I didn't mean to step in here, but for what it's worth, I've referred to Rozsa as 'Miklos' occasionally here.

I mean no disrespect gentlemen, but there are many valid and USEFUL reference points to reference figures in the 'entertainment' world, and this is touching a little on pretentiousness. One is in danger of appearing pompous if one stresses this. Again and again it's Miklos Rozsa's fans who bring out this kind of caricature ... yes, I think caricature IS the word ... of 'Olde Worlde' reverence, I think because we imagine Rozsa's style will rub off on us. It's not that easy. Newman and Tiomkin and North seem quite often referred to as 'Al' or Dimitri' or Dimi or Alex. And we all know who 'Erich' is. They even encouraged it. Are we going to misguidedly turn Rozsa into the 'spoilt boy' of the class?

I have always differentiated between GENUINE 'politeness' and BOURGEOIS affectations of 'politeness'. In journalism, where HUMOUR is occasionally the APPROPRIATE medium of communication (I'll reiterate that 'communication' word), then there are many ways to get a message across. Some have insisted he should be called 'Dr. Rozsa' as though this is some academic forum. In universities, terms like 'Doctor' and Professor' and 'Reader' are necessary, just as in the army, to tell peoples' ranks apart. These terms are also apt in social settings and formal ones. But one should know where to stop.

US people here probably don't know the UK TV series 'Dad's Army', so you may not know who 'Captain Mainwaring' (Arthur Lowe) is. But that is how this can come across.

But if you want Rozsa taken seriously and more widely accessed, (which is what this is all about) then that is too narrow a viewpoint. It may seem all very polite in a limited setting, but in fact, (and this is the irony) in real 'aristoctratic' settings this would be called pompous and laughed at.

When we talk of 'Miles' everyone knows we mean Miles Davis. When we talk of 'Jack' that can only be Jack Nicholson (or maybe Benny?) JUST IMAGINE if people out there used the term 'Miklos' and everyone knew who that was. That is and will remain my take on it. 'Rozsa' in, say, advertising terms means less ... some people think that's a perfume actually! Each medium has its appropriate etiquette.

The maestro is harmed by a sort of 'inferior harmonic' attempt to copy his own polite ethic without actually understanding that ethic. The servant is not greater than the master, as someone once said.

P.S 'The Robe' is a pompous enough film to need a little 'explanatory' exposition in DVDs for younger folk in particular.  That would be Burlingame's and others' intuitive slant.  They wanyt to COMMUNICATE, not worship.

Last Edited By: William D McCrum Feb 26 10 12:26 PM. Edited 2 times.