TOP 100 HENRY MANCINI FILMS: #100-91

*

 

#100 – 91 of the Top 100 Henry Mancini Films

This is it! Digging Star Wars’ 10x10 presentation of the Top 100 Henry Mancini Films. Week One covers #100 through 91 based on our scoring system. We will provide the complete list in increments of 10 over the next 10 weeks leading up to Henry Mancini’s 100th Birthday! In honor of Mancini and his David Letterman connection, we’re going in reverse order on the countdown ending in 10 weeks’ time with the #1 Henry Mancini movie of all-time. An interesting allotment of titles kicks this off, so let’s get started!

#100: Bachelor in Paradise (1961)

This is a movie of one-liners and little premise. But that’s okay. This is standard fare for Bob Hope and, quite frankly, all we ever could hope for from Bob. Secretly, I was rooting for this film to break to the Top 100 since Mancini’s “Bachelor in Paradise” theme is so cheesy, classic, and so of its era – I just love it. The rest of his soundtrack for Bachelor in Paradise (1961) – which pours out of onscreen doorbells, radio alarm clocks, and supermarket muzak speakers – is delightful and totally on target for a movie that lampoons American suburbia and the self-inflicted problems of its inhabitants. 

#99: The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)

Not one of my favorite Mancini movies but his music does improve the film. Mancini scored a lot of Peter Sellers movies and always with terrific music. The collaboration seemed to please both. Tongue in cheek, Sellers once wrote about Mancini’s talents, “A lot of his music has been issued in the form of long-playing records. The great advantage of this is that you can sit and listen to Hank’s score without having to sit through the film.” The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) may be a perfect example of what Sellers was getting at.

#98: Seminole (1953)

An example of Henry Mancini’s uncredited work at Universal in the 1950s. See the HONORABLE MENTIONS write-up for more on that era.  A surprisingly good movie with lots of tension, action, and “what will happen next” moments. 

#97: Lost in Alaska (1952)

Abbott and Costello litter this list with titles here and there, which I’m happy about since my good friend and Diggins Star Wars guest writer Phil Congleton is a HUGE Abbott and Costello fan. All that said, this film suffers from little relief as Bud Abbott constantly badgers Lou Costello. When my youngest son was just 8 years old, he LOVED Tom and Jerry but one day realized that the cat always got the worst in the situation. Feeling bad for poor, old Tom, my son said, “That’s it. I’m not watching this anymore. I like cats. Tom is a cat. It’s too hard to watch.” I like Costello, but like Tom Cat, it’s hard to watch him take a beating time and time again. 

#96: Revenge of the Creature (1955)

Revenge of the Creature (1955) was the first screen appearance of Clint Eastwood...and that's about it. Sad to say, I couldn't have been more bored with a monster movie. Truth be told: I wasn't a big fan of the original either - but Mancini contributed to the score for both films, so - being a completist - I just had to see it. And now I no longer need to see it again. Pass unless Gill Man is your favorite classic Universal monster. And in that case, you still may want to pass. 

#95:The Private War of Major Benson (1955)

Well written and well acted, The Private War of Major Benson (1955) illustrates that Charles Heston can do comedy and Julie Adams can act. That may sound harsh, but it’s meant with admiration. Julie Adams was immortalized as the sex object of desire of more than one creature in The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)…and as I watched more and more of her films, I’ve grown to like her style and performances. The Private War of Major Benson (1955) falls into the usual macho trappings of the 1950s relationship films (too early to call them rom-coms, eh?), but remains a fun watch all the same.

#94: Surround Fantastique (1990)

In the spirit of the extended THX Sound System animations that used to run in theaters years back, Surround Fantastique (1990) is a proud proclamation that the theatre you were sitting in used Spectral Recording Dolby Stereo which is “making films sound better.” Way before drone footage became the coolest thing in video production, Surround Fantastique (1990) provides a soaring POV as the camera zooms across a majestic landscape and swooshes by an occasional human biking or climbing. Mancini’s score starts a few beats into the film, which seems odd, but then grabs you and carries you across the earth and up into the heavens. Like the visual, his score (the only audio in the short film) is EPIC. I was really pulling for this film to break the Top 10, but its obscurity hurt its number ratings. Oh well. But please watch this. It’s one of my personal favorites. 

#93: The Monolith Monsters (1957)

The Monolith Monsters (1957) has such a crazy, outlandish idea – rock towers that spread and grow at an alarming rate in a somehow ‘attack’ on earthlings – it’s worth watching just to see how this concept can be played out in just 77 minutes. This was another film scored during Mancini’s self-proclaimed graduate school years at Universal. Read more about it in his bio written by yours truly. The Monolith Monsters (1957) also features actor Paul Frees as the narrator. 80s kids may remember Paul Frees's voice as the vocal component of the evil K.A.R.R. on TV’s Knight Rider. 

#92: Oklahoma Crude (1973)

As thug-with-a-heart-of-gold "Mase", George C. Scott is brilliant and mesmerizing in this neo-western. Faye Dunaway and Jack Palance are top-notch, too. The well-paced script offers the right amount of tension, western flavor, and surprises. The Henry Mancini score and cheesy SEND A LITTLE LOVE MY WAY song makes so much more sense in the context of the film. Oklahoma Crude (1973) is worth seeing and hearing.

#91: Ma and Pa Kettle in Waikiki (1955)

You should watch Ma and Pa Kettle in Waikiki (1955) because it is one of three Universal sequels listed on the Pohatchee Drive-in Theater marquee in Back to the Future III (1990). It is also one of four Mancini films referenced visually in that BTTF3 scene where 1950s Doc Brown helps 1985 Marty McFly travel back in time to save 1985 Doc Brown who is “trapped” in 1885. One of the other Mancini titles in BTTF3 is listed here as well: Revenge of the Creature (1955). Time travel aside, Ma and Pa Kettle in Waikiiki (1955) is one of the funnier Ma and Pa Kettle films and adds a nice exotic flair to what is the standard/somewhat-played "hillbilly-in-the-normal world" comedy series of movies.

And that’s it for the #100-91! Stop by next week as we venture into the 90-81.

* Thanks to David P. Ramos for that impressive sketch of Hank hard at work, Scott Derby for the iconic Digging Star Wars logo, and Josh Taback for the much-needed art direction of the overall Top 100 “square art” layout.