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The Illustrated Man (1969)
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
The Illustrated Man The Illustrated Man
Click to enlarge images.
Price: $30.00
Limited #: 4000
View CD Page at SAE Store
Line: Silver Age
CD Release: September 2001
Catalog #: Vol. 4, No. 14
# of Discs: 1

FSM returns to the treasures of the Warner Bros. archives (The Omega Man, The Towering Inferno) with a masterpiece by Jerry Goldsmith: The Illustrated Man. The film stars Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom in an adaptation of several short stories by Ray Bradbury, affording Goldsmith the crowning achievement of his work in the anthology format (CBS Radio Workshop, The Twilight Zone), as well as one of his most memorable and original works in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres.

The Illustrated Man uses Bradbury's tale of a man (Steiger) covered in elaborate skin illustrations by a timeless witch (Bloom) as the thread amongst three other adaptations of his short stories: "The Veldt," in which rebellious children use a futuristic holodeck-device against their parents in a cold, sterile future; "The Long Rain," featuring astronauts trying to survive on a planet of perpetual rain; and "The Last Night of the World," in which concerned parents struggle whether or not to spare their children the agony of the world's destruction. Goldsmith's score links the stories with a single, immediately accessible folk-like theme acting as a springboard for some of the wildest avant garde writing of his career, filled with imaginative woodwind and string counterpoint. Goldsmith called his approach "lyrical serialism" and nowhere else in his career has he been able to display his melodic side hand-in-hand with his atonal, 20th century side.

Most of Goldsmith's score is found in the film's wrap-around sequences, but he creates unique variations of his main theme for the interior stories. "The Veldt" features the first all-electronic cues of his career: cold, atonal tunes that foreshadow the city music from Logan's Run. There is little music in "The Long Rain" but Goldsmith creates fascinating tape-delay effects for the sequence's finale. And in "The Last Night of the World," Goldsmith expands his main theme into a beautiful, Renaissance-flavored development for alto recorder. Everything in the score culminates in the lengthy action climax, featuring devilish clarinet solos as if played by Mephistopheles himself.

The orchestral portions of The Illustrated Man were previously pirated in mono on a German CD—a horrendous production even by bootleg standards. FSM's premiere release features the complete score in stereo and in correct sequence, including the electronic cues and, most importantly, the female vocalise for the main and end titles. The comprehensive liner notes by Jeff Bond and Lukas Kendall cover the film's history, Goldsmith's involvement and the intricate musical details. The Illustrated Man is an absolute gem.

Jerry Goldsmith Scores on FSM
About the Composer

What to say about Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004), the reason so many of us are soundtrack collectors in the first place? The Los Angeles native knew early on he wanted to write music for the movies, had an extensive training in television in the 1950s (starting at CBS), and went on to an unparalleled career in the movies—capable of brilliance in every genre, and beloved by his peers and fans. FSM has released as many of his scores as we could get our hands on, from classic TV work like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to famous features (Patton) and obscure gems like The Illustrated Man and 100 Rifles...heck, make that all of them. Jerry, we love you and miss you! IMDB

Comments (41):Log in or register to post your own comments
Just got this and I have to say it's gorgeous.

Hauntingly beautiful with lots of Goldsmith nuances thrown in for good measure. I saw the film quite a while ago so it's a bit foggy as far as recollection goes. The story, I seem to recall, was something of a no-win scenario thematically with things going from bad to worse for just about every character in it (except perhaps, Claire Bloom, who called the shots.) It had that nightmarish quality about it, which also comes out strikingly in the music. The final track,"Frightened Willie," is the icing on the cake.

After listening to Jerry Goldsmith's music for over 25 years, and owning probably over 100 of his soundtracks, I can say with confidence that the "The Illustrated Man" is the most satisfying Goldsmith listening experience for me, and that I have played this soundtrack album more times than any other Goldsmith disc (though I admit that "Morituri" and "Papillon" and "The Challenge" all have come quite close to acheiving this status with me at different times).
I've explained my reasons elsewhere in other threads, so I will not rehash nor waste time here.
Let others chime in with their praise for Goldsmith's post-modern masterpiece!

This is one of many scores I taped right off our family's television speaker as a teenager, memorizing not only the music and dialogue but also some jarring TV editorial cuts (the main title is mangled because of some bits of nudity in overhead shots of one character swimming). Getting to hear the main title with the vocal in great sound (after enduring an erzats version for years that was minus the vocal--the MELODY--for the main title music) was one of the great thrills of working for FSM. To me Illustrated Man and Logan's Run encapsulate everything I love about Goldsmith's work.

