Like Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn soundtrack I posted earlier, The Dream Girl by Ray Anthony and his orchestra is also from 1958, but it’s available only in mono.
"In every man's mind there exists a wonderful creature of fantasy - the Dream Girl. She is young and exciting. She is warm and gentle."
The “dream girl” label has fallen out of favor, along with beauty pageants, but if I were to nominate someone as my ideal fantasy dream girl, it would be Allene Roberts.
As a kid I first knew of Allene from her appearances in episodes of the old TV series The Adventures of Superman. She was so pretty, sweet and nice. Of course, I had no idea she was actually as old as my mother!
Allene’s first and best movie is The Red House, with Edward G. Robinson, whose physician and friend happened to be my father’s uncle, Dr. Lawrence Pratt.
From that still, and this brief scene with Lon McAllister and Allene, it’s obvious that cinematographer Bert Glennon had experience in silent movies.
A dream girl to melt the heart of any boy, even one who is gay, as Lon was. Although there could be no real-life romance between them, Allene and Lon became lifelong friends.
An amazing discovery is this newspaper clipping, about Allene winning the contest that led to her start in Hollywood. Note the Rondo Hatton byline.
If you don’t know Rondo’s name, you may know his face. Allene was a beauty, but journalist turned movie monster Hatton was no beast.
Everything there is to know about Emma Allene Roberts is at this link.
