after its release, “Surf City” by Jan & Dean became the first surfing record to top the singles chart on July 20, 1963.

Frank Sinatra had the top selling album with “Strangers In The Night” on July 23, 1966. The album would be the most successful of his career. The title track earned him Grammy awards for Record Of the Year and Best Male Vocal Performance. …The Beach Boys’ “California Girls” was released on July 24, 1965, and climbed to No. 3.

Barry Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected]