Willie Nelson is on a train that is taking him to his
stashed away gold in this TV Western written and directed by Burt Kennedy. Jack Elam plays his
sidekick who doesn't want to be shot at while on a
train that is carrying dynamite. He reluctantly comes
along and the long ride north begins. On the way they
meet Delta Burke and her group of "ladies." This is definitely a film you'll have to fast-forward but there is a lot of good music you won't want to miss so stop and listen if you see any traveling shots of the train (that is if you feel compelled to watch more than what is on this blog - not all cues are covered). It's hard to stomach Willie's flat acting which sounds like he's reading cue cards from off-camera but Jack Elam has the
best line in the movie: "One time in Denver, I ate in
this restaurant. It had a big sign on the wall: 'Watch
your hat and coat.' While I was watching them someone
stole my steak..."
This has to be the best long lost Western score no one
has heard (well, next to Arthur B. Rubinstein's TEXAS GUNS which also hasn't been heard and will be covered in another post). It's no surprise that this style of
composing would bring out the best in the composer. The entire score tips it's hat to Elmer
Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith but yet it still sounds
like Arthur B. The main theme first appears in 'Where
the Hell's That Gold?!!?' - a catchy song used for the opening credits. It starts with an opening rising motif with percussion and colored with guitar, harmonica and brass. A major key middle section follows before playful piccolo whistling is brought in for the return to the main idea. The song closes on a vamp after the last statement of the opening motif:
I have to skip ahead to one of the finest End Titles of Rubinstein's career which shows off this main theme in all it's glory. Here the song's melody is transformed into a rhythmic pulse of a train including bold brass, high string trills, and percussion with a Spanish flare:
Incredibly Willie Nelson does not
sing anywhere in this movie except in a few minor scenes
where he is singing to himself or with Elam. This might have been too expensive for the filmmakers but the opening female vocal makes sense. Here's the first instrumental cue containing the main theme:
Most of the
film is compiled of just shots of the train with very little sound
effects intruding and Rubinstein's score is treated
beautifully full in the mix. There are some fun harmonica statements of the theme with Arthur B harmonic twists under sequencing of the opening motif. Ever wonder how film music used to be treated under traveling shots of a train? Here's a great example:
One of the highlights of the score is a rhythmic Mexican theme for the bad guys which is then followed by an exciting statement of the main theme as Willie approaches El Guapo from THREE AMIGOS:
There's a slow harmonica variation of the major key middle section of the main theme acting as a "settling down" theme for the film:
More wonderful shots of the train with a broader statement of the main theme bookended by some terrific horn calls but ending on an unstable bass pedal:
Rubinstein creates more variation on the main theme for the introduction of the Apaches as they follow the train along it's path. There is some effective transparent snare and low brass ostinato writing common in Arthur B's style on display here:
Another exciting cue is when the opening motif and middle section of the main theme come back with some deceptive harmonic movement as Willie uses
a cannon on a group of Apaches trying to attack the
train:
So I have to ask... where the Hell's Rubinstein's Emmy for this score?
-- Brandon F.
No CD release. DVD is available.
SHOOTING WAR is a phenomenal documentary that tells the story
about the World War II combat camermen who captured some of
the most remarkable and memorable footage of the war.
The film was produced by Steven Spielberg and
written/directed by Richard Shickle. Tom Hanks (with full Cast Away beard) hosted this hour and a half program
which aired on ABC. Reels of footage are covered and
much of it stays with you after viewing. The opening
shows some of the most unbelievable aerial combat and
crash landing footage from the war. Historian Stephen
Ambrose bookends the documentary with some comments as
well.
Rubinstein's SHOOTING WAR is like a new war score for
a feature film and one of his best works. It's the kind of score we get so few of in
this day. Thanks must go to
Richard Shickle and Steven Spielberg for knowing who
could capture such beauty and tragedy in the music.
The main title is thrilling starting with a theme in woodwind intervals and continuing on with a soaring trumpet main theme over a repeating string pattern. For Hanks narration Rubinstein introduces a hymn-like theme with strings. The themes provide the basic structure of the score:
One of the most exciting cues in the documentary is for footage of planes coming in for crash landings onto aircraft carriers. The music is like an aerial ballet with Rubinstein providing fragments of the main theme along with the opening hymn theme but this time in menacing string and brass octaves. The cue continues with playful variations of the main theme for training footage of the cameramen:
Some warm string writing continues with a slight variation of the opening clarinet intervals:
This playful variation on the main theme provides a fun background to the boredom the soldiers sometimes experienced in the European front:
The woodwind intervals return throughout the picture with disturbing
suspenseful phrases but not without somber and lyrical moments like this one for the most famous footage of the D-Day invasion:
Arthur B. provides some agitated string, brass and percussion writing on the main theme for the Pacific scenes as well:
Like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the moving feel of the music is somber and heroic capturing the
bravery of these cameramen and soldiers all evident in
the footage:
I can't think of a more deserving score of Arthur B.'s work that should have a soundtrack album release. Highly recommended viewing.
