Pleasantville (film)
Encyclopedia
Pleasantville is a 1998 American fantasy comedy-drama
film written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross
. The film stars Tobey Maguire
, Reese Witherspoon
, William H. Macy
, Joan Allen
, Marley Shelton
and Jeff Daniels
. Don Knotts
, Paul Walker
, Jane Kaczmarek
, and J. T. Walsh
are also featured.
The film was released in the United States by New Line Cinema
through Warner Bros.
on October 23, 1998. This was J. T. Walsh's last film, released after his death.
) and his sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon
) are siblings leading dramatically different high school social lives. Jennifer is shallow and extroverted, while David is shy, introverted and spends most of his time watching television. One evening while their mother (Jane Kaczmarek
) is away from home, David and Jennifer fight over the use of the downstairs TV; Jennifer wants to watch an MTV
concert, while David needs the TV in order to watch a marathon of his favorite show, Pleasantville, a black and white 1958 sitcom that centers around the idyllic Parker family. During their fight, the remote control breaks and the TV cannot be turned on manually.
A mysterious TV repairman (Don Knotts
) shows up uninvited, and quizzes David on Pleasantville before giving him a strange-looking remote control. The repairman leaves, and David and Jennifer promptly resume fighting. However, they are somehow transported into the television. David and Jennifer find themselves in the Parkers' black and white Pleasantville living room. David tries to reason with the repairman (who communicates with him through the Parkers' television set) but succeeds only in chasing him away. David and Jennifer must now pretend they are, respectively, Bud and Mary Sue Parker, two of the main characters in the show.
David and Jennifer witness the wholesome nature of the town, such as a group of firemen rescuing a cat out of a tree. David tells Jennifer that they must stay "in character" and not disrupt the lives of the Pleasantville citizens, who do not notice any physical differences between the old Bud and Mary Sue and David and Jennifer. In order to keep the show's plot in line, Jennifer agrees to go on a date with a boy from high school, but during it she has sex with the boy, a concept entirely unknown to him and everyone else in the town.
Slowly, things in Pleasantville begin changing from black and white into color, including flowers and the faces of people who have experienced bursts of passion or change. Meanwhile, David becomes friends with Mr. Johnson (Jeff Daniels
), owner of the local soda fountain
, and introduces him to colorful modern art via a book from the library, sparking in him an interest in painting. Johnson and Bud Parker's mother, Betty, fall in love, causing her to leave home, throwing George Parker, Bud and Mary Sue's father, into complete confusion. The only people who remain unchanged are the town fathers, led by the Mayor, Big Bob (J.T. Walsh), who sees the changes as eating away at the moral values of Pleasantville. They resolve to do something about their increasingly independent wives and the rebellious teenagers.
As the townsfolk slowly becomes more colorful and passionate, they also discover more unsavory aspects of 20th century human culture, such as racial segregation
, expressing itself as a ban in some public venues on "colored" people. Eventually a riot is touched off by a nude painting of Betty on the window of Mr. Johnson’s soda fountain. The soda fountain is destroyed, piles of books are burned
, and anyone who is "colored" is harassed in the streets. As a reaction, the town fathers announce a list of rules preventing people from visiting the library, playing loud music, or using paint colors other than black, white or gray. In protest, David and Mr. Johnson paint a colorful mural on a brick wall, depicting things relevant to the changes in their world, but are arrested. Brought to trial in front of the entire town, David and Mr. Johnson defend their actions, eventually arousing enough anger and indignation in Big Bob that the Mayor himself becomes colored as well.
With this, the entire town becomes colored, and the people of Pleasantville are finally introduced to the rest of the world. Televisions at the repair shop now display full-colored images of various scenic vistas around the world; Main Street, which had previously been a circuit looping back on itself, now leads away to other streets, and ultimately to other towns and cities as well.
Having seen Pleasantville changed irrevocably for the better, Jennifer chooses to stay behind in the alternate world for a while to finish her education, but David returns to the real world using the remote control.
. The black-and-white meets color world portrayed in the movie was filmed entirely in color and selectively desaturated and contrast adjusted digitally. The work was done in Los Angeles by Cinesite
utilizing a Spirit DataCine
for scanning at 2K resolution
states, "This movie is about the fact that personal repression gives rise to larger political oppression...That when we're afraid of certain things in ourselves or we're afraid of change, we project those fears on to other things, and a lot of very ugly social situations can develop".
