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I posed a question on the current Max Steiner thread which nobody had any interest in discussing. It being a bit of a non sequitor in this context, I can understand that disinterest, but it occurs to me that maybe the matter will be of interest to some movie mavens here on this non-musical Board. Nu, here goes. This is what I wrote on the Steiner thread when Adolph Deutsch's MALTESE FALCON score was mentioned:
I, too, love the Deutsch score for THE MALTESE FALCON, in the film and in both its incarnations on CD. What a striking, unusual theme for the black bird, perfectly capturing the portentous and the mysterious.
That said, I wonder if anybody else but me thinks Huston's masterpiece would have been just a little bit even better if, after the main title, it had gone right into the story instead of first giving us the backstory about the statue. How much more dramatic and effective it would be as a mystery if, like Sam Spade, we've never heard of the Falcon, and thus enjoy the pertinent revelations about it as they unfold in his investigation. That prelude in the film is marvelously scored, but really superfluous -- Hammett felt no need for it in his novel, to which Huston was otherwise impeccably faithful -- and really, a bit of a spoiler.
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You're probably right, but it does give a bit of an awesome and numinous stimulus to justify Sidney's fascination and lustful fetish for the totem artifact when it is unwrapped.
It tells us he isn't just an Auric Goldfinger with a greed for cash, but is gripped and possessed by his need for the object. It also adds that sense of the avenging cursed object.
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Posted: |
Jan 18, 2017 - 2:14 PM
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By: |
mgh
(Member)
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I posed a question on the current Max Steiner thread which nobody had any interest in discussing. It being a bit of a non sequitor in this context, I can understand that disinterest, but it occurs to me that maybe the matter will be of interest to some movie mavens here on this non-musical Board. Nu, here goes. This is what I wrote on the Steiner thread when Adolph Deutsch's MALTESE FALCON score was mentioned:
I, too, love the Deutsch score for THE MALTESE FALCON, in the film and in both its incarnations on CD. What a striking, unusual theme for the black bird, perfectly capturing the portentous and the mysterious.
That said, I wonder if anybody else but me thinks Huston's masterpiece would have been just a little bit even better if, after the main title, it had gone right into the story instead of first giving us the backstory about the statue. How much more dramatic and effective it would be as a mystery if, like Sam Spade, we've never heard of the Falcon, and thus enjoy the pertinent revelations about it as they unfold in his investigation. That prelude in the film is marvelously scored, but really superfluous -- Hammett felt no need for it in his novel, to which Huston was otherwise impeccably faithful -- and really, a bit of a spoiler.
I love the film, but I agree with you. Revealing the plot as we went along would have been better.
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Posted: |
Jan 18, 2017 - 4:18 PM
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By: |
Last Child
(Member)
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How much more dramatic and effective it would be as a mystery if, like Sam Spade, we've never heard of the Falcon, and thus enjoy the pertinent revelations about it as they unfold in his investigation. That prelude in the film is marvelously scored, but really superfluous -- Hammett felt no need for it in his novel, to which Huston was otherwise impeccably faithful -- and really, a bit of a spoiler.
Since I've seen the movie many times, and it's never bothered me, I'd have to say no. It's a favorite movie that I wouldn't change at all.
Yeah, hard to evaluate the effect having seen it already. At worst it's a teaser, and you could accuse the trailer for lessening the impact for the same reason. Probably was intended to give "objective" credence to the mcguffin.
Heh, everyone complains if there isnt a text prolog in a Star Wars movie.
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