MOVIE MUSIC UK

GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Original Review by Craig Lysy

In 1936 Paramount Pictures came upon an unpublished manuscript by novelist Charles G. Booth inspired by the real-life exploits of Morris “Two-Gun” Cohen. Cohen was a colorful, British-born Jewish adventurer who traveled to China and became a general in the National Revolutionary Army. He served as the personal bodyguard to Sun Yat-sen, leader of the 1911 revolution that toppled the Qing Dynasty. The studio was impressed, purchased the film rights, and signed Booth to a multi-film writing deal. William LeBaron was assigned to the production, Oscar-winning director Lewis Milestone was recruited, and Booth would collaborate with Clifford Odets to write the screenplay. The studio wanted marquee star power for the film, so Gary Cooper would star as O’Hara, joined by Madeleine Carroll as Judy Pierre, Akim Tamiroff as General Yang, Dudley Digges as Mr. Wu, Porter Hall as Peter Pierre, and Philip Ahn as Oxford.

The film is set in China circa 1911 during the turbulent Republican Era, when multiple regional Chinese warlords fight for supremacy after the revolutionary overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. The story follows the fortunes of American mercenary O’Hara, who carries a money belt to buy weapons for peasants oppressed by General Yang. On a train to Shanghai, O’Hara falls for Judy Pierre, who is forced by her father, a man who works for General Yang, to betray him to the general. O’Hara is captured, his money seized, and he is remanded to General Yang for execution. Despite this, Judy remains in love with him and eventually regains O’Hara’s trust and love when he manages to convince General Yang that magnanimity will help spread the legend of his glorious leadership. The film was a smashing commercial success, drawing large crowds in every city. It was also a critical success, praised for its atmospherics and film-noir-like cinematography. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Music, Score.

37-year-old New York-born Werner Janssen had never scored a film before this; however, he was a rising, critically acclaimed symphonic composer, and had recently been appointed associate conductor of the New York Philharmonic for the 1934–35 season, thus becoming the first American-born conductor to lead the orchestra. He secured the scoring assignment at the personal request of the film’s director, Lewis Milestone, who wanted to bring a recognized classical conductor into Hollywood to elevate the film’s musicality. Milestone also secured the blessing of Paramount Pictures Director of Music Boris Morros, who was eager to experiment with modern classical composers. Janssen immediately departed from conventional Hollywood methods of film scoring by composing a suite of music before seeing a single reel of the finished footage. His inspiration came entirely from reading the screenplay, allowing the narrative, pacing, and emotional beats of Clifford Odets’s script to guide his composition.

Janssen, as a prominent conductor trained in classical idioms, approached Lewis Milestone’s film with the weight of a late-Romantic symphonic poem. The score avoids the generic “mood music” of early talking pictures, instead utilizing a dense, richly textured orchestral palette. It relies heavily on complex horn fanfares, surging strings to heighten the film’s high-stakes political intrigue, and a robust low-register woodwind presence to emphasize the looming danger of the ruthless warlord General Yang. Janssen favored a broader psychological expression and sought to capture the atmospheric tension of war-torn China by building overarching aural arcs that rise and fall with the dramatic pacing of Clifford Odets’ screenplay.

For his soundscape, Janssen decided to blend Occidental and Oriental sensibilities given the film’s Chinese setting and its narrative of political intrigue and tumultuous upheaval. As such, pentatonic scales were woven into the woodwind lines, along with heavy use of gongs, chimes, and altered percussion to texturize the background suspense. He also utilized unorthodox orchestrations, employing dissonant harmonies and percussion to evoke an ominous, mysterious, and exotic atmosphere. As for the architecture of his score, Janssen fully integrated European-style leitmotifs into his narrative tapestry. He embraced Wagnerian operatic methods by assigning leitmotifs to characters, ideals, and geographical tensions. O’Hara’s Theme serves as the musical identity of Gary Cooper’s character. It emerges as a bold, idealistic, and sweeping horn-and-string melody that is rhythmic, punchy, and sharp, with angular horn configurations that capture his mercenary-turned-savior persona. For the antagonist, warlord General Yang, Janssen eschews the predictable pentatonic scale trope, instead expressing his menace through polytonality – layering conflicting musical keys simultaneously to create chromatic dissonance. His primary emblem as the villain is his dire fanfare orientali. Supplementing this fanfare are heavy, low-register woodwinds, dense, rumbling percussion, and a menacing marcia militare.