Robert Beuka says in his book SuburbiaNation, "Pleasantville is a morality tale concerning the values of contemporary suburban America by holding that social landscape up against both the Utopian and the dystopian visions of suburbia that emerged in the 1950s".
Robert McDaniel of Film and History described the town as the perfect place, "It never rains, the highs and lows rest at 72 degrees, the fire department exists only to rescue treed cats, and the basketball team never misses the hoop." However, McDaniel says, "Pleasantville is a false hope. David's journey tells him only that there is no "right" life, no model for how things are "supposed to be'".
reported that 86% of 83 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 7.5 out of 10. Roger Ebert
gave the film four out of four stars calling it "one of the best and most original films of the year".
The film was nominated for the following achievements:
Pleseantville was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Fantasy Films list.
" by Gene Vincent
, "Take Five
" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
, and "At Last
" by Etta James
. The main score was composed by Randy Newman
; he received an Oscar nomination in the original music category
. The soundtrack also includes two songs by Fiona Apple
.
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
film written, produced, and directed by Gary Ross
Gary Ross
Gary Ross is an American writer, director, and actor. He is best known for directing Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, both of which featured Tobey Maguire in the lead role...
. The film stars Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
, Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
, William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
, Joan Allen
Joan Allen
Joan Allen is an American actress. She worked in theatre, television and film during her early career, and achieved recognition for her Broadway debut in Burn This, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 1989.She has received three Academy Award nominations;...
, Marley Shelton
Marley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...
and Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
. Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
, Paul Walker
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...
, Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. Kaczmarek is a three-time Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy Award nominee...
, and J. T. Walsh
J. T. Walsh
James Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh was an American character actor. He appeared in many well-known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street, Breakdown, and Good Morning, Vietnam.Walsh was known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs"...
are also featured.
The film was released in the United States by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
through Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
on October 23, 1998. This was J. T. Walsh's last film, released after his death.
Plot
David (Tobey MaguireTobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
) and his sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
) are siblings leading dramatically different high school social lives. Jennifer is shallow and extroverted, while David is shy, introverted and spends most of his time watching television. One evening while their mother (Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. Kaczmarek is a three-time Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy Award nominee...
) is away from home, David and Jennifer fight over the use of the downstairs TV; Jennifer wants to watch an MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
concert, while David needs the TV in order to watch a marathon of his favorite show, Pleasantville, a black and white 1958 sitcom that centers around the idyllic Parker family. During their fight, the remote control breaks and the TV cannot be turned on manually.
A mysterious TV repairman (Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
) shows up uninvited, and quizzes David on Pleasantville before giving him a strange-looking remote control. The repairman leaves, and David and Jennifer promptly resume fighting. However, they are somehow transported into the television. David and Jennifer find themselves in the Parkers' black and white Pleasantville living room. David tries to reason with the repairman (who communicates with him through the Parkers' television set) but succeeds only in chasing him away. David and Jennifer must now pretend they are, respectively, Bud and Mary Sue Parker, two of the main characters in the show.
David and Jennifer witness the wholesome nature of the town, such as a group of firemen rescuing a cat out of a tree. David tells Jennifer that they must stay "in character" and not disrupt the lives of the Pleasantville citizens, who do not notice any physical differences between the old Bud and Mary Sue and David and Jennifer. In order to keep the show's plot in line, Jennifer agrees to go on a date with a boy from high school, but during it she has sex with the boy, a concept entirely unknown to him and everyone else in the town.
Slowly, things in Pleasantville begin changing from black and white into color, including flowers and the faces of people who have experienced bursts of passion or change. Meanwhile, David becomes friends with Mr. Johnson (Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
), owner of the local soda fountain
Soda fountain
A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores...
, and introduces him to colorful modern art via a book from the library, sparking in him an interest in painting. Johnson and Bud Parker's mother, Betty, fall in love, causing her to leave home, throwing George Parker, Bud and Mary Sue's father, into complete confusion. The only people who remain unchanged are the town fathers, led by the Mayor, Big Bob (J.T. Walsh), who sees the changes as eating away at the moral values of Pleasantville. They resolve to do something about their increasingly independent wives and the rebellious teenagers.
As the townsfolk slowly becomes more colorful and passionate, they also discover more unsavory aspects of 20th century human culture, such as racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
, expressing itself as a ban in some public venues on "colored" people. Eventually a riot is touched off by a nude painting of Betty on the window of Mr. Johnson’s soda fountain. The soda fountain is destroyed, piles of books are burned
Book burning
Book burning, biblioclasm or libricide is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material and media. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
, and anyone who is "colored" is harassed in the streets. As a reaction, the town fathers announce a list of rules preventing people from visiting the library, playing loud music, or using paint colors other than black, white or gray. In protest, David and Mr. Johnson paint a colorful mural on a brick wall, depicting things relevant to the changes in their world, but are arrested. Brought to trial in front of the entire town, David and Mr. Johnson defend their actions, eventually arousing enough anger and indignation in Big Bob that the Mayor himself becomes colored as well.
With this, the entire town becomes colored, and the people of Pleasantville are finally introduced to the rest of the world. Televisions at the repair shop now display full-colored images of various scenic vistas around the world; Main Street, which had previously been a circuit looping back on itself, now leads away to other streets, and ultimately to other towns and cities as well.
Having seen Pleasantville changed irrevocably for the better, Jennifer chooses to stay behind in the alternate world for a while to finish her education, but David returns to the real world using the remote control.
Cast
- Tobey MaguireTobey MaguireTobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire is an American actor and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, and has achieved his greatest fame for his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.-Early life:...
as David: He is a high school misfit who feels out of place in the 1990s. He has few friends and is too shy to speak to girls. He feels more at home in the idealized world of the sitcom Pleasantville. - Reese WitherspoonReese WitherspoonLaura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Jennifer: David's more confident twin sister; more concerned with boys and being popular than academics. - Giuseppe AndrewsGiuseppe AndrewsGiuseppe Andrews is an American film actor, writer, and director known for his roles as Lex in the 1999 film Detroit Rock City, a bizarre sheriff's deputy in Cabin Fever , a small role in Never Been Kissed , as well as appearances in The Smashing Pumpkins videos "1979" and "Perfect".Andrews has...
as Howard: David's best friend who loves the sitcom Pleasantville as much as David. - Jenny LewisJenny LewisJennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...
and Marissa RibisiMarissa RibisiMarissa Ribisi is an American actress. She has performed in the films Dazed and Confused, True Crime, The Brady Bunch Movie, Pleasantville, and Don's Plum and television shows such as Felicity, Friends, Grace Under Fire, Watching Ellie, and Tales of the City.-Early life:Ribisi was born Santina...
as Christin and Kimmy: Jennifer's closest girlfriends. - Jane KaczmarekJane KaczmarekJane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. Kaczmarek is a three-time Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy Award nominee...
as David and Jennifer's mother: the opposite of the mother character on David's beloved Pleasantville, she never cooks or cleans house. - Don KnottsDon KnottsJesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
as a TV repairman: the repairman grants David's wish to be a part of Pleasantville. - Kevin ConnorKevin ConnorKevin Connor may refer to:*Kevin Connor , film and TV director*Kevin Connor , Australian...
and Natalie RamseyNatalie RamseyNatalie Ramsey is a television actress. She currently stars in the television series Beyond the Break as Lacey Farmer. She has also starred in Cruel Intentions 3 and Cherry Falls.-External links:...
as Bud and Mary Sue Parker: The main characters on Pleasantville. - William H. MacyWilliam H. MacyWilliam Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
as George Parker: Bud and Mary's dad, a 1950s working father stereotype. - Joan AllenJoan AllenJoan Allen is an American actress. She worked in theatre, television and film during her early career, and achieved recognition for her Broadway debut in Burn This, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 1989.She has received three Academy Award nominations;...
as Betty Parker: Bud and Mary's mom, a 1950s housewife stereotype. - Jeff DanielsJeff DanielsJeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
as Bill Johnson: a soda shop owner. - J. T. WalshJ. T. WalshJames Thomas Patrick "J. T." Walsh was an American character actor. He appeared in many well-known films, including Nixon, Hoffa, A Few Good Men, Backdraft, Miracle on 34th Street, Breakdown, and Good Morning, Vietnam.Walsh was known for his roles as "quietly sinister white-collar sleazeballs"...
as Big Bob: Pleasantville's mayor with McCarthyismMcCarthyismMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
tendencies. - Marley SheltonMarley SheltonMarley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...
