Director
Allen Coulter
's 2006 film
Hollywoodland
, a crime drama that imaginatively explores the life and mysterious death of actor
George Reeves
, best known as the star of the '50s television series
Superman
, has spawned two albums, one released by
Varese Sarabande
containing composer
Marcelo Zarvos
' score, and this one, a "music from the motion picture" collection released by
Universal
's
Decca
imprint, containing period and source music. (The term "source music" refers to music heard in a movie that has a realistic source, e.g., a song coming out of a car radio, as opposed to the background score.) Divorced from the screen, it is just a miscellaneous album by various artists, most of them from the '40s and '50s, mixing
swing
,
traditional pop
post-bop
jazz
R&B
, and
rock & roll
.
Reeves
died of a gunshot to the head on June 16, 1959, his death ruled a suicide by police, although that has long been questioned, and in the film a fictional private detective played by
Adrien Brody
investigates, with numerous flashbacks to the life of
, played by
Ben Affleck
. Two of the tracks date from after
' death:
Buster Brown
"Fannie Mae"
was a hit in the fall of 1959, and
Jerry Butler
"He Will Break Your Heart"
came out in the fall of 1960. That may make them slightly anachronistic in the context of the film, although the listener isn't likely to be bothered. ~ William Ruhlmann