FILM SCORE FRIDAY 7/4/03

Happy ID4! (as we in Holllywood are legally forced to call it). And a reminder to our younger readers -- though Jackass: the Movie is technically a documentary, it is not a safety instruction video for the proper use of fireworks (and especially not for the use of toy cars).

Another reminder -- we have a brand new set of CD releases on the Film Score Monthly label. Our Golden Age release features Jerome Moross's score to Michael Curtiz's 1960 film version of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. Our Silver Age release pairs two George Delerue albums from the 60s, OUR MOTHER'S HOUSE and THE 25TH HOUR. Our third (!) disc this month includes selections from three scores written for Sidney Lumet's romantic drama THE APPOINTMENT -- the rejected score by Michel Legrand, the international score by Don Walker based on John Barry material, and the U.S. television score by Stu Phillips.

Four time Academy Award winning actress Katharine Hepburn died at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut on June 29th of natural causes. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and began acting while attending Bryn Mawr. She made her debut as a professional stage actress in 1928, appeared on Broadway the same year, and made her screen debut in a leading role opposite John Barrymore in A Bill of Divorcement only four years later.

Her first Oscar nomination, for Morning Glory, became her first Oscar, and though she was nominated again for Alice Adams (a role Pauline Kael felt was "one of the few authentic American movie heroines" as well as "one of her two or three finest performances"), a handful of unsuccessful films caused her to be termed "boxoffice poison," a state which she turned around dramatically with her starring role in The Philadelphia Story (her third nomination), from a play which was written for her and which she starred in on Broadway.

Her fourth nomination was for Woman of the Year, which was also her first film with perennial co-star Spencer Tracy. Despite his marriage to another woman, Tracy and Hepburn were offscreen companions until his death in 1967, and their onscreen partnership set a standard for screen romance that is often imitated but never matched.

Hepburn's fifth nomination was for one of her greatest roles, opposite Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (her performance allegedly wasn't working until director John Huston told her to model her character after Eleanor Roosevelt), and she received additional nominations for Summertime, The Rainmaker, Suddenly Last Summer and Long Day's Journey Into Night.

She won back-to-back Oscars for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (her final film with Tracy) and The Lion in Winter (tying for the award with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl), but beginning in the 1970s there were fewer worthy feature roles for an actress of her years (and she never took supporting roles, until her final feature) so she starred in several TV movies, most memorably opposite Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins.

She won her final Oscar opposite Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, and published a memoir as well as a book on the making of The African Queen. Her final roles were in TV movies, plus a brief appearance in the Warren Beatty-Annette Bening remake of Love Affair.

As with Gregory Peck, no one has ever released an album of the "Classic Film Scores of Katharine Hepburn," but it would certainly make an impressive collection (if a little heavy on the Steiner and Webb):

A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT - Max Steiner
CHRISTOPHER STRONG - Max Steiner
MORNING GLORY - Max Steiner
LITTLE WOMEN - Max Steiner
SPITFIRE - Max Steiner
THE LITTLE MINISTER - Max Steiner
BREAK OF HEARTS - Max Steiner
ALICE ADAMS - Max Steiner
SYLVIA SCARLET - Roy Webb
MARY OF SCOTLAND - Nathaniel Shilkret
A WOMAN REBELS - Roy Webb
QUALITY STREET - Roy Webb
STAGE DOOR - Roy Webb
BRINGING UP BABY - Roy Webb
HOLIDAY - Sidney Cutner
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY - Franz Waxman
KEEPER OF THE FLAME - Bronislau Kaper
DRAGON SEED - Herbert Stothart
WITHOUT LOVE - Bronislau Kaper
UNDERCURRENT - Herbert Stothart
THE SEA OF GRASS - Herbert Stothart
SONG OF LOVE - Bronislau Kaper
STATE OF THE UNION - Victor Young
ADAM'S RIB - Miklos Rozsa
THE AFRICAN QUEEN - Allan Gray
PAT AND MIKE - David Raksin
SUMMERTIME - Alessandro Cicognini
THE RAINMAKER - Alex North
THE IRON PETTICOAT - Benjamin Frankel
DESK SET - Cyril J. Mockridge
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER - Malcolm Arnold
LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT - Andre Previn
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER - Frank De Vol
THE LION IN WINTER - John Barry
THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT - Michael J. Lewis
THE TROJAN WOMEN - Mikis Theodorakis
THE GLASS MENAGERIE (TV) - John Barry
LOVE AMONG THE RUINS (TV) - John Barry
ROOSTER COGBURN - Laurence Rosenthal
OLLY, OLLY OXEN FREE - Bob Alcivar
THE CORN IS GREEN (TV) - John Barry
ON GOLDEN POND - Dave Grusin
GRACE QUIGLEY - John Addison
MRS. DELAFIELD WANTS TO MARRY (TV) - Peter Matz
LAURA LANSING SLEPT HERE (TV) - Peter Matz
THE MAN UPSTAIRS (TV) - Billy Goldenberg
LOVE AFFAIR - Ennio Morricone
THIS CAN'T BE LOVE (TV) - Peter Matz
ONE CHRISTMAS (TV) - Van Dyke Parks