as Margaret Henderson: A high school cheerleader on Pleasantville and David's love interest. - David TomDavid TomDavid Tom is an American actor.-Career:In 1993, Tom was nominated for two Young Artist Awards for his roles in Stepfather III and Stay Tuned...
as Whitey: Margaret's love-interest in the original storyline of the Pleasantville sitcom. - Paul WalkerPaul WalkerPaul William Walker IV is an American actor. He became well known in 1999 after his role in the hit film Varsity Blues. He is also known for starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious. His other films include Joy Ride, Running Scared, Into the Blue and Eight Below...
as Skip Martin: The basketball captain for the high school on Pleasantville and the obtuse love interest for Jennifer. - Dawn Cody, Maggie LawsonMaggie LawsonMargaret "Maggie" Lawson is an American actress who is best known for her role as Juliet O'Hara in the TV show Psych...
, and Andrea Taylor as Betty Jean, Lisa Anne, and Peggy Jane: Mary Sue's friends on Pleasantville.
Production
This was the first time the majority of a new feature film was scanned, processed, and recorded digitallyDigital intermediate
Digital intermediate is a motion picture finishing process which classically involves digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics. It often replaces or augments the photochemical timing process and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie...
. The black-and-white meets color world portrayed in the movie was filmed entirely in color and selectively desaturated and contrast adjusted digitally. The work was done in Los Angeles by Cinesite
Cinesite
Cinesite Ltd is a digital visual effects and post-production facility in London and one of the largest such companies in Europe...
utilizing a Spirit DataCine
Spirit DataCine
Spirit DataCine is a telecine and/or a motion picture film scanner. This device is able to transfer 16mm and 35mm motion picture film to NTSC or PAL standards or one of many High-definition television standards. With the data transfer option a Spirit DataCine can output DPX data files. The Spirit...
for scanning at 2K resolution
Themes
Director Gary RossGary Ross
Gary Ross is an American writer, director, and actor. He is best known for directing Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, both of which featured Tobey Maguire in the lead role...
states, "This movie is about the fact that personal repression gives rise to larger political oppression...That when we're afraid of certain things in ourselves or we're afraid of change, we project those fears on to other things, and a lot of very ugly social situations can develop".
Robert Beuka says in his book SuburbiaNation, "Pleasantville is a morality tale concerning the values of contemporary suburban America by holding that social landscape up against both the Utopian and the dystopian visions of suburbia that emerged in the 1950s".
Robert McDaniel of Film and History described the town as the perfect place, "It never rains, the highs and lows rest at 72 degrees, the fire department exists only to rescue treed cats, and the basketball team never misses the hoop." However, McDaniel says, "Pleasantville is a false hope. David's journey tells him only that there is no "right" life, no model for how things are "supposed to be'".
Reception
Film review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 86% of 83 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 7.5 out of 10. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film four out of four stars calling it "one of the best and most original films of the year".
Awards and nominations
The film won the following accolades:- Saturn AwardSaturn AwardThe Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
s (1998)- Best Performance by a Younger Actor/Actress—Tobey Maguire
- Best Supporting Actress—Joan Allen
- Boston Society of Film Critics Award (1998)
- Best Supporting Actor—William H. Macy
- Best Supporting Actress—Joan Allen
The film was nominated for the following achievements:
- Academy Awards (1998)
- Best Art Direction/Set Decoration —Jeannine Claudia Oppewall and Jay Hart
- Best Costume Design—Judianna Makovsky
- Best Music, Original Dramatic Score—Randy NewmanRandy NewmanRandall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
Pleseantville was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Fantasy Films list.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack features music from the 1950s and 1960s such as "Be-Bop-A-LulaBe-Bop-A-Lula
"Be-Bop-A-Lula" is a rockabilly song first recorded in 1956 by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.-Origins of the song:The writing of the song is credited to Gene Vincent and his manager, Bill "Sheriff Tex" Davis. There is evidence that the song was started in 1955, when Vincent was recuperating from...
" by Gene Vincent
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
, "Take Five
Take Five
"Take Five" is a jazz piece written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, this piece became one of the group's best-known records, famous for its...
" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet is an American jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
, and "At Last
At Last
"At Last" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford. It was performed in the film and on record by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, with vocals by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday...
" by Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
. The main score was composed by Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
; he received an Oscar nomination in the original music category
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
. The soundtrack also includes two songs by Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
.