 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 14, 2019 - 7:07 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
|
I managed a Black Lagoon marathon last night, and was surprised to find that I liked the last one in the trilogy, THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US even more than the original. It was if they'd run out of ideas and had to look for something special. It turned out to be quite a thoughtful SF-infused film (some moments, like when the Creature has his bandages taken off and is just staring at the team through "new" paraffin-burned eyes, are pure "Twilight Zone" in mood), with a lot of real pathos. Well-done action scenes too.
But the real point of this is that I noticed the unmistakable sound of Henry Mancini much more than in his other collaborative scores. In this one there's a bit of Stein, Gertz, Salter and Roemheld, but I'd say that - especially in the last half of the film - that it was "mostly Mancini". That dramatic device of the ascending flurry of notes which you can hear in many of his later "serious" films is everywhere. And there's one particular cue, at about 52-mins in, where the leading lady (Leigh Snowden) is sitting smoking (of course) in her cabin and begins to get pestered by a pushy crew member, which is absolutely pure Mancini magic. It's a loungy piano and clarinet piece, and is quite as beautiful and haunting as anything he did thereafter.
So, for the experts, is there more Mancini in this film than in the other "Joseph Gershenson-credited" Universals? And does anyone remember the cue(s) I'm talking about? Pity there doesn't seem to be YouTube uploads.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Sep 15, 2019 - 5:47 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
|
Update! I noticed that there's a Tom Weaver (and Bob Braden) commentary track on the DVD, so I listened to the beginning of each DVD chapter. Although Weaver mentions the Herman Stein motif during the Main Titles, the rest of the parts I dipped into seem to be mostly Bob Braden's memories of seeing the trilogy on their first release. I didn't notice Weaver mentioning anything else about the music, but he very likely did and I very likely missed it. Didn't have the time or patience to sit through the whole thing.
Then I did a Google search for the Weaver book mentioned in the post made by films1, and there are quite a few relevant pages uploaded. Weaver writes that Mancini's contribution was "major", for example between 08:50 and 31:41, it's all Mancini, and although he does adapt the famous Stein motif, his scoring is very much "in the character of Mancini's personal style". He details the different parts of the score, including the piece later released on LP by Dick Jacobs - and I believe that the "loungy piano and clarinet" piece I mentioned in my first post may be the one which Weaver (or probably Schecter) refers to as "Poor Rich Wife" (he says that it's in the "lighter, jazz-based style" which Mancini became identified with). Another interesting detail is that the scene in which Leigh Snowden is sitting on the balcony strumming her guitar, it's actually another Mancini composition. I'll bet you all know which famous Mancini-scored scene from a later popular movie THAT reminded me of.
So, let's hear more from you nutmegs out there. Comments on the film itself, the music score etc... Even unintelligent comments are welcome.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
