In the supplemental material at the end of the laserdisc of INVADERS FROM MARS (1953), they show a Japanese soundtrack LP. I'm guessing it was probably pressed in the late 1970s/early 1980s. It appears to be on the Japanese Columbia label.
Does anyone have this or know what it was? I'm presuming it was taken right from the film, dialogue and all. Anyone know for sure?
Jim - this score needs to be released ! i doubt the tapes exist though . I thought maybe Monstrous movie music may have had it on their pad to re record ... but not looking likely ..
I am niot aware of any release of this score on any format , i do seem to think there was a Music and fx track from an old laserdisc but may be wrong .
I read somewhere that the Japanese LP had nothing from the film. I have a CDR of the complete music/efx track...don't know where it originated. Here's a sample I uploaded (I did some remastering on some of it)
This music is unusual, infact unique, and marks it out as very different from anything else. Those wordless vocals are strange and interesting. When you think of how different the approaches are between a handful of 50s sf scores, say the electronics of Forbidden Planet, the trend setting theremin infused Herrmann score for The Day the Earth Stood Still, and this, you really feel many folks wanted their work to sound individual. Do we have that variety now?
I would buy this in a heartbeat. Terrific film and the score is truly one-of-a-kind.
(I think of myself as fortunate for not having seen this film until I was 11 or so. I can't fathom what it would've done to my mind had I seen it any earlier than that.)
The film was very unique seeing it both as a youngster and a adult. It was one of the most effective handling of the idea of being in a dreamlike state. Something that is indeed a challenge for a filmmaker to achieve although attempted often.it was so blatant on the perception who was good and who was not good, who could you trust and be warm with and who were cold and a danger to you. I wonder if the makers of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS saw this film before that classic was made. Because there is the similar idea of the boy being in the same mental state as KEVIN MCARTHY in snatchers. Everyone around you suddenly are not what they once were. The climax of the film is pure gold. WHAT IS REALITY?
The INVADERS FROM MARS choir voices traumatized me as a kid.
You and me both!!!
+ 1 here. Listening to it these days, the choir is unusual because it seems microtonally detuned for the more menacing moments. I don't know if that was intentional or not but it adds a powerful air of "otherness". Also, most Hollywood choir scores usually used the ahhh, ohh and ooh vocal articulations. They still do. But Glickman/Kraushaar used a lot of the ehh articulation - very unnerving especially with the tuning quirks and some close mic'ing. Glickman/Kraushaar reverts to the more traditional ooh-aahs and distant mics for the lovely intro and end titles.
Yes, cool score. Almost iconic. Where's MMM when you need 'em?
Hey, thanks everyone for your input. Surely, this is a score worthy of at least a re-recorded suite (although, really, who is even doing THAT these days?) Yep, that creepy choral stuff is superb, and really unique as far as '50s film music is concerned.
Charles, I had already seen/heard your YouTube suite and loved it. Nice job!
Thankfully, yes, there is indeed a music and effects track floating around out there (which is fairly good, because it doesn't have a ton of effects in it), although I'm not sure of its source. At first I thought it might be from the Image laserdisc; however, years ago I got that laserdisc, and there's no M&E track, so the origin of that still remains a mystery, I guess.
I'd still like to know what that Japanese Columbia album depicted in the laserdisc supplements was though.
Also, (I think I mentioned this in another post quite awhile back), a Japanese label called Mu Land issued three LPs by the "Electoru Polyphonic Orchestra," (actually just synthesizers), called SF FACT, volumes 1, 2 and 3. I bought the first two (around 1979 or so), because they contained synth versions of Herrmann's FAHRENHEIT 451, SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. At the time, I passed on volume 3, because it didn't really have enough titles I wanted to hear. However, one of the cuts was INVADERS FROM MARS. Does anyone out there have this LP? If so, my email address is in my profile. I would love to get some kind of copy of this.
The climax of the film is pure gold. WHAT IS REALITY?
....if you saw it in the USA. If, like me, you saw it as a UK TV broadcast, the ending was more a case of "Hurrah! Americans blow the f**k out of the bastard aliens again!"
I was not referring to the simple ending of the plot, but the mental vibes cause by the music and editing which made the film seem like one big dream.I thought it worked perfect. As for the idea of American beating the aliens again, well it is an American film. We should be wise enough to see through those simple limitations. Because naturally if you want to open that Pandora's box where does it end. A film from Japan, Japanese aliens?A British film , aliens with British accents? etc etc etc. We know, like Jesus Christ, black in African American neighborhoods, blonde in King of kings.This will never end .Again film must be taken with a mature wise grain of salt and enjoy them, if you want to. Enjoy them for the sometimes deep ideas that are universal to wise people everywhere. What else can a night at the movies offer?
Jim/Charles, Thanks for posting this...... How is it possible that this score (which I didn't know) is so underrated/unknown? On first hearing (and nor having seen the movie) it's innovative, maybe not as much as TDTESS, but still...
Another question: I read somewhere that Glickmann gostwrote for Kraushaar- what can you tell us about this?
Again, thanks for posting...Always great to discover a treasury of Hollywood's Golden Age!
Jim/Charles, Thanks for posting this...... How is it possible that this score (which I didn't know) is so underrated/unknown? On first hearing (and nor having seen the movie) it's innovative, maybe not as much as TDTESS, but still...
Another question: I read somewhere that Glickmann gostwrote for Kraushaar- what can you tell us about this?
Again, thanks for posting...Always great to discover a treasury of Hollywood's Golden Age!
Geert
He did, and many other composers ghosted for Kraushaar, such as Dave Kahn ("Mr. Ed"). Kraushaar was an hack who took credit for other people's work and Glickman's son Phil has confirmed that the score for "Invaders From Mars" was indeed composed by his father.
