Original Soundtrack - The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Hollywood's traditional take on Broadway musicals was already in its twilight by 1964, the year this MGM adaptation of Meredith Willson's follow-up to his smash hit, The Music Man, was released. Tellingly, the film version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown debuted in the same year that the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night arguably marked the end of what had been a four-decade film tradition. But if Molly Brown (based on the true, rags-to-riches exploits of a tough Colorado woman whose improbable résumé included surviving the sinking of the Titanic) represented one of the last of Hollywood's successful conventional film musicals, it was far from a whimper, thanks to rousing performances by Debbie Reynolds in the title role and the underrated Harve Presnell as the love of Molly's life. This edition marks the first CD release of the film soundtrack (which includes two numbers Willson penned specifically for the film) in nearly a decade, newly remixed and now supplemented by over 15 tracks of previously unreleased instrumental cues. --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

Yikes!

I was SO disappointed with this CD. I wanted to hear the great songs from Molly Brown - not the orchestrations! If you like listening to soundtrack album - soundtrack being the key word here - then you'll probably be okay with this version. If you want to hear LYRICS, don't get this one. I guess the lesson here is if you want lyrics, stick with the 'Original Broadway Cast' albums. August 29, 2007

Debbie Reynolds, truly "unsinkable" as Molly Brown...

THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN was composer-lyricist Meredith Willson's long-awaited followup to his Broadway smash "The Music Man". While the show opened in 1960 and ran for a respectable 532 performances starring the firebrand Tammy Grimes in the title role; it failed to live up to the hype that "Music Man" generated, and sadly remains the lesser work of the two.

The story is based on fact. We follow Molly Tobin from her beginnings as an illiterate girl from Missouri, who falls in love with a handsome miner, Johnny 'Leadville' Brown. With the correct cultivation, she turns into a lovely young woman, and when Johnny strikes it lucky, the pair move to the bright lights of Denver society. While the bigoted residents don't warm to Molly's rambunctious charm, she soon endears herself to the crowned heads of Europe. As one of the first-class passengers on the Titanic, Molly comes into her own when she takes charge of her lifeboat's panicked occupants, and earns the title of "the unsinkable Molly Brown"...

For the 1964 M-G-M film version, Debbie Reynolds was cast as Molly, with Harve Presnell recreating his Broadway turn as Johnny 'Leadville' Brown. Reynolds earned an Academy Award nomination for her all-out performance, and it surely counts as one of her best screen roles. Presnell ideally partners her, and offers a fine gravity to her high-flown Molly. The supporting cast featured Hermione Baddeley, Ed Begley, Martita Hunt and Jack Kruschen.

Meredith Willson added an all-new song for the movie, called "He's My Friend", a showstopping dance number for Molly, Johnny and their European friends. It joins the classic songs from the stage score ("I Ain't Down Yet", "I'll Never Say No", "Belly Up to the Bar, Boys").

This new CD reissue of the soundtrack album restores all the background and incidental music from the score, and remasters the musical numbers in true stereo. While it's never going to topple "The Music Man" in terms of audience adoration or applause, THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, based on one of the most colourful women in American folklore, is still a charming piece of entertainment.

[Rhino/TCM R272465] December 18, 2006

Delightful, entertaining CD from Unksinkable Molly BROWN

The Unsinkable Molly BROWN (Margaret TOBIN)was born in Hannibal Mo. about 1867. Seeing this movie for the first time in Boston, 1964, Since then I've listened to record album, tapes,and VCR.
I can't get enought of this gal. Molly BROWN is my heroine. Debbie REYNOLDS gave an outstanding performance and vocals with co-star Harve PRESNELL as J. J. BROWN. A goldminer from Leadville,Co.Harve(Johnny) sings "I'll Never Say No". from Colorado hills. He is the epitome of a girl's dream.
"I ain't down yet" is an uplifting tune. Debbie calls "The Hogs out of the Hill's." It would be any girl's dream to marry a man like Johnny BROWN.
This CD has a few different interpretations of some songs. Some new ones. It is still an excellent rendition of the original. It might be a musical, however the story is basically true.
Going from a saloon girl to nouve rich, Denver finally accepts Molly after she saved several people on that fateful night of the sinking of the Titantic.Molly and Debbie will always have a place in my heart. Please don't let this CD ever go out of print!!!. Best Regards, Joan December 25, 2003

If you are a fan of UMB, You gotta get this!

I have loved this movie ever since I first saw it back in 1964. Having said that I guess I am a bit biased about anythig that has to do with The Unsinkable Molly Brown, including this FANTASTIC new CD! The highlight are, of course, the inclusion of many of the underscore melodies, 17 of those to be exact ( my favotate is track 16, " When Roses Bloom " aka " The Beautiful People Of Denver ". Track 10, " I'll Never Say No ", is sadly missing Debbie Reynolds' feed back to Harve Presnell as he is singing this lovely ballad, if you know the song, you can almost hear the que's for the interaction. All of the great songs form the origional soundtrack are here and sound like nothing you have heard before since they are Digitally remastered. You should not be disapointed in adding this to your collection. Now for the bad news.....there are a few mistakes. One of them is in the line up of the tracks. Tracks 24 and 25 have been transposed, an error in printing the selections. Track 24 should be " Up Where The People Are ", and track 25 should be " Queen Of The Lardpail ". More bad news is the fact that some of the captions under the accompaning pictures are incorrect, the backround on page five incorrectly listes Jack Kruschen as being in the photo, it is actually an actorby the name of Brendan Dillon ( as the character "Murphy" ). He is referded to in track 2 and heard singing on the same track. Christmas Morgan did not come along until later in the film. Track 14 lists Ed Begley as one of the preformers of this song, he was not at the wedding! Finally, track 2 and track 19 are listed as not being released before, if you have the origional CD ( CBS SPECIAL PRODUCTS #AK45442 ( OUT OF PRINT )) both of these tracks are included on that compact disc. OK I got carried away, sorry. I am an Unsinkable Molly Brown fanatic! Seriously, if you like this type of music this is one fantastic CD that I would and will listen to again and again and more than likely never get tired of it. Good listening December 2, 2000

Unsinkable Music

Although THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN is a lesser effort than Merideth Wilson's THE MUSIC MAN, his music for this show is nonetheless a rousing piece of musical Americana and a welcome addition to the interrupted, but now apparently resumed, Rhino/Turner Movie Music series.

The movie version of THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN was Debbie Reynolds only claim to getting near an "Oscar" as she poured all of her considerable singing and dancing experience and energy into playing the title character, a woman "hell-bent" on making it rich.

The Score includeds the somewhat pop standard "I Ain't Down Yet" as well as the lesser knowns "Belly Up To The Bar Boys, I'll Never Say No" and some very rich singing by her then newly introduced co-star Harve Presnell on his spectaculary photographed "Soliliquy". The film is one of the the last big budget musicals to come out of the MGM factory and has the stamp of that studios great music department. Scintillating arrangements and punctuated direction of the studio orchestra make this another brass band of Wilson tunes blaring from the speakers and a welcome companion to THE MUSIC MAN.

The packaging is up to the traditional Rhino/Turner releases of the past with extensive liner notes and jucy tidbits of nostalgic information. The recording itself, although taken from analog stereo master tracks from the films original recordings, is as clean as it can be considering the age of the source material.

At this writing, the soundtracks to HIT THE DECK and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN have also been released. This is a great series of classic film soundtracks and one can only hope that there will be still more of them on the horizon. November 30, 2000

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