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KNOWING THE SCORE - August 13, 2002

by
Paul Tonks

soundtrack -- n. / Pron. "sound ( trak"
1. The narrow strip at one side of cinema film carrying the sound recording.
2. The music that accompanies a movie.
3. A commercial recording of such music.
4. A bastardised phrase record labels use to sell you crappy songs that have nothing to do with the movie they're apparently associated with.

WHERE'S WALDO? - FILM COMPOSER EDITION

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) remains a private indulgence for me. It's largely responsible for sparking my interest in film music, and through the years has thankfully maintained respectability where nearly all other STAR TREK incarnations have paled. The new Director's Edition DVD is therefore a honey-dipped treat, especially with a commentary from eloquent writer / director Nicholas Meyer. My eyes and ears knew not the full extent of the treat however, until Meyer casually points out a then-28 year old James Horner walking along an Enterprise corridor in a Starfleet uniform. For years I've been making a mental note of film composer cameos, never quite knowing why. Now for the benefit of those who enjoy seeking out Hitchcock-like appearances, and for those who've never put a face to the names, here's a look at the all-time best film composer in-joke cameos.

A perfect place to start is with Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956 version). Bernard Herrmann can be seen conducting the London Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall for the music-driven finale. Frequently these cameos come from similar director / composer relationships that are either long-standing or in the making. Both reasons apply to Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch working together. In their first collaboration, BLUE VELVET (1986), Badalamenti is at the piano behind Isabella Rosellini, genuinely coaching her vocal performance. Then for their most recent, MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001), he's the espresso-regurgitating heavy at Adam Kesher's nightmare casting meeting. This brief role came about from the peculiar event actually happening to Badalamenti years ago, and Lynch remembering the tale.

In the case of Jerry Goldsmith, director Joe Dante managed a 2-for-1 cameo gag in GREMLINS (1984). While Goldsmith stands in a phone booth making a call at the Inventor's Convention, Steven Spielberg drives around in a weird cycle vehicle. Then in GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1990), Goldsmith is a customer at a frozen yoghurt counter in the Clamp Centre wearing a tuxedo and with what was then his trademark white ponytail. He gets the line, "No rats!" It's rare to hear a composer speak. Presumably a union issue. But not for Patrick Doyle. His long-standing relationship with Kenneth Branaugh began on stage as an actor, before they made their first movie, HENRY V (1989). In that, he can be seen milling about the crowd scenes. Then in DEAD AGAIN (1991) he's both a party guest and a cop in an elevator! It's a toss-up over which is his best role though. Either it's the song-singing Balthazar in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1993), or the unintelligible Scotsman auditioning in A MIDWINTER'S TALE (1995).

Sometimes a director will decide once is enough, though. Despite Eric Serra scoring everything Luc Besson has directed, he appeared only at the very start of their careers in SUBWAY (1985) as the Bassist Enrico in one of the underground gangs.

Popping a composer on-screen is by no means a modern in-joke. Several of the Golden Age maestros appeared during their heyday in the most obvious of roles - as conductors. Max Steiner waves a baton in THE HALF-NAKED TRUTH (1932), Alfred Newman in both THEY MUST HAVE MUSIC (1939) and HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (1953), and Franz Waxman in LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957). Miklós Rózsa is comically tucked away as a soldier Pianist within KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR (1937), before he too was seen conducting in THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970).

Moving on to those often branded as Silver Age composers, you'll find Elmer Bernstein playing within a jazz quartet in THE RAT RACE (1960) and later as a songwriter in the Charles Bronson western spoof FROM NOON TILL THREE (1976). Also lampooning their job as songwriter was Henry Mancini in GUNN (the only Blake Edwards movie he'd appear in) as a pianist being badgered by a pair of babes!

