Modern conducting batons are generally made of lightweight wood, fiberglass, or carbon fiber. A steel baton? Even Google AI gets tripped up on the concept. “There is no record of a widely recognized, famous, modern orchestral conductor specifically known for using a steel baton in their professional career.”
If not for Rhapsody of Steel, an animated industrial short film sponsored by U.S. Steel with music by Dimitri Tiomkin, it’s unlikely that one would ever have existed.
The impetus was a rare appearance in December 1959 of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) at the Stanley Theatre where Tiomkin conducted prior to the world premiere of the film.
Reviewers responded, “Provocatively stimulating in conception and brilliant in execution” “the entire production is made more powerful by the score composed and conducted by Dimitri Tiomkin and played by the Pittsburgh Symphony.”
U.S. Steel chairman Roger M. Blough presented the steel baton that Tiomkin would wield for the “Overture” preceding the film.
Wait. An overture performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony for an animated industrial short film at the world premiere? Nothing about that sentence seems normal. And it wasn’t. The film’s exploitation mimicked that of a full-length commercial feature. The premiere had klieg lights, film celebrities, marquee interviews, radio and TV coverage, and was reviewed in the trade papers. A children’s book version and a soundtrack album were also released.
In fact, there was no feature presentation at the premiere, this short film—billed as a featurette—was it. Preceded by a gala reception in the theater lobby, the program opened at 5:45 p.m. with a welcome address by Leslie B. Worthington, the newly-elected president of U.S. Steel.
Blough then handed Tiomkin “the most durable award you’ll ever receive” and with it the composer entered the elevated pit to face the orchestra to conduct his arrangement of a concert suite in the form an overture of the music from the soon to be seen film. The audience would hear the Pittsburgh Symphony perform live in the hall and then hear the same performers previously recorded performance of the underscore on the soundtrack—this screening would mark the debut of the group for a film score.
The suite contained more than the music from the film. The Pittsburgh Symphony was joined onstage by the Wilber De Paris Dixieland combo, complete with slide trombone, banjo, and cornet. Why Dixieland? A recent stroll through a steel mill inspired Tiomkin to write for the unique instruments of the combo to gain the effect he sought.
Two months prior, Tiomkin was sitting in Jimmy Ryan’s jazz club, located in the basement of a brownstone near the New York Hilton. Trombonist Wilbur de Paris was a regular, known for his mash up of Dixieland and swing. (He would later arrange Duke Ellington’s music for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club.) Tiomkin fell in love with the sound, so he decided to incorporate the group, flown in from New York for the occasion.
A reviewer wrote, “Tiomkin captured the sounds as well as the atmosphere of a steel mill in the overture. From soft, silvery tones, the score proceeded through a brassy crescendo to a climax by the combo, whose members wore steelworkers’ helmets bearing the U.S.S. insignia.”
How did the Dixieland Band fit in? Tiomkin left behind a road map for the Overture, as follows. Three excerpts from the Main Title; four excerpts from reel 1, part 5; two excerpts from reel 1, part 6, followed by 11 bars of new music to precede the entrance of the “Dixie Land Band.” The orchestra then sat out during the Band’s performance until cued to return. Two excerpts from reel 1, part 7, were used in A-B-A (extended) form before the End Title was performed in its entirety.
The Overture would be reprised by the same performers later that same evening at a dinner-dance at the brand spanking new Pittsburgh Hilton.
Following the premiere, Pittsburgh society—Heinz, as in ketchup; Hunt, as in Alcoa, Rockell, as in Rockwell International, and so on—made their way to the Hilton Hotel. The evening functioned as a fundraiser for the symphony, the nearly 1,500 guests at $75 per seat brought in more than $100,000. A food writer for the local paper wrote, “Highlight of the evening was the dessert served to the introduction of Dimitri Tiomkin’s ‘Rhapsody of Steel’ overture. The dining room was darkened as the waiters carried in the flaming dishes. This, an elegant concoction of vanilla ice cream and fresh peaches, flamed with a mixture of Southern Comfort and Cognac.”
In fact, the packed theater drew many of the same folk in town for the Hilton opening, including the man himself, hotelier Conrad Hilton. Guests included Sid Caeser, Leo Carillo, Robert Cummings, Audrey Meadows, Lauritz Melchoir, and Cornel Wilde. Also present were representatives and employees from U.S. Steel, the Jam Handy Organization, and John Sutherland Productions.
John Sutherland Productions, based in Los Angeles, specialized in creating sponsored films from A Is for Atom for G.E. to The Spray’s the Thing for DuPont. Rhapsody of Steel is among Sutherland’s best-known works. Captain Kangaroo fans will recognize the many short films the company provided for the TV show, such as “Oops, I Made a Mistake,” that found use in Head Start programs.
