The Bad and the Beautiful
Raksin's theme song "The Bad and the Beautiful" (also called "Love is For the Very Young") for the 1953 film "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1953) was also a hit, although not as popular as "Laura". Raksin insisted that the song be released as an instrumental because he had resented having to split the proceeds from "Laura" with a lyricist. Raksin's theme for "The Bad and the Beautiful" was initially disliked by the film's director Vincente Minnelli and producer John Houseman, but was saved from rejection by the intervention of Adolph Green and Betty Comden, who both liked it. The theme has since been praised by Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Rosenman, Richard Rodney Bennett, and Alexander Courage. Sondheim reportedly called it "one of the best themes ever written in films".