August 8, 2022

20,000 vinyl LPs 327: Rory Calhoun ~ With a Song In My Heart & 10"

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10" vinyl LP front cover
photo by Styrous®


Today is the birthday of Hollywood movie star, Rory Calhoun born Francis Timothy McCown in Los Angeles, California, on August 8, 1922, of Irish ancestry.         
 
As with Robert Mitchum (link below), he was one of Hollywood's "bad boys." He left home at 17 to escape beatings from his stepfather and began hot-wiring cars, robbing jewelry stores and stole a car then drove it across state lines. This made it a federal offense, and, when he was captured, he was sentenced to three years in prison; he was paroled shortly before his 21st birthday. 
 
He worked at a number of odd jobs, including as a mechanic, a logger in the California redwoods, a hard-rock miner in Nevada, a cowboy in Arizona, a fisherman, a truck driver, a crane operator, and a forest firefighter.    
 
In January 1944, while riding horseback in the Hollywood Hills, Calhoun met actor Alan Ladd who was impressed with Calhoun's physique and introduced him to his wife Sue Carol, who was a talent agent
 
 
Rory Calhoun
 date & photographer unknown
 
 
Sue Carol arranged for Calhoun to have a screen test at 20th Century Fox. Carol also discovered singer-actress Julie London.         
 
His first public appearance in the Hollywood milleu was  in 1945 as escort for Lana Turner for the premiere of the Alfred Hitchcock film, Spellbound, a David O. Selznick production. The glamorous blonde and her handsome companion attracted the paparazzi, and photos appeared in newspapers and fan magazines.     


photographer unknown


Most of his films were as secondary roles until 1952 when he got his big break and he co-starred with Susan Hayward in With a Song in My Heart, the biographical film which tells the story of actress and singer Jane Froman.          
 
Froman was crippled by an airplane crash on February 22, 1943, when the Boeing 314 Pan American Clipper flying boat she was on suffered a crash landing in the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal. She entertained the troops in World War II despite having to walk with crutches. The film stars Susan Hayward, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Thelma Ritter, Robert Wagner, Helen Westcott, and Una Merkel.    
 
Even though he only had a small role, With a Song in My Heart propelled Robert Wagner into super stardom.       


The Recording
 
This is a studio recording which initially included eight songs and a shorter version of the American Medley sung by Jane Froman, with a short orchestral introduction by George Greeley, who conducted the orchestra and chorus. It won the Academy Award for Original Music Score.         
 
It is pressed on a smaller format, 10" as opposed to the standard 12" record that was popular in the forties and fifties. And it is a rare pressing, T-309, not even listed on record guides on the Net.     


10" vinyl LP label, side 1
photo by Styrous®


The Capitol Records album was released in multiple formats: Capitol L-309 (LP), DDN-309 (4 record 78rpm-Box Set); KDF-309 (4 record 45rpm singles Box-Set); and FBF-309 (2 EP Box-set).            
 
 
         
Viewfinder links:        
         
Rory Calhoun                 
Jane Froman          
Susan Hayward         
Alfred Hitchcock          
Alan Ladd         
Julie London         
Thelma Ritter         
David O. Selznick        
Robert Wagner         
David Wayne         
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Monday, August 8, 2022       
       
 
 




















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