The company’s namesake, John Sutherland, was a producer and writer who learned his craft making military training films during World War II. For Rhapsody, he hired director Carl Urbano. Before Urbano came aboard, Peter Burnes of “Mr. Magoo” fame was scheduled to direct. Good timing came into play when Sutherland scooped up art director Eyvind Earle, laid off from Disney soon after his exceptional background art for Sleeping Beauty was in theaters.
Sutherland supplied films, including Rhapsody of Steel, to the Jam Handy Organization, a producer of commercially sponsored motion pictures. The Detroit company dominated the market between the mid-1930s to mid-1960s. Chevrolet, General Motors, Whirlpool and many other industrial giants were clients. Founder Henry Jamison “Jam” Handy was an American Olympic breaststroke swimmer and water polo player.
Sponsored films are movies produced by a company or organization for a specific purpose, such as promoting a product, rather than as a work of art for a paying audience. Unlike theatrical films, they were often shown for free to specific groups such as schoolchildren, employees, or members of clubs.
That made the film play more like a commercial to some even as others marveled that it was among the best educational films ever made. The venerable film critic Philip K. Scheuer broke his tradition to not review institutional films, calling Rhapsody of Steel, “one of the most colorful, instructive and entertaining animated cartoons (23 minutes) I have seen, highly deserving of public screenings.” The only evidence of the corporate sponsorship can be seen in the final frame, “A presentation of U.S. Steel.”
U.S. Steel has a long history of sponsoring films and television programs. As early as 1913, the film, An American in the Making, was produced under the direction of the company. Notable was the anthology television series, “The U.S. Steel Hour,” broadcast from 1953 to 1963. (Guests Caesar and Meadows made appearances on that show earlier in the week of the premiere of Rhapsody of Steel.)
Other U.S. Steel sponsored films at the time of Rhapsody of Steel have a more educational bent, witness Fence Building the Modern Way, According to Webster, and Modern Trends in Swine Production.
Recently, the company has sponsored HGTV Smart Home 2024, participated in episodes of shows like Military Makeover with Montel, and featured in programs such Inside the Blueprint on Bloomberg TV.
U.S. Steel and John Sutherland Productions had teamed up before with Jonah and the Highway, a 25-minute, black-and-white 16mm sound film released in 1958. The cast included onscreen husband and wife Craig Stevens and Lola Albright supported by Alan Hale Jr., Robert Armstrong, and Hal Stalmaster.
The next time Stevens and Albright were seen on screen was on the now iconic television series with Stevens as private detective Peter Gunn and Albright as his girlfriend. And Alan Hale Jr. moved on to the role of “The Skipper” on Gilligan’s Island. Jonah and the Highway served to recruit engineers and workers for the construction of the Interstate Highway System (U.S. Steel was one of the contractors for the project).
READ: A “Rhapsody Of Steel” on Labor Day by Jonathan Boschen
An anticipated 6,000 playdates for the 23-minute film were possible because the sponsored film was offered rent free to exhibitors.
When Tiomkin was hired in August 1958, PSO conductor William Steinberg was named to conduct the recording session for the film. Being paid to write a continuous music score was a challenge for Tiomkin, who typically composed in multiple shorter segments for films. For the film, the composer broke the continuous score into seven parts.
Reel 1, Part 1, Main Title
Reel 1, Part 2, The Meteor
Reel 1, Part 3, Iron Age
Reel 1, Part 4, Discovery of Steel
Reel 1, Part 5, Transition and Modern Steel
Reel 1, Part 6, Mr. Gleep
Reel 1, Part 7, Steel’s Future and End Title
(Modern CDs break the tracks down into four somewhat equal in length parts.)
Tiomkin’s only prior experience with animation was for the 1953 film, The Four Poster.
The film featured animated sequences under the opening credits and between each act. The interscenes, which advanced the story, were created by United Productions of America studios.
Tiomkin selected G.A. Emanuel, Maurice de Packh, George Parrish, and Herb Taylor as orchestrators for the score completed between February 2 and April 7, 1959.
FURTHER READING: Herb Taylor co-creator of Mr & Mrs T® Bloody Mary Mix
In late March 1959, it was Tiomkin, not Steinberg, who would rehearse the PSO at the Syria Mosque and conduct the recording session. Long since demolished, the Shriners building served as an auditorium that was the longtime home of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Two weeks before the premiere, a press screening was held at the Academy Awards Theatre in Los Angeles hosted by Sutherland and Tiomkin followed by dinner at Chasen’s restaurant. U.S. Steel vice president Bennett Chapple Jr. flew in from Pittsburgh. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, calling the film “exceptional entertainment,” sat between director Howard Hawks and Life journalist David Zeitlin.
