Film (movie) Music

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A couple of movies now on my "To-be-watched-soon List":  Avatar and 1917. 

PD

[vandermolen]

A couple of movies now on my "To-be-watched-soon List":  Avatar and 1917. 

PD

Both fine films IMO.

[Roy Bland]

Indeed! There was a great TV documentary about Herrmann many years ago. Hitch wanted a 'pop score' for 'Torn Curtain' but Herrmann produced his usual kind of lush orchestral score. Hitchcock humiliated Herrmann in front of the orchestra, I think. I remember that they played a murder scene without any accompanying music (as in the movie) and then with Herrmann's rejected original score, which was incomparably better. According to the late Christopher Palmer, who featured a lot on the documentary, Hitchcock had the loyalty of a jellyfish considering all those marvellous scores which Herrmann composed for him. Another thing I remember is an entertaining interview with Elmer Bernstein in the documentary in which they discussed Richard Rodney Bennett's light-hearted score for the tongue-in-cheek movie 'Murder on the Orient Express' which Herrmann didn't like at all, exclaiming 'BUT THIS WAS A TRAIN OF DEATH!!!' There's a very good biography of Herrmann called 'A Heart at Fire's Centre' I think. Herrmann was quite a difficult man and could be very rude to orchestral musicians. I've listened to this great CD today:

for what it's worth I disagree totally with BH ,Many novels of Christie particularly of the 30s . have a detective comedy tone therefore employing lively and brilliant melodies is  is not an arbitrary one as example late Nino Rota

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FnN68f16BY

other movie by Bruno Nicolai notable presence of Aznavour in the cast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIW9k9TAPTE

[relm1]

for what it's worth I disagree totally with BH ,Many novels of Christie particularly of the 30s . have a detective comedy tone therefore employing lively and brilliant melodies is  is not an arbitrary one as example late Nino Rota

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FnN68f16BY

other movie by Bruno Nicolai notable presence of Aznavour in the cast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIW9k9TAPTE

BH didn't have the widest range.  I think he saw everything through the lens of gravitas, dread, suspense, and otherworldly.  That made him great at those genre's but not so much in lighter fare.  He was great in Pyscho scoring the mind of a pyschopathic murderer, but misfired on Torn Curtain, the film that ended his relationship with Hitch.  This sequence for example shows his approach was way too heavy handed for the on-screen drama.  The scene is unscored in the film.

https://youtu.be/_zsBmN3ywzQ?t=170

[vandermolen]

Currently enjoying this new arrival, especially the score for 'The Mask of Dimitrious':

[Cato]

Currently enjoying this new arrival, especially the score for 'The Mask of Dimitrious':

That movie is absolutely wonderful: Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet (the former as unlikely hero, the latter as a grudging hero) at their best!

Yes, excellent score!

[vandermolen]

That movie is absolutely wonderful: Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet (the former as unlikely hero, the latter as a grudging hero) at their best!

Yes, excellent score!

I'd like to get a copy Leo, but the DVD is quite expensive. You can't go wrong with Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet!

[71 dB]

The problem with movie soundtracks is that they go OOP almost immediately and there is almost never re-releases unless it is a John Williams score or something similar. So, collecting soundtracks is expensive as hell. So, soundtracks for me are kind of a forbidden area of music. You can enter it only if you are lucky (you know you want to buy it when it is released, not years decades later).

[LKB]

I'd like to get a copy Leo, but the DVD is quite expensive. You can't go wrong with Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet!

$15 ( plus shipping ) at Amazon:

Mask Of Dimitrios, The https://a.co/d/8RWfsaK

[Karl Henning]

That movie is absolutely wonderful: Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet (the former as unlikely hero, the latter as a grudging hero) at their best!

Yes, excellent score!

Fun! I need to revisit that!

Separately, I'm watching Gone With the Wind, again tonight, and I had to chuckle, when Rhett takes Scarlet to N'awluns, and the can-can girls are dancing to a transparent inversion of Orpheus in the Underworld.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Currently enjoying this new arrival, especially the score for 'The Mask of Dimitrious':

Looks interesting, Jeffrey. I must check it out!

[vandermolen]

Looks interesting, Jeffrey. I must check it out!

I enjoyed it more than expected Manabu and have been playing it often.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I enjoyed it more than expected Manabu and have been playing it often.

I checked the Marco Polo recording on Youtube. Colorful and likable music!

[Roy Bland]

I checked the Marco Polo recording on Youtube. Colorful and likable music!

