Henry Mancini 100th Birthday Tribute
TCM, beginning at 6 a.m.
The wonderfully memorable film scores of composer Henry Mancini are celebrated on Turner Classic Movies in a 12-film lineup airing today on what would have been his 100th birthday (he was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in Maple Heights, Ohio, on April 16, 1924; he died in Los Angeles on June 14, 1994, at age 70). This Mancini-scored movie marathon features: Carol for Another Christmas (1964), a TV movie written by Rod Serling; Soldier in the Rain, a 1963 buddy comedy led by Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen; writer/director Orson Welles’ classic film noir Touch of Evil
(1958); the epic comedy The Great Race
(1965), one of Mancini’s frequent collaborations with director Blake Edwards, for which he shared a Best Original
Song Oscar nomination with lyricist Johnny Mercer for “The Sweetheart Tree”; the Bob Hope/Lana Turner-led romantic comedy Bachelor in Paradise
(1961), for which Mancini shared a Best Original Song nod with lyricist Mack David for the title tune; Dear Heart
(1964), another romantic comedy for which Mancini shared a Best Original Song nomination for the title tune (with
Ray Evans and Jay Livingston); Days of Wine and Roses (1962), a romantic drama that earned Mancini and Mercer an Oscar win for their title song; The Pink Panther (1963), the first entry in director Edwards’ beloved comedy series, punctuated by Mancini’s bouncy, Oscar-nominated score; the Audrey Hepburn/George Peppard-led romantic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), which earned Mancini and Mercer another Oscar for their iconic song “Moon River,” and Mancini a solo Oscar for his score; the romantic comedy/drama Two for the Road (1967), starring Hepburn and Albert Finney; Charade (1963), the Hepburn/Cary Grant-led romantic comedy that earned Mancini and Mercer another Oscar nod for their title song; and Wait Until Dark (1967), the classic thriller starring Hepburn and Alan Arkin.