Fun Singer in "Sleuth" [UNSOLVABLE MYSTERY?]

Salzmank

Salzmank

Member: Rank 2
Well, at the risk of coming back just to add something here, the Feinstein thing was a fluke, sadly: he didn’t know who it was (apparently—he posted it to Facebook but never got back to me), and neither did any of his commenters.

Ah, well…
 
ant-mac

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
Salzmank said:
Well, at the risk of coming back just to add something here, the Feinstein thing was a fluke, sadly: he didn’t know who it was (apparently—he posted it to Facebook but never got back to me), and neither did any of his commenters.

Ah, well…
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear you've not yet been successful.
 
Salzmank

Salzmank

Member: Rank 2
Heh, thanks for the bump, @Doctor Omega. It’s been a long time since I’ve chimed in on this board.

No real progress, unfortunately, just more of my musings here… Still amazed that no one has come forward and it hasn’t been solved yet…
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10



I notice that someone on the comments on the video clip - above - has asserted, only last month, that.....

Its definitely Al Bowlly singing but you'll never find a record anywhere with the full song on it......and if you do let me know! A reference about this would be to listen to
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The link the you tube poster mentioned goes to....





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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Bowlly


Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898[1] – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African/British singer, songwriter, composerand band leader, who became a popular jazz crooner during the British dance band era of the 1930s and later worked in the United States. He recorded more than 1,000 records between 1927-41.

His most popular songs include "Midnight, the Stars and You", "Goodnight, Sweetheart", "The Very Thought of You", "Guilty", "Love Is the Sweetest Thing" and the only English version of "Dark Eyes" by Adalgiso Ferraris as "Black Eyes" with words of Albert Mellor.
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
And his songs have popped up in a fair few places.....


References in popular culture
  • In 1978, "Isn't It Heavenly" by Lew Stone and his Band featuring Al Bowlly was used in the award-winning television series Edward and Mrs Simpson made by Thames Television, starring Edward Fox and Cynthia Harris in the lead roles. The couple are seen dancing in their Hotel suite circa 1935. It is a touching moment as they romantically live Bowlly's song message. There were two recordings of this song for Decca Records on 1 August and 25 October 1933, respectively, listing Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band. It is not known which recording was selected for the television series.
  • In 1986, British singer/songwriter/guitarist Richard Thompson paid tribute on his album Daring Adventures with the song "Al Bowlly's in Heaven", about a veteran who reminisces about the days when he used to see Bowlly sing in the clubs of London.
  • In 1990, Bowlly's recording of "The Very Thought of You" was used in Australia for the advertising campaign for Dine Cat Food.
  • "Midnight, the Stars and You" has been used for many years as the final closing music for Nightline with Bruce Mansfield and Philip Brady on radio 3AW, in Melbourne, Australia.
  • "Midnight, the Stars and You" has been the signature piece and the final music cut since 2001 on the John Batchelor Show.
  • Songs 'Goodnight Sweetheart', 'The Very Thought of You' and 'Love is the Sweetest Thing' appear in the British comedy series Goodnight Sweetheart, The song 'Goodnight Sweetheart' was used as both the shows title and theme music. Al Bowley is referenced heavily throughout the shows run.
  • Bowlly's "Guilty" was featured in the soundtrack for the 2001 French film Amélie.
  • In 1997, Bowlly's "My Woman" was sampled by the British one-man band White Town, appearing in the song "Your Woman".
  • The song "Hang Out the Stars in Indiana" was featured in the cult comedy film Withnail and I.
  • In December 2009, Al Bowlly – Megaphone to Microphone had its first performance at the Jermyn Street Theatre.
  • Bowlly is mentioned in the novel White Lies by Raymond Wacks, set in the 1960s in South Africa.
  • An Al Bowlly version of "Empty Saddles" figures prominently in the novel A Good Clean Fight by Derek Robinson.
  • Bowlly's recording of "What More Can I Ask" with Ray Noble's orchestra appears in the 1987 movie soundtrack "Someone to Watch Over Me", with Mimi Rogers.
  • Bowlly's version of "Twentieth Century Blues" was used in the Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp". "Love Is the Sweetest Thing" was also used in this episode, 17 May 2008
  • Bowlly's version of "The Very Thought of You" was used in a scene from the Upstairs Downstairs TV remake in Season 2, Episode 1: "A Faraway Country About Which We Know Nothing", 7 October 2012.
  • "Midnight, the Stars and You" can also be heard in the 2013 film Snowpiercer.
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Sleuth is a 1972 British mystery thriller film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. The screenplay by playwright Anthony Shaffer was based on his 1970 Tony Award-winning play. Both Olivier and Caine were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. This was Mankiewicz's final film. Critics gave the film overwhelmingly positive reviews,[4]and would later note similarities between it and Caine's 1982 film Deathtrap.


