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Thank you for this thread, zooba; for the topic, the information, and for finally revealing the other mystery name.
I particularly love ROMEO AND JULIET (as well as its Nino Rota score, so I'd never want to lose it as part of that film) and enjoy much of JESUS OF NAZARETH. But do you happen to know in what year Goldsmith happened to express that wish to work with Zeffirelli? I'm curious about which picture(s) would have led him to pine for that collaboration.
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I also remember an interview where Jerry told the story of meeting Sydney Pollock on a airline flight late 70's I believe and at that time Sydney Pollack was attached to a MASADA project. It got Goldsmith interested and I think he was apt to pursue Pollack to get a chance to work on it. The story was funny because Goldsmith for some reason didn't like Pollack's JEREMIAH JOHNSON and I think it was out around that time. Goldsmith I believe said he felt awkward about not liking Pollack's film and he tried to steer clear about talking about it with the director. Something like that. Goldsmith sure had a lot of great stories.
Goldsmith told a slightly different version of this to John Burlingame -- in this version, when Goldsmith to expressed his interest in the project, Pollock basically brushed him off.
Goldsmith's anecdote can be heard at 10:30...
https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jerry-goldsmith?clip=78563#interview-clips
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Thanks for that too, zooba. Yes, Goldsmith DID tell many great stories; and contrary to one writer around here once claiming that the composer couldn't tell a joke, he had a terrific sense of humor. But he was also the consummate, career-minded free-lancer who really tried to avoid getting on the bad side of anyone from whom he might get future assignments. That's why he couldn't have been pleased when somebody -- was it a music editor? -- told a magazine reporter that Goldsmith didn't return for THE MUMMY RETURNS because he felt the first picture "was the biggest piece of crap he ever worked on."
It's also why it was so striking that in 1965 when Otto Preminger threatened that if Goldsmith left Hawaii before dubbing was finished on IN HARM'S WAY (in order to keep his prior commitment to VON RYAN'S EXPRESS) he'd never work for Preminger again, Jerry replied "I don't want to work with you, Otto!" After Preminger went independent I don't think any composer ever worked for him twice; but I'm convinced that Goldsmith's "talking back to him" is the best explanation why an unnecessary clap of thunder smothers the few seconds of music under the composer's onscreen credit. Sheer spite.
That's why I easily believe Goldsmith schmoozing Sydney Pollack over the prospect of landing MASADA while being cautious to avoid discussion of a recent Pollack picture he didn't care for. Sigh ... he created so much of his finest work for directors whom he not only respected creatively but also enjoyed personally. Of course he also produced a lot of his greatest material for lesser pictures; but I certainly wish Goldsmith could have gotten more of those collaborations he never got to experience.
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Goldsmith told a slightly different version of this to John Burlingame -- in this version, when Goldsmith to expressed his interest in the project, Pollock basically brushed him off.
https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jerry-goldsmith?clip=78563#interview-clips
Thanks for the link, Paul. Perhaps Pollack had caught Goldsmith nodding off during JEREMIAH JOHNSON. (I did, myself; but in my case, it was partly because that was the first and last time I ever sat through four features almost in a row, and JOHNSON was the fourth!)
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It's also why it was so striking that in 1965 when Otto Preminger threatened that if Goldsmith left Hawaii before dubbing was finished on IN HARM'S WAY (in order to keep his prior commitment to VON RYAN'S EXPRESS) he'd never work for Preminger again, Jerry replied "I don't want to work with you, Otto!" After Preminger went independent I don't think any composer ever worked for him twice; but I'm convinced that Goldsmith's "talking back to him" is the best explanation why an unnecessary clap of thunder smothers the few seconds of music under the composer's onscreen credit. Sheer spite.
There's absolutely no reason why Goldsmith would ever have been in Hawaii; though much of the film was shot there, all the post-production and scoring was done in L.A.
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Goldsmith made a cameo in the film, playing piano.
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There's absolutely no reason why Goldsmith would ever have been in Hawaii; though much of the film was shot there, all the post-production and scoring was done in L.A.
That would seem logical by conventional norms, yet often it was different with Otto Preminger pictures.
It has been widely and well-documented that Preminger repeatedly brought his composers to locations during production. Famed singer Marni Nixon's autobiography (which I'm reading now) discusses her then-husband Ernest Gold being flown to Israel during the shooting of EXODUS, while liner notes for THE CARDINAL mention Jerome Moross having been present for that filming. And Intrada's booklet notes for their reissues of the IN HARM'S WAY score specify Goldsmith being another Preminger composer asked to hang around, in that case for the Hawaii location shooting. (Which explains how Goldsmith's cameo appearance early in the picture was possible.)
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Can anyone guess or know this other director that Goldsmith had wanted to work with?
Tinto Brass? Joe D'Amato? zooba THEE stallion?
Tinto Brass?!?
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Nope. Beyond the LAWRENCE connection (i.e. Spielberg gushing over the film, and Lean in general, in documentaries and such), none of them had anything to do with each other in a professional capacity. But I wouldn't be surprised if they met at some point in their life, maybe the 1985 Oscars?
They were friends actually. Before they ever met, Lean was enormously impressed when he saw Spielberg's Duel, and recognized the younger director as a promising new talent.
Spielberg also invited Lean to direct an Amazing Stories episode, but it didn't happen because Lean said he would need six months to make it!
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Belmer Ernstein, Speven Stielberg
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