Henry Mancini - The Pink Panther - Film Version

[Teasing the Korean]

Quartet Records is releasing a 2-CD Pink Panther set with the film recordings on one disc and the LP recordings on the other.  The film recordings were believed to have been lost.

https://quartetrecords.com/product/the-pink-panther-2-cd/

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Music and the Henry Mancini Estate, present the premiere release of the original film tracks of Henry Mancini’s Academy Award-nominated, iconic score for the no-less-iconic Blake Edwards film THE PINK PANTHER (1964), celebrating its 60th anniversary.

A cornerstone of sophisticated heist comedy and romance, and a classic that began a saga about the clumsiest policeman in history: Inspector Clouseau, brilliantly played by Peter Sellers, who would reprise the role for four more films before his passing. In addition to Sellers, THE PINK PANTHER stars David Niven, Capucine, Robert Wagner and Claudia Cardinale. The film was shot on luxurious locations in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, with some sequences shot in Rome, Paris and Los Angeles.

Henry Mancini had previously composed several acclaimed scores for Blake Edwards, including BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES and the TV series PETER GUNN. The theme he created for the animated main titles of THE PINK PANTHER immediately became a classic—one of the most famous pieces in the history of cinema and popular music culture. Mancini went on to write a fantastic catalog of melodies—all refined with his redoubtable good taste—and an exciting underscore that has remained unreleased for sixty years. Together with Johnny Mercer, he wrote another of his great songs, “It Had Better Be Tonight (Meglio Stasera),” which appears on this CD in its original version, performed by Fran Jeffries.

This double CD presents in the first disc the actual film score from the original master recordings with the original session at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in 1963, preserved in mint condition and originally recorded in mono. It also includes some alternate versions and unused music.

The second disc contains the remastered album Mancini recorded for RCA with new arrangements of the more commercial tracks.

Carefully produced, restored and mastered by Chris Malone, the package includes a 24-page booklet with extensive liner notes by film music writer Jeff Bond.

Edited December 7 by Teasing the Korean

[Daniel A]

Very good news, thanks for sharing!

It is probably not appropriate to call Mancini "underrated", but some of his scoring in the suspense/dramatic genre does not get the attention it deserves (I have referred to some parts of his score to Charade elsewhere).

[JSngry]

So this will be Plas Jonson, correct? Not Tony Coe,?

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

So this will be Plas Jonson, correct? Not Tony Coe,?

Presumably. Plas is certainly on the record. They usually credit the players in these film score releases.

[Teasing the Korean]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Very good news, thanks for sharing!

It is probably not appropriate to call Mancini "underrated", but some of his scoring in the suspense/dramatic genre does not get the attention it deserves (I have referred to some parts of his score to Charade elsewhere).

Mancini straddled pop and jazz, and while his "jazz" records were very stylized, I nevertheless think his jazz arranging skills are underrated.  

I too love Mancini's dramatic scoring, which was almost never included on his quasi-soundtrack albums.  Did I ever post the excerpt from his memoir where he expressed regret over his approach to soundtrack albums? 

[Daniel A]

2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Did I ever post the excerpt from his memoir where he expressed regret over his approach to soundtrack albums? 

Yes, it's here, as well as a link to a sequence from Charade: 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

29 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Yes, it's here, as well as a link to a sequence from Charade: 

Yep, that's it!