Mitch Miller and his Orchestra -- "March from 'The River Kwai' and Colonel Bogey" (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai, which was released in 1957, was a huge success at the box office -- it cost only $2.8 million to make, but grossed over $30 million.

Here's the trailer:

The movie won seven Academy Awards, including those for best picture, best director (David Lean, who went on to make Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago), best actor (Alec Guinness), best cinematography, best editing, best adapted screenplay, and best music.

That screenplay was the work of two blacklisted screenwriters, Carl Foreman (who also wrote the script for High Noon), and Michael Wilson (who had won an Oscar for A Place in the Sun).  Since neither man could be credited for his work on the script, the official credit went to Pierre Boulle, whose 1952 novel of the same name was the basis of the movie. 

Given that Bouelle was a Frenchman who did not speak English, he was an odd choice for a screenwriting credit.  (Years later, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave posthumous Oscars to Foreman and Wilson.)  

The most memorable scene in the movie ist when he British prisoners of war march into the prison camp whistling the "Colonel Bogey March."

Major F. J. Ricketts
(a/k/a Kenneth Alford)

That march was written in 1914 by a British bandmaster, Major F. J. Ricketts, who published it and other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford.  The two-note phrase (a descending minor third) that begins each line of the melody was supposedly copied from a golfer who whistled those notes instead of shouting "fore" when he teed off.  

The name "Colonel Bogey" was a reference to an imaginary golfing opponent -- it was a reference to the course itself, which is the real opponent of a golfer -- and the word "bogey" later came to mean a score of one over par on a hole.

The same melody was used for a British World War II ditty, "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball."  Here's one version of the verse to that song:

Hitler has only got one ball

Göring has two but very small

Himmler is somewhat sim'lar,

But poor Goebbels has no balls at all

There are a number of alternate versions, including this one:

Hitler has only got one ball

The other is on the kitchen wall

His mother, the dirty bugger

Chopped it off when he was small

It has long been rumored that Hitler was, in fact, monorchid -- that is, had only one testicle -- perhaps as the result of a wound to the groin he suffered in World War I.  The Soviet autopsy on Hitler's remains, which was released in 1970, stated that Hitler did not have a left testicle.  But many have questioned whether the autopsy was altered for reasons of propaganda.

The composer of the soundtrack for The Bridge on the River Kwai, Sir Malcolm Arnold, composed over a hundred film scores, as well as symphonies and other orchestral pieces.  His personal life was a bit of a show, thanks to schizophrenia (his children once had him committed to a mental hospital) and alcoholism.

From a story in the Daily Mail:

Friends recall a man whose generosity knew no bounds, but Sir Malcolm, who began his career as a professional trumpeter, was also often drunk and highly promiscuous.

On one occasion, his wife came home to find him making love to a maid over a table.  On another, he had sex with a waitress on a restaurant floor.

In later years, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, a close friend, recalled how he was told to "f*** off" when he reprimanded Sir Malcolm for trying to kiss his wife on the mouth.

Hey, no one's perfect.  (You can click here to read the entire Daily Mail story.)

Here's Mitch Miller's recording of "March from The River Kwai and Colonel Bogey," which combines the "Colonel Bogey March" with Arnold's original composition, "The River Kwai March":

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Maurice Jarre -- "Lara's Theme" (1965)

When love is not madness, it is not love.

-- Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-81)

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you 2 or 3 lines readers who suffer from that wonderful form of madness that we call romantic love.

A few years ago, the American Film Institute asked a blue-ribbon panel of actors, directors, critics, film historians, and others to choose the 100 greatest movie love stories of all time.  Dr. Zhivago was ranked at #7 on that list.

I might have ranked Zhivago a little higher, but #7 is nothing to sneeze at.  (Casablanca was #1, while Gone With the Wind was #2.  Click here to see the entire list.)  

Dr. Zhivago stars Julie Christie and Omar Sharif as two of the most star-crossed lovers you'll ever want to meet.  Here's the trailer for the movie:

Director David Lean originally wanted Peter O'Toole to play the lead role.  Paul Newman, Max von Sydow, and Michael Caine were also considered for the part.  Lean eventually chose Sharif, who had played O'Toole's right-man in Lean's hugely successful Lawrence of Arabia.

Sophia Loren, the wife of producer Carlo Ponti, was the original choice for the lead female role, but Lean persuaded Ponti that Loren wasn't right to play Lara.  (Lean told Ponti that his wife was too tall.  But he told screenwriter Robert Bolt that he couldn't buy Loren as a virgin, which the Lara character was early in the movie.)

Yvette Mimieux, Sarah Miles, and Jane Fonda (really?) were also considered for the role, but Lean made the perfect choice when he picked Julie Christie.

Julie Christie as Lara

It's been a long time since I've seen Dr. Zhivago.  All I remember about it are Julie Christie (a fabulous babe), a whole lot of snow, and the theme song -- which is generally known as "Lara's Theme" (after the Julie Christie character).

Composer Maurice Jarre protested loudly that the soundtrack repeated "Lara's Theme" far too many times.  He was unhappy that director David Lean deleted many of the other themes that Jarre had written during the editing process.

But the composer need not have worried:  "Lara's Theme" became one of the most beloved movie themes ever recorded.  Jarre won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best original score in 1965.

Lyricist Paul Francis Webster later wrote lyrics for "Lara's Theme," and called the resulting song "Somewhere, My Love."  It was a hit for Ray Coniff and Connie Francis, and was subsequently covered by a long list of recording artists (including Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton, and Jim Nabors).  

Here's "Lara's Theme":

Click below to buy a DVD of Dr. Zhivago from Amazon.  (Any guy who has the least bit of game should be able to use it to good advantage on Valentine's Day.)