Film Score Friday 10/15/99

by Lukas Kendall

I've done the news phone-calling and emailing for the new FSM (Sept/Oct -- still not printing yet, so don't expect it for 2-3 weeks or more) so here's some tidbits! In other words, we're doing actual NEWS on this Friday news column!

Lalo Schifrin will re-record The Fox in London for release on his Aleph label next year.

Brigham Young Unversity's next classic score restorations are Broken Arrow (Hugo Friedhofer) and King Richard and the Crusaders (Max Steiner).

Coming next year from GNP/Crescendo is a second Best of Star Trek TV collection, featuring episode scores All Good Things... (TNG, Dennis McCarthy), Way of the Warrior (DS9, McCarthy), Bride of Chaotica (Voyager, David Bell), and a classic series episode score to be determined.

Sleepy Hollow (Danny Elfman) will be out on November 16 from Hollywood Records.

Due October 24 from Maverick is a second volume of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me music, this time including a "Shagaphonic" suite of George S. Clinton's score.

Pendulum Records would appear to be out of business (their phones have been disconnected), so pick up their reissues of Dune, Clash of the Titans, Cocoon, et al. while you can.

Coming on Sony Classical on November 2 are The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (Eric Serra) and John Williams: Greatest Hits 1969-1999 (new recording including concert arrangements of "Flag Parade" and "Duel of the Fates" from The Phantom Menace). See http://www.sonyclassical.com/music/soundtracks_idx.html.

Monstrous Movie Music

David Schecter has been promising me that FSM will be the first to know when they're ready to announce their new re-recordings -- and he kept his word! Here's what David said about their upcoming discs:

We're still working on the liner books (I tend to go on and on in endless detail about things), but the CDs are all done and they sound fabulous. No release date yet, but as soon as we have a date I can be confident in, we'll pass it along to you.

We recorded three new MMM CDs. No details on the third right now, but here's the music that will be on the first two. No CD titles yet, as we're still waiting for a few clearances.

Mighty Joe Young (1949) Composed by Roy Webb, NOT James Horner

Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) Composed by Henry Mancini, Herman Stein, Milt Rosen, Robert Emmett Dolan, and Hans Salter. This suite contains all the previously-unavailable cues, including the first 17 in the picture. Very different in style and thematic content from the Hans Salter tracks available on Tony Thomas/Intrada releases. Lots of beautiful music in here -- this is the "kinder and gentler" Creature suite.

20 Million Miles To Earth (1957) Columbia "library" score, featuring original music and tracked cues courtesy of David Raksin, Max Steiner, George Duning, Frederick Hollaender, David Diamond, Mischa Bakaleinikoff, Daniele Amfitheatrof, and Werner Heymann.

Tarzan (1934 - 1942) Music from MGM's TARZAN films of the 1930s and '40s, starring Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Boy, and Cheeta. Composers include William Axt, Dave Snell, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Sol P. Levy, and Herbert Stothart.

The Animal World (1956) Paul Sawtell's music from Ray Harryhausen dinosaur sequence of this Irwin Allen documentary film.

The Alligator People (1959) Irving Gertz's score features spooky electric violin. If that's not enough, it's one of Beverly Garland's favorite pictures!

Each CD also contains "bonus" tracks. CDs do not come with magnifying glasses to help readers get through the detailed notes.

Visit MMM's website at http://www.hilux.com/mmm/

Varese Sarabande

Due October 26 is Great Composers: Elmer Bernstein, a collection of 16 film themes drawn from original soundtracks on Varese as well as their RSNO recordings. The only previously unreleased tracks are the versions of The Magnificent Seven (concert version) and The Great Escape conducted by Joel McNeely.

Due November 2: The House on Haunted Hill (Don Davis). November 9: Citizen Kane (Bernard Herrmann, cond. Joel McNeely), For Love of the Game (Basil Poledouris, longer than the promo CD).

Due November 16 is Hollywood '99 (mix of new recordings and original soundtracks from last summer's movies, including The Phantom Menace) and a 2CD set of newly recorded Bernard Herrmann Twilight Zone music -- everything Herrmann wrote for the series, including his seven episode scores, conducted by Joel McNeely.

November 30: A Christmas Carol (Stephen Warbeck).

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has recorded more film music for release in Robert Townson's Film Classics series, including selections from Jaws (John Williams), Peyton Place (Franz Waxman) and Marnie (Bernard Herrmann). Joel McNeely has returned as conductor. However, it may be some time before albums like the above are released; Townson will make several trips to Scotland during the year during which the recordings are added to and completed. This is the reason Citizen Kane took so long to come out, even though it was announced over a year ago.

Incidentally, the final kiss in Drive Me Crazy is scored with (and credited to) "Duo," from the Varese re-recording of The Trouble with Harry.

Coming next in the Fox Classics series, overseen by Bruce Kimmel and produced by Nick Redman, are two Bernard Herrmann volumes: Garden of Evil, Prince of Players and King of the Khyber Rifles on one CD, and then Anna and the King of Siam on another. More musicals are coming up as well.

Coming from Kimmel in February 2000 is the first in three volumes of music from the original Adventures of Superman TV show. Producer Paul Mandell has tracked down the various library music used in the episodes, and the sound quality is reportedly superb. The first CD will feature the original opening narration and other surprises.

OK, that's it! Have a great autumn weekend.

MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com