Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
Love Is a Many Splendored Thing is a pop song composed by Sammy Fain and written by Paul Francis Webster for the feature film of the same name . The first interpretation comes from the Four Aces , in this version it was the first theme song of a film that reached number one on the Billboard sales charts in 1955 .
backgrounds
Film producer Buddy Allen hired Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster to write the theme song for his feature film A Many-Splendored Thing, starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones . When Fain wanted to present the result to the producer, he informed him that the film title had been changed to Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing . Fain then wrote a new melody, which was included in the soundtrack with the approval of the composer commissioned with the film music, Alfred Newman . The original version was never recorded.
With a demo of the song, well-known and successful contemporary artists such as Eddie Fisher , Tony Martin , Doris Day and Nat King Cole were asked to record the song, but all declined. The choice finally fell on The Four Aces , which recorded their version in 1955 and thus reached number one on the US charts in October of that year, held the top position for six weeks and was listed on the Billboard charts for 21 weeks. The title became the most played song on the radio in 1955 and was ranked 7th on the best-selling records of the year. At the 1956 Academy Awards , the song won the Best Song category .
Title and reception
A Many Splendored Thing is the title of a book by Han Suyin published in 1952. Based on the book, Henry King made the film Love is a Many Splendored Thing in 1955 . For their song Love is a Many Splendored Thing , arranged by Alfred Newman , Sammy Fain (music) and Paul Francis Webster (text) received an Oscar . In addition to the film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing , the song can be heard in the musical Grease in a romantic beach scene with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John . Ringo Starr recorded the title in 1970 for his first solo album Sentimental Journey .
Love is a Many Splendored Thing is the title of a soap that was shown on US television from 1967 to 1973.
After the success of the Four Aces version, all of the artists who initially rejected the song recorded their version.
literature
- Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Billboard Books, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8230-7677-2 , pp. 3 .