Janssen conceived a Love Theme for O’Hara and Judy that mirrors their complicated relationship of love, betrayal, and reconciliation. He draws inspiration from one of cinema’s immortal lines: “We could have made beautiful music together**.**” The musical iteration precedes the spoken line, which occurs very late in the film. Janssen uses a sweeping and sumptuous melody expressed by strings romantico. The theme evolves over the course of the film. Early on, Janssen weaves harmonic instability, tense string modulations, and bittersweet chord progressions into its expression, reflecting her duplicity and betrayal of O’Hara. Later, after they reconcile, the theme blossoms on a solo violin romantico with harp adornment. For the Chinese setting, Janssen eschewed authentic Chinese folk melodies and instead crafted an abstract, highly original impression of a war-torn China using minimalist percussion, wandering woodwind solos, and high, sustained string clusters that border on atonality. This technique infuses the trains, crowded ports, and smoke-filled rooms with a sense of claustrophobia and impending doom, keeping the audience on edge. Ultimately, his experimental and symphonic score proved to be a massive commercial success for the studio and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.

There is no commercial release of the score. The score is preserved on the film’s original optical audio tracks; however, Paramount did not preserve the physical sheet music, including the master conductor scores, hand-written sketches, and individual orchestral parts. As such I will use film time indices and scene descriptors to provide film narrative context to the music. At 0:06 the Kino Lober logo displays in silence. The Paramount Picture logo displays at 0:15 empowered by a gong strike and fanfare dramatico declamations of Yang’s fanfare. We shift at 0:27 into the “Main Titles” as the opening credits flow against a backdrop pf the bustling harbor of Shanghai. The credits unfold against junk boat sails, and Janssen supports the first sail display with dire declarations of Yang’s Theme by horns orientali. Subsequent sails are buttressed by a foreboding and unsettling musical narrative. The music is Avant garde with a disconcerting, ever shifting agitato. Since Janssen wrote his score prior to seeing the film, Main Title synchrony and flow was an issue. Studio documentation indicates that composer Gerard Carbonara was brought in to compose in a manner harmonious with Janssen’s style, to synchronize a significant portion of the Main Title & Prologue sequence. For me, the final product succeeds on all counts in establishing the dark tone of the film’s narrative.

The music descends into tranquility at 2:07 “Ravages of War” as we flow into the film proper gazing upwards at gull filled skies. Fluttering aerial woodwinds of delight support, yet at 2:13 a dark pall of gloom descends with the camera to war wrecked streets strewn with corpses. A grim marcia militare buttressed by ominous horns and woodwind orientali accents supports the sight of soldiers marching through hilltop grass. Trumpets join as the camera zooms in on General Yang’s open-air limousine. At 2:49 his dire and imperious fanfare supports a close up of Yang’s stoic appearance. We shift back to a marcia militare as his procession of soldiers march behind. At 3:15 the Gull Aerial Motif reprises as we shift back to the skies above, closing with birds descending below to feed on the corpses.

3:26 “Flight” reveals poor peasants standing on a Shanghai street watching as nobles carried by rickshaws flee with their household wealth and families. A baby in a hand-woven crib falls off a cart and is picked up by O’Hara. He gives the child back at 4:17 as Yang’s dire fanfare resounds. A snobbish British couple commend General Yang for punishing the peasants for not paying their taxes. When O’Hara hears this, he asks the man for a match. When he says he has none, O’Hara punches him, and then reminds him that the peasants also have none either, which graphically makes his point. Janssen supports the scene with atmospherics, creating a sense of deprivation, anxiety and fear.

5:35 “Room 26” reveals O’Hara going into a hotel and pulling out his pet monkey Sam from his coat pocket. The music lightens as the clerk asks how he keeps cool. When O’Hara hands him a hand fan, which displays a political message, a misterioso commences as the clerk tells him, Room 26. At 6:25 pizzicato strings support as he goes upstairs and greets General Pen (Oxford), an adversary of General Yang’s who is surprised Mr. Wu sent a foreigner. He gifts O’Hara a money belt funded by the peasants and says to take the plane to Shanghai to buy weapons from a hard-drinking gunrunner named Brighton who is selling to the first bidder. O’Hara departs and we close at 8:50 with a misterioso draped in orientalism as the camera zooms in on a door knob, which transforms with harp glissandi into a white billiard’s ball. Peter, his daughter Judy, and the duplicitous Oxford are revealed as agents loyal to General Yang, as they play billiards. They plot seizing the money, but when Oxford suggests using Judy as bait, she storms out in a huff with Peter promising Oxford that he will bring her back on board as he departs and follows.

