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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.
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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.
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).
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