French composer Georges Delerue plays the part of the lead character's Business Agent in Truffaut's TWO ENGLISH GIRLS (1971) and then supplies a voiceover during DAY FOR NIGHT (1973). Surprisingly the rich voice of John Barry hasn't yet been utilised in film. His great presence is on screen for about 10 minutes during the climactic robbery of DEADFALL (1968) however, wherein he conducts his "Romance for Guitar and Orchestra" as a 'live' soundtrack to the action. He also appears on stage in Vienna conducting Maryam d'Abo in his final James Bond movie - THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987).

Of the next generation of composers who made their mark in the Eighties, there's Ryuichi Sakamoto as Captain Yonoi in MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (1983) and as Masahiko Amakasu in THE LAST EMPEROR (1987). Danny Elfman first appeared as Satan in his brother Richard's surreal FORBIDDEN ZONE (1980). Then he's singing with Oingo Boingo at a party in BACK TO SCHOOL (1986). Most recently he turned up as fiddle-playing dream figure Tommy Lee Ballard in Sam Raimi's THE GIFT (2000), which he was originally scheduled to score. Similarly, minimalist Philip Glass ended up not fully scoring THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998), but can still be seen swelling the music to Christof's direction for the schmaltzy father-son reunion scene.

There had to be a winner for the most number of screen appearances, and that's Marc Shaiman. Generally to be found tickling the ivories in the background of a scene, he's in: BROADCAST NEWS (1987), BEACHES (1988), SCENES FROM A MALL (1991), HOT SHOTS! (1991), THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991), MR. SATURDAY NIGHT (1992), HEART AND SOULS (1993) and NORTH (1994). Wackiest of all however, is his animated self accompanying Big Gay Al before the strike up of "I'm Super" in SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER AND UNCUT.

To readers and composers alike - thanks for playing!

SCORE REVIEWS:

THE COMPOSER: Robert Rodriguez and Chums
THIS IS NOW: SPY KIDS 2: ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS, Milan 73138-36000-2 Star Rating: ****
John Debney tells me he doesn't have a cameo in either SPY KIDS movie or any other he's scored. So that completely blows a nice segue from the main feature. However, it's his birthday this month so I'm prepared to forgive. I'll also forgive since this album is so much fun to play. He only has solo credit on 5 of the tracks, plus 4 co-credits. Director Rodriguez has 11 solo credits. Although he's been developing musical ideas since his short movie BEDHEAD, the presence of 11 orchestrator credits means nothing here is a solo effort. This is film composition by team effort, similar to the first score (see below). Yet it's a perfectly consistent listen. In the booklet, Rodriguez states: "This movie owes a lot to the great Ray Harryhausen films, and in particular to those scored by Bernard Herrmann." That's an acknowledgement more films and scores ought to make. ATTACK OF THE CLONES, this means you! The best encapsulation of the homage is in Debney's "Skeletons" cue, which beats away at xylophone and pots and pans (recalling THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) for all its worth. A sense of the energetically fantastical lasts all the way through to the closing song, "Isle of Dreams" sung by Carmen Cortez. This reprises material from the mini-ditty "Floop's Dream", a sequel of sorts to Danny Elfman's "Floop Song" in the original. Although it's stylistically similar, the absence of anything else recalling Elfman or Los Lobos is what keeps things consistent. Last time it was all about big themes among disparate styles. Here it's about a bolder tone that tells us these kids are growing up fast.

THAT WAS THEN: SPY KIDS, Chapter III Records GC 30002-2
Star Rating: ****
So why look back at this one? Mainly because Rodriguez has nothing else to choose from, but also since these two albums play very well back-to-back. There's a most engaging introduction to the "Cortez Family" with guitar allocating them a clearly defined theme. Then there's "My Parents Are Spies" and another big theme. Other highlights include the fast-paced tracks "Spy Wedding" and "Oye Como Spy", and the infectious "Floop Song" (itself a sequel of sorts to "The Oogie Boogie Song" in THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS). As hinted at above, the trick this score pulled off was in having multiple contributors manage to remain unified to a common purpose and style. These tracks mentioned come from: Gavin Greenaway with Heitor Pereira and Harry Gregson-Williams / Danny Elfman / Los Lobos / Rodriguez with David Garza and Tito Puente / Elfman again. Additional parcelling out of cues went to: Debney, Chris Boardman, and Fonda (providing the song "Spy Kids Save the World"). Now stick on Number 2.