Cast
  • Laurence Olivier as Andrew Wyke
  • Michael Caine as Milo Tindle
  • Alec Cawthorne as Inspector Doppler
  • John Matthews as Detective Sergeant Tarrant
  • Eve Channing as Marguerite Wyke
  • Teddy Martin as Police Constable Higgs
Production

Shaffer was initially reluctant to sell the film rights to the play, fearful it would undercut the success of the stage version. When he finally did relent, he hoped the film would retain the services of Anthony Quayle, who had essayed the role of Wyke in London and on Broadway. Alan Bates was Shaffer’s pick for the part of Milo Tindle. In the end, director Mankiewicz opted for Olivier and Caine.

When they met, Caine asked Olivier how he should address him. Olivier told him that it should be as "Lord Olivier", and added that now that that was settled he could call him "Larry".[11] According to Shaffer, Olivier stated that when filming began he looked upon Caine as an assistant, but that by the end of filming he regarded him as a full partner.

The likeness of actress Joanne Woodward was used for the painting of Marguerite Wyke.[11]

The production team intended to reveal as little about the movie as possible so as to make the conclusion a complete surprise to the audience. For this reason there is a false cast list at the beginning of the film which lists fictional people playing roles that do not exist. They are Alec Cawthorne as Inspector Doppler, John Matthews as Detective Sergeant Tarrant, Eve Channing (named after the characters Eve Harrington and Margo Channing from Mankiewicz's previous film All About Eve) as Marguerite Wyke, and, Teddy Martin as Police Constable Higgs.

Much of the story revolves around the theme of crime fiction, as written by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Merridew = Lord Peter Wimsey) or Agatha Christie, whose photo is included on Wyke's wall, and how it relates to real-life criminal investigations. Class conflict is also raised between Wyke, who has the trappings of an English country gentleman, compared to Tindle, the son of an immigrant from a poor area of London.

Reception

The film received extremely positive reviews, and with modern audiences has 96% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[4]

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier), Best Director and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score. Olivier won the New York Film Critics award for Best Actor as a compromise selection after the voters became deadlocked in a choice between Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in The Godfather after Stacy Keach in Fat City won a plurality in initial voting and rules were changed requiring a majority.[12] Shaffer received an Edgar Award for his screenplay.

The film was the second to have practically its entire cast (Caine and Olivier) nominated for Academy Awards after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1966 and the first where exactly all of the actors in the film were nominated. (Virginia Woolf featured uncredited bit parts by actors playing the roadhouse manager and waitress.) This feat has been repeated only by Give 'em Hell, Harry! (1975), in which James Whitmore is the sole credited actor.

Critics Roger Ebert, Janet Maslin, Gary Arnold of the Washington Post, and several film historians have all noted similarities between Sleuth and Caine's 1982 film Deathtrap.[5][6][7][8][9][10] SCTV episode 121 featured Dave Thomas playing Michael Caine, arguing that the two films were different because the library appeared on different sides of the set.

Deleted footage

While questioning Wyke, Doppler points out that the clown costume that Tindle was wearing when he was shot is missing, though the clown's mask is later found and put on the head of the plastic skeleton in the cellar. He is probably implying that Tindle was buried with it.

In the trailer for the film, there are the scenes with Doppler laying out the evidence against Wyke as shown in the movie. They include him pulling open the shower curtains in one of the bathrooms and exposing the clown's jacket, dripping wet and apparently with bloodstains on it. This scene was not included in the final film.

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved Sleuth in 2012.

2007 film

Main article: Sleuth (2007 film)

In September 2006 Kenneth Branagh announced at the Venice Film Festival his new film of the play, with the screenplay by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter. Caine starred in this adaptation, this time in the role of Wyke, while Jude Law played Tindle as a struggling actor. Production was completed in March 2007, and released in the UK on 23 November 2007. The remake did not use any of the dialogue in Shaffer's original script, and was considered unsuccessful in comparison to the original.



 
Salzmank

Salzmank

Member: Rank 2
Whew, haven’t been here in a while. OK.

First of all, thanks for bumping this thread, @Doctor Omega. I appreciate it.

Second, while I’ve been reluctant to post this because I have no evidence for it, at IMDb v2.0 we’ve stumbled one the most convincing candidate yet (in my opinion) for the identity of the singer—David Kernan. He worked in theatre on Broadway and the West End as well as in the film business, he’d sung Porter before, he’d previously worked with Michael Caine in Zulu, and the vocals sound remarkably close. I’ve tried to find any contact information for Kernan, to no avail, and every other source to which I’ve reached out (I couldn’t find an agent, but I did find organizations with which he’s affiliated) hasn’t gotten back to me.

Here’s the Sleuth singer again:


And here’s Kernan singing a Porter medley:

 
Salzmank

Salzmank

Member: Rank 2
Doctor Omega said:
Have you ruled Al Bowlly out, Salzmank?
Click to expand...
One of our first candidates. :)

The vocals are close, yes, but not exact; and several professors and music-historians I’ve e-mailed have informed me that the recording’s almost definitely contemporaneous with the movie (’70s), made to sound like a ’30s recording for whatever reason.
 
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