Song of the Day #1922

Song of the Day: The Robe (“Soundtrack Suite”) [YouTube link], composed by Alfred Newman, derives from the 1954 Cinemascope epic adaptation of the 1942 Lloyd C. Douglas novel. It starred Richard Burton as Tribune Marcellus Gallio, Jean Simmons as Diana, Victor Mature as Demetrius, Michael Rennie as the very reverent Peter, and Jay Robinson as the crazed Caligula. This film was actually shot twice, once in widescreen, and the second time in a “flat” version, which, in my view, is actually the more superior-acted take. Be that as it may, the score is memorable throughout—with a love theme (at 7:34) for the ages. Tomorrow, the patriarch of the Newman Musical Dynasty gets one more entry.