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Posts: 1012
Oct 13 08 5:58 AM
The Derek Elley interview is excellent - one of the very best interviews that Rozsa gave. In particular, it goes into much detail about the background to the scoring of the epic films which is unavailable elsewhere. That leads me to think about Rozsa's autobiography, A Double Life, which I really wish had gone into that level of detail, especially about the films, most of which are either ignored or are glossed over. I suppose though that Rozsa's book was aimed more towards a general readership who may not have appreciated such detail. Even so, it's a fairly slim volume and a more substantial work would have been beneficial. Of course Rozsa was not a writer and I understand that the book had much input from Christopher Palmer and others working from Rozsa's dictation, which may have restricted the content.
Another problem I have with the autobiography, is that it provides little background about the inevitable tensions which Rozsa must have experienced when working for a film studio. John says in his post above, that Rozsa usually hesitated to name people and give offence, especially if they were still alive. Whilst that is certainly an admirable quality and says much about Rozsa's character, it tends to lend the book a certain blandness which is a pity because an autobiography is a major opportunity to put everything on record. It is inevitable in any line of work that people have disagreements and arguments; even more so in areas of artistic endeavour. Even with exceptional talent, one does not get to the top of their profession without having ambition, drive and strong opinions but this does not come across in the book. We have to look to sources other than A Double Life to catch glimpses of a sterner Rozsa, such as Music for the Movies in which Tony Thomas refers to Rozsa's curt words to David O Selznick about scoring Duel in the Sun. I suppose what I am asking for is an analytical biography such as Steven Smith's A Heart at Fire's Center. Not that I am suggesting that Rozsa had the sort of tensions, or tantrums that beleaguered Herrmann!
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