Constantin Bakaleinikoff
Encyclopedia
Constantin Romanovich Bakaleinikov, or Bakaleinikoff was a Russian-born composer
.
Bakaleinikoff was from a large musical family. His brothers were Nikolai Bakaleinikov (flautist
, composer and conductor), Vladimir Bakaleinikov
(violist
, composer and conductor), and Mikhail (Mischa) Bakaleinikoff
(composer). He studied at the Moscow Conservatory
. Following the Russian revolution he migrated to the United States of America with his brother Mischa. Constantin Bakaleinikoff worked as a conductor
for the Los Angeles Philharmonic
before beginning his Hollywood career as a freelance composer. At the 1927 premiere of Director Cecil B. DeMille
's The King of Kings at Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theater, which was hosted by D.W. Griffith and speakers DeMille and Mary Pickford
, the audience was treated to a concert of film music "classics" conducted by Constantin Bakaleinikoff.
With the arrival of sound, the Bakaleinikoff brothers became studio maestros. Mischa joined Columbia Pictures
, while Constantin became a musical director at Paramount Pictures
, followed by MGM
. Constantin also worked briefly at Columbia, and later for independent Grand National Pictures. He received his first Academy Award nomination for scoring the James Cagney
feature, Something to Sing About
.
Later, Bakaleinikoff became the senior music director at RKO Radio Pictures, where he spent most of his motion picture career. He earned Academy Award nominations for his work on The Fallen Sparrow, Higher and Higher
, and None But the Lonely Heart. For Alfred Hitchcock
's Notorious (1946)
, starring Cary Grant
and Ingrid Bergman
, he conducted the original score by composer Roy Webb
, one that complements the director's elements of suspense and danger throughout the film.
Constantin Bakaleinikoff, who was always billed as "C. Bakaleinikoff," appeared on camera as himself in RKO's backstage musical Ding Dong Williams (filmed 1945, released in April 1946).
He remained at RKO until the studio folded in 1956. He was married to silent film actress Fritzi Ridgeway
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Bakaleinikoff was from a large musical family. His brothers were Nikolai Bakaleinikov (flautist
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, composer and conductor), Vladimir Bakaleinikov
Vladimir Bakaleinikov
Vladimir Romanovich Bakaleinikov, also Bakaleynikov and Bakaleinikoff was a Russian-American violist, music educator, conductor and composer.Bakaleinikov, the son of a noted clarinetist, was from a large musical family who lived in poverty...
(violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, composer and conductor), and Mikhail (Mischa) Bakaleinikoff
Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Mikhail Romanovich Bakaleinikov or Mischa Bakaleinikoff was a noted musical director, film composer and conductor.-Personal life:Brother to Constantin, Nikolay and Vladimir, Bakaleinikoff was born in Moscow in 1890. He left Russia for the United States in 1926, and joined Columbia Studios's music...
(composer). He studied at the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
. Following the Russian revolution he migrated to the United States of America with his brother Mischa. Constantin Bakaleinikoff worked as a conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
for the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
before beginning his Hollywood career as a freelance composer. At the 1927 premiere of Director Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's The King of Kings at Hollywood's famed Grauman's Chinese Theater, which was hosted by D.W. Griffith and speakers DeMille and Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, the audience was treated to a concert of film music "classics" conducted by Constantin Bakaleinikoff.
With the arrival of sound, the Bakaleinikoff brothers became studio maestros. Mischa joined Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, while Constantin became a musical director at Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, followed by MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. Constantin also worked briefly at Columbia, and later for independent Grand National Pictures. He received his first Academy Award nomination for scoring the James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
feature, Something to Sing About
Something to Sing About (1937 film)
Something to Sing About, , re-released in 1947 as Battling Hoofer, is the second and final film James Cagney made for Grand National Pictures – the first being Great Guy – before mending relations with and returning to Warner Bros...
.
Later, Bakaleinikoff became the senior music director at RKO Radio Pictures, where he spent most of his motion picture career. He earned Academy Award nominations for his work on The Fallen Sparrow, Higher and Higher
Higher and Higher (film)
Higher and Higher is a 1943 musical film starring Michèle Morgan, Jack Haley, and Frank Sinatra, loosely based on a 1940 Broadway musical written by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan. The film, however, written by Jay Dratler and Ralph Spence with additional dialogue by William Bowers and Howard...
, and None But the Lonely Heart. For Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Notorious (1946)
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
, starring Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
and Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
, he conducted the original score by composer Roy Webb
Roy Webb
Roy Webb was a film music composer.Webb has hundreds of composing credits to his name, mainly with RKO Pictures, and while most of the movies he scored were fairly light in content, he is today best known for his dark horror and film noir scores...
, one that complements the director's elements of suspense and danger throughout the film.
