It starts to melt the ice and break down the barriers between him and his new acquaintance. There’s a disarming approachability about him. When he steps into the bustling restaurant and eyes Milly in the one booth with an extra seat, he makes his way over. He’s still fresh-faced and Autumn Leaves was his second truly substantial movie role after the movie adaptation of Picnic with William Holden. Cliff Robertson was from the east coast and an actor forged out of his training at the Actor’s Studio. We have yet to meet our other primary player. “Autumn Leaves” feels less like a gimmick to cash in on the season’s newest love song, and it starts to pervade and then slowly suffuse throughout the entire movie until it becomes the tactful accent to almost every scene of the ensuing romance.īecause this all feels like a prelude. It felt so reminiscent of a scene in Penny Serenade where music, whether live or on vinyl somehow fills up the human heart and carries with it so many easily-tapped emotions. There’s a moment in Autumn Leaves as Crawford sits in an audience, the lights go out so the spotlight is only on her, and the pianist on the stage takes her back into her memories. When she goes out to a show or dinner, she’s comfortable going alone - it doesn’t feel foreign to her - and she enjoys her time in solitude. Although she leads a solitary existence alone, she’s buddy-buddy with her landlady and seems generally contented with life. She’s known for her typing speed, working from home before it was en vogue, and banging out manuscripts for thankful clients. It presents the consummate leading lady with a lighter more congenial personality - the kind of Joan Crawford who seems easier to connect with. Photos courtesy of Pixabay, used under a Creative Commons CC0 license.You might not immediately connect Joan Crawford and Nat King Cole, but his brand of velvet crooning provides a fine backdrop (and namesake) for Autumn Leaves. So what do you think? Which one do you prefer? I found a pretty good English translation of the Prévert’s original lyrics here: “Autumn Leaves”Īnd the sun burned more than it does today.įallen leaves can be picked up by the shovelful.įallen leaves can be picked up by the shovelful,Ĭompare the above to Johnny Mercer’s lyrics below, which connote wistfulness and longing, but not the somber feeling of the original French version: Now listen to Nat Cole’s version of “Autumn Leaves” in English: “ (Cole also recorded a version in French, but his French accent is even worse than his Spanish one, unfortunately.) Listen and compare Montand’s “ Les Feuilles Mortes” with Nat Cole’s recording of “ Autumn Leaves. Somehow, the French version sung by Yves Montand has always struck me as darker and sadder. In general, I find that the English versions lack the emotional depth of Prévert’s original. Johnny Mercer penned the most popular English version, recorded by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and others. Interestingly, many English variations of the lyrics exist as loose translations of the original poem. “ Les Feuilles Mortes” was originally set to music written by Joseph Kosma for another one of Carné’s films, Les Portes de la Nuit ( The Gates of the Night). Yves Montand, among other French chansonniers, recorded entire albums of Prévert’s poems. The 1945 French original was called “ Les Feuilles Mortes” (as in “Dead Leaves,” which might be more appropriately translated to “Dry Leaves” or “Still Leaves”), with lyrics penned by Jacques Prévert. The French poet and screenwriter ran with the bohemian left bank set after World War II and found fame writing the screenplay of Marcel Carné’s epic film, Les Enfants du Paradis ( Children of Paradise). “ Autumn Leaves“ has been covered many times by different singers. My previous shows in 20 featured seasonal playlists, so I thought I’d focus on one of my favorite autumnal songs this time around-the classic “Autumn Leaves.” That’s probably why we find so many bittersweet songs about the fall season. Some of the poets I read in school equated the coming of autumn, cold weather, and snow with impending death. Others lament the passing of long, summer days and warm, sunny weather. Some people love fall, especially in places where the autumn foliage explodes into a rhapsody of reds and oranges. It’s hard to believe that autumn will be here in just a few days, but the fading light of dusk has already begun to signal the end of summer.
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