Mail Bag: Cleopatra

After Varese Sarabande released its 2CD set of Cleopatra, I posted a column wondering about the absence of comments from fandom -- since this had been one of the most-requested soundtrack releases ever. As it turns out, my anxiety was entirely premature -- most people were still getting their copy, digesting it, etc., and have since been only too happy to comment on it on FILMUS-L, rec.music.movies, the FSM message board and other places.

I do want to make one thing clear, as it was never something I meant to obscure: Cleopatra is not an FSM production -- thanks for the thanks, but it ain't mine! My involvement as "Restoration Producer" was to supervise the remix of the raw tracks, as this was something I had recent experience in doing with archival Fox elements at a local music facility. Because I am a frequent presence in soundtrack-land -- editing these daily comments, publishing FSM, and acting as a film music "evangelist" -- I tend to be a "public figure" and basically I could convince all of you by now that water runs uphill if I wanted to. Just kidding.

The producer of the Cleopatra 2CD set is Nick Redman -- the producer or executive producer on all of our FSM CDs -- and he has been responsible for dozens upon dozens of noteworthy releases over the last 12 years. Nick chooses not to toot his own horn, whereas I do because my livelihood depends on it, and so he is sometimes at the mercy of other people to make sure it is clear what he has done. In this case, he shepherded Cleopatra from rotting studio film reels into a stellar restoration over the course of several years, with the help of course of the various people also credited in the CD booklet -- and now I'm in the trap that Steven Soderbergh gracefully avoided on Oscar night where if you mention one person, you should mention them all. Fortunately they are all clearly credited in the booklet, but as far as the letters below sometimes reveal a bit of confusion, I do want to clarify that Nick is the primary producer on the project, and Varese's Robert Townson the Executive Producer.

Also, I want to direct readers to the best essay/review on Cleopatra yet online, by Douglass Fake in his weekly column at www.intrada.com. The exact link is: http://www.intrada.com/doug/doug0301.htm#cleopatra. There are only a few columnists covering film music who will write things I haven't thought of yet (and not just rephrase the liner notes of the particular release). Royal Brown in Fanfare is one, and Doug Fake at Intrada is another.

From: Witte Gerhard <Gerhard.Witte@dwd.de>

Dear Mr. Redman, dear Mr. Townson and dear Mr. Kendall !

You all and your crew made a great job in restoring the score of "Cleopatra". I was 13 years old when I saw the film the first time and listened to the muisc of Alex North. And now, 38 years later, the whole score - in brilliant sound quality - who had thought of that. You make me happy. A collector´s dream has come true. I thank you all from the deep bottom of my heart.

From: William_T_Cooke@providentcompanies.com

I want to congratulate you on CLEOPATRA. I would have done so earlier, but it's taken some time to get through the entire score due to the annoying intrusions of everyday life. But I finally made it through and, WOW! In your slightly concerned open letter on the FSM site, you seem to be worried that not so many people will get into this music, that it might be too cerebral. Cerebral it most certainly is, and I have a little advice to those who might dismiss this score: listen to it three times before you make any rash judgments. North's music has such peculiar rhythms and complex harmonies that it's difficult to appreciate fully on a first listen. I have to admit that the Overture (which returns periodically throuhgout the score as North's motif for Egypt) didn't blow me away the first time I heard it; in fact, I reacted rather coolly to it. Second time, eh, pretty good. But on the third listen, it was like sheer magic! I can't wait to experience the other cues multiple times to glean all of their nuances... That is, if life's intrusions will allow!

