Raintree County--The MGM Movie Raintree County was filmed in 1957 by Metro Goldwyn Mayer towards the end of Hollywood's Golden Age, as publicized by M-G-M, "in the great tradition of civil war romance". The movie was lavishly conceived, made for the widescreen, with a great musical score by Johnny Green, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Eva Marie Saint, Lee Marvin, Nigel Patrick, Rod Taylor, Agnes Moorehead. Year 2007 marks the film's 50th anniversary. See: '07 July Celebration!
New CD is released of Johnny Green's beautiful score!--Essay / Film database & filming / Musical score / Video / Photos / Memorabilia-- Photo by Cort Best for the Louisville Courier-Journal "The Two Nell Gaithers, Eva Marie Saint and wife of the author of Raintree County,Vernice Baker Lockridge,
at the October 2 world premiere of the 1957 film in Louisville, Kentucky."
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A two week Festival Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the release of the MGM classic film "Raintree County"
will be held July 24 - August 4, 2007 in Kentucky. See RaintreeCountyFestival.com for details!~ Photos
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To Images:
--Elizabeth Taylor, Monty Clift & Eva Marie Saint handling film of the MGM Lion.
--Eva Marie Saint, Monty Clift, and Liz Taylor on the steps of the burned out mansion.
--Nell Gaither attends the 4th of July foot race, played by Eva Marie Saint.
--Elizabeth Taylor on the Raintree County movie set in Danville, Kentucky, 1956.
--Hairdresser with her client Eva Marie Saint.
--Between takes, the picnic scene, Danville, Kentucky, 1956.
--Liz Taylor on Location, summer of 1956
--Monty Clift and Eva Marie Saint on Location, summer 1956
--Monty Clift and Liz Taylor in Character~ Essay "Raintree County Brief" by Stephen V. Russell, a remembrance.
On THE MOVIE, from Shade of the Raintree by Larry Lockridge.~ Links to Raintree County Film Databases and Filming Production --All-Movie Guide - http://www.allmovie.com/
Search "Raintree County" for listings. "Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation...."--The Internet Movie Database - http://imdb.com/title/tt0050882/
"Raintree County: A Beautiful Evocation of the North During the Civil War"--On the Ultra Panavision/MGM Camera 65mm project
"The first film in the process, Raintree County, was printed only in CinemaScope compatible 35mm." This page covers the "new" wide-screen camera that was used for filming Raintree County & has photos including director Edward Dmytryk and Eva Marie Saint. This page also has technical information on the M-G-M Camera 65, its "Ultra Panavision . . . the lenses were anamorphic rather than spherical." http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingup2.htm--"Gallery of Production Stills" contains on-set photos. And observations such as, "You will note that Eva Marie Saint is the only one in the group that is properly handling the film, holding it by the edges and wearing cotton gloves".
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/raintreegallery.htm~ Soundtrack & Score --A 2007 double audio CD released-- First release of the RAINTREE COUNTY soundtrack
with the captivating 1957 Nat King Cole M-G-M Orchestral vocal restored.Including: "The Song of Raintree County" and "Never Till Now" - Music by Johnny Green, Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Generous SAMPLE LISTENING on the Screen Archives Entertainment (SAE) Raintree County page.
January 2007 Release
"Film Score Monthly's
definitive edition -- on the eve of the movie's 50th anniversary -- features a comprehensive chronological program of Green's masterpiece (containing many previously unreleased cues and passages), along with a bonus section of alternate and unused cues. The entire score (save one-half of one cue) has been remixed and remastered from the original 35mm stereo master tapes for vastly improved sound quality."--From FSM publicity materials
"Cause for celebration, FSM reunites the orchestral score with the main title vocal performed by Nat King Cole -- Cole was a recording artist for Capitol Records, and previous albums had to replace his vocal with generic chorus for contractual reasons, while Cole's version of the song came out separately on a 45 rpm single. Cole's never-before-heard end title vocal is included as well (dropped from the film), while the alternate chorus versions are included as bonus tracks." --From FSM publicity materials
"This album presents neither the literal film soundtrack, nor a replication of the familiar RCA tracks. Instead, it is a new program designed to encompass as much of the complete score as possible, while retaining certain RCA versions and segues with notable musicality. The second half of disc two than features a variety of alternate versions, source cues an demos." --From the liner notes by Ross Care
Twenty-six pages of liner notes by Ross Care including a program commentary relating each track to the film's context, plus 21 images.
Film Score Message Boards: 'Raintree County', John Green's score, & Ross Care and NEW FSMs: Raintree County and The Last Run etc.
* * * Johnny Green, Composer of the Score of Raintree County "Among film music buffs, Raintree County has long been celebrated for Johnny Green's landmark musical score, one of the most lyrical and atmospheric of all time." --From the FSM CD liner notes by Ross Care
--Photo of Johnny Green thanks to Turner Entertainment Co., A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company-- ~ An in-depth and entertaining analysis by Ross Care on the Raintree County movie score by John Green, first published in Performing Arts--Motion Pictures, the Library of Congress, 1998, and is reprinted here with additions and a new introduction. (To excerpts with images.) To complete analysis see Care's liner notes booklet for the recent 2-CD Film Score Monthly release of the RAINTREE COUNTY soundtrack.
A Review by Ross Care of the RAINTREE SCORE for the British website Music from the Movies. "The film is derived from Ross Lockridge, Jr's complex, Joycean novel of 19th century America, and, in Green's own words, the motifs serve to 'help the audience to orient individual events and character relationships to the whole'". --Ross Care, 2006
2 CD set: Legendary Singers: Nat King Cole - this set gathers 30 of Nat King Cole's biggest, best songs including The Song Of Raintree County. Availability is not guaranteed.
"The Incomparable Nat King Cole" - DVD of Nat Cole's 1950s television series compilation with clip of Cole singing "The Song of Raintree County," lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, music by John Green. See / hear Nat Cole perform 47 full-length songs, digitally remastered, joined by Ella Fitzgerald and others.
Piano music for "The Song of Raintree County." Robbins Music Corporation's 1957 sheet music publication in facsimile. (216 k)
The CD: The Lion's Roar: Classic M-G-M Film Scores 1935-1965 lists the one track: "Entr'acte from Raintree County (1957)". It lists many of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's scores during the studio's heyday, from 1935 to 1965.
~ Video Sales Links --As part of the overture, Nat Cole sings "The Song of Raintree County."
--With nearly 21 minutes of footage not seen since its 1957 premiere engagements. Color/187 Minutes.
--Including special features before the movie: behind-the-scenes documentary Operation Raintree and the original theatrical trailer.
--Raintree County is presented in a "letterbox" widescreen format preserving the 2.35:1 "scope" aspect ratio of its original 35mm theatrical exhibition.http://www.amazon.com/ Search under "Used Videos" or "VHS" for Raintree County. Keep the faith that there will soon be a DVD!
~ Raintree County Memorabilia
---Image provided by David Nale-- Inquires concerning Raintree County Movie memorabilia can be made through these links. Stephen V. Russell Raintree County Memorabilia
www.raintreecounty.com/SRussell.htmlMovie Collector's World
www.mcwonline.com/~ To Table of Contents Please mail any comments or suggestions to:
The Novel Essays Other Writings RL Jr. Writer's Award Complete Contents Book Orders The Biography links Photos / Postcards RC Source & Facsimiles Suicide & Prevention Movie & Score
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