GERALD FRIED: MELODRAMAS

Dragon’s Domain Records presents GERALD FRIED: MELODRAMAS, featuring music composed by Gerald Fried (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., STAR TREK, ROOTS) for two noirish urban tales from 1961 that slightly preceded his transition into television.

Released in 1961, TWENTY PLUS TWO was directed by Joseph M. Newman, adapted from the best-selling novel by Frank Gruber, starring David Janssen, Jeanne Craine, Dina Merrill, Jacques Aubuchon, William Demarest, Agnes Moorehead, Brad Dexter, Robert Strauss and Fredd Wayne.

TWENTY PLUS TWO, also known as IT STARTED IN TOKYO, follows private eye Tom Adler (Janssen), who specializes in tracking down missing heirs. When the secretary of former World War II hero and current Hollywood actor Leroy Dane’s fan club is murdered, Adler discovers a link to the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl, Doris Delaney. She vanished 13 years earlier in Manhattan, and despite her father spending half a million in a futile search, Adler uncovers a new clue that leads him to Dane (Dexter). The investigation further leads to an encounter with Dane’s former girlfriend, Linda Foster (Crain), and her pal, Nicki Kovacs (Merrill). After winning the confidence of Doris’ mother (Moorehead), Adler gains new information and discovers a connection to a young woman he met while recovering from war wounds in a Tokyo hospital. The trail leads first to Chicago, where Nicki vanishes and finally to a remote homestead in South Dakota, where past and present collide, and the villains’ true identity is revealed.

Also released in 1961, A COLD WIND IN AUGUST was directed by Alexander Singer, written by John Hayes and Burton Wohl, starring Lola Albright, Scott Marlowe, Joe De Santis, Clarke Gordon, Janet Brandt, Skip Young, Ann Atmar, Jana Taylor, Dee Gee Green and Charlie Brill.

A COLD WIND IN AUGUST follows Iris Marlowe (Albright), a woman in her thirties who begins a torrid love affair with Vito Pellegrino (Marlow), the teenage son of the superintendent of her apartment building. Vito is unaware that she’s a former burlesque-show stripper until one of his friends sees her perform at a club after she agrees to help her ex-husband who is desperate to book artists for an upcoming show. Vito is unable to cope with the reality of Iris’ true identity and their romance collapses in a fiery argument. A COLD WIND IN AUGUST was directed by Alexander Singer, whose career as a cinematographer began alongside composer Gerald Fried on mutual friend Stanley Kubrick’s DAY OF THE FIGHT.

Born February 1928 in the Bronx, Gerald Fried’s interest in music found its first fruition at the High School of Music & Art in New York City. He attended The Juilliard School of Music as an oboe major, graduating in 1945. Among his earliest friends was a bright kid named Stanley Kubrick. The two of them used to hang around Greenwich Village and talk about their budding interests, Fried’s in classical music and Kubrick’s in filmmaking. Their interests merged when Kubrick began filming DAY OF THE FIGHT, an 18-minute short about boxing. Knowing Fried was a music major, Kubrick asked him if he could write the score for his boxing picture. Fried agreed, then spent months going to the movies to learn how film scores worked, there being no schools or courses on film music in those days. Fried wrote an effective score, and Kubrick sold the film to RKO Pathé. Fried rejoined Kubrick to score four more of his films, including THE KILLING and PATHS TO GLORY, where the young filmmaker first gained his reputation.

After the success of THE KILLING in 1956, Kubrick moved to Los Angeles, shortly followed by Fried, who was immediately hired to compose and arrange music for several films, including THE VAMPIRE, THE RETURN OF DRACULA, MACHINE GUN KELLY and I, MOBSTER, I BURY THE LIVING, and TIMBUKTU (1959). By the 1960s, Fried moved into television, scoring episodes of such seminal shows of the decade as GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and STAR TREK. By the 1970s Fried was composing music for numerous made-for-TV movies. His best-known score of the decade was for the 1977 miniseries ROOTS, which he took over scoring when Quincy Jones fell behind and was unable to meet the broadcast deadline for the eight-hour miniseries. Both Jones and Fried won Emmy Awards for their musical efforts on the series. During the ‘80s, Fried continued to compose music for television series, movies, and documentaries, and an occasional feature film. These are just two of the many magnificent scores Fried wrote throughout his career. The composer passed away on February 17, 2023 at the age of 95. His work remains a testament to his talent and dedication to the art of composition and he is remembered as a key figure in the evolution of music for film and television.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents GERALD FRIED: MELODRAMAS, featuring the world premiere release of TWENTY PLUS TWO and A COLD WIND IN AUGUST, featuring music composed by Gerald Fried. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by author David Hirsch.