I would suggest this absolutely underrated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPID8d8uNY&list=OLAK5uy_kg1lk4Sqwn7y3sEcMtUylHLGPjGOJtyXA
Italian movies 007 never reached popularity of Spaghetti Western IMHO a mistake we passed Goldfinger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGzgWBwk0GM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdhujTyxm_c

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I would suggest this absolutely underrated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPID8d8uNY&list=OLAK5uy_kg1lk4Sqwn7y3sEcMtUylHLGPjGOJtyXA
Italian movies 007 never reached popularity of Spaghetti Western IMHO a mistake we passed Goldfinger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGzgWBwk0GM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdhujTyxm_c

Nice album with very good compositions, Roy! I like the song for the Agent X1-7, but I wish the lyrics were in Italian, rather than English. The Carpi would sound much better in a big band format. But I know that a small rock/pop band format was trendy at that time, and a big band format sounded silly. Good composition anyway. Btw, I like the music for the movies, Eboli, and Cronaca di una morte annunciata, both directed byFrancesco Rosi.

[Roy Bland]

Nice album with very good compositions, Roy! I like the song for the Agent X1-7, but I wish the lyrics were in Italian, rather than English. The Carpi would sound much better in a big band format. But I know that a small rock/pop band format was trendy at that time, and a big band format sounded silly. Good composition anyway. Btw, I like the music for the movies, Eboli, and Cronaca di una morte annunciata, both directed byFrancesco Rosi.

Dear Manabu
Unlike Spaghetti Western where we do not slavishly imitate "country" music, in italian 007 the fixed model was Shirley Basset's Goldfinger as you can see here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKjTb8TwYK0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK6c4ozI7ms&list=OLAK5uy_lQWBCvfl0aHxOjKX6flGmSYJx660jwkd4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egEliIr8Is0&list=OLAK5uy_nI_-qy9D1bRF3sA1QNMg-027NgTMg-VRY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuYVfBjzEDI

Movies by Francesco Rosi certainly have a greater artistic value but the Italian spy movies showed our artisan ability to rework American models which has now been lost

[geralmar]

The problem with movie soundtracks is that they go OOP almost immediately and there is almost never re-releases unless it is a John Williams score or something similar. So, collecting soundtracks is expensive as hell. So, soundtracks for me are kind of a forbidden area of music. You can enter it only if you are lucky (you know you want to buy it when it is released, not years decades later).

This is absolutely true. Through the years I hesitated on buying soundtrack L.P.s/CDs by composers I generally admire but hadn't seen the movies.  I've passed over soundtracks I later regretted not buying and equally often been "stung" when I decided to risk it and buy an unheard soundtrack fearing it would be withdrawn at any moment.  Adding to the risk are soundtracks are often expensive compared to classical recordings, and often contain less than half an hour of music, much of which is "filler". On the rare occasion a soundtrack is reissued it can be ferociously expensive and difficult to find.  Substandard bootlegs are also a problem.

But occasionally the stars line up and I get a second (if pricey) chance:


Death Rides a Horse (1967).

I passed on buying the original CD 25 years ago. When I changed my mind and went back to Tower Records it was gone.  I was recently surprised to discover the CD reissue.  (A third of my life waiting).  I ordered it and it's on its way to the U.S. from Australia.  It's possible the reissue is a credit to Quentin Tarantino who used a snippet in one of his overrated movies.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qMXvHuwEmR8

[geralmar]

1994

The CD illustrates the frustrations of soundtrack collecting.  I passed on buying the CD when it was issued--  I admired the composer,Jerry Goldsmith, but I hadn't seen the movie and the CD was too expensive to "chance".  After I did see the movie on cable and liked the music, the CD was long out of print.  I looked for an affordable used copy for years.  Finally, A couple weeks ago, I found a reasonably priced copy for sale online.  Although I'm grateful to add it to my collection I have to recognize that there is barely a half hour of music on the CD-- maybe ten minutes worth I find engaging-- and the remainder largely "filler" and mostly only in one or two minutes snippets at that.  So I'm "satisfied" but also disappointed at the meager amount of worthwhile music I paid for.

As I stated, the frustrations of soundtrack collecting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UpjKjoYPFx8

[vandermolen]

Currently enjoying this (The Lost King). The opening section on the soundtrack and in the movie reminds me of the title track and graphics in Hitchcock/Bernard Herrmann's 'North By Northwest'. The film had mixed reviews but I really enjoyed it and found it humorous and moving in places. The fact that the story is largely true (notwithstanding the rather benevolent Spirit of King Richard III) added to its appeal for me.
Music by Alexandre Desplat:

[Roy Bland]

This tv.movie was one of last Rota's work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyrolcDsf1s&list=OLAK5uy_kuJdXnkwtJEYBLmOSeVS-Zpr9t4YpDYWc