Eric Wolfgang Korngold:
A great day at the movies was made greater by this man's talent.
Puccini called him "the greatest hope for German music." Strauss and
Mahler called him a genius.
When he arrived in America, he wasn't interested in writing for movies, his
piano and violin concertos were his concern. Yet, his magnificent work
in movies, beginning in '34 with Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
touched every movie fan. The dramatic scores that spirited "Captain
Blood," "The Sea Hawk, "Juarez," "King's Row" and other favorites, spirited
audiences everywhere toward a new interest in classical music.
Here is the most recorded and performed of Korngold's works, the Oscar winning
score from Warners', "The Adventures of Robin Hood," starring Errol Flynn
as Robin and Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy.
The popular and likeable Flynn may have been the star of this epic, but Rathbone
was the better swordsman. He was, in fact, one of the best swordsmen in the
world.
Was there a better swordsman?
Yes, Danny Kaye, Rathbone would say in his autobiography, "In and Out of Character (Limelight Editions, New York)."
"After a couple of weeks of instruction, Danny Kaye could completely outfight me. Even granting the differences in our ages, Danny's reflexes were incredibly fast and nothing had
to be shown or explained to him a second time."
Errol Flynn?
He was "incapable of taking himself or anyone seriously. I don't think he had any ambition beyond 'living it up' every moment of his life.
"He had talent, but how much the world will never know."