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Tester, afraid I have to disagree with you about THE BLUE MAX. I think I remember that Goldsmith himself (?) complained about how his music was cut up and spliced into the film - something about director John Guillermin liking the "theme" and re-using it throughout (?) - but on the albums, there's an astounding amount of diverse material. The "Main Theme" goes through so many transformations (aggressive, sweet, downtrodden, soaring) that it hardly seems the same theme at all, but it's cut from the same cloth, so it's never jarring. And then the simply amazing battle music... I could go on, but I'm not feeling very coherent.
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The Devil's Brigade by Alex North
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. Oops choices I had were already made by others.....nevermind.....
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Posted: |
May 15, 2020 - 11:21 AM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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These scores were intentionally designed to have 1 central theme or motif to carry the film along. One of the most famous is LAURA, with it's now infamous melody. While there is at least a secondary theme, the main melody siezes your attention and never lets go. It is everywhere: as unbderscore, on the record player (remember those?) and even a live combo performs it at a restauramt. Fox released the score back in 1993 and while the entire work is short, less than laf an hour, Raksin's inventiveness constantly renews the tune and it all goes by quickly. There is also the psychological factor that the meody never comes to an end (the final cadnece) and that not quite finished quality lends an air of mystery and excitement.
Two other scores coem to mind, both by John Williams: THE LONG GOODBYE and THE EIGER SANCTION. While Sanction has a few stand alone cues, it is the stylish main theme supplies the undercurrent of more to come while Clint does his underplaying to the point of catalypsy.
I see there is no mention that THE LONG GOODBYE is a totally satiric score making fun of monothematic scores. Director Robert Altman said he wanted a theme that would be reused for anything; supermarkets, lounge, marching bands, mariachis, elevator music, etc. It was an element of bad noir scoring he wanted to lampoon.
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Does The Haunted Palace starring Vincent Price qualify? Maybe I should watch it again, but I seem to remember that the last time I saw it, I suddenly realised the theme was played constantly. It's just that this film came to mind as I read this thread.
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When I have Monothematic Scores I upgrade to Stereo versions where I can. This caused me a lot of grief in the 1960s particularly with United Artists releases.
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Does THE BIRDS count?
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