CD Reviews: The Ipcress File, Fear Dot Com, and Wilson
The Ipcress File ****
JOHN BARRY
Silva Screen FILM CD 605
21 tracks (11 music, 10 dialogue) - 42:33
The original soundtrack to John Barry's classic spy score gets a Silva
Screen makeover in this welcome re-release. It marks the first in a series
of planned collaborations with Carlton International; The Prisoner TV
series is next (but it's already reviewed in FSM Vol. 7, No. 8).
The 12-page booklet is particularly informative. For example, did you know
that it was Michael Caine's friend, John Barry, who recommended him to
the producers for the lead role?
For this, the first part of the Harry Palmer movie trilogy, Barry borrowed
the dynamic of Anton Karas' twanging zither from The Third Man and
transposed it to cimbalon. Scored at the (artistic) height of his Bond
period, you might expect the score to stray into 007 territory, but Michael
Caine's working class spy is a different beast than Bond, and the composer
delivers a lower-key piece. Of course, in the absence of any major action
set pieces, Barry needed to find a theme to drive the movie, and does so
with "A Man Alone," a catchy jazzy theme for Palmer. It's represented on
the disc in three variations and such is its popularity you'll recognize
it within the first few bars.
Apart from the 1995 MCA release in Japan, this is the only CD version
of the soundtrack that I'm aware of, and it's a worthy addition to your
Barry collection. Len Deighton fans will, however, still be waiting for
a release of the sequel soundtrack, Richard Rodney Bennett's Billion Dollar
Brain. Incidentally, Konrad Elfers' score to the final Harry Palmer theatrical
movie, Funeral in Berlin, was released by RCA Spain last year.
And now for the bad news: Every audio track is alternated with a snippet
of dialogue, ranging from three to 48 seconds. Admittedly, they aren't
that long, and collectively only take up four minutes of the running time,
but they hamper the flow of the music. From a commercial perspective this
might be seen as "added value," but it risks alienating the soundtrack
collectors who want pure score. Perhaps these snippets could have been
gathered unobtrusively at the end of the disc, but as it is, you'll need
to do a lot of tracking. This aside, the album represents classic Barry,
and proves just how many variations can be made on a good theme.
-- Nick Joy
Fear Dot Com * 1/2
NICHOLAS PIKE
Varèse Sarabande 302 066 388
31 tracks - 73:16
Fear Dot Com's "Opening" has plenty of atmosphere, with slow-building,
repetitive cells fading in and out. Unfortunately, there's very little
to hold onto musically. This concept troubles most of the album. Every
now and then there are interesting choral swirls that are close cousins
with some of the writing for Close Encounters. And the organ cue,
"Distressed Furniture," provides a welcome change of sound. "Turnbull's
Car Ride" has a few good moments of angular writing and atonal chord clusters.
It's a great cue that builds suspense and ends too quickly.
"Alistair Gets Cozy" answers the question, "What would it sound like
to have a humpback whale stuck in your sewer system?" I am not sure we
needed over two minutes of this, but for those who desire every note for
a film, well...here you go. Overall, the electronics and sound effects
are no doubt effective in the film, but as the disc progresses there is
just not enough to keep your interest. The occasional addition of solo
voices, (a technique that horror-meister Beltrami favors), is appropriate,
but they're so infrequent they feel pasted on.
You almost have to admire Varèse for putting out 70 minutes of
this. Still, the album is more for those interested in avant-garde film
techniques, genre music, and Pike's fans who know him as of the better
composers in the current B-movie horror scene. -- Steven A. Kennedy
Wilson (1944) ****
ALFRED NEWMAN
Screen Archives Entertainment 0004
41 tracks - 68:37
The ambitious presidential biopic, Wilson, was a box-office flop
but a critical success, winning five of the 10 Oscars it was nominated
for. The music budget alone was said to top out at a quarter of a million
dollars!
Alfred Newman collated a variety of tunes from the vaudeville and minstrel
stage, Stephen Foster songs, college songs, folk songs, and "presidential"
musical Americana. The score employs a massive orchestra and chorus along
with a 78-piece brass band. Coming directly out of Newman's most fruitful
period, this is a definite must for any Newman fan's library and is actually
quite different from the more well-known and available scores he wrote
around this time.
The "Main Title" gives a good overview of everything that's to come,
with practically every musical style making an appearance. Newman's main
theme stands along side both the patriotic and popular songs. Unlike Max
Steiner, who often quotes entire songs verbatim with little embellishment,
Newman mixes together brief melodic quotations with extended ones, giving
just enough to identify the tune before moving on. The quick-paced, episodic
nature of individual cues may be a distraction, but the tight transitions
and excellent edits skillfuly join together the disparate musical styles.
When Newman's original material appears it's similar to his score for
How Green Was My Valley. "White House Tour" allows Newman to mix
in familiar patriotic songs along with an original ethnic creation. The
overall orchestration in this more extended cue is standard fare for pictures
of the period. The skillfully poignant "Mrs. Wilson's Sickbed" features
a gorgeous arrangement of the song "Moonlight Bay" along with a touch of
the necessary pathos. An original waltz makes an appearance on occasion
and would be worthy of resurrection in concert form.
As is to be expected, many of the cues are brief. Those that extend
beyond a minute hold the most interest because they allow Newman to create
interesting transitions between his melodies. If you are a fan of Newman's
movie musical work than this score is definitely worth your attention --
most of the fun here comes from rediscovering his original music in the
mix of all the popular tunes.
The liner notes are great (as usual with these releases) and the sound
is truly remarkable. All in all an excellent addition to the Newman discography
-- perfect for a warm July evening. -- Steven A. Kennedy
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