Victor Young did not lead a touring big band, nor did he play dances or other public kinds of engagements. After a stint with the Russo-Fio Rito Orchestra in the 1920s and some time spent as a freelance arranger Young went straight into the recording studios, and on radio, as a leader. Young had been based in Hollywood some years at the time "Hold That Tiger" was made by Soundies Distributing Corp. and was already scoring motion pictures -- one of his last scores, for "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956) would ultimately win him immortality, and not a minute too soon. That's one among several reasons that "Hold That Tiger" is surprising; the band, and Young's chart, is on fire, but the band itself never played a ballroom. These fellows were strictly radio broadcast musicians and also provided backups to singers on records made in Decca's West Coast studio. This short was directed by Reginald Le Borg who put his best effort into it; the rapid cutting and specific camera angles and movements used almost references Soviet montage, but it is all clearly keyed to the instrumental detail in Young's arrangement. The piece itself is designed for visual effect as much as musical; the film is meant to be as visually "hot" as the music, even though intended for viewing on a tiny Panoram screen. In short, "Hold That Tiger" didn't need to be as good as it is; Young and Le Borg did their homework to make it so.
Review of Hold That Tiger