11:35 “Judy Bolts” reveals her walking down the street with the tempestuous music emoting her anger. Peter, who is sick labors to catch her. At 11:52 he pleads with her in their hotel suite to no avail. She remains angry and adamant, causing him to turn away and begin sobbing, which begins to weaken her resolve. Fluttering woodwinds animate a soft, impressionist musical narrative that plays under the dialogue. At 12:39 we shift to O’Hara’s room where he is grooming himself. We shift back to Judy opening her father’s bottle of pills and he continues to leverage his declining health to elicit her to seduce O’Hara to get the money so they can leave China. Janssen supports unobtrusively with non-descript orientalism that plays softly under the dialogue in the background. She finally relents and reluctantly goes along with her father’s plan to distract O’Hara while Yang commandeers the train and captures him.

The next day Oxford watches as O’Hara and Judy boards the train. He informs Peter that O’Hara has also boarded and they both board while the train is departing. 16:45 “Train Ride” Judy relaxes in her car as Peter informs her that Yang will stop the train at 8 pm, at which time they will reunite. Janssen supports by harmonizing the score with the rhythmic clatter of the train tracks. The string and percussion sections mimic and syncopate with the clickety-clack of the moving train, creating a seamless blur between diegetic sound and non-diegetic music. As Judy rests and reflects on her complicity in her father’s scheme to betray O’Hara, the musical narrative shifts. The music becomes slow, bittersweet, replete with drifting woodwind melodies paired with muted strings, which mirror her internal conflict. 17:20 “Sam Arrives” opens with woodwinds comici, which support the arrival of Sam, and then O’Hara. The mechanical, driving rhythm of the train slowly recedes, giving way to the lush, lyrical romanza of the Love Theme dominated by strings, and yet Sam’s playful theme hinders its development. O’Hara makes his move, takes her into his arms, saying he likes her, and that she like him. But she resists his charm, and they sit down as a clownish Sam takes amusement.

The train stops, a mail bag is tossed onto the depot’s deck, and the train resumes. 19:56 “My Mission” offers a score highlight, which reveals brilliant nuanced scoring. We open with a grim stinger as O’Hara holds up a pistol. He says it is a precaution as he is on an altruistic mission to aide impoverished peasants seeking to free themselves from the tyranny and deprivation of General Yang. Janssen supports the revelation outwardly with a musical veneer of the Love Theme, attended by soloistic woodwind adornment. However, Janssen also informs us inwardly of her duplicity in actively setting a dangerous trap for him, by infusing the melodic flow with harmonic instability, tense string modulations, and bittersweet chord progressions. Yet we see that, the more he talks, and the more he reveals about himself, the more attracted to him she becomes. This creates self-loathing for what she intends to do, which is reflected musically with chromatic dissonance in the Love Theme’s strings. At 22:43 her defenses crumble as she surrenders herself to his passionate kissing embrace. Yet the crescendo romantico only serves to amplify the chromatic dissonance, clearly seen in her self-loathing gaze.

In 23:08 “Time Running Out” offers an amazing score highlight where Janssen translates mechanical, real-world anxiety created by the churning train, and the telegraph communique directly into a modernist musical form. Judy looks at her watch, which reads 7:35 pm. Janssen supports with a horrific and dissonant crescendo buttressed by the churning locomotive motif as the time of reckoning approaches. Ominous horns resound as the train passes a station and a man telegraphs a message. The score mimics the rapid, staccato tapping of the telegraph key with high-pitched, rhythmic iterations played by woodwinds and muted horns. Janssen then sow suspense by mimicking the urgency of a moving train. The rhythm builds momentum to match the anxiety of the looming interception as Janssen gradually layers strings and heavier orchestration over the staccato rhythm. This creates a mounting sense of danger for O’Hara on the train. At 23:20 up track, Janssen’s musical telegraph signal mobilizes Yang’s army, empowered by his ominous horns, which support a taciturn General Yang in his limousine as he prepares to halt and commandeer the train.

We return to the dining car on the train as O’Hara and Judy arrive. Janssen sow atmospheric anxiety entwined with a budding romantic lyricism. His music reminds us of Judy’s internal guilt, as she has been forced by her father to lure O’Hara into a trap. 25:16 “O’Hara Senses Treachery” opens with a dissonant joining of woodwinds and trumpet, which support O’Hara visualizing Oxford through a service window. He tells Judy “the moles are working underground” as the camera shifts outside to show the train approaching a huge armed barricade. Inside she tells him not to go out there. When he asks why, a crescendo dramatico swells as she says, they are waiting. He asks who are you as the train crashes into the barrier and slams to a stop. Janssen whips his orchestra into a tempest as O’Hara tries to escape, but is stopped by soldiers swarming the train. At 25:53 dire horns resound as O’Hara is caught, and disarmed as he glares at Judy, who bows her head in shame. Dire trumpets of doom declare General Yang’s fanfare as he enters and looks O’Hara in the eyes, flanked by the duplicitous Oxford. He sits on a chair in the aisle and orders the car cleared of passengers except Peter, Judy, and O’Hara. O’Hara is cocky, says “Nice friends you got”, and is motioned by Yang to sit in front of him. He grabs Sam, sits and accepts a cigarette from Yang. O’Hara taunts him, which enrages Yang, and leads to coffee being spilled on him by a soldier with a descent motif. This elicits a laugh from O’Hara, however Janssens initially supports with a sardonic musical narrative, which descends and becomes ominous as Yang orders the man who spilled coffee on him to shoot himself. The soldier prepares, but is stopped by Yang. Yang returns and O’Hara continues to taunt him as they argue politics, with O’Hara espousing altruism and the dignity of people, with Yang countering that he, and only he can bring order to China.

In 31:45 “Come and Get it” Yang demands the money as the cabin search revealed nothing. O’Hara remains defiant and says; “Come and get it”, which elicits a wry smile from Yang. Yang is handed a bayonet and proceeds to open O’Hara’s suit coat. As he runs the blade along his chest, O’Hara does not flinch, and takes a casual cigarette puff. He finds the belt, and says; “Give me.” O’Hara accedes, and Yang hoists it as a trophy. Janssen supports with ominous low-register woodwinds and dark strings, which create an underlying texture of dread, signaling the immense stakes of the peasant-funded arms money. As the belt is discovered and handed over, sharp, sudden and stabbing horns punctuating Yang’s victory in a battle of wills. 32:34 “Peter’s Pay-off” reveals Oxford summoning Peter and handing him the money belt he will take to Shanghai to buy weapons from the hard-drinking gunrunner named Brighton. It also includes his personal cut to purchase transport to the United States. Tense low register woodwinds and muted strings, establish an atmosphere of quiet espionage, greed, and distrust. As Oxford lifts the heavy money belt and hands it over to Peter, descending, staccato woodwinds and a brief horn affirmation support. When the money belt finally settles into Peter hands, the score shifts and takes on a frantic, slightly dissonant tone with tremolo strings that reflect his unstable health, desperate greed, and his inner relief at securing the cash needed to flee China.

A grim drum roll usher in 33:21 “Yang Will Keep O’Hara” as Yang announces that he will keep O’Hara prisoner as an insurance card. O’Hara states angrily; “You’re a running dog.” And is slapped by a Yang minion. As Yang asserts his absolute control and delivers his sentence, the score relies heavily on dark, heavy, foreboding horns and sharp, rhythmic orchestration, his theme now expressing his oppressive, militaristic terror. As he departs, he declares to O’Hara that a hummingbird is no match for a wolf. At 34:12 a dire crescendo orientali swells powerfully, and culminates angrily when O’Hara pauses next to Judy, looks her in the eyes, and punches her. A grim march carries his departure with soldiers. 34:39 “Judy’s Regret” reveals her shock following the punch. Janssen sheds the march that carried O’Hara’s departure, and the music collapses in upon itself, emoting a sparse, bleak arrangement that mirrors Judy’s self-loathing and physical collapse. Woven in the music is a broken and fragmented remnant of the Love Theme, which has been stripped of its warmth, leaving a hollow, percussive echo that emphasizes the finality of their broken trust. We close with uncertainty as Janssen closes with an atonal undercurrent, which heightens Judy and Peter’s underlying sense of shame and guilt. 34:54 “Yang Departs” reveals O’Hara with an armed escort carried by Yang’s Theme rendered as a grim, timpani empowered march. At 35:04 his eyes lock with Judy’s as he pauses to watch the train depart. Janssen orchestration mimics the rhythmic, low-frequency chugging of the locomotive steam engine, joined by a weeping, romantic string motif, which speaks of her regret and their now fractured relationship.

We shift to a hotel in Shanghai where a hotel clerk at the Mansion House, repeatedly calls out; “Paging Mr. Brighton”. Mr. Wu is pacing and we see a growing concern that “O’Hara has not arrived. 36:00 “Mr. Brighton” reveals Brighton, who has already emptied half a bottle, singing the popular 1932 Cab Calloway tune, “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You”. Wu invites him to his private office and we see Brighton is agitated that he is exposed until the guns are sold. Wu entices him to wait for O’Hara, but Brighton gives him six hours. After that, he sells to the highest bidder. Brighton departs singing a reprise of the Calloway tune.

