Mark R. Bannister
Orchestral & Instrumental Composer
for Film, TV & Theatre

MY THREE ANGELS
"Now do you believe me? Now do you think it's wrong
to trust? Blindly? Completely?"

My Three Angels is a charming comedy by Sam and Bella Spewack from the French play Cuisine des Anges by Albert Husson. Set in Cayenne, French Guiana, South America in Christmas 1910 it is the story of a family blessed by a number of good fortunes brought to them by a working party of three convicts and their pet snake Adolphe. A film version We're No Angels was released in 1955 with Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov and Humphrey Bogart as the convicts and the likes of Basil Rathbone, Joan Bennett and Leo G. Carroll in the cast.

I was composer for this particular theatrical production, and I set about by writing a long piece of piano music called Dance of the Convicts (see manuscript) which would provide much of the inspiration for the melodies required in the show, as well as that played on a harmonica by a young boy who we never actually see.

The piano sonata that followed had light melodious sections that would be used in the show, as well as darker more thoughtful phrases that would not be used. This is a demo of various sections of the sonata.

Dance of the Convicts (MP3 - 2 mins 45 secs - 1.38 Mb)

Manuscripts are available for this show.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER