HURRY SUNDOWN Composed and Conducted by HUGO MONTENEGRO INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 353
For composer Hugo Montenegro, composing the score for the 1967 Otto Preminger film Hurry Sundown was his first assignment for a major Hollywood director. Montenegro spent three months on location, later crediting the director with helping teach him how “not to Mickey Mouse a film score” and how to avoid placing musical emphasis in the wrong places. A passionate, dramatic work, Montenegro makes strong use of the ravishing love theme for Lou (Faye Dunaway) and Rad (John Phillip Law). While a lush, stirring orchestral score in general, Jazz also plays a major role in the music, including the score’s longest sequence, “Playing With Dynamite," which runs nearly 11 minutes. Intrada presents the complete score, including the original RCA album assembly on this premiere 2-CD set, featuring nearly 2 hours and twenty minutes of music.
To present this expanded edition of Hurry Sundown, Intrada transferred the 35mm multi-channel scoring session masters, courtesy Paramount Pictures. The release includes the "roadshow" intermission music and exit pieces as well as music Montenegro recorded for the three-plus hour version of the film that is being heard for the first time. Because of the large number of cues recorded and the many channels of multi-track stereo music involved, Intrada had to mix and edit some 42 rolls of magnetic film. Incredibly, every roll survived in magnificent condition, yielding one of the most dynamic stereo presentations of filmmusic ever drawn from the '60s.
The film tells the tale of a pair of sharecroppers (one black, one white) battling the local landowner who wants to buy their land and seal the deal on a lucrative housing development and was filmed on location in what was still a racially-charged region. Based on the 1964 bestseller by K. B. Gilden, the film stars Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Diahann Carroll, Robert Hooks, Faye Dunaway, Burgess Meredith and George Kennedy.
Wow! Magnificent Hugo Montenegro score arrives on 2-CD set with wealth of previously unreleased music! Not only expanded from 1967 RCA album but with much music deleted from finished film and being heard here for first time. Otto Preminger originally intended mammoth story about race relations in the South after WWII as three hour-plus epic with "intermission" and "exit" music. Final picture was cut heavily, with sizable portions of film - and score - dropped entirely. Montenegro originally recorded lengthy score for longer cut, including afore-mentioned "roadshow" music across some 42 reels of 35mm multi-track session elements with multiple layers requiring complex synchronization. In wonderful discovery, Paramount Pictures located every single 35mm reel in absolutely pristine condition, allowing brand new full stereo mix of every cue! Entire score, alternates, versions both with, without various overlays, unused cues, "Entr'acte" and "Exit" music - all survived intact with some of the most astonishingly detailed stereo sound ever encountered with mid-sixties era film score recordings! Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, John Philip Law, Faye Dunaway, Robert Hooks, Diahann Carroll, Burgess Meredith, George Kennedy all feature in large cast, Horton Foote (To Kill A Mockingbird) co-scripts with Thomas C. Ryan, Otto Preminger directs. Hugo Montenegro anchors with incredibly strong main theme ("Main Title"), then surrounds with vast array of themes, motifs: the Americana idiom of "Homecoming", love themes for Caine/Fonda & Law/Dunaway characters, heartfelt variants for Hooks/Carroll relationship (much of which was cut from final film & score) plus much much more! Intrada release also features two versions of powerful, nearly 11-minute "Playing With Dynamite" sequence - just three minutes appeared on original 1967 RCA album.) Intrada also offers Caine's solo sax pieces, Montenegro's cool jazz source cues, afore-mentioned "Entr'acte" and "Exit" music plus numerous score alternates. If not enough, find the complete 1967 34-minute LP newly re-mastered from original two-track stereo album masters. It is rare to unearth so much musical material from Preminger's epic roadshow-style films. Happily, Hurry Sundown is one such discovery! Rich packaging features flipper-style booklet cover: choose between original film campaign art by David Weissman or 1967 LP cover art by Saul Bass. Richly recorded at Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios Scoring Stage during October 1966. Leo Shuken, Jack Hayes orchestrate, Hugo Montenegro conducts. Intrada Special Collection 2-CD set available while quantities and interest remain!
CD1 01. Main Title (2:18) 02. Homecoming (4:41) 03. First Meeting (1:34) 04. Rad’s Wound (1:26) 05. Kids Sleep (1:05) 06. Love Theme (Revised) (5:49) 07. Hi Rad (0:28) 08. Welcome Suki (2:24) 09. Rose Meets Julie (3:37) 10. Rose’s Attack (1:15) 11. The Loser (2:22) 12. Hurry Sundown Theme (1:17) 13. Breakfast In Bed (2:07) 14. Bread And Jam (1:45) 15. Love Me Vivian (Original) (3:43) 16. Reeve (0:37) 17. Hurry Sundown (Choral – Film Version) (2:16) 18. Entr’acte (3:27) 19. Jubilation And Hurry Sundown Blues (3:47) 20. Henry’s Blues (1:57) 21. Vivian’s Nite Visit (1:25) 22. Julie’s Gone (With Sax Overlay) (1:59) 23. Henry’s Dream No. 1 (With Sax Overlay) (1:54) 24. Charlie’s Trip (2:49) 25. Playing With Dynamite (10:42) 26. Togetherness (3:17) 27. End Title (With Soprano Overlay) (1:14) 28. Exit Music – Hurry Sundown (Choral) (1:59) CD1 Time: 74:03
CD2 The Extras -- Alternates and Additional Cues 01. Cool It Julie – Intro (0:09) 02. Love Theme (Original) (5:48) 03. Love Me Vivian No. 2 (Revised) (1:59) 04. Julie’s Gone (1:59) 05. Henry’s Dream No. 1 (1:54) 06. Henry’s Dream No. 2 (With Sax Overlay) (0:37) 07. Henry’s Dream No. 2 (0:37) 08. Playing With Dynamite (Alternate) (10:42) 09. End Title (1:14) Time: 27:02
Saxophone Cues 10. O Henry (1:51) 11. Cool It Julie – Sax (Henry’s Theme) (2:03) 12. O Henry (Julie’s Sax Solo) (0:05) Time: 4:05
Original RCA Soundtrack Album 13. Main Title (2:19) 14. Cool It Julie (2:20) 15. Hurry Sundown (Choral – Film Version) (2:11) 16. Homecoming (2:18) 17. The Loser (2:24) 18. Love Me Vivian (3:26) 19. Charlie’s Trip (2:49) 20. Hurry Sundown (Choral) (2:01) 21. Playing With Dynamite (3:12) 22. Hurry Sundown Blues (2:00) 23. Love Theme (2:46) 24. Breakfast In Bed (2:10) 25. Interlude And End Title From Hurry Sundown (3:30) Time: 33:43 CD2 Total Time: 64:59
Finally!! I've waited my entire collecting life to get this on CD (well, at least since the mid-'80s or so). My LP can finally be retired. Who knew that HURRY SUNDOWN was supposed to be a roadshow film? I'd love to see the director's cut that wasn't to be. This is Hugo Montenego's magnum opus. It's a great find, and to think it comes from Paramount's "lost decade" of scores. Bravo, Intrada!
I saw the film in the cinema on its first release and have loved the music from that day to this. What a magnificent release from the superb Intrada! A dream come true indeed. A great day in this collectors life, an absolute joy. Thanks to everybody at Intrada. Ordered in a flash!
At first, I was going to say that this score might not be to everyone's liking, and then I listened to the LP version again. It's actually got something for many people! Bold, Bernstein-like melodies, cool late-' 60s syncopated pieces, and much more. I can't wait to hear the 2-CD set.
When first released, this movie got some of the worst reviews I ever read, in which the critics were falling all over themselves to blast it. Because of that, and Preminger's penchant for "relevance" at the time, I had little interest, and never saw it. I saw the album here and there, but never had an interest in it either.
After hearing about this release, though, and the sample on this thread, I may have to change my attitude and investigate this. Montenegro used to do instrumental albums, a la Mantovani, and this cue has an element of that style, but the theme is memorable. So this may in fact be an undiscovered gem for me.
Love the samples, and the sound quality is great too. I'm assuming based on the lack of samples and the description that the LP is from the film recordings...
Love the samples, and the sound quality is great too. I'm assuming based on the lack of samples and the description that the LP is from the film recordings...
I believe that is correct. The new tracks sound exactly like what's on my LP. RCA, who was usually pretty accurate about those things, labeled the LP the "Original Soundtrack."
The album contained unique edits and possibly alternate takes. I can understand why Intrada decided to include it since they had the space on disc 2.
This is a fantastic release. I'm guessing the complete score only survived thanks to the RCA album, as we've seen with some other scores of the era that otherwise would've been lost or only survived in compromised form (like Seconds).
It's really too bad that the complete sessions didn't survive for In Harm's Way as well.
Loving the samples. Just ordered my first Montenegro score
Montenegro wasn't all that prolific as a composer. Kinda like John Green he did a handful, but Hurry Sundown is basically his greatest achievement, a la Raintree County. If you feel like trying a different score by him, smaller-scale but very enjoyable, I highly recommend The Undefeated. FSM originally put it out but it's OOP and only worth seeking out if you really care about getting the original more detailed liner notes, because Kritzerland reissued it in a three-scores-for-the-price-of-one set, available here at SAE:
