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I came across this 1975 Arthur Penn directed mystery with Gene Hackman with a score by Michael Small. I've never seen the film before, and would like to know the following:
1. Opinions on the film from the plot, acting, and direction.
2. Opinions on the Michael Small score.
3. Since it's a Warner Bros film, would it be a suitable FSM release?
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My favorite Small score. But if I remember correctly the tapes are lost. I think Lukas stated that some time ago.
I wonder if he had a copy in his personal collection which his wife would now have in her possession?
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My favorite Small score. But if I remember correctly the tapes are lost. I think Lukas stated that some time ago.
I wonder if he had a copy in his personal collection which he wife would now have in her possession?
We checked and no there isn't.
Lukas
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Excellent film with an equally fine score. I've got the main theme running through my head right now. Sorry to hear that the tapes no longer exist.
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Cool fun fact about the movie: In the beginning of the film, when he's following his wife to see if he's she is cheating on him, he sees her and a guy coming out of a movie theater. That movie theater was located on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. It later turned it into Evergreen Studios where Streisand recorded a number of albums. She no longer owns the place, but it is still a recording studio and it's located right next to the bar where I met my wife. It's also right up the street from my parents house, where I grew up... as well as across the street from a drive thru Dairy where a scene from La La Land takes place.
Fun fact!
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Posted: |
Aug 22, 2017 - 6:32 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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A "greatest hits" rundown on the film, posted in the hopes that there will be continued discussion on the film and its (maddeningly unavailable) score:
Night Moves is a great, hidden gem of a film and one of the best in capturing the "post-'60s, post-Watergate, Existentialist Hangover Blues." And it does so without really talking about it, save for the lines about the Kennedys. Michael Small was the BEST at scoring stuff like this and the early-to-mid-'70s films were perfect for his style, which make his later work in the vapid 1980s all the more a tragic waste of his talent. His music after 1979 was still solid, professional stuff but the ship had sailed on the kind of quality film Michael Small could score with brilliant ease circa 1975.
What little there is of Small's music in the film is effective, as it's a jazzy, vibes-led piece that's already stuck in my head. The film is more of a character study than anything, as most will figure out who's who well before the end. I'm not so sure if it's the lines themselves that are great or if Gene Hackman just has the gift of delivering them in his inimitable fashion. Probably both. Fine performances by all involved, with a finale that's gripping and as per the era, downbeat. But then that was the first half of the '70s, before everything got all twinkly and escapist in the decade's second half. The first half of the '70s comes off as one big hangover, and the pop culture shows it.
It's interesting to note that by 1975, these types of movies became more slick and self assured. I'm thinking of movies like 3 Days of the Condor, Marathon Man, and All the President's Men. All fine films, but they're a refined "last gasp" designed more for gaining prestige and awards than for just telling a good story with interesting characters. They lack that feeling of desperation and bone-weary tiredness that made protagonists in so many early '70s so damned interesting.
Of course the change was bound to happen, but it also makes me realize that cinema got a lot less interesting after Jaws hit theaters. The efforts of Arthur Penn or Sam Peckinpah are certainly different than anything Spielberg cranked out.
In fact, you can sense a "burned out" atmosphere in things like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and especially Night Moves that truly signified the end of something. Spielberg and Lucas were master craftsmen, but their movies were designed to appeal to the masses or the "child lurking within us" or some such nonsense; one could never say that a movie by those two was "controversial" and they sure never made you think about your own life.
I'm mesmerized by Night Moves' burned-out, "post-Vietnam/Watergate Blues" atmosphere. The baked environment of Los Angeles, the steaminess of Key West--another place that has changed dramatically over the years. In fact, the entire vibe in Night Moves is sun drenched, weary, and just plain worn out. Oh, how I love it so.
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