Favorite Song No. 154: Frank De Vol – Good Neighbor Sam

Twice now I’ve shared songs that I could not find on YouTube, so you had to rely on the playlist I’ve been building as the countdown goes along if you wanted to hear that song. Today, for the first time, we are encountering the opposite sort of problem. Today’s song doesn’t exist at all in the real world, but it is on YouTube. How is that possible, you ask? Today’s song is the main theme from one of my favorite films, Good Neighbor Sam, a 1964 comedy starring Jack Lemmon, Edward G. Robinson, Romy Schneider, and Dorothy Provine. I’ll write more about the film in a moment, but first let’s address the song. Frank De Vol, one of the great space age jazz musicians, scored the film, and the main title theme is fantastic. But, the film’s soundtrack was never released, and no recording of the song exists, outside of what is in the film itself. Other artists, most notably The Bearcats and Hugo Montenegro have recorded versions of the song, but De Vol’s version exists only on celluloid. I know this now because the internet exists, but from the time I began buying records until Discogs came along, I searched the soundtrack section of every record store I visited in vain, hoping to find a recording that ultimately turned out not to exist. So, to make a long story short, if you click the poster for the film above, you’ll hear a recording made of the opening credits from the film. You’ll hear the song, along with Jack Lemmon snoring, an alarm clock, and some geese honking, but hey, it’s better than nothing.

Now, let’s talk about the movie. I guess you haven’t seen it, because it isn’t very famous. I read somewhere that even Jack Lemmon wasn’t a big fan of the film. I know of it only because my mom watched it when it was a new film, and she really loved it, and she showed it to me when I was quite young. I’ve watched it many times since then, and always enjoy it. I know it’s possible that I like it as much as I do because I saw and liked it in childhood, but I don’t think that’s the case. Many times I’ve revisited films my mother showed me in my childhood that I adored at the time, and as an adult I don’t think they are as good, or as funny, as I once did, but that isn’t the case with Good Neighbor Sam. So, it must be great, right? Of course, it is also quite possible, probable even, that my future adult self was so profoundly shaped by watching Good Neighbor Sam as a child that I have been programmed to always like it, because it made me who I am today. The more I think about it, the more I think that’s true, because if I’m being honest, I have more or less grown up to be Sam Bissell, Lemmon’s character in the film. I’ve even once, whilst drunk, pontificated to strangers about the benefit of good clean living, so make of this all what you will. Nonetheless, I recommend you watch the movie and decide for yourself. If nothing else, it has plenty of great shots of early ’60s San Francisco, and a great performance from Edward G. Robinson as the prudish Mr. Nurdlinger.