The melody of 'Autumn Leaves' was originally written as a
ballet music for
'Le rendez-vous' for
Roland Petit. The original stage design was done by
Pablo Picasso.
Moved by the music and the dance, the French film director
Michael Carné' based
his screenplay on 'Le rendez-vous': not without problems. Originally he tried
to talk
Marlene Dietrich into playing the lead role, which she refused. Another
actor refused the role because of the fact that Marlene had refused. The composer
Kosma, who had set the melody of the ballet into a
chanson on the poem '
Feuilles mortes' (Dead leaves), insisted in using the sung version. The movie was
a
disaster, but the melody (hummed by
Yves Montand) became an instant hit.
History tells that the first recording was made by
Cora Vaucair in 1948.
Yves Montand followed the same year. In 1949,
Juliette Greco made the first
clip while singing the song (amidst autumn scenes of course).
The first English version, which was translated by
Johnny Mercer, was sung by
Edith Piaf, the famous French 'chansonier'.
The rest is history:
Jo Stafford (1950),
Mitch Miller (1950),
Bing Crosby
(1950),
Artie Shaw (1951),
Anny Gould (1955),
Roger Williams (1955),
Nat King Cole (1955),
Frank Sinatra (1956),
Stéphane Grapelli (1956),
Duke Ellington (1957),
Cannonball Adderley (1958),
Sylvie Vartan (1968),
Placido Domingo (1990) and
Ute Lemper (1992).
Acknowledgements:
Shmoonkie Poonks, for starting my curiousity: thanks!
'The Originals' - Arnold Rypens