I'll Cry Tomorrow (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Ill Cry Tomorrow (1955) was a first-rate "biopic" telling the story of Lillian Roth, the one-time "Broadways youngest star" whose singing career was crushed under the weight of her alcoholism and failed relationships. By the 50s Roth had rehabilitated her reputation, and Ill Cry Tomorrow (based on her autobiography) received popular and critical acclaim in its powerful telling of her story, thanks to the careful direction of Daniel Mann and Oscar-nominated performance by Susan Hayward. Scoring Ill Cry Tomorrow was the composer whose use of jazz in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) had transformed film music forever: Alex North. Ill Cry Tomorrow was one of Norths earlier assignments but his dramatic style was that of a seasoned master, favoring chamber-like strings and woodwinds for an intimate, melancholy effect. Norths colors at first evoke Lillians lost childhood, then become "boozy" tones for her years of alcoholism. Jazzy brass and heartfelt strings (in the Streetcar style) perform a memorable main theme to sum up the story as a whole. Ill Cry Tomorrow is not a musical, but does feature three musical numbers performed by Hayward (as Roth) in the film: "Sing You Sinners," "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin Along" and "Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe." The songs have been remixed in stereo from the original film elements and are presented in sequence with Norths score, which is also in stereo. Additional songs, album versions and instrumental source cues have been placed in a bonus section, to render this the definitive Ill Cry Tomorrow album. Liner notes are by Lukas Kendall.