Constantin Bakaleinikoff, who was always billed as "C. Bakaleinikoff," appeared on camera as himself in RKO's backstage musical Ding Dong Williams (filmed 1945, released in April 1946).
He remained at RKO until the studio folded in 1956. He was married to silent film actress Fritzi Ridgeway
Fritzi Ridgeway
Fritzi Ridgeway was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 63 films between 1916 and 1934...
.
Soundtracks
- Something to Sing About (1936) Grand National Pictures
- James Cagney
- The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) RKO Radio Pictures
- Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
- Tall in the Saddle (1941) RKO
- John Wayne
- The Big Street (1942) RKO
- Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball
- Stage Door Canteen (1943) RKO
- All-star cast
- Tarzan's Desert Mistery (1943) RKO
- Johnny Weismuller, Nancy Kelly, Johnny Sheffield
- Higher and Higher (1943) RKO
- "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" - Frank Sinatra, Stanley Wrightsman (Piano), The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "The Music Stopped" - Frank Sinatra, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "I Saw You First" - Frank Sinatra, Marcy McGuire, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" (With Orchestra) - Frank Sinatra, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" (Piano & Vocal) - Frank Sinatra, Stanley Wrightsman (Piano)
- "You're on Your Own" - Frank Sinatra, Dooley Wilson, Mel Tormé, Marcy McGuire, Michèle Morgan, Victor Borge, Cast, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "You're on Your Own" (Reprise) - Frank Sinatra, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Finale: I Saw You First/A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening/The Music Stopped" - Frank Sinatra, Marcy McGuire, Barbara Hale, Chorus, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- Step Lively (1944) RKO
- "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are" - Frank Sinatra, Gloria DeHaven, Chorus, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "As Long as There's Music" - Frank Sinatra, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Where Does Love Begin?" - Frank Sinatra, Anne Jeffreys, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Some Other Time" - Frank Sinatra, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Some Other Time" (Duet Version) - Frank Sinatra, Gloria DeHaven, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "And Then You Kissed Me" (Outtake) - Frank Sinatra, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Finale: As Long as There's Music/Some Other Time/As Long As There's Music/Where Does Love Begin?" - Frank Sinatra, Gloria DeHaven, George Murphy, Chorus, RKO Radio Studio Orchestrra, C. Bakaleinikoff
- Show Business (1944) RKO
- Eddie Cantor, Joan Davis, Nancy Kelly, Constance Moore, George Murphy
- Murder, My Sweet (1944) RKO
- Dick Powell, Claire Trevor
- Back To Bataan (1945) RKO
- John Wayne, Anthony Quinn
- Dick Tracy vs Cueball (1946) RKO
- Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys
- The Spiral Staircase (1946) RKO
- Dorothy McGuire, Ethel Barrymore, Rhonda Fleming
- Notorious (1946) RKO
- Gary Grant, Ingrid Bergman
- Ding Dong Williams (1946) RKO
- "Piano Concerto in A Minor, Opus 16" - Played by the RKO studio orchestra conducted by C. Bakaleinikoff with prodigy Richard Korbel at the piano
- Born To Kill (1947) RKO
- Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor
- Out of the Past (1947) RKO
- Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer
- Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) RKO
- Rosalind Russell, Michael Redgrave
- The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) RKO
- Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple
- Tycoon (1947) RKO
- John Wayne, Laraine Day
- Crossfire (1947) RKO
- Robert Young, Robert Mitchum
- Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House (1948) RKO
- Cary Grant, Myrna Loy
- I Remember Mama (1948) RKO
- Irene Dunne
- Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949)RKO
- Charles Laughton, Burgess Meredith
- The Set Up (1949) RKO
- Robert Ryan
- Mighty Joe Young (1949) RKO
- Terry Moore, Ben Johnson
- She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) RKO
- John Wayne
- Flying Leathernecks (1951) RKO
- John Wayne
- Double Dynamite (1951) RKO
- "It's Only Money" - Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Kisses And Tears" - Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- "Finale: It's Only Money" - Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx, Jane Russell, The RKO Radio Studio Orchestra, Constantin Bakaleinikoff
- Macao (1952) RKO
- Robert Mitchem, Jane Russell
- Clash at Night (1952) RKO
- Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe
- The Hitch Hiker (1953) RKO
- Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy
- Susan Slept Here (1954) RKO
- Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds
- The Conqueror (1956) RKO
- John Wayne, Susan Hayward
- The Bachelor Party (1957) United Artist
- Carolyn Jones, Don Murray, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden
- St. Louis Blues (1958) Paramount
- "Saint Louis Blues" - Performed by Nat 'King' Cole and Pearl Bailey
-
- Later sung by Eartha Kitt, then Nat 'King' Cole, with orchestra conducted on-screen by C. Bakaleinikoff