Archive
THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA – Max Steiner
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
It had been eight years since the commercial and critical success of 20th Century Fox’s religious themed film The Song of Bernadette. Warner Brothers Studios executives decided that they wanted to explore the genre and decided that a similar tale, The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, would accomplish that end. Their resident producer Bryan Foy was assigned the project, James O’Hanlon and Crane Wilbur were hired to write the screenplay, and John Brahm was tasked with directing. A trio of children were hired to play the roles of the child witnesses of the vision; Susan Whitney as Lúcia dos Santos, Sherry Jackson as Jacinta Marto and Sammy Ogg as Francisco Marto. Joining them would be Gilbert Roland as Hugo de Silva, Angela Clarke as Maria Rosa de Silva, and Richard Hale as Father Ferreira. Read more…
SOMMERSBY – Danny Elfman
THROWBACK THIRTY
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Sommersby is an English-language adaptation of the 1982 French film Le Retour de Martin Guerre, which was itself based on a real-life event that happened in the 16th century. The film was written by Nicholas Meyer, Sarah Kernochan, and Anthony Shaffer, and was directed by Jon Amiel; it transposes the story from medieval France to post-Civil War Tennessee, and stars Richard Gere as Jack Sommersby, a man who returns home from the conflict, six years after he was presumed dead. Jack’s ‘widow’ Laurel (Jodie Foster) has already moved on, and is planning to marry farmer Orin Meacham (Bill Pullman), but Jack’s return home throws her life into turmoil – not least because Jack appears to be a changed man, and is no longer the unpleasant and abusive husband he was when he left. As time goes on, Jack proves to be a hugely positive force for the community, and Laurel begins to fall in love with him again, but something in the back of her mind keeps nagging at her, and she has doubts as to whether the new and improved Jack really is who he says he is – doubts which become stronger when men from Jack’s past appear, and accuse him of murder. Read more…
IM WESTEN NICHTS NEUES/ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT – Volker Bertelmann
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The 1929 German-language novel Im Westen Nichts Neues – known in English as All Quiet on the Western Front – by Erich Maria Remarque is one of the most important anti-war novels ever written. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of Remarque’s own experiences fighting in the trenches of western Europe during World War I, and follows a young soldier named Paul Bäumer, who over the course of the book is transformed from an eager and enthusiastic patriot fighting for the glory of the vaterland, into a bitter, broken shell of a man, utterly devastated by the physical and mental anguish of war. It touches on several important themes, ranging from explorations of nationalism and blind patriotism, to the futility of war itself, especially the trench warfare of WWI where literally millions of soldiers, on both sides of the conflict, were slaughtered while trying to gain little more than a few yards of ground. The book was banned and burned in Nazi Germany, naturally, but has since become regarded as a modern classic, and is now one of the most revered pieces of German-language literature. Read more…
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN – Lennie Hayton, Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
MGM Studios Director of Musicals Arthur Freed conceived of a new film that would be based on a catalogue of unused songs written by him and Nacio Herb Brown during the waning days of the Silent Film Age. The musical would be set during this time and feature dance legend Gene Kelly. Freed assumed control of production with a budget that eventually tapped out at $2.54 million. Gene Kelly was given creative control of the film and would not only direct and choreograph, but also star. Adolph Green and Betty Comden were hired to write the screenplay. The cast would consist with Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden, Donald O’Connor as Cosmo Brown, Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont, Millard Mitchell as R. F. Simpson and Cyd Charisse as the vamp. Read more…
GROUNDHOG DAY – George Fenton
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
One of the best – and, with the benefit of hindsight, most influential and enduring – comedies of the early 1990s was Groundhog Day. Written by Danny Rubin and directed by Harold Ramis, the film stars Bill Murray as cynical television weatherman Phil Connors. Phil is sent to the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the local Groundhog Day festivities, along with his producer Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott); however, after completing a perfunctory report, the crew is stranded in town by an unexpected blizzard, and is forced to spend the night in a local inn. The following morning, when Phil wakes up, he soon realizes that it is Groundhog Day again – he has somehow become trapped in a time loop, and is forced to relive the same day over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over… Read more…
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA – Christophe Beck
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the first of the three planned Marvel films for 2023, is the second sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man, and is the 31st film overall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It builds on events from both Avengers: Endgame and Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as the TV series Loki, and sees the titular characters Scott Lang (Ant-Man) and Hope Van Dyne (The Wasp) being accidentally drawn back into the so-called quantum realm – a sub-atomic universe that exists beneath our ‘real world’ – where they encounter an entire civilization of humans and aliens. This civilization is under the despotic control of Kang the Conqueror, a multi-dimensional being who can travel between parallel universes and across different timelines, but who has been trapped in the quantum realm, and is desperate to escape its confines. Before long Scott and Hope are drawn into a rebellion against Kang, with the fate of not only the quantum realm, but the universe as a whole, at stake. The film is again directed by Peyton Reed, and stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly as the titular duo, with Jonathan Majors as Kang, plus Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kathryn Newton. Read more…
DEATH OF A SALESMAN – Alex North
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Columbia Studio executives took notice of playwright Arthur Miller’s latest stage play “Death of a Salesman” that debuted on Broadway in February 1949, with a successful run of 742 performances. They believed its compelling narrative would translate well to the big screen, and so purchased the film rights. Stanley Kramer was assigned production, Stanley Roberts was hired to adapt the play, and László Benedek was tasked with directing. For the cast, most of the Broadway cast was hired with the addition of Fredric March as Willy Loman, and Kevin McCarthy from the London cast as Biff Loman. Joining them would be Mildred Dunnock as Linda Loman, Cameron Mitchell as Harold Loman, and Howard Smith as Charley. Read more…
THE OFFERING – Christopher Young
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
One of the most frustrating things to have happened over the last few years in film music is the apparent slow decline of Christopher Young’s career. This remarkable composer – the man behind such stellar works as Hellraiser, Murder in the First, Drag Me to Hell, The Monkey King, and so many others – has scored just a handful of major theatrical films in the United States in the last decade, with the last true box office successes being the remake of Pet Sematary in 2019, and then Sinister back in 2012. Seemingly the only people who remain loyal to him are independent horror directors, who regularly hire him to bring his unique sound to their films. Many of them likely grew up listening to Young’s earliest works from the 1980s – experimental efforts like The Dorm that Dripped Blood, The Power, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 – and so in many ways one could say he has returned to his roots. The latest director to do this is Oliver Park, who hired him for his film The Offering. Read more…
RICH IN LOVE – Georges Delerue
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
On March 18th, 1992, as composer Georges Delerue was packing up and preparing to leave Scoring Stage 1 on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, California, having just finished recording the final cue for his latest film, Rich in Love, he suffered a stroke. He was rushed to the nearby St. Joseph’s Medical Center but never recovered, and he died there two days later at the age of 67. In the days and weeks after his death his friends and colleagues mourned one of the giants of film music; the director of Rich in Love, Bruce Beresford, summed it up by saying that Delerue’s scores “were never trite. They were so melodic and effortless. It was like turning on a tap. The music just flowed.” Of course, it’s impossible to know whether Delerue had any inkling about what was about to happen to him, but Varese Sarabande producer Robert Townson – who knew Delerue well – mused on this very idea in the liner notes for this soundtrack album, and wondered whether Rich in Love represented him writing a good-bye to each of his friends. Read more…
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Producer Arthur Freed took in a Hollywood Bowl performance of George Gