Paris When It Sizzles/Riddle

Growing up in the 60’s and being a trombone player in school I had the opportunity to perform several Nelson Riddle arrangements, “Gabrielle” from Paris When It Sizzles being one of them. Nelson, a former trombone player himself, loved brass and liked busy arrangements with lots of things going on at the same time, so you weren’t sitting with your horn down tapping your foot, you were busy playing. While he’ll be most remembered for being the arranger for Frank Sinatra, the extremely versatile Riddle wrote for television (Route 66 and The Untouchables), had a gold record for “Lisbon Antigua,” wrote musical and classical compositions, and did some excellent soundtracks, Paris When It Sizzles starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden being one of them. Directed by Richard Quine who also directed two other favorite scores from the 60’s Sex and the Single Girl and How to Murder Your Wife, it tells the story of a director no longer being able to come up with ideas for scripts and his assistant acting out possible ideas. It’s a silly romantic comedy of the first order.

The “Main Title and Theme” introduces the motif after a long introduction, a bubbly upbeat romantic theme filled with happiness that is the Gabrielle theme played on many tracks. The big band version of the Gabrielle theme with organ, sax, muted trumpet, and bass trombone is available on The Bright and the Beautiful (liberty LST 7508). The version on the soundtrack album uses accordion, piano, brass and a greater emphasis on the strings. “Tango de Paris,” “Bastille de Cha Cha Cha,” and “Valse de Paree” are easy to listen to dance numbers with a French flavor. “That Face” is a romantic melody featuring guitar, alto sax, and the Riddle muted trumpet. “Gaby Blues” is a slow blues featuring flute, sax, and a small sample of glissando at the end of the track from the harp. “Saccharine Strings” is a European amour love song of the first order, muzak but romantic. The soundtrack ends with a happy ending waltz “Lavalse Grande” a re-statement of the main theme. Included on the album but not on the collectables two-fer CD # 7493 is a vocal rendition of “That Face” by Fred Astaire.

While some will feel that much of the material is background or elevator music others will appreciate that Riddle style in a film score. I just love that Nelson Riddle sound and found that it worked quite well in this score. Recommended.

Track listing

1. Main title and theme:Gabrielle (02:53)

2. That Face (02:45)

3. Tango de Paris (01:59)

4. French bubble bath (01:39)

5. Saccharine strings (02:33)

6. Brandy glow (02:27)

7. Good night Gabrielle (02:53)

8. That Face (02:50)

9. That Face (02:26)

Fred Astaire

10. Valse de Paree (02:27)

11. Gaby blues (03:12)

12. Bastille cha cha cha (04:31)

13. Touch of tenderness (02:02)

14. Happy ending (02:12)

Total Duration: 00:36:49