Film Score Friday 9/14/01

Things are slowly getting back to normal for most of us -- less so for the people in New York City, and of course not at all for those directly affected.

Our frequent contributor Cary Wong sent in the following:

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

It was Wednesday afternoon. 33 hours after New York was attacked by a terrorist force that left its citizens in shock and in horror. But we are resilient people, us New Yorkers. And even though we were told not to come into the city on Wednesday, some of us did, just to be together with friends and co-workers. Not to be alone.

Since I live in Brooklyn, I stayed at friend's apartment on Tuesday night. My friend and I both work uptown near Columbus Circle (some 4 miles away from the devastation), and yet, thanks to the magic of television, we were right there when each tower fell, and when we heard the absurd rumor that a plane had also crashed into the Pentagon. Absurd. At around 9pm, we went to the deli for food, and the streets were deserted, save for a few shell-shocked people who had to get away from the horrible images for just a few minutes.

Wednesday morning, my friend and I went to work, though neither of us really did any real work. After work, I was on the subway that goes across the Manhattan Bridge, a bridge that connects lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. The train was populated, but not crowded, conversations were in the air, but not too loud. I was exhausted and couldn't wait to finally get home to my own apartment.

I always listen to music on my walkman when I'm on the subway. And that day, I happened to be listening to a mix tape that included Richard Marvin's score to the submarine war drama U-571. And as we rose from the underground and started our trek across the bridge, I noticed that all talk had stopped. We jaded, unsentimental New Yorker were all looking out the window, covering our eyes from the sun, to see smoke where 2 impressive, majestic towers used to be. This was probably the closest, physically at least, any of us has been to the "Attack on America." And as Marvin's music switches from an elegy to a powerful patriotic theme, I felt the meaning Marvin wanted to convey when he called the cue, "Finale and Dedication."

Our eyes didn't leave the smoke until we went underground again. And as I took off my headphones, the sound of silence was deafening.

This year's Hollywood Bowl movie night concert, "The Big Picture: 2001 and Beyond," will take place Friday, September 21st at 8:30PM. The concert will see the premiere of around 20 minutes of the newly reedited Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Director's Edition, which will be released on videotape and DVD on November 6th, with a live performance of Jerry Goldsmith's score by John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. (Director Robert Wise will be in attendance.) Also on the program are The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Planet of the Apes (both Goldsmith and Elfman versions), Close Encounters and Alien.

Warner Bros. has released an interesting compilation CD, Music for the Movies of Clint Eastwood, featuring original themes from Pale Rider (Niehaus), The Good the Bad and the Ugly (Morricone), The Outlaw Josey Wales (Fielding), Dirty Harry (Schifrin), Space Cowboys (Eastwood/Niehaus), Tightrope (Eastwood/Niehaus) and more. The album also features a 41-minute original concert suite by Lennie Niehaus titled "Clint Eastwood: An American Filmmaker."

From: "Owain Wilson" <owainwilson@hotmail.com>

I have a film score question that desperately needs answering and I'm hoping you can help me out. The other day I saw the Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures documentary, and I totally fell in love with the beautiful piece of music that played out over the montage of his life and films through to the end credits. Not being familiar with his films, I have no idea if the piece is from a Kubrick movie or elsewhere. Can you name it for me?

I wish I could -- I saw the documentary and know exactly which music you mean, but I was likewise unable to identify it. If anyone knows, please write in or post to the message board.

From: Sean McDonald, Macshemp7@aol.com

I don't know if you know this or not but you might want to check out the THRILLER FAN CLUB site. Type up TV TERROR HOMEPAGE and you'll get it. Ken Kaffke who is the president of the THRILLER fan club sells all of these great uncut videos for THRILLER, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, NIGHT GALLERY, and tons of other facinating obscure tv series and telefilms dealing with gothic horror.

Kaffke is truly unique in what he offers his customers. He has a real reverance for old horror. And very importantly especially with regard to THRILLER you have a great opportunity to experience Jerry Goldsmith's work. His score for THE CHEATERS is a real gem. He didn't hold back scoring the horrifying finale! I can't get over how well Goldsmith scored b&w films and tv. I wonder which medium he feels brought out the best of his abilities. I personally think for the most part it was b&w films. I think B&w films brought out The very best in EVERY composer who worked on them.

(I very strongly suspect Bernard Herrmann never got over scoring them. A number of his scores for color films have a dreary, wintery, b&w ambience to them. His score for VERTIGO sounds as b&w as PSYCHO. THE BRIDE WORE BLACK again sounds very much like a score for a b&w film as does TORN CURTAIN. His score for CAPE FEAR as used in the Martin Scorses version casts a b&w wintery pall over the films color...Hermann definitely was one b&w films greatest composers.)

Morton Stevens' work on THRILLER is as equally as exciting as Goldsmith's. Stevens was Frank Skinner to Goldsmith's Hans J. Salter. A WIG FOR MISS DEVORE is an outstanding score by Stevens. And it's the scariest episode of THRILLER I've ever seen. Pete Rugolo's work is pretty neat too.

I am very, very, very, pleased with the bundle of cds I ordered.. Thank you so much for producing and releasing them. I really wanted to order TWO copies of THE OMEGA MAN but thought that might've been frowned upon due to it's limited number of copies. It's one of my favorite scores. It's a deeply sad and moving score ,pop rhythms notwithstanding. I love the sound of the pipe organ in a score such as this. They don't call the organ the king of the instruments for nothing. It make the music all the more heavy hearted, and spookier. Each time the main theme is heard theres a sense of the bottom dropping out giving way to greater depths of sadness. Especially at the opening of THE FAMILY TRIUMPHS. Thank God for the pop zaniness to sort of keep things from getting too depressing. Ron Grainer demonstrated throughout this masterful score what a fine entertainer he was. Great score! Thank you for releasing it!

And as I said before I love Leonard Rosenman's work. The BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES score is a masterpiece. From one end to the other it's never less than facinating. I especially like Rosenmann's use of the organ in the MASS OF THE HOLY BOMB. The scene itself may be very difficult to take seriously but the music is fantastic. Very Phantom Of The Opera. Reminds me of Paul Hindemith's organ sonotas [ I don't want to sound like I'm well knowleged on organ music because I'm not..] Rosenman ought to write a symphony or concerto for organ and orchestra with that skewed, Hindemith sound....

Love the PATTON cd. This is much better than the soundtrack rerecording. Especially love the cuts GERMAN ADVANCE, AN ELOQUENT MAN, and A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER. Powerful, powerful stuff. Makes me mourn the fact that when they made THE LAST DAYS OF PATTON that both Franklin Schaffner and Jerry Goldsmith weren't involved. George C. Scott gave a moving performance but without Goldsmith and Schaffner it was all for naught in that rather blah glossy tv movie.

Has anyone ever noticed how Goldsmiths opening music for the TZ score NERVOUS MAN IN A FOUR DOLLAR ROOM became the theme for DR. TONGUE on SCTV? I can't listen to that music without thinking of John Candy and laughing. That music is hilarious.

Thanks for your feedback and your suggestions! It would be wonderful to release Thriller soundtracks but alas, it's not something we can do right now due to the studio involved.

See www.soundtrack.net for coverage of last weekend's Hollywood Bowl television music concert, the recent reception for this year's Emmy-nominated composers, and an interview with Lee Holdridge.

See http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/tv/38099_music08.shtml for an article on Michael Kamen's music to HBO's impressive new miniseries, Band of Brothers.

Visit Scifi.com for Jeff Berkwits' review of our Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea feature film CD: http://www.scifi.com/sfw/current/sound.html

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