Alex North

Artist: Alex North

LP: The Misfits

Song: "Main Theme"

[ listen ]

Sarah and I arrived at Rag and Bone 2 just a few minutes before they closed, but it was long enough for me to find this soundtrack for the 1961 film THE MISFITS and a neat old gypsy music LP. THE MISFITS was not an easy film to make, as you can read here, but it's one of the best films of the 1960s. It is Marilyn Monroe's last completed film, and also the last film starring Clark Gable, who died of a heart-attack shortly after filming was completed. You can find reviews for THE MISFITS here. Alex North's Main Theme for THE MISFITS is a highly dramatic piece of music, and could have additionally served as the soundtrack for the scenario that unfolded as the movers were trying to get Sarah's piano out of her second-story apartment on the day before our trip to the Oregon coast. Her instrument was lodged in the building's front stairwell for over four hours. Highly dramatic! Alex North was one of the first composers in Hollywood to write a jazzy film score—for this film. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards between 1951 and 1984, but his name was never the one pulled out of the envelope on stage. The Academy finally gave him one of those Oscars they hand out to elderly people who've been nominated an embarrassing number of times without ever winning, even though they usually deserved it way more than the folks who actually ended up with the coveted statue. You can read about Alex North's life and career here and go here to visit the Alex North website maintained by his family.

[ Alex North: December 4, 1910 — September 8, 1991 ]

 [ Rag and Bone 2 — Seaside, OR ]