Newman first worked with his frequent writing partner Robert Benton at Esquire Magazine in the early sixties, where they created the still-running "Dubious Achievement Awards" (a perennial highlight of the magazine). They collaborated on the book for the Broadway musical It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, and teamed up to write the screenplay for Bonnie and Clyde. They originally tried to get it made with director Francois Truffaut, but as an Arthur Penn film starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway it was a 60s phenomenon, affecting everything from fashion to the use of violence in film, and garnered Newman his only Oscar nomination (losing to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, of all things).

The collaboration with Benton continued even after Benton became an Oscar winning director (2 awards for writing and directing Kramer vs. Kramer, 1 for writing Places in the Heart), and he also collaborated with his wife Leslie on the first three Superman films, Sheena and Santa Claus. He wrote the book for the musical The Life, which ran over a year on Broadway, and appears in the upcoming documentary Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, based on Peter Biskind's superb account of 70s Hollywood. He is survived by Leslie, his wife of 45 years, as well as two children, two grandchildren, and a brother.

BONNIE AND CLYDE - Charles Strouse
THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN - Charles Strouse
WHAT'S UP DOC? - Artie Butler
BAD COMPANY - Harvey Schmidt
SUPERMAN - John Williams
SUPERMAN II - Ken Thorne
STILL OF THE NIGHT - John Kander
JINXED! - Miles Goodman, Bruce Roberts
SUPERMAN III - Ken Thorne
SHEENA - Richard Hartley
SANTA CLAUS - Henry Mancini

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Jerome Moross - Film Score Monthly
The Appointment - Michel Legrand/John Barry/Don Walker/Stu Phillips - Film Score Monthly
The Dreamer of Oz - Lee Holdridge - Percepto
Napoleon - Richard Gregroire - Virgin (France)
Our Mother's House/The 25th Hour - Georges Delerue - Film Score Monthly
Some Who Lived - Daniel Tarrab/Andres Goldstein - Chandos
Tribute to James Dean - Leonard Rosenman/Dimitri Tiomkin - DRG

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde - Rolfe Kent - Song CD on Curb
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas - Harry Gregson-Williams - Score CD on Dreamworks
Swimming Pool - Philippe Rombi
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - Marco Beltrami - Score CD on Varese Sarabande

July 15
Johnny English - Edward Shearmur - Universal
July 22
Pirates of the Caribbean - Klaus Badelt - Disney
Seabiscuit - Randy Newman - Decca/UMG
Spy Kids 3D: Game Over - Robert Rodriguez - Milan
Date Unknown
All This and Heaven Too/A Stolen Life - Max Steiner - Marco Polo
Amerika - Basil Poledouris - Prometheus
Battle Cry - Max Steiner - Screen Archives/BYU
Creepshow (& bonus cues) - John Harrison - La-La Land
The Hellstrom Chronicle - Lalo Schifrin - Aleph
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Denny Zeitlin - Perseverance
Mighty Joe Young, etc. - Roy Webb, et al - Monstrous Movie Music
Red River - Dimitri Tiomkin - Marco Polo
A Summer Place - Max Steiner - Screen Archives/BYU
This Island Earth, etc. - Herman Stein, et al - Monstrous Movie Music

July 9 - Earle Hagen born (1919)
July 9 - Paul Chihara born (1938)
July 9 - Conrad Salinger died (1961)

CET AMOUR-LA - Angelo Badalamenti

"Pic makes some eccentric choices of its own, like Caroline Champetier's elegant widescreen cinematography used to express dark claustrophobia, and Angelo Badalamenti's romantic strains for one of the 20th century's most modern writers."

Deborah Young, Variety

CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE - Edward Shearmur

"The film is so thoroughly unapologetic about its riffing that the cameos (including the appearance of a totemic figure who, like Dylan, has a past) and the lively score (including updated versions of the Angels' theme and segue music) will make you smile as much as the Angels themselves."

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times

"The music is, of course, relentlessly loud, and the use of 'Matrix'-style bullet-trajectory slow motion seems to have become required viewing in every action film."

Desson Howe, Washington Post

"Why is an Irish mobster (Justin Theroux) chasing Drew Barrymore a la 'Cape Fear' (complete with snatches from Bernard Herrmann's score)?"

Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

28 DAYS LATER - John Murphy

"The music by John Murphy is an eerie drone that kicks into acid rock when the zombies show up."