38:40 “The Pierre’s Check-in” reveals Wu observing the Pierre’s checking in to Mansion House. Janssen sow suspense as Judy and Sam are taken to her room. She insists that Peter by the ship tickets now and to stay away from the gambling halls. Later, at the bar Peter discovers from the bartender that the drunk behind him is Mr. Brighton, who is waiting to meet someone. Peter departs after a drink, and we shift upstairs at 41:45 “Do Not Disturb” where we see a hand grab the sign posted on the door of room 216. Wu knocks and gains entry saying he brings the customary greeting for guests. Janssen sow a misterioso as Judy eyes him warily. Wu is cunning and uses the monkey to expose that it is Sam who belongs to O’Hara. He asks where he is, and she says all she knows is that he was taken off the train last night. Janssen treats the encounter with stark psychological restraint because Judy is experiencing profound guilt over being blackmailed by her dying father into betraying O’Hara. He uses sparse, chamber-style orchestration, and dialogue-conscious textures borne by solo woodwinds and muted strings, which play quietly underneath the actors. After Judy’s duplicity is exposed and Mr. Wu moves to the forefront, the musical narrative becomes more ominous as Janssen integrates subtle pentatonic accents, unresolved woodwind figures. This highlights Wu’s composure and moral gravity, with the scene ending with his veiled warning to her that Shanghai is a very dangerous place.

44:22 “Sailing on The Yangtze” reveals O’Hara shaving on General’s Yang’s junk to Shanghai. Yang is clearly fascinated by O’Hara as he probes to learn more about him. O’Hara makes it clear that the money he was tasked with protecting was from half a million peasants who sought to free themselves from your tyranny. Yang listens, and takes it all in stride, expressing happiness that he caught a fish for their dinner. Janssen uses musical juxtaposition for the scene. Exteriorly the visuals display Yang’s junk sailing on a tranquil and beautiful Yangtze River with a cloudscape overhead. Inside, however there is unresolved tension as we witness an unusual and fatalistic psychological dynamic unfolding between Yang, the captor, and O’Hara, the mercenary, who is hanging to life by a thread. Janssen’s music attunes to the external, offering a sophisticated, melancholic, musical commentary, which belies O’Hara’s tenuous hold on life. At the steamship company, Peter shows up and says he is Peter Martin and wishes to pay cash for a two-bedroom suite for him and his daughter, with passage to San Francisco. Nearby, a scoundrel named Leach over hears and notices that Peter Martin’s bill fold has the initials P. P. He suspects that he is using stolen money, which presents an opportunity to blackmail him and get hush money. As he pays $1,060, the clerk also notices the unmatching initials and smirks as Peter confirms his name is Peter Martin and walks away. In an evolving five-split screen, we see Wu expressing worry to his assistant Mr. Chen at the hotel, that they have still not heard from O’Hara, while we see split screen #2 revealing Yang’s junk sailing on the Yangtze River. Wu says he fears he is dead, as we see split screen #3 with O’Hara pacing in his cell. When Chen asks about the girl, Wu says there has been nothing suspicious as we see split screen #4 with Judy in her room. In split screen #5 we see a drunken Brighton still singing the Calloway song. Wu then says let us hope no more complications set in as a fifth screen opens and we see Leach paying Peter a visit.

48:21 “Leach” reveals Leach visiting the hotel in search of Peter. He sneaks into their suite and Judy is alerted to his presence as he searches through their luggage. A cat and mouse game unfolds until Peter arrives home and Leach hides in the closet. She locks him in, advises Peter, and says to call the police, however, Peter resists as he has stolen all of Yang’s money and does not want exposure. She grabs a gun, and they release Leach. Janssen crafted a suspenseful, hurried instrumental track, which features a frantic, ticking tempo designed to physically match Leach’s tiptoeing and hasty movements through the dark rooms. Abrupt shifts in horns and staccato woodwinds create an eerie, unsettled atmosphere that underscores the danger of a thief caught in the act. Throughout the musical narrative, are dissonant, fragmentary bursts that heighten the jumpy, chaotic nature of the sequence. Music ends with their meeting. Leach is unimpressed by the gun, and knows he has the advantage as Peter cannot allow his dirty little secret to leak out. He says he is the ‘angle man’ and that he is here to find an angle to get you out of your predicament. He offers his services protecting their ‘secret’ for a cut of 1/3, or he goes to General Yang. He departs and says you may find him in the hotel bar; however, he waits outside the door and listens to their argument. Peter wants all the money, O’Hara be damned, and he will not relent. Judy grabs her ticket, tears it up and says go home without her. He shamelessly reminds her if she exposes him, she commits patricide.