-- Brandon F.
THE PHOENIX's second episode aired a year after the pilot episode but this time with a new opening title theme featuring more of the synclavier on the main idea with a consistent pulse from the timpani underneath. This is the same electronic sound that Arthur B. Rubinstein would play for John Badham the following year when the filmmakers were looking for a partly electronic score for BLUE THUNDER. The theme closes with a familiar Arthur B. signature motif in the synth at the end:
A mysterious setting of the main theme starts the episode off as Bennu (Judson Scott) arrives in New Mexico. This cue sounds as if it was tracked in a couple of scenes in the episode:
There's chase music that kicks off the episode early when some guys in a pickup truck hunt for Bennu. That famous sound effect from every 70s/80s super hero show appears when Bennu blasts the gun out of one of the bad guy's hands using his sun power. Apparently he can now harness enough power from the sun even at night. Interestingly toward the end the score returns to some of the electronic pulsing sounds from the Pilot episode:
The show would bring in a new villain named Justin Preminger (played by Richard Lynch) who would last for the remaining four episodes. In this standout cue, an exciting build of percussion, strings, horns and electronics begin after Preminger comes asking Dr. Ward Frazier (E.G. Marshall) about where to find Bennu. The composer returns to the South American pan flute color as Frazier retrieves a map and a stone possibly from the Peruvian burial ground. There is an interesting mixed-meter synth idea that bookends the following scene. The main theme begins on it's middle B section in the strings (again with pounding timpani and electronics) and continues into the main theme on French Horn in a scene where Bennu begins to recharge his solar power:
One of the best variations of the main theme is a reflective string passage for a conversation between Bennu and Darlene:
The ancient astronaut is also able to read minds and influence animals. Here Bennu is able to get a dog to bail him out of jail by retrieving his amulet. The cue starts off with the pan flutes as Arthur B. combines a fragment of the Main Theme from the Pilot episode with the new opening theme of the series. Strings whirl around in some nice orchestration under another statement of the B section of the main theme:
The love theme from the Pilot (Noel's Theme) returns for when Bennu says goodbye to Darlene:
I failed to mention last time the brief but great end title cue from the Pilot episode but unfortunately it's covered by the ABC announcer and it's not on YouTube.
-- Brandon F.
The Phoenix will return next week in "One of Them."
Even Arthur B.'s due for a clunker every now and then,
right? Well this sure as hell isn't it. In fact, this
is one of his finest works, brimming with almost as
many leitmotifs as your average STAR WARS film. The
score is amazing the first time through, but it only
gets better as you become more familiar with the
various themes and their charming interconnections.
The highlight is the cue that bridges the 7/8
Arabian-flavored action motif with a heroic reading of
the love theme; it accompanies the scene where the
gorgeous Stephanie Zimbalist uses her high heels as a
digging tool to escape from a prison cell.
BROWN SUIT is another fine example of Rubinstein's
energy and inventiveness virtually carrying (or,
depending on how you look at it, disregarding)
portions of a telefilm: look for several static,
poorly framed and horribly lit shots of Zimbalist
sitting in her boat cabin, thinking for about 90
seconds straight (with occasional voice over
narration). That said, this score is so good, it's
worth sitting through the whole film just to
appreciate the levels on which it functions. Okay, you
can fast forward a little if you want, but be careful.
There's a ton of music.
Definitely worth watching.
-- Jon Z.
AGATHA CHRISTIE'S THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT is a pure gem of a film score. The first cue in the film (after the opening song) lets you know what kind of score you're in for. Arthur B. builds the excitement up and introduces the 7/8 action motif after Harry Lucas follows Anita into a mansion and discovers her diamonds are missing. He quickly leaves the scene of the crime:
The action motif is quickly reprised in this scene where Anne briefly meets Harry before he flees again. An Arabic snake charming theme is added to the mix and builds to an exciting finish:
The main theme is a memorable and yearning adventure theme for the main character Anne Beddingfield (Zimbalist). Some of the suspense music is classic mystery sleuth music with parts that would fit in with any Sherlock Holmes or Harry Potter movie. Here the theme sounds like something right out of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK:
Other character's motifs are introduced here with plenty of sneaky woodwinds:
It's incredible how many little motifs sneak in and out. Harry (the man in the brown suit himself) has a cool, short upward woodwind motif and Rubinstein uses it in many wonderful romantic settings:
Here's an example of how the composer is able to blend just about every idea into one cue with motifs and themes flowing into each other. Arthur B's minor third flourishes are always present. After the commercial break is another softer moment on Anne's Theme:
More interesting variations on Anne's Theme, Chichester's music, Suzy's Theme and Harry Lucas' motif in her cabin as she counts up the suspects:
Last but not least is the best cue in the film where Anne's Theme is combined with the action motif as she escapes from her prison cell. Bells and high strings with woodwinds climb in excitement as Anne digs out with the help of her high heels:
-- Brandon F.
No soundtrack album available. The film is available on DVD only in this Agatha Christie boxset.
