Tuesday, March 23

the odd couple

The poster and associated artwork for The Odd Couple (1968) was done by Robert McGinnis. Usually associated with long-legged, strong-jawed women gracing savage romance pulp novels [sign me up -ed.] McGinnis also illustrated the posters for Barbarella, Breakfast at Tiffany's and famously a slew of 007 work as well. You know it when you see it. See a large Flickr collection here.




The theme music to The Odd Couple has entered the realm of nostalgia, for me anyway... used to eat up the tv show version (Klugman/Randall) as a kid. The citified sportswriter persona of Oscar Madison was a million miles away from the adults we would meet in rural VT.
When Frank Sinatra started his own label, Reprise Records, in 1961, he persuaded [Neal] Hefti not only to arrange for him but also to become his producer. Although not keen on the production role, he liked and admired Sinatra and they made two albums together, Sinatra-Basie and Frank Sinatra And Swinging Brass (both 1962).

After this, Hefti devoted himself to film and television work. In 1966 he gained a Grammy Award for his theme to the Batman television series. His most successful scores included How To Murder Your Wife and Sex And The Single Girl (both 1964), Barefoot In The Park (1967) and The Odd Couple (1968). -via TheTelegraph


I imagine some of the older urban types reading this also associate their hi/lo style with the Felix/Oscar Syndrome [recently invented -ed.], a full description of which will be posted next week...