54:28 “Judy’s Threat” reveals her fury that the money-hungry Peter has again betrayed her. She says, if anything happens to O’Hara; “I’ll have your life, taken by my own hands”, and storms out. Music punctuates her threat against Peter, with Janssen delivering a sharp, dissonant chord. Absolute silence isolates the sound of the slamming door. This amplifies the emotional finality of the severing ties between father and daughter. Music resumes with a low register, melancholic motif of devastation once the camera shifts focus to Peter standing entirely alone. He is physically weakened, dying, and now abandoned, left in the empty room by his own flesh and blood. It is short-lived as an accelerando of tension propels him into the room and we see him perform surgery on the lining of his suitcase, where he will hide the money in a hidden compartment. 55:08 “O’Hara Escapes” offers a kinetic action score highlight. It reveals a guard opening the cell to bring him up for dinner. Jansen slowly builds up stepped tension as O’Hara sees the lone lantern hanging from the ceiling. At 55:29 he smashes it, disarms the guard and says to show him how to escape. The guard breaks loose, shuts and locks a door, as O’Hara fires shots. The guards are alerted and Janssen propels the action with a horn declared O’Hara’s Theme driving a kinetic and rhythmic musical narrative. Heavy, accelerating percussion and racing horns join to punctuate the physical blows, the scramble for weapons, and the peril O’Hara now finds himself in as he desperately seeks a means of escape. He finds a small hatch, slides it open and jumps into the water, which alerts the deck guard. Luckily, he manages to escape, evading several pistol shots.

56:26 “Peter Hides The Money” reveals Peter completing the hiding of his cash in the suitcase lining, supported musically by understated tension. At 56:38 “Billiards” we shift to the hotel bar where Wu and Judy play billiards. A plaintive cello supports with allusions to the Love Theme, which informs us that Judy remains concerned with O’Hara’s fate. Wu receives a message and excuses himself, and at 57:09 happily greets O’Hara in the next room. The initial joy quickly dissipates as Wu discovers his gunshot wound as O’Hara collapses. Janssen’s music follows the scene’s narrative arc, expressing joy, but then dissipating into tension and concern as O’Hara collapses. As Wu ministers to him he asks for an explanation of what happened. Softly guided woodwinds join as he is offered a drink and tells his tale in a time lapse. Wu admonishes him for allowing love to interfere with such a vital mission. He asks, what is next, and O’Hara says, find the girl and make her cough up who Yang’s agent is. Wu asks if he will kill the girl if he sees her, and he says he will break her in half at 59:20, which Janssen punctuates darkly, followed by a rhythmic musical narrative of menace as Wu hands him a pistol.

In 59:33 “Reunited”, Wu opens the door, which reveals Judy. The Love Theme opens, but quickly dies whens their eyes lock, as the music becomes ominous with rising currents of anger as she drops the billiard ball in shock. She walks up to her room, O’Hara follows and Janssen supports an ominous narrative of doom, which escalates as they reach the room and Sam jumps on his master. There is no rekindling of the Love Theme here, instead Janssen employs dissonant harmonies and fractured musical phrases to underscore love broken by betrayal. She says she is glad he is alive, but he throws her into a chair and says stow it, for whatever you say goes in one ear and out the other. She refuses to divulge that her accomplice was her father, that he is dying, and that she was blackmailed. They both voice their grievances and bitterness and the music subsides to allow the riveting dialogue to carry the scene. She tries to explain, he refuses to listen as he searches their luggage. At 1:03:42 music re-enters darkly as he informs her that Yang is anchored 3 miles off shore. A quirky woodwind narrative joins as she tries to warn her father by tapping on the door. The music then shifts and becomes nebulous and uncertain as she floats the possibility of negotiation so both sides can win. She offers a settlement of $2,000 and O’Hara sits to make a phone call.

At 1:04:49 “O’Hara Kills Peter”, Peters slips and his hand toggles the door latch, alerting O’Hara. Tremolo strings propel a surge in suspense as O’Hara demands to know who it is. She says no one and a crescendo of suspense swells as he approaches the door with his gun drawn. O’Hara kicks open the door and the crescendo climaxes at 1:05:04 as Peter shoots O’Hara in the left hand and then flees propelled by a new rapidly rising and accelerating crescendo dramatico, which crests at 1:05:15 with horns of death marking O’Hara’s fatal shot. We descend into a lamentation as he asks her who it is, and she says, her father. She is distraught and asks him to leave, but he says not without the money. He consoles her, and she relents calling the police as he returns to searching. In the bedroom he is greeted by Leach who points his pistol and accuses him of murder. He orders Judy to disarm O’Hara and then toss the gun on the bed. Leach says we will move the luggage before Yang arrives and instructs O’Hara to call Wu for assistance. A pizzicato string led rhythmic narrative sow tension as “O’Hara calls and asks Mr. Wu to come up. Leach orders then to sit and wait as the tension escalates with staccato trumpets. Wu arrives, surreptitiously surprises Leach, and O’Hara disarms him. 1:10:11 reveals Wu searching the apartment supported by orientalism and undercurrent of tension as “O’Hara holds Leach at gun point. They find nothing and Wu requests O’Hara and Judy remain in the room, as he escorts Leach to a holding area, after which he will return.

