Richard Addinsell became very famous for his ‘Warsaw Concerto’ theme, a key element in the wartime film Dangerous Moonlight (1941). While he was working on that he was also working on the themes for the film of Love on the Dole. While a few notices did praise the music for Love on the Dole, it never achieved the fame of ‘Warsaw Concerto’, which was released at the time as a 78 gramophone record. However, I think Love on the Dole has very effective film-music and so offer the first ever discussion of it with clips from the film to illustrate the interaction of music, cinematography and narrative in the story. Richard Addinsell was good at coming up with memorable themes, but due to his allergy to formal learning never learnt enough about harmony to orchestrate or write a full score, and so always had to hand over his melodies to a collaborator for completion. Though nowhere explicitly credited, I think the orchestrator for Love on the Dole was probably Addinsell’s long-term co-composer Roy Douglas. It seems only fair to give him a long overdue credit for his creative and vital work!
Enjoy the collaborative pleasure of pictures, music, drama and story!
- Best Chris.
Walter Greenwood: Not Just Love on the Dole 