Surprising the disc isn't sold out. A mere 3000 copies and it's still available. I'd rank The Illustrated Man as one of my favorite Goldsmith scores and in my opinion, one of his best. The 60's seem to be his most inspired period. And I would guess, in some ways the environment in that business was much more free and open minded. Seems to me composers were permitted to let their minds work in a way that's much more effective than much of the horseshit that rolls down from the Hollywood hills today.

The FSM disc is really a well produced package. It's obvious that you guys take much pride in what you do, and to me, that's reassuring in this day and age of so much half stepping and half assing.

The film is a classic. Rod Steiger plays the role of the psychotic drifter perfectly.

:)

To me Illustrated Man and Logan's Run encapsulate everything I love about Goldsmith's work.

Yeah, I think I see your pov. One of my favourite pieces on Logan's Run is On The Circuit. It rolls on with more edginess (inherent everywhere in IM) than was conveyed by York and Agutter in the actual scene.

I would have to say that Goldsmith caught the wind during his efforts with Robert Wise. The Sand Pebbles is masterful in it's deep drama, the movie and the score being one of a kind.

A magnificent score, although I wonder if the incessant "clicking" sound on the last track is supposed to be there (given how strange portions of the score are, I wouldn't be surprised), or if it's just a click track bleed-though that FSM couldn't remove...:confused:

And that cool photo in the booklet of Jerry with the mod hair and goatee is icing on the cake!

A magnificent score, although I wonder if the incessant "clicking" sound on the last track is supposed to be there (given how strange portions of the score are, I wouldn't be surprised), or if it's just a click track bleed-though that FSM couldn't remove...:confused:[/endquote]

You're listening to maracas. I would imagine that Mr Goldsmith would have been quite displeased with FSM had they managed to remove the instrument from the soundtrack. ;) You've obviously never heard "Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room". :D

I too love Illustrated Man. It's one of Goldsmith's bona fide masterpieces, and perhaps echoes his concert music of the period because parts of it come quite close to the sound-world of Music For Orchestra.

I love the electronics too. "21st Century House" gets a lot of play here - those fantastic Moog fifths with their yawning filters really do it for me!

And that cool photo in the booklet of Jerry with the mod hair and goatee is icing on the cake![/endquote]

1968 Los Angeles must have been a hell of a place. I didn't get there until 1979 and by that time many of the Topanga hippies had gone completely insane.

:)

I spent a lot of time listening to this score back in the 80's when I wrote about it for my undergraduate thesis. Even after all those listenings I still enjoy it immensely.

One of the copyists at WB saw me looking at the music and told me to look for the "tin can tree" that is used in a couple of places (he said he had worked on the parts for the score). So I was thrilled to see a photo of the "tree" in the packaging!

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Track List
Instruments/Musicians
Click on each musician name for more credits

Leader (Conductor):
Jerry (Jerrald) Goldsmith, Sam Matlowski

Violin:
Arnold Belnick, Herman Clebanoff, Bonnie J. Douglas (Shure), Sam Freed, Jr., James Getzoff, Thelma Hanau (Beach), Nathan Kaproff, Bernard Kundell, William Kurasch, Marvin Limonick, Dan Lube, Joy Lyle (Sharp), Shirley Marcus, Alexander Murray, Ralph Schaeffer, Paul C. Shure, Marshall Sosson, Dorothy M. Wade (Sushel)

Viola:
Cecil Figelski, Phillip Goldberg, Allan Harshman, Virginia Majewski, Joseph Reilich, Milton Thomas

Cello:
Naoum Benditzky, Justin DiTullio, Marie Fera, Laurence D. Lesser, Edgar Lustgarten, Eleanor Slatkin, Gloria Strassner

Bass:
Milton Kestenbaum, Peter A. Mercurio

Flute:
Arthur Gleghorn, Sylvia Ruderman

Recorder:
Shirley Marcus

Oboe:
William Criss, Arnold Koblentz

Clarinet:
Dominick Fera, Mitchell Lurie, Abe Most

Bassoon:
Norman H. Herzberg, Jack Marsh

French Horn:
David A. Duke, William A. Hinshaw, Richard Mackey, Richard E. Perissi

Trombone:
Thomas Shepard, Kenneth Shroyer, Lloyd E. Ulyate

Piano:
Artie Kane

Synthesizer:
Paul Beaver

Guitar:
Howard Roberts

Harp:
Dorothy S. Remsen

Drums:
Louis Singer, Kurt E. Wolff

Percussion:
Larry Bunker, Frank J. Flynn, Louis Singer, Kurt E. Wolff

Orchestra Manager:
Kurt E. Wolff

Copyist:
Dan Franklin, Arthur W. Grier, Alvin Sanders, Dave Strech, Bill Williams (aka George Davenport)

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