Cusser

[Cusser]

Since it's Christmas season, just wanted the newbies here (Cal - why am I still a "newbie"?) to know that Tommie Conner, who wrote the lyrics for "Story of a Soldier" is best known for the Christmas classic "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", unbelievable.  "Story of a Soldier" was apparently his last published work.

[Chasman]

Why do you say it was apprently his last published song? Where did you get that info? Just curious.

[Cusser]

Chas, I remember on the old Leone noard that someone actually researched this at the New York City library, to make sure it was the same Tommie Conner (it might be spelled Connor).  But evertime I hear that song (I play oldies radio at work, and it's on at least once a day this time of year) I just shake my head in amazement.

[caius]

sorry, but due to my youthful ignorance i don't quite know who tommie conner is and what story of a soldier is.  Its not a song on GBU is it, then i will feel throughly stupid

[Cal]

Since it's Christmas season, just wanted the newbies here (Cal - why am I still a "newbie"?) to know that Tommie Conner, who wrote the lyrics for "Story of a Soldier" is best known for the Christmas classic "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", unbelievable.  "Story of a Soldier" was apparently his last published work.

There are 5 levels of titles. You are a newbie until you hit 25 posts I think.

[Chasman]

sorry, but due to my youthful ignorance i don't quite know who tommie conner is and what story of a soldier is.  Its not a song on GBU is it, then i will feel throughly stupid

Tommie Connor was an British lyricist and songwriter. His most famous song is "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" although he was also known for the English lyrics he wrote for the song "Lili Marlene", originally a German poem that was turned into a song in 1938 and was first broadcast in 1941 over a radio station in Yugoslavia as part of the programming for the German's Africa Corp.  When the song also became popular among the British forces, an English-language  version was written by Connor.  He died in 1993. The song "Story of a soldier" a.k.a. A Soldier's Story" is the song sung by the Confederate soldiers while Wallace is beating up Tuco in the prison camp.

[caius]

since the dates of the civil war were 1861-1865 i doubt that Conner could have written the song for the civil war.  This may seem irrelevant but i was having a discussion with someone about how historically realistic Leone tried to make his movies, and this seems to be perfect evidence to contradict most arguments to say that he did.

[Cusser]

Personally, I think that it's just part of the mystique that Leone/Morricone decided to write a new song for the prison camp scene rather than use a "real" historical song, which really would've been easier.  I really think Leone was trying to get an anti-war message across, this was only 20 years after WW2.

[jouissance]

i love that song. it really pulls on the heart strings.

[caius]

Anti war message?  Which war, war in general or the WWII.  Or could he have been anticipating another US lead war, i.e. vietnam?

[caius]

WHAHAY, i'm a full member.

[KC]

Chas, I remember on the old Leone board that someone actually researched this at the New York City library, to make sure it was the same Tommie Conner (it might be spelled Connor).  

That was me ... and it's The New York Public Library (official name; it's a privately funded organization, open to the public. And I'm only finicky because I work there. )

Here's what I posted then (July 31, 2000):

OK ... here is the lowdown on Tommie Connor, from "You Must Remember This ... " : Popular Songwriters 1900-1980, by Mark White (New York: Scribner, c1985, p. 65-67): His full name is Thomas P. Connor, and he was born in Bloomsbury, London, on Nov. 16, 1904. His first published song (as lyricist) was in 1932. In the two decades following his breakthrough year, 1935, he had at least 10 chart-topping songs, including the English version of "Lili Marleen" (1944) and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (1952; Connor also wrote the music). Also:

"A writer of Tommie Connor's talent was much in demand in the theatre, in movies, and as a writer of special material for the famous. Between 1933 and 1977 he contributed lyrics for songs to more than 50 film musicals, his last commission being for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."

Tommie Connor died in 1993 (his obituary is in the London Times, Dec. 27, 1993).

That should settle that ...

KC

[Chasman]

Which only goes to show that if you check back long enough, the answer is bound to appear.

[Angel Eyes]

Anti war message?  Which war, war in general or the WWII.  Or could he have been anticipating another US lead war, i.e. vietnam?

the "story of a soldier" scene is meant to represent two things
1. nazi concentration camps of world war 2, where prisoners were tortured whilst their kinfolk were forced to play music to hide the screams of the tortured.
2.a POW camp in the states during the civil war where similar things happened, this is a famous incident from the civil war but the name of the camp and full story escape me, can our American cousins shed any light on this?

Leone used these allegorys a lot in most of his films.

[Cusser]

The most famous civil war POW camp was the southern camp Andersonville, where there were many atrocities.  I also read that Leone wanted the GBU camp to be similar to a WWII concentration camp, and that he also wanted to show a Union POW camp to show that it wasn't just the Confederacy that had bad POW camp conditions.