THE COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
TITLE: SIGNS
Star Rating: ****
This is an extremely well constructed album. Whether it's every note of music in the film, or whether it's had some snipped out, the journey it takes represents a clearly thought through development of material. This stems from the simplest of mysterious cyclic phrases - a perfect crop circle characterization. Newton Howard scored the movie trailer with this phrase, in fact (a practice I wish more studios would allow for). Then there are what can be seen to be several extensions of this unifying motif. They help link cues together, making for a great sense of movement as opposed to the stop-start many soundtracks suffer from. A good example is the near imperceptible space in between "Roof Intruder" and "Brazilian Video". The latter cue is the album's first particularly insidious track. After the semi-dramatic "Main Titles", there's a nice languorous build-up towards the score's few orchestral shocks. A little scratch violin and a lot of slow-burn sustained notes make up nearly two thirds of the album's 45 minutes. During that you have cute standout cue "Baby Monitor" with a short but super-sweet use of the cyclic motif, and the contrasting "Throwing a Stone", which gets louder and more weightily portentous. Just like Shyamalan's script, the score is all about teasing out the suspense. I can well imagine the approach being compared to either ALIEN or ALIENS, but that misses the point of the journey this score takes. We're not headed toward a big blowout wrestling match after all! And when the brief moments of shock noise die out, there's the closing "The Hand of Fate - Part II", which is a big bombastic brass finale leading into a terrific upbeat playout of the all-important cyclic motif. The only wrong turn this album took was in having its spine printed upside down. Maybe that signifies something...

NEWS NUGGETS

Recommended recent classic score CD releases to check out:

THE BRIDE (1985) - Maurice Jarre, Varèse Sarabande Club VCL 0702 1013 ****
(Ltd Edition. Lush romantic and little-known score from the French Maestro.)
THE MALTESE FALCON AND OTHER CLASSIC FILM SCORES BY ADOLPH DEUTSCH, Marco Polo 8.225169 *****

(Superb new recording of the Bogart classic, plus HIGH SIERRA and more.)
VICTOR VICTORIA - Henry Mancini, Rhino Records R2 78248 ****
(Re-mastered and with previously unavailable tracks.)

The first LORD OF THE RINGS DVD is now out (didn't you know?!), but sadly, there's little in the way of celebrating its Oscar-winning and quite exceptional score. There are a few minutes of coverage in one of the 15 Web featurettes, and Howard Shore makes a fleeting appearance in the preview of November's Special Extended Edition. Apart from squeezing him in as one of 30 contributors to that version's commentary, there'll be nothing else to look forward to covering the score, though.

THE TWO TOWERS began recording here in London on August 12th. With a phenomenal number of recording sessions booked, the music will be recorded piecemeal until the first week of October. Shore is using his favoured troupe, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, together with numerous specialist players, ethnic performers, solo vocalists, and both adult and boys' choirs. Already planned is the recording of additional music for an Extended DVD in April 2003, THE RETURN OF THE KING that August and its own Extended DVD in April 2004. At the moment, Warners are only considering the possibility of additional albums once all this recording has been done...

We celebrate the following Birthdays:

James Horner (STAR TREK II & III / TITANIC)
- born 14 August 1953, Los Angeles, California.

John Debney (CUTTHROAT ISLAND / SPY KIDS 1 & 2) - born 18 August 1956, Burbank, California.
Basil Poledouris (CONAN THE BARBARIAN & DESTROYER / STARSHIP TROOPERS) - born 21 August 1945, Kansas City, Missour.
Mark Snow (THE X-FILES / SMALLVILLE) - born 26 August 1946, Brooklyn, New York.

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