Tweet Music for The Haunted Pajamas

I found this clipping last night, in Fred Balshofer's scrapbooks at the Herrick. I believe it's from Motion Picture News, but the attribution is very faint so don't quote me.

I'm posting it here, just in case someone wants to release The Haunted Pajamas. (Hint.)



Fred

One interesting thing about this is the indication "Continue to action until..." in cues 2, 7, etc. Apparently you're not supposed to play the previous piece -- otherwise, why bother having a new cue -- so it seems to be an indication to make something up that synchronizes with the action on screen. Then at cue 14 it blatantly tells you to make something up. I'm sure this was often done, but I've almost never seen it admitted to in print before!

This uses an inverted system of cues. Most cue sheets tell you when to start playing a particular piece. This one indicates when you're supposed to stop playing. Ernst Luz did this too, for some films, and boasted it as a particularly clever innovation. After a short moment of reflection you may realize that listing a cue to end a piece, or listing one to begin the next piece, are functionally identical. I personally find that a listing of when to start pieces is much more intuitive.

Max Winkler used to use the "continue action until," which I take it is a shorthand way of saying "vamp." In fact, given that the main theme is by Winkler, I'm sure that he was the one that compiled this cue sheet.

Luz also used to put breaks for the orchestra into his cue sheets, although it was usually marked at the end of the sheet. Doesn't make his selections any better.