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Kritzerland is proud to present a new world premiere limited edition soundtrack:
THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR
Music Composed and Conducted by Alfred Newman
In one of the greatest years for motion pictures and their scores, one of the most forgotten and best films of 1962 was Perlberg-Seaton’s production of the Paramount Picture The Counterfeit Traitor. The film was a sobering, gripping, exciting, touching espionage thriller and at the top of its class, as espionage thrillers go. Starring William Holden and Lilli Palmer, along with a host of wonderful overseas character actors (including Academy Award-winner Hugh Griffith), and some great location photography, The Counterfeit Traitor was written and directed by George Seaton (from the novel by Alexander Klein – based on a true story).
Recounting the story of Eric Erickson (Holden), an American-born citizen living in neutral Sweden during World War II, who is neutral enough to be profiting from working with both the Germans and the Allies. He is blackmailed into working for the Allies as a spy – this he reluctantly agrees to because the Allies (represented by the caustic Griffith) have him in a bind. The film is filled with powerful and memorable sequences and great performances, especially by Holden and Palmer. But the film simply got lost in that year’s incredible shuffle, as did many other great films – only later would some of them be rediscovered and achieve classic status – and The Counterfeit Traitor is indeed a classic. The Paramount production values were top-notch in every department, most especially in the costumes of Edith Head and the photography of Jean Bourgoin. And, of course, it didn’t hurt that The Counterfeit Traitor was blessed with a brilliant score by one of the greatest film composers who ever lived – Alfred Newman.
Newman, born in 1901, had spent most of his film music career at Twentieth-Century Fox, where he wrote many amazing scores, including such classics as The Mark of Zorro, The Keys of the Kingdom, The Song of Bernadette, Leave Her To Heaven, Captain from Castile, All About Eve, The Robe, A Man Called Peter, The Diary of Anne Frank and hundreds of others. He only wrote two scores in 1962, but they were both masterpieces and very different – How The West Was Won and The Counterfeit Traitor.
The score for The Counterfeit Traitor is classic Newman all the way, with its propulsive main title, his various suspense and dramatic cues, and one of his most memorable love themes ever – the theme for Marianna. That gorgeous theme weaves itself in and out of many cues in the score. It first presents itself as background music, then becomes more prominent in each successive cue in which it occurs. For those who’ve never seen the film, Newman’s score will be a revelation – one of the great scores of the 1960s and of Newman’s career. It is a treat to finally bring Newman’s great score to CD for the first time.
This CD was mastered from the original three-track Paramount master tapes housed in the Paramount vaults. While ninety-eight percent of the cues were in excellent condition, two short cues had very minor damage to them, but we felt that it was historically important to include them, even with that minor damage, which only amounts to less than 1:30 of the CDs playing time of just over sixty minutes.
This release is limited to 1500 copies only. The price of the CD is $19.98, plus shipping. Additionally, we are offering a special deal with the purchase of this release. Go to the item page and click on the link to find out about it.
CD will ship the last week of April – however, preorders placed directly through Kritzerland usually ship one to five weeks earlier (we’ve been averaging four weeks early). To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.
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Great to hear some new Al Newman. Looking forward to this. Thanks, Bruce.
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Couldn't agree more! There's a nice special deal, too, for those who may have missed Cuba.
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Just ordered! I have a gorgeous dye-transfer print of COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR. Lilli Palmer is one of my very favorite actresses and she is outstanding in this picture. What a great treat to have this score in stereo.
In all my years of collecting 16mm and 35mm prints, I always wanted Counterfeit Traitor in IB Tech and could never find it. I had a 35mm IB Vertigo, ditto The Court Jester, ditto all the early Bonds, but Traitor I could not find in 16mm, let alone 35mm, and I had a LOT of Paramount IB 16mm prints. So, I'm JEALOUS!
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Bruce - Paramount IB's always bring tears since I had to throw out my TEN COMMANDMENTS due to vinegar syndrome. I eventually replaced it with an early 90's print. Ugh. Same with THE MOUNTAIN only I haven't replaced that one yet!!
I took delivery of my very first two 16mm IB Tech prints on the final day of shooting on The First Nudie Musical. Isn't that funny? They were brought to me (we were on location at the Venice Theater) by the seller - it was like doing a drug deal. Between setups I went to his car and got them and surreptitiously transfered them to my car. And what were they? The Court Jester and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. In the days long before home video, it was the coolest possible thing in the world.
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Looks like the Cold War is heating up again with the score releases of Intrada's THE KREMLIN LETTER, followed by FSM's TELEFON, and now Kritzerland's THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR. KEEP THEM COMING!
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I saw this when it was first released and loved it; what struck me most, beyond the principal performances, was the look they managed to achieve. They really put across the look of what living in Germany was like under the Third Reich. I'd never seen a film present it that comprehensively before. Every outdoor shot has people in various uniforms, a very realistic detail, and the casual elements of racism, including a conversation with Holden's friend's wife and her little demon of a son, so devoted to his status in the Hitler Youth. Or the casual shot of an older couple, wearing yellow stars, being escorted downstairs at Gestapo headquarters, as Holden passes, and a couple of people in uniforms nearby are laughing at some joke. Telling, casual details give COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR a depth not often found in such films.
And let's not forget Klaus Kinski's cameo as a desperate escapee, towards the end of the film. (He also has a chilling appearance in A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE, as a Gestapo bureaucrat.)
(Cameos, though? Well, not really, since this was long before his climb to being well known. These are small parts, little better than extras. In the Screen Actors Guild, they'd be referred to as "Under-Five's," with a separate contract, since the part has five lines or less.)
And, speaking of Paramount, what about a new release of A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE while you're at it. Gorgeous Rozsa score, fascinating film. (Douglas Sirk returns to Germany to make an anti-war film about the last days of the Third Reich, starring John Gavin no less!) Originally released on lp, it had a decent, but short-lived, appearance on CD from Japan, which is now rarer than platinum.... (Would love to get the complete tracks. Are they available?)
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