Dr. Kildare (1961-1966)

FSM presents a piece of television history: the first-ever soundtrack album to Dr. Kildare, the hugely successful 1961–1966 TV series starring Richard Chamberlain and the grandfather of the modern medical drama. For film music fans, Dr. Kildare is significant as the first major success for young Jerry (or Jerrald, as he was initially billed) Goldsmith, whose series theme (“Three Stars Will Shine Tonight”) became a beloved piece of Americana and, to this day, his highest-charting pop hit. FSM and album producer Jon Burlingame (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) have poured through the music recordings to all five years of the show (and beyond) to present the definitive Dr. Kildare soundtrack—including Goldsmith’s series theme as recorded for the pilot, all five seasons, and MGM Records with vocal by Richard Chamberlain. Dr. Kildare was produced by M-G-M and Norman Felton’s Arena Productions (whose long association with Goldsmith would include the themes to Cain’s Hundred, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Jericho and Hawkins) and starred Chamberlain as the title character and Raymond Massey as his crusty mentor, Dr. Gillespie. Goldsmith scored the series pilot and four additional episodes which are featured on disc one of this 3CD set. In addition to the warm, reverent theme, Goldsmith’s scores sparkle with the economy, melody and invention that characterize his television scores and revolutionary film work of the 1960s. After Goldsmith left the series, the regular composer became Harry Sukman, a film and television veteran who had recently won an Oscar for adapting Franz Liszt’s music for Song Without End. Disc two features, in addition to a few additional Goldsmith tracks and one episode score by Richard Markowitz (The Wild Wild West), Sukman’s best scores for the balance of season one and season two. Sukman typically wrote a new theme for each episode, and his efforts range from sympathetic to jazzy to suspenseful, depending on the weekly storyline and guest characters. Disc three kicks off with the popular song of Goldsmith’s theme, “Three Stars Will Shine Tonight,” performed by Richard Chamberlain, who parlayed his TV stardom into a recording career in large part due to this hit, and musical highlights from seasons three, four and five. These include Sukman’s surf-guitar gem for the series’ most popular episode, the two-part “Tyger, Tyger” guest-starring Yvette Mimieux as an epileptic surfer and Kildare’s love interest; dynamic music by Morton Stevens (Hawaii Five-0) to several episodes, including the three-part “Rome Will Never Leave You” interpolating a specially composed love theme by Burt Bacharach; Lalo Schifrin’s jazzy scoring for a fifth-season, four-part storyline; and rare TV work by John Green recalling his famous Raintree County. The collection concludes with a surprising discovery from the studio vaults: Bronislau Kaper’s rhapsodic theme to The Power and the Prize (1956) reused as the theme to the unaired 1960 M-G-M Dr. Kildare pilot (pre-Richard Chamberlain's casting), with scoring by Alexander Courage based on Kaper’s theme. The entire collection is in the best-possible monaural sound, with a bonus of the Kaper/Courage score presented in true stereo. The 32-page booklet features authoritative liner notes by Jon Burlingame (including biographical sketches of the composers), copious stills and rare artwork. The doctor is in!