Lost In the Shuffle VII

Ever since I started this series of “Lost In the Shuffle” posts, apparently I’ve been using pictures of old generations of the iPod shuffle. Okay, so I may not be technologically on the cutting edge. But this week’s shuffle selections show that you don’t always have to be on the cutting edge to be enjoyable.

PENELOPE (1966) – Lenses and Contacts

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’ve tried to watch this lighthearted Natalie Wood crime caper, but the film is insufferable. Not so with John Williams‘s score. The music is a delightful mix of mod, mid-60′s jazz, and Williams’s still evolving orchestral sound. The score is based around the groovy title tune (sung by The Pennypipers). This track contains a leisurely rendition of the tune on the low flutes and oboe. The use of celeste, harp glissandi, and string tremolos bear the stamp of mature Williams that you can find in later scores such as SABRINA and even E.T.

SLEUTH (1972) – Epilogue

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Based on Anthony Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning mystery, SLEUTH stars Laurence Olivier as a popular mystery writer and Michael Caine as the hairdresser who is having an affair with his wife, whose invitation to his country estate turns into a witty and deadly game of one-upmanship. Thanks to the leads and John Addison‘s delightful, Oscar-nominated score, the film is an enjoyable romp. The “Epilogue” is a reprise of the music used in the “Overture,” and was specifically orchestrated so that it sounded like a theater pit orchestra. Addison barely squeezed into the final five for Oscar consideration. At nomination time, Nino Rota’s memorable music for THE GODFATHER was the film’s eleventh nomination. However, the nomination was withdrawn after it was learned that parts of the score, including the famous love theme, had been used in the 1958 Italian film FORTUNELLA. THE GODFATHER was resubmitted to members of the Music Branch along with the other five scores on the short list. When the ballots were counted, SLEUTH became the fifth nominee. (Rota would win the Oscar, along with Carmine Coppola, for THE GODFATHER, PART II, which obviously used portions of the original GODFATHER score, including the disputed love theme. Go figure.) Addison’s  score should have made it on the first ballot over Buddy Baker’s serviceable-at-best music for Disney’s live-action NAPOLEON AND SAMANTHA.  Unfortunately, the score was released on LP at the time with snippets of the film’s dialogue included.  Here’s hoping someone releases the complete score on CD someday sans dialogue.

THE FURY (1978) – Main Title

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

As a 16-year-old, I was probably on the outer edge of my horror fascination when Brian de Palma’s THE FURY was released. I’ve seen the movie only once since and it’s watchable trash with a truly gruesome ending. As for John Williams‘s score, it remains one of my favorite film scores, period. It doesn’t hurt that the clarinet voices the main theme. As a high school clarinetist, I wanted nothing more than to live in Los Angeles and play movie music like this. The main clarinet theme grows out of the creepy bassoon triplet accompaniment. But it was the soaring clarinet arpeggios that thrilled me. This version of the main title is taken from the album version, a re-recording of the original tracks. Until Varese Sarabande released the double CD of both versions of the score a few years back, the LP version was all anyone had. While I’m thankful to have both versions, the LP is the sound I’ve had in my head for over 30 years. Forget the fact that the accompanying film is schlock. This is one fantastic score.

CATLOW (1971) – Courtroom

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The film, score, and composer for this European-made Western have all gotten lost in the shuffle, except among film score aficianados. I’ve never seen the film (which stars Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna, and Leonard Nimoy) or heard of it before today. Only 13 minutes of Roy Budd‘s score was offered on an import compilation disc of three of the composer’s scores (including SOLDIER BLUE and ZEPPELIN). The music captures the requisite Western rhythms filtered through some 1970′s harmonies. This rollicking track with its saloon piano, banjo, swirling strings, and syncopated brass reminds me of music from FAMILY FEUD. Right?

HEART LIKE A WHEEL (1983) – The Awards

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’ve yet to see this biopic of drag racing driver Shirley Muldowney. Bonnie Bedelia garnered great notices for the film, but I just don’t have much interest in race cars. Laurence Rosenthal is an underrated composer and this is one score that shows off his range. With hints of country, early 80′s synths, and contemporary instrumentation that unfortunately date the music, the score is interesting, if not exactly A-level. The electric piano on this quiet track gives it an 80s feel, yet the melody is quite lovely.