David Edelstein, Slate.com

FROM: "Preston Neal Jones"

SUBJECT: FSF 6/27/03 BEST SONG FINALISTS

I'm just catching up with last Friday's column, and I'm afraid I must have missed some earlier material as well, because I'm not sure what Joseph Caporiccio is referring to as the "restored print" of GUNS OF NAVARONE which he complains does not include the Tiomkin song. Is he referring perhaps to a new DVD? The only restored print of NAVARONE with which I'm familiar is the one they ran with much bally-hoo a few years ago here in L.A. at the Cinerama Dome, and it definitely incorporated the song at the climax.

FROM: "Rick Sparks"

Enjoyed the nice tribute to writer George Axelrod.

But, your comment, "Shortly after, he wrote the offbeat comedy 'Paris When It Sizzles', whose premise was recently appropriated for the Rob Reiner film 'Alex and Emma'," needs to be qualified by indicating that he wrote only the screenplay.

The original story and screenplay are for a wonderful French film of 1952, "La Fete a Henriette" (Holiday for Henrietta), directed by Julien Duvivier, with the "first-time" original story and screenplay by Duvivier and Henri Jeanson.

So -- not only did Rob Reiner (as director) appropriate the premise for "Alex and Emma", but so did (director) Richard Quine and George Axelrod for "Paris When It Sizzles".

Simply credit where it's due!

I see your point, but there's an important distinction -- Paris When It Sizzles credited its source material, while Alex & Emma takes the premise of Paris (or La Fete a Henriette) but gives it no credit whatsoever.

Certainly, some romantic comedies are vague enough in premise that they can be reworked without crediting their inspiration -- Annie Hall (the anatomy of a relationship) was essentially redone as Love and Sex, with the ever charming Famke Janssen and Jon Favreau, while When Harry Met Sally (two friends become lovers) was redone as Boys & Girls with the notably less charming Freddie Prinze Jr. and Claire Forlani.

However the premise of Paris When It Sizzles is so specific -- a writer, struggling to finish a project, is helped by a female assistant, and as they work out the story together (seen in fantasy sequences with the two leads appearing in the story-within-the-story) they fall in love -- that it seems questionable for the Alex & Emma filmmakers to claim they were only inspired by Dostoyevsky's "A True Love Story" (which they also fail to mention in the credits). Considering how lame Alex & Emma turned out to be, perhaps Axelrod's dying wish was that he not be mentioned whatsoever.

So to sum it up, Paris When It Sizzles was an adaptation of La Fete a Henriette, while Alex & Emma is a ripoff of Paris When It Sizzles.

FROM: "Mike Bowler"

SUBJECT: John Barry score voting

In your list of unreleased scores, you left out one of John Barry's best for consideration in your on-line poll - They Might Be Giants, 1971. This is a magnificent score and should be added to your list so it could be voted on. Others you listed are good, but this one gets my vote. Thanks for a great magazine and all the great scores you have released.

As always, there's only room for 25 selections in our weekly poll, and I might have omitted They Might Be Giants because it was a collaboration between Barry and Ken Thorne. I ended up adding Murder by Phone (not one of the classic Barrys, I admit) at the last minute because since I'd first compiled the list, The White Buffalo had been announced and released on CD (by the Prometheus CD Club).

FROM: "Philip Harwood"

SUBJECT: A Musical Tribute To Gregory Peck

As a personal tribute to not only one of our greatest actors on screen, but also one of my personal favorite actors, I compiled a musical tribute of themes from the films of Gregory Peck. They are as follows:

The Keys of The Kingdom (1944): Prelude and Return To Scotland (Newman)
Spellbound (1945): Dream Sequence and the Mountain Lodge (Rozsa)
The Yearling (1946): Main title and April, 1876 (Stothart)
Duel In The Sun (1946): Prelude and Legend (Tiomkin)
Twelve O' Clock High (1949): Prelude (Newman)
David And Bathsheba (1951): Love Theme (Newman)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952): The Memory Waltz (Herrmann)
The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit (1956): Prelude (Herrmann)
Moby Dick (1956): Eerie Calm/He Rises (Sainton)
Designing Woman (1957): Main Title (Previn)
The Big Country (1958): The Welcoming (Moross)
The Bravados (1959): Prelude (The Hunter)(Newman)
The Guns of Navarone (1961): Prelude (The Legend of Navarone) (Tiomkin)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962): Prelude/The Children at Play/Boo Who? and Finale (Bernstein)
Cape Fear (1962): Prelude/ The School/Panic/Finale (Herrmann)
How The West Was Won (1962): Cleve Van Valen (1962)
The Chairman (1969): The Tour (Goldsmith)
The Omen (1976): The New Ambassador (Goldsmith)
The Boys From Brazil (1978): Waltz and Arrival (Goldsmith)
Old Gringo (1989): Suite (Holdridge)

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