From: Brad.Geagley@viewpoint.com

Let me be the first to redress the issue of no comments being made about the release of the "Cleopatra" score. Let's just say that I only got it yesterday, and I've been in a state of orgasmic joy ever since. I'm so pleased that my favorite score of all time has been so lushly and extravagantly restored. (To let you know my background, I am one of the talking heads in the upcoming documentary "Cleopatra, the film that changed Hollywood" being broadcast on AMC on April 3rd. I did my thesis on the film in college, which was a critical reevaluation of the film, and through it became good friends with Joe Mankiewicz. I also had the privelege of being invited to Alex North's home where we discussed "Cleopatra" for hours. I spearheaded the effort with Michael Arick to convince Fox to start a search for the missing footage, and also was a friend of the late Roddy McDowall. I say this only to tell you that I do not come to this recording as an unbiased listener.) For many years I believed that I was the only one in the western world to hold a torch for this film and its score. I'm so gratified to know that like ugly buildings and old whores, as John Huston says in "Chinatown", the film (and score) is finally getting the respect it deserves.

In listening to the music, sans dialogue and sound effects, I have been astounded to hear instruments I've never heard before (and bear in mind I have seen the film literally hundreds of times). The purity of the reconstruction is phenomenal. More than this, however, is to hear the music as an entire piece. I am lost in amazement at the powers of the man who created it. The sheer gall of both the music (and the movie), the sheer unwillingness to be "popular", makes this picture one of the few American auteur pieces. "Cleopatra" and its music force you to accept them on their own terms -- they are diamond hard and unsentimental. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't never will. Trying to convince them of the film's and the music's greatness is like trying to explain blue to a blind man. But for me, the most interesting films have always been the ones that polarize viewers. And "Cleopatra" certainly does that. Never did Mankiewicz (or North) play it safe.

As for your comment that there are clunky and lame parts in this gargantuan movie, remember that Mankiewicz was competing in his mind with Shaw and Shakespeare. Its roots were in great literature. The literature that informs films today is comic books. And remember that for some of us the rise and fall of the dialog, which in Cleopatra is spoken like elegant stress poetry, can be as exciting as any car chase. I long ago made the point in my thesis "When the Movies Went Out of Style" that "Cleopatra" is actually a spoken opera. After all, Mankiewicz directed operas for the Met. And in "Cleopatra" he even gave the characters "arias" -- long, elegant speeches that absolutely stopped the action dead. It was geared more toward a theater audience than a film audience. "Cleopatra" is one of the most astoundingly visual of all films, to be sure, but I believe the real pleasures are aural -- elegant wordplay, great ideas, all accompanied by Alex Norths magnificent, cold and sinuous score.

Wow. I thank Varese Sarabande with all my heart for their Herculean efforts in making this happen. It is simply an astounding effort and most appreciated.

Brad Geagley
Vice President, Creative Services, NY

From: "Brian Mellies" <itsbrian@prodigy.net>

Thanks for the magnificent work on "Cleopatra". You might be interested to know it is the score that started me down this long, endless road.

Back in 1963, I saw "Cleopatra" the night after the premiere of its road show presentation at the Pantages Theatre. After it ended, most people were walking out of the theatre mumbling such as "dreadful", "disaster", "stinks", didn't make sense", etc. I, instead, walked out of the theatre and headed up Hollywood Blvd. to the now long gone Vogue Records to buy the soundtrack, my first. I must have seen the film at least ten times during its run, mostly so that I could hear as much of the music as possible. And that was at the then astronomical price of $5.50 a seat. I actually became pretty adept at blocking out the dialogue so that I could concentrate more fully on the music. Something about that music haunted me then, and it's been stuck in my head ever since.

In the last 38 years I guess I've heard thousands of scores, and loved many of them. But there is only one "Cleopatra". It is the epitome of the art form and this release is simply a towering achievement and a fitting tribute to the great Alex North.

