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Alexander Courage Pt 1 of 4

Part one introduces Alexander Courage and host John Williams and discusses Courage's early years at MGM in the fabled Arthur Freed unit, including Show Boat's comic lament "Life Upon the Wicked Stage", Bandwagon's elegant soft shoe "I Guess I'll have to Change My Plan" and Gigi's boisterous can-can at Maxim's. Maurice Chevalier even makes an appearance singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls".Best known as the composer of the Theme from Star Trek, Alexander Courage worked for over 5 decades in Hollywood as a composer, orchestrator, arranger and conductor for classic films from Some Like it Hot through The Mummy. He helped create the classic sound of the MGM Musical and contributed tothe very best of the genre. The Malibu Celebration of Film awarded him their first annual award, named in his honor in 2005. John Williams hosts this tribute documentary which I had the great pleasure to put together... I hope you like it.

Channel: Film
Uploaded: August 18, 2006 at 7:41 am
Author: GentleGim

Length: 00:09:00
Rating: 5.00
Views: 16284

Tags: Gigi Freed Gower Boat MGM Star Courage Alexander Bandwagon Show Astaire Movies Musicals Trek John Williams

Video Comments:

riverrattH20 (September 6, 2008 at 3:40 am)

I love "I'll Have To Change My Plan"..it's a simple melody with a full orchastra and brilliant soft shoe dancing!

z6091 (September 1, 2008 at 4:13 pm)

Very cool, I like the editing and transitions. I love John Williams! I think he and Hans Zimmer are the best
"scorers" of today.

GentleGim (May 29, 2008 at 4:51 am)

Mr. Courage was a great musician and artist... he was also a hell of a nice guy. He will be sorely missed. It was a privilege to be allowed to tell his story.

HectorJW2007 (May 29, 2008 at 2:38 am)

Alexander Courage was really a treasure in American music, not just film.

jtrek154 (May 29, 2008 at 2:16 am)

In whatever he did with music, he was a genius.

R.I.P. Mr. Courage.

the60sKid (May 29, 2008 at 1:06 am)

RIP Alexander Courage (December 10, 1919 -- May 15, 2008. your music is forever. Thank you.

margokoleva (March 13, 2008 at 10:11 am)

its fantastic yors video!

OdedFriedGaon (November 21, 2007 at 12:26 pm)

unbelievably interesting!

morricone1900 (August 16, 2007 at 5:52 am)

I've just watched all four portions. What a wonderfully produced tribute to Sandy. Thanks for sharing it, and especially for taking all the time and effort to produce it in such a rewarding way. You couldn't have picked a sweeter or more talented guy to do a documentary like this about. What a legend. Thanks again for making this.

monkeywho (July 4, 2007 at 5:45 am)

Seriously is the DVD available? I'd love to purchase it. Great video!! Thanks. :)