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| CD Reviews: The Punisher and Du Barry Was A Lady |
| Posted By: Luke Goljan, Mark Griffin on January 9, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: The Punisher and Du Barry Was A Lady
The Punisher ****
CARLO SILIOTTO
La-La Land LLLCD 1020
30 tracks - 65:37
The most interesting thing about The
Punisher is that it doesn't contain any standard action music
at all. Siliotto mentions in his liner notes how happy he was that
writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh supplied him with great characters,
and his music reflects just that -- character. The first track's moody
trumpet solo announces that this music doesn't intend to go for the
throat, instead aiming for the heart.
The sheer amount of thematic writing Siliotto packs into this score is
an absolute joy; there are roughly five themes in total. One for
Punishment, one for Remembering, and three slithering ideas for the
three villains. The Punishment theme gets the most treatments, opening
the album with a rendition that makes it sound similar to Zimmer's
trumpet work in The Rock. In
other places it completely escapes this similarity, played quickly in
staccato bursts it sounds more like James Horner ("She Took the
Train/Punishment" is a good example). This theme stays melancholy the
entire way through, only finally becoming vaguely heroic at the end
("The Skull").
The Remembering theme gets the standard piano orchestration, but what
distances it, as well as the rest of the score, from other similar
ideas is Siliotto's approach. His background in predominantly foreign
films is a godsend, because he doesn't approach this the same way a
typical American composer would. There is very little percussion, and
the melody stays right up in your face the entire time. It doesn't
interfere with the dialogue, but plays alongside it, underscoring the
emotions. It's prominently mixed in the film as well, unlike the murky
string work or percussion samples that hide in the background in many
similar films. Siliotto's music also carries a slight tinge of Spanish
flavor that isn't apparent in the orchestration, yet casually surfaces
as the album progresses.
Siliotto's choice to include a saxophone in the score especially piqued
my curiosity, because this instrument often signals the essence of
cheesiness. Surprisingly, he manages to wrangle some evocative moments
out of it, underscoring the evil Mrs. Saint. Tied to the very
instigation of the revenge against Castle, she gets her own theme,
which frequently plays against Howard Saint's menacing piano and string
melody. Evil henchman Quentin Glass also gets his own theme, another
slow, minor key piece so subtle it isn't even immediately recognizable
as an actual theme.
Before walking into the theater, I never expected The Punisher to sound like this. I
feared repetitive percussion. I feared techno. I feared the new world
(though some of Siliotto's string passages coincidentally sound like
Don Davis' Matrix work!).
Instead, I was treated to a rich, melodic score that harkens back to
yesteryear and continually soars to the forefront of the mix. La-la
Land's presentation also impresses, as it includes a whopping 60
minutes of score. Only one corny pop song finds its way on the album,
as does a selection from "Rigoletto," (used as underscore during a
fight scene). Rarely does a score get treatment this good, and even
more rarely does it actually deserve it. --
Luke Goljan
Du Barry Was A Lady **
PORTER, EDENS, HARBURG
Rhino Handmade
23 tracks - 78:27
Another sterling example of how Hollywood has an uncanny knack for
getting it wrong, the 1943 film treatment of Cole Porter's 1939 stage
smash Du Barry Was A Lady
really lost something in the translation to the screen. For starters,
belter extraordinaire Ethel Merman may have had the rafters ringing at
the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway but by the time cameras rolled, the
Merm's powerhouse pipes were sacrificed in favor of Lucille Ball, a
comedic genius to be sure but no great shakes in the high notes
department. Arthur Freed, M-G-M's legendary producer of top notch
musicals, seemed intent on molding Ball into Metro's answer to Betty
Hutton, Paramount's raucous and bankable comedienne. For Du Barry, Ball was newly coifed
and her tresses tinted a striking henna hue that studio stylist Sydney
Guilaroff christened "Tango Red." As a result, the future Mrs. Lucy
Ricardo would never photograph more ravishingly than she did in the
resplendent Technicolor process. Still, an elaborate musical seemed an
odd choice for a performer far more comfortable with pratfalls than
Porter tunes.
The incomparable Bert Lahr and Ronald Graham ("The Boys From Syracuse")
were lauded for their performances during the triumphant theatrical run
of Du Barry but they were
replaced on film by Red Skelton and Gene Kelly respectively. Like Lucy,
Skelton and Kelly were being groomed for superstardom by M-G-M and the
revue-like qualities of the project were deemed ideal for showcasing
their distinctive talents. With a youthful Zero Mostel, Virginia
O'Brien and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra stirred into the mix, Du Barry boasted the most eclectic
movie cast ever assembled until Myra
Breckinridge arrived nearly 30 years later (speaking of Mae West
vehicles, scenarist Herbert Fields first offered Du Barry to the inimitable West as
an original screenplay specially tailored to her lascivious persona,
which the star promptly rejected as unsuitable.)
Another obstacle Irving Brecher faced in adapting the story for the
screen was the frothy innocuousness of the book by Fields and B.G.
DeSylva: A nightclub cloakroom attendant (Skelton) covets comely
headliner May Daly (Ball) who only has eyes for a nimble chorus boy
(Kelly). During a delirious episode, the attendant imagines himself as
Louis XIV, wooing the scandalous coquette Madame Du Barry in
overdressed 18th century Versailles. Not exactly Porgy and Bess, but thanks to
Porter's reputation and Merman's fiercely dedicated fan base, it racked
up 408 performances on the Great White Way.
This limited edition Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Handmade version
of the Du Barry soundtrack
offers knockout fidelity but immaculate audio is beside the point when
the material being presented is almost uniformly uninspired. This is
one movie musical with a notable absence of vocals. Merman's spotlight
numbers "When Love Beckoned," "Come On In" and "Give Him the Oo-La-La"
were either relegated to instrumentals or dropped entirely by the Freed
Unit. Several other Porter compositions were tossed overboard and
substituted with fresh concoctions by Burton Lane, Roger Edens and
Ralph Freed. Considering the talent quotient involved, it's surprising
that none of these newfangled arrangements amounted to anything
memorable.
In fact, the Du Barry cinematic
score only ventures into sublime territory once as Kelly serenades Lucy
with "Do I Love You?," one of Porter's most tender and satisfying
ballads. The only other keeper is Dorsey's "I'm Getting Sentimental
Over You/We'll Get It" medley, which is presented in its entirety on
this soundtrack release. Following Du
Barry are five tracks from Metro's Meet The People (1944), which
reunited Ball and O'Brien and added Lahr and Dick Powell to the
marquee. The musical content is as unimpressive as the batch of Du Barry misfires and these latter
selections are also marred by intrusive hiss and other auditory
imperfections. Taken in tandem, this is a disappointing double feature
for M-G-M musical aficionados. -- Mark Griffin
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
December 4 |
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| Alex North born (1910) |
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| Benjamin Britten died (1976) |
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| Frank Zappa died (1993) |
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| Harry Sukman died (1984) |
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| Jason Staczek born (1965) |
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| Jay Chattaway begins recording his score for the two-part Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Chain of Command” (1992) |
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| Leonard Rosenman records his score for the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “One of the Family” (1964) |
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| On Golden Pond opens in New York and Los Angeles (1981) |
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| Richard Robbins born (1940) |
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| Rob Walsh born (1947) |
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| Tito Arevalo died (2000) |
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