1:11:08 “Yang Arrives” reveals that as Leach opens the door, dire horns resound as we see two pistols pointed at them. The dire horns resound again as O’Hara reaches for his pistol, but stops when two more men with pistols arrive through the other door. As Yang and Oxford arrive, a third declaration portends doom. Leach tries to curry favor but is silenced as Yang dispatches Oxford to retrieve Brighton. Yang calls to O’Hara and he is disarmed of two guns. Yang then asks, where is Mr. Pierre and both O’Hara and Judy remain silent, however Leach snitches that O’Hara killed him. Ominous music rises from the lower depths of the orchestra as Yang is joined by dissonant blaring horns and pizzicato bass as he opens Peter’s luggage. Yang turns and tells O’Hara that since he killed Peter, he has the money. He then adds with menacing fury, give it to me. Drum beats and slithering strings, and a forlorn bassoon join as Judy sits. Janssen increases tension as Yang declares that since no one cooperates, his men will search, while all of you, my good friends, will go to my boat, where we will get you to talk. We close with O’Hara advising Wu that it looks like he was the boy who took the watch apart, but could not put it together again. We close with a foreboding coda of orientalism and grim trumpets.

1:13:24 “I Am Yang” reveals an exterior shot of Yang’s boat with a guard standing watch. Janssen sow unease with muted horns, and nocturnal orientalism, with the rope ladder clunking in waves against the hull providing percussion. Down below, tension mounts as Yang’s thumping hand on the table assumes the cadence from the rope ladder. Mr. Chen arrives bound to a chair, and seems to have been ruffed up. Dire horns resound at 1:14:20 as Judy tries to leave and Yang shouts in Chinese, causing her to sit back down. He says he regrets Mr. Chen died too fast, so we must go slower with more expertise with all of you. He then glares with menace and asks; which dog is next? Yang becomes angry and begins declaring and extoling a litany of his great accomplishments for the people. At 1:16:19 he rises and says, I am Yang, crowned by dire horn declarations. He departs on a martial, drum empowered diminuendo with his men, leaving the prisoners alone. A grim and foreboding musical narrative resumes as Judy asks that Mr. Chen’s body be removed from their presence. We shift to the ship’s hold where Yang arrives and finds Brighton sleeping in a drunken stupor. Above, O’Hara confronts Judy again asking for the money, and she again pleads she thought he was wearing the belt, and now really does not know where it is. When Leach tries to interject, O’Hara punches him unconscious. Grim strings join to voice the hopelessness of their situation, and a contrapuntal O’Hara’s Theme plays on muted horns, which bear a tinge of hope as he ponders his next steps. Leach then wakes up, but feigns that he is still unconscious.

1:18:14 “May I Make a Suggestion?” offers a score romantic highlight, and an immortal cinematic moment. It reveals Judy dropping all pretenses and proposing to sacrifice herself so that O’Hara can go free. He does not believe her altruism, but is finally swayed by her relating her sad life testament, adding no one will miss her when she is gone. Janssen purposefully distorts and fractures their Love Theme, which Judy believes is futile, her heart consumed by guilt and self-loathing over her family’s double-crossing betrayal. At 1:19:43 Yang’s dire fanfare resounds as he enters. Leach bolts, and ingratiates himself by alerting Yang to Judy’s planned deception. Yang proceeds anyway and allows Judy and O’Hara time to say their goodbyes. As they go through everything that went wrong, and why it went wrong, the Love Theme struggles to coalesce and break free. However, at 1:22:27 he realizes he does love her, and she him and a harp glissando usher in the Love Theme on a solo violin romantico, as she validates these feeling. The love theme shifts to woodwinds delicato, and then we bear witness to a supremely romantic cinematic moment when O’Hara speaks at 1:22:49 what is now enshrined as, an immortal line borne by a solo violin romantico; “Judy, we could have made wonderful music together.” He adds, we could have worked together a made a circle of light and warmth. She is overcome and they surrender to a kiss to crown one of cinema’s most romantic moments.