The clever film depicts a meteor bringing iron to earth. The film “hits the important highlights of the history of steel,” and “ends with the metal from heaven returning to outer space (whence it came) in the form of a space-rocket.”
At a special screening for the Utah Symphony at the Utah Theater in Salt Lake City a second steel baton was presented, this one to conductor Maurice Abravanel by local U.S. Steel reps L. F. Black and Alex Walker Jr.
Exploitation extended beyond the steel batons and the film itself. At Joske’s department store in San Antonio the fourth floor was converted to a makeshift theater, thousands of items in every department were tagged to show their steel content, and special exhibits demonstrated the use of steel in everyday life at a time of increasing steel imports and alternatives such as aluminum.
And what became of the previously mentioned soundtrack album? Local Pittsburgh radio stations broadcast the album when it was still in its promotional stage and not available for purchase. The original promotional mono LP soundtrack was issued by US Steel (USS) under the label ADUCO 804RM5-59 (matrix numbers JB-502/3). This appears to be the only sound recording published by ADUCO, the publishing arm of USS and frequent publisher of technical and/or promotional materials related to steel products with sexy publication titles, such as Hot Rolled Steel Shapes and Plates.
The album included the music score with and without the narration from the film spoken by Gary Merrill. Merrill had served as one of the narrators for the 1948 documentary, Strange Victory. Merrill’s deep voice, while solemn, smoky, and a bit rough-edged could convey an unwavering calmness. The tone and cadence of the dramatic commentary for Rhapsody of Steel will sound familiar to Baby Boomers weaned on educational films of the period.
The same content, the score with and without narration, are found on two releases on compact disc (CD), the first in 1996 by Pantheon (5P2J/55.1/2) followed by Kritzerland (KR 20014-6) in 2010. Further proof of the enduring popularity of the film and Tiomkin’s music score.
Before and after the premiere, Tiomkin made the most of his stay in Pittsburgh. He regaled members of the Variety Club at a luncheon filled with true stories from Hollywood and could be seen at Horne’s department store signing copies of his recently released autobiography, Please Don’t Hate Me.
Rhapsody of Steel stayed on at the Stanley in the more traditional role of a short film preceding the feature, in this case, A Summer Place.
A 2013 revival of the film at the Trust Arts Education Center featured the film remastered by the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.
Wouldn’t it be fun to recreate the premiere and Hilton festivities on the 70th anniversary in Pittsburgh in 2029!? Who wouldn’t want to be served peaches and ice cream while being entertained by the PSO and a Dixieland band playing the “Overture” to Rhapsody of Steel?.
Sources
“Hedda Hopper in Hollywood,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 28, 1958. On John Sutherland.
“‘Jonah And The Highway’ Film To Be Shown May 16,” Enterprise News-American, May 8, 1958.
“Steel History Film Planned,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, September 9, 1958.
“Symphony Makes Tape: ‘Rhapsody of Steel,’” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, March 27, 1959. On rehearsing the score.
Cohen, Harold V. “The Drama Desk,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 14, 1959. On Tiomkin first hearing Wilbur de Paris.
“Hedda Hopper: Huston Would Star Gable in India Film,” Los Angeles Times, November 20, 1959. On the post-screening dinner at Chasen’s.
“Steel Movie Score a Challenge to Tiomkin,” Rhapsody of Steel, pressbook, 1959.
Press release, “Rhapsody of Steel” World Premiere December 4 at Stanley Theatre, For Immediate Release, December 1, 1959
“Symphony and Dixieland Play Steel Film’s Score,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 2, 1959.
“Steel Lore Featurette In Premiere,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 5, 1959.
Nussbaum, John. “Tiomkin Given Baton At Film Premiere Here,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, December 5, 1959.
“Society Gets First Look At Hilton and Vice Versa,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 5, 1959.
“Opening Party Matches Glamour of New Hilton,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, December 5, 1959.
Scheuer, Philip K. “Hersey ‘War Lover’ Sold to Columbia,” Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1960.
“Steel baton, Veteran Film Publicist Draw Attention,” Deseret News, February 25, 1960.
Woo, Elaine. “John Sutherland; Acclaimed Artistry of His Industrial Films,” Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2001. Obituary.
Not to be confused with the similarly titled Rhapsody in Steel, a 1934 short film sponsored by the Ford Motor Company produced for the 1933-34 World’s Fair in Chicago. Seen by an estimated 6,000 people a day the modernist piece is accompanied only by Edwin E. Ludig’s music score and ends with an animated sequence.
