The film features an actual overture after the fashion of a live theatrical extravaganza. The 20th Century Fox Orchestra is arrayed before the camera to perform "Street Scene," conducted by Newman. This serves to highlight CinemaScope's new four-track magnetic stereophonic sound system and widescreen visuals. The orchestra appears throughout in wide shots and there are no closeups of any of the players, nor of Newman. At the conclusion of "Street Scene," Newman turns to take a bow before launching into the "Main Title". The orchestra reappears briefly for the "End Title", also an arrangement of "Street Scene". Newman originally composed "Street Scene" for the film version of Elmer Rice's 1931 play Street Scene, a portrayal of New York, and used it in numerous subsequent New York-based films. Much of the rest of the score for How to Marry a Millionaire consists of similarly familiar, preexisting compositions, including several pieces composed by George Gershwin. The film's arrangement of Newman's "Street Scene" was performed in 1973 by National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles Gerhardt, for the album Captain from Castille – Classic Film Scores of Alfred Newman, accompanied by a booklet in which Page Cook chronicles the background of the piece.
Release
The music soundtrack from How to Marry a Millionaire was first released on CD by Film Score Monthly, as part of Film Score Monthly's series Golden Age Classics, on March 15, 2001, as a limited edition of 3,000 copies, and then it was re-release on January 4, 2005. The album includes musical direction by Alfred Newman and incidental music by Cyril Mockridge, and was produced by Film Score Monthly's editor-in-chief and executive producerLukas Kendall alongside producer/director Nick Redman. The CD of How to Marry a Millionaire features the complete music recorded for the film in stereo including source music and unused cues. The booklet contains complete breakdowns of the songwriters represented and the orchestrators and arrangers utilized.
Track listing
All music composed and conducted by Alfred Newman.
Violin – Victor Arno, Sol Babitz, Israel Baker, Robert Barene, George Berres, Henry Camusi, Joachim Chassman, Dave Crocov, Adolph DiTullio, Peter Ellis, David Frisina, Benny Gill, Anatol Kaminsky, Murray Kellner, Eugene Lamas, Marvin Limonick, Paul Lowenkron, Marion McKinstry, Marshall Moss, Irma W. Neumann, Alex Pierce, Joseph Quadri, David Selmont, Paul C. Shure, Felix Slatkin
Viola – Edgardo A. Acosta, Myer Bello, Donald A. Cole, Joseph DiFiore, Alvin Dinkin, Louis Kievman, Alex Neiman, Robert Ostrowsky, Sven Reher
Cello – Joseph Coppin, Joseph DiTullio, Armand Kaproff, Raphael "Ray" Kramer, Leonard Krupnick, Kurt Reher, Harold Schneier
Bass – Abraham Luboff, Peter A. Mercurio, C. Magdelano Rivera, Meyer Rubin, Alex Walden
Flute – Luella Howard, Barbara Moore, Sterling D. Smith
Oboe – Arnold Koblentz, William Kosinski, Gordon Pope