Brighton wakes up, and demands whiskey, which the guards ignore. He goes on a rampage and when he sticks a knife into Peter’s suitcase, he exposes the hidden compartment and out falls all the money. He then throws the luggage against the lone lantern and a fight breaks out, with him getting a gun and shooting a guard. Yang orders his cabin locked, and responds. “Yang is Stabbed” reveals that as he runs down the stairs, Brighton thrust his dagger twice, which Janssen punctuates at 1:26:04 with shrill horns of pain. Brighton is bludgeoned unconscious, and a lamentation unfolds as Yang faces his mortality. He steels himself, and orders everyone on deck. Yang relates that his life soon ends, and all of you must die also. O’Hara tells Judy they have one chance, and he approaches Yang and again taunts him at how his men failed him. Yang declares they will all die also on his orders. He then gives a dying speech saying that they are all shamed, and that the only way to atone is to ascend to the dragon with him. One by one he calls their names, and each raises his pistol, agreeing to die with him. Leach pleads for his life and is led away screaming and shot.

O’Hara plays his last card, saying to Yang, that if we all die, who will be left to tell your great story, and counter the lies that will defame you. He says that no one from peasant, to general must ever spit on your name. He says someone must be left to tell the tale’s last glorious page. A pause supports Leach’s execution. As O’Hara and Judy are taken to be shot, he makes one last plead, which reaches Yang. He asks, so you promise to tell my story, and O’Hara yells, yes! He says people from the sea to the mountains from seaman to general, from peasant to noble will know your great story. In 1:34:37 “I Will Tell Your Story”, O’Hara convinces Yang, who orders the execution stopped and the firing squad to stand down. He summons Oxford, who is carried by a drums roll. Yang stands, and tells O’ Hara, you will see the power of a great man, which Janssen crowns at 1:34:48 with Yang’s imperious fanfare. The fanfare continues with a drum roll, empowering an ominous musical narrative as Yang’s soldiers line up facing each other in opposing lines. Yang orders ready, aim, and shoot, crowned at 1:35:36 by a horrific horn shriek. The soldiers all fall dead, and Yang smiles, reveling in his power as drums mimic his failing heartbeat, which ends as he falls unto death. A lamentation unfolds as Wu relates that he was a talented man, but very, very, corrupt. At 1:38:09 Yang’s fanfare resounds in memoriam as Wu fondles the cash in Peter’s luggage. An amorous solo violin brings forth the Love Theme as O’Hara and Judy embrace in the light of a refulgent dawn, draped with harp glissandi. 1:37:15 “The End” opens with a gong strike, and bold declaration of O’Hara’s fanfare as our lovers stare off into the dawn, with their faces aglow, and hopeful for a bright future together.

Werner Janssen’s Oscar-nominated score is highly celebrated as a seminal event in early American cinema. “The General Died at Dawn” represents the first fully symphonic musical score composed for a film by an American concert conductor. Janssen was a highly trained classical conductor, and he approached the film with the mindset of writing a tone poem. As such, he immediately departed from conventional Hollywood methods for scoring films by composing a suite of music before seeing a single reel of the film. His inspiration came entirely from reading the screenplay and he used the full orchestral forces at his disposal to dictate the film’s emotional pacing, utilizing intricate counterpoint and orchestration. Today, Janssen’s pioneering approach is believed to have created an innovative bridge between classical music concert hall sophistication, and Hollywood cinematic melodrama, fundamentally shaping the future of Hollywood underscore.

Janssen’s score offers a radical departure from the traditional methodology of the Hollywood studio assembly line, where composers went to work only after being handed a finalized film to track. Janssen composed much of the score before the film was even edited, working alongside director Lewis Milestone during the pre-production and shooting phases. When you examine Janssen’s score in film context, I discern that his music mirrored the deeper psychological tensions of the characters, enhancing the romantic and fatalistic tone of Clifford Odets’s screenplay. Also impressive was his use of dissonant harmonies and bold orchestration to create a haunting, tense, and exotic environment that amplified the film’s intrigue and dangerous settings of the Chinese civil war. Lastly, and masterful if how Janssen wove the score so tightly into the film that it successfully unified a picture with a meandering, and complex plot. Today many believe his innovative striking horn elements and busy, complex arrangements, created new frameworks for how sound could dictate tension in political thrillers. Folks, it is a tragedy that this masterwork from the 1930s has no commercial release. We dearly miss the late John Morgan’s restoration skills, as they are sorely needed to restore this score for a re-recording. For now, I highly recommend you take in the film to bear witness to Janssen’s groundbreaking and innovative score.

For those of you unfamiliar with the score, I have embedded a YouTube link to the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wri06_jvXlQ

Track Listing:

• NOT AVAILABLE

Music composed and conducted by Werner Janssen. Orchestrations by Werner Janssen. Additional music by Gerard Carbonara. Recorded and mixed by XXXX. Score produced by Werner Janssen and Boris Morros.