IT'S ALL TRUE

Discuss Welles's other RKO films, and the legendary fiasco that nearly destroyed his career

Postby ToddBaesen » Fri Nov 30, 2001 3:51 am

Has anybody tried playing any different music under the THREE MEN ON A RAFT episode of IT'S ALL TRUE. I thought the score they used was rather poorly done, and if i was at the preview I would have told them: "It Stinks!" or "sent it back for re-scoring!"

Seriously, I was trying to think of something else suitable that might go under it. Anybody have any suggestions?

It would be sort of like hearing the original Bernard Herrmann cues played under TORN CURTAIN. In the few clips they showed on the DVD it made a startling difference.
Todd
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Postby mteal » Sat Dec 01, 2001 3:59 pm

I think the Lilly library has the original score written for the Four Men On A Raft episode by Paul Misraki, who also did the score for Arkadin. If so, it's beyond me as to why they didn't use it.
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Postby Jeff Wilson » Wed Dec 05, 2001 12:28 pm

I like Misraki's Arkadin score a lot. As for his It's All True work, it's possible that the score didn't match the editing, and the effort to make it correspond to same wasn't felt to be worth it. Another consideration is the budgetary requirements to record it. Rights issues, maybe? But the score that they did use is sleep-inducing, to be sure.
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Postby ToddBaesen » Thu May 30, 2002 1:43 am

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There's currently a press kit for sale on Ebay which had this interesting material about IT'S ALL TRUE listed in the description:

BACKGROUND: On February 18, 1942 the Carnival In Rio ended, and Welles began preparing the Jangadeiros episode of IT'S ALL TRUE, "Four Men on a Raft." He also was planning additional scenes for the Carnival, to be staged at Rio's Urca Casino. Welles wrote the following short treatment on how he planned to create a transition from the Jangadeiros segment to the Carnival footage.
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March 11, 1942 - ORSON WELLES TREATMENT FOR LINKING EPISODES OF "IT'S ALL TRUE":

--- This is the way I visualize it—Beautiful shots of Rio, and I start a kind of travelogue, looks like (it's) going to be boring and I say a few words, rush expensive music, Copacabana crowds of bathing girls and suddenly close shot of couple girls under umbrella looking out at water… Guys stand up and look… make cuts showing tiny sail out in bay, no explanation for all of this. Few more cuts, people noticing, kids, crowds beginning to form and look at what is apparently refugees or guys on raft caught in storm. Sail keeps coming in.
***** Show Copacabana Palace Hotel. Crowds of people around front, don't see President, then jangadeiros come through crowd.
***** Then I either appear on screen or speak and say, "This is what happened when we were in Rio and we didn't understand who these people were. We found out and it is the best story in South America."
***** Dissolve into interior of hotel room and there are a lot of Brazilian reporters and jangadeiros… And I say as though I were right there, "I wish you could tell us something about these people." While busy talking in Portuguese one fellow turns to camera and tells us what jangadeiros are but doesn't say why they came (to Rio)…
***** Then I lead into the story and the four fellows talking and being translated. As I start to talk, fade into jangada village… Whole track is not my telling story but they telling story…
***** I get to arrival in Rio and last shot should be from their point of view seeing bay and people coming toward them. Dissolve back to hotel room… I finally turn to Jacare and he says he has been talking long enough because we have been hearing music outside. "We want to see Carnival and excuse us." ***** We go to Carnival…

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March 15, 1942: (Welles had been in Brazil for only six weeks, when George Schaefer began to worry about the ballooning budget of IT'S ALL TRUE. Trying to calm his fears, Welles sent him the following cable):
ORSON WELLES TO GEORGE SCHAEFER:

HASTEN ASSURE YOU MY ONLY DESIRE HERE IS TO MAKE THIS BEST POSSIBLE PICTURE AT LOWEST POSSIBLE COST. HOPE YOU BELIEVE I WISH NOTHING MORE THAN TO BE FULLY COOPERATIVE IN EVERY RESPECT AND TO MAKE YOU PROUD OF ME. -- MUCH LOVE, ORSON WELLES.
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Postby Obssessed_with_Orson » Thu May 30, 2002 12:00 pm

why was there a budget to begin with? this wasn't going to be a film. this was something that should have been no cost to anyone other than mr. rockefeller. the moron that told orson it was his patriotic duty to do this in the first place.
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