From: Arthur Lintgen <ablintgen@home.com>

Dear Lukas: I share your concern over the fact that the monumental score for Cleopatra has been greeted with fulminating apathy, but it is absolutely no surprise. The reason seems simple. No matter how much you admire North's music for its technical expertise, it is just plain ice cold. It is almost as if North consciously eschews anything that could be remotely conceived as emotional. All you have to do is listen to the "Main Title" music from Ben Hur, The Robe, or The Silver Chalice and compare them to Cleopatra in the context of connecting emotionally. Take The Silver Chalice as an example. No one will dispute Waxman's technical prowess, and he also tends to be more austere and modernistic than Rozsa, Newman, Steiner, et al, but Waxman can also relate with the audience on an emotional level, even in a numbingly bad movie like The Silver Chalice. North always seems to go out of his way to keep the listener at arm's length. This is his weakness, and it is peculiar for a film composer. It is not impossible to be technically brilliant, original, modernistic, and still likeable on repeated listenings. That is Waxman's genius. The critics AND the audience like his music. Call North the Stockhausen of the film score set. He is technically brilliant, and the critics love him, but not many people are going to listen to his music. They will rave about him so that they appear to be sophisticated listeners, but how often do they really listen? The few people who do write to you in support of Cleopatra will more likely listen to Ben Hur when they are alone with their sound systems. I am not trying to be critical of anybody for this, because I am the same way. Much as I admire North, I can't warm to his music as I can to the others. This is the curse of North. It is also why he never won an Oscar for an individual score. The Academy then made themselves feel and look good by awarding him the Lifetime Achievement Award.

From: Michael Wharr <mwharr@att.net>

You do make some very good observations. I must confess, North was never one of my favorite film composers growing up. His dissonant sound sometimes alienated me as a listener, but I did and do recognize his genius, and thanks to composers like Goldsmith, who is also very innovative and sometimes dissonant, I am growing musically everyday to appreciated more challenging composers. I suspect that the soundtrack fans today, so use to the easy melody style of Barry, Williams, and Horner will need more time to listen to CLEOPATRA, before writing in their comments. Also, take into account its a 2 CD set and its a complex piece of music which will require several spins, thus it will require more time to get through. Just give the fans some time. I haven't received my copy yet, but am looking forward to it. Thanks.

From: "Pulliam, Ron, GSA-Real Property Management Department"

I bought my copy Tuesday and took it directly from the hands of Doug Fake at Intrada, who invited me to browse and buy more. I did.

I posted to FSM's very own message board about the release on a thread asking where the track listings could be found. I, too, was wondering where was the main thread discussing the release. Sure, I could have started one, but if felt redundant to do so because I posted a 1,000-word review of the score at Amazon.com and didn't want to be repetitive.

As of this moment, my review hasn't come up yet, but I feel sure that you will like it. I gushed and raved and lauded and praised.

The 2-CD "Cleopatra" is one of the treasures of the film music canon. It and "Spartacus" are North's two masterpieces, IMO....each a reflection of North's genius, each very, very different, each a superb example of modern composition written to evoke ancient themes.

I could not take part in your poll because BOTH scores are North's greatest work...they are spun of the same cloth and are indivisible, as far as I am concerned.

Jeff Bond's liner notes are wonderful. He has captured the essence North invested into "Cleopatra" and has drawn perfect parallels between the raw savagery of "Spartacus" and the cool intellect of "Cleopatra."

I do rejoice. This is a milestone in film music recordings.

From: "Randy Derchan" <rderchan@visualdatainc.com>

I agree that Cleopatra is an interesting score for an epic. It is a wonderful piece of contemporary writing, though. Especially for a commercial epic. But I also find Spartacus more of enjoyable listen because of the strong melodies and action cues throught. Cleopatra was not an action epic like Spartacus and required a different score. In fact many epics from that time period were action orientated, which makes Cleopatra stand out from the rest. That's probably why it wasn't such a hit and the fact that they could never recover the expense. Maybe they're weren't enough thirteen year old girls back then going to movies. I think DiCaprio would have saved the picture. My thoughts, anyway. It sure is great to have any North score restored. This release is wonderful and I look forward to all the Fox restoration releases.

From: Ace Mask <acemask@yahoo.com>

Your notation that you have had no response to the release of CLEOPATRA prompts me to write a few words of high praise and to express my equal amazement that you have not been receiving gushes of superlatives. Like many others, I consider myself a fan of Alex North based primarily on my love of SPARTACUS. I have had the vinyl edition of CLEOPATRA since its original release as well as a recent CD boot. Until the Varese release however, I had relegated it to a position below SPARTACUS- very well done but not quite equal. With this release, my estimation of North's CLEOPATRA has changed. It is without a doubt one of the very greatest scores written. And what a marvelous job of restoration! High praise and thanks for all the hard work and love that must have gone into getting this album released.

