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When we did the CD, we were given a VHS tape of the cut with the Barry-Walker score. That seems to be the only one still available and in limited circulation (evidently it ran on TCM, per these youtube clips). The edit with the Phillips score I think was done for its American television premiere. A very disappointing film, sorry to say, especially from the great Sidney Lumet.
Lukas
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Posted: |
May 26, 2020 - 5:03 PM
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By: |
Grecchus
(Member)
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That might have been so in another era, Lukas, but when you've seen nothing but lockdown for as long as I/we have, anything that provides a snapshot of the way we were tends to go down a treat. At least it does for me. Besides I'm from the 60s, and this movie end-points the decade where I'm from. I can 'smell' the interior of those cars in the scene!
As far as the FSM CD content goes, the Legrand opener is like a figure of eight. It kind of goes round and round and round. But, I don't mind. I can hear it on automatic and it tends to be hypnotically soothing. The Barry stretch is a bit monotomous in the sense it ends up being tremendously mournful and the mood the film put him in comes right on out in the music. Stu's play is obviously more conventional, however, he had the complication of having to add in vocals so his effort kind of reminds me of the type of easy listening records where there would be 'lookers' eyeing you back on the covers and the songs would incorporate male and female singers - funnily enough, I'm having difficulty trying to extract a prime example of the genre even though it keeps teetering on the end of my tongue - perhaps something along the lines of the James Last singers - you know, stuff typical of that other era. Did Stu actually hear JB's score before entering the fray because by golly, they're not quite the same in overall outlook. One is undoubtedly european/continental in approach and the other is not. I can only think Stu might have had Valley Of The Dolls as a close fitting type of benchmark upon which to base a temp track in catering for the stateside interpretation. I like Stu's entry because it has The Beauty Of Beginning, which is the central 'sweetening' point of his version of the score for me. Actually, I can't decide whether I prefer the instrumental over the song because they both have something the other doesn't.
Edit: For some reason, I was reminded of Ray Conniff and the typical album covers that would grace his records when thinking of Stu's score. Must be some sort of generic style identifier in the singer/orchestral arrangements, or something.
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Yes, Stu screened the movie with the Barry-Walker score and recalls he asked the studio's Margaret Booth, who was responsible for the re-edit, "What exactly do you want me to do that John Barry didn't do?" And the answer was to make it more contemporary and hipper. I like his score quite a lot and am proud of this weird CD!
Lukas
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Posted: |
Mar 17, 2022 - 8:27 AM
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By: |
Hurdy Gurdy
(Member)
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This is a compelling CD, offering the listener 3 different takes on the same film.
The Legrand theme is okay, if a tad annoying to me, due to its harmonic structure, and the repetition of it over the 19 minutes quickly wears out its welcome to me.
It's my least favourite (and least played) section of the CD.
The John Barry theme is much better, if hardly one of his strongest or most memorable efforts and it's nice to have something like the Cafe Music track, to at least break up some of the monotony of Barry's 26 minute portion.
My favourite score of the 3 is the Stu Phillips take, mainly due to my preference to his main theme, first heard in the catchy opening song Solo e Triste.
But I also find his score the most varied and least repetitive.
I really like its light pop sensibilities sprinkled throughout the score tracks.
It's also the most dramatic.
It sounds akin to something Lee Holdridge might have done, had he been on the scene around that time ('69 Dude!!).
A great collection overall though.
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I'm sorry to say it but the Legrand score bores me.
Please don't let my honesty about my personal reaction mean anything to anyone else though.
I am a Barry devotee as you know and I think his score for THE APPOINTMENT is an under-rated gem.
That said, I must confess that the Stu Phillips score, with it's greater variety and bounce, may actually be the most enjoyable of the three.
Cheers
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By the way, I met Stu Phillips at an event in Birmingham, England, about ten years ago.
Apart from telling us how everyone though the Battlestar Galactica manuscripts were lost until somebody remembered it was called "The Saga of Battlestar Galactica" when it was filed ...
I presented him with The Appointment CD to sign and he made the familiar joke, "So you're the one who bought it!"
He then went on to tell us how he once had a job doing arrangements of Barry's early pop tunes, although in the advancing of years and my age, I can't really remember what he told us.
Cheers
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I recorded an instrumental titled "Black Stockings" which John Barry wrote and recorded in England. I recorded an American cover version. The irony that rises from this event is that the sheet music of the tune has my picture on the front. Not John's. Don't know about England. This was back in the early 1960s...before Barry became one of the top composers.
THAT'S the story!!! Thank you! Time has an evil effect on my memory!
Cheers
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