From: Kirk Henderson <kirksworks@home.com>

I don't know what the general reaction to the new release of North's Cleopatra is going to be, but let me say that in my opinion, it's about the finest restoration of a soundtrack from the early 60s that I've yet heard. The original soundtrack LP had a lot of music for its time, but was remixed differently from what made it into the film. This new Varese/Fox release apparently corrects those inaccurate mixes, adds an amazing amount of unreleased music, remixed in the most stunning fashion (the fact that much of the music had been separated into as many as 32 tracks certainly was a blessing). This all gives the score new power and life. The Varese Cleopatra is also masterfully sequenced, accentuating in some cases the more avante garde qualities the original LP only hinted at. After listening to this recording, I have to say that it is the equal of Spartacus in terms of its approach to subject. It's amazingly modern and yet one is left with a marvelous sense of the antiquities of time. Part of this is due to the phenomenal orchestrations, which in this case, surpass Spartacus. And weaving through it all are Alex North's exquisite and tasteful melodies, rightly austere as Lukas describes them.

Just a couple of questions, Lukas, since you were directly involved in this release... At the end of the track 'Dying is Less Than Love' I missed the bell toll at the end. I am familiar with this from the LP, so this in fact, may not be the way the music made it into the film. The tolling bell, however, was nice. Another cue, 'Antony Wait,' is missing the wind chimes at the end, and this may also be a result of my familiarity with the LP over the film itself. However, I do have the laserdisc, and whereas the music that brings the final shot to a freeze frame fresco doesn't match the strong chimes on the LP, they are definitely there. They appear on your new release at the end of 'Epilogue,' so perhaps I've mistaken the cues. The wind chimes had the film fade out with the feeling of antiquity, which was a nice touch. The way 'Cleopatra Enters Rome' ends, abruptly, without the extended rhythmic percussion tacked on the end is quite an improvement over the LP version. These are minor points. In no time this CD will be played enough to supercede the original release. This is really a terrific restoration, perhaps the crowning achievement of anything FSM has ever been involved in. I am really pleased beyond belief. A toast to you all!

From: Randy Henderson, RRH1279@aol.com

What does it mean when music identified as unaccessible is the most accessible you've ever heard? I waited 38 years for this release. The production, the sound, the notes, all excellent. One tiny question, not a complaint: there at at least two cues missing: CAESAR ENTERS ROME and CLEOPATRA'S BATH MUSIC (right before the barge). I'm not carping, but it was called the complete score. There must have been some clitch...nevertheless, fabulous. Thank you so much.

To answer these questons about completeness, to my knowledge the 2CD set has not been promoted or advertised as complete. If the word "complete" was used instead of "restoration" or "expansion" then that is erroneous. Each disc is 75-76 minutes which maxes out the acceptable commercial limit for length. (Technically you can have a 79-80 minute disc but when you get into that area, you start to have problems with certain players not being able to read the disc. For that reason almost all mainstream distibutors and labels -- of which Varese is one -- have a policy not to go beyond the more conversative 75-76 minute mark.)

For this reason the "Palace Music" and a couple of very short incidental cues -- both source-related -- were not included although they have been preserved for future generations. If anybody complains...well that's your right but we'll have you sacked.

As far as the differences in the mix Kirk asks about...I don't mean to be Oliver North but I don't remember. The new 2CD set represents how all of the overlays and stems were meant to be assembled for the movie. In a couple of cases there might have been a stem or two that was missing, in which case what could we do, hum them? (The LP might have used different versions of things in a couple of places.) And honestly, there is so much music in the movie that listeners might be remembering things incorrectly when it comes to an expected chime here or trumpet there.

Anyway, I don't mean to be defensive. These are fair questions and I think my answers are honest without calling attention to nitpicking at a time in which celebration -- and good listening -- is in order.

We don't have the space to continue this in the column but please feel free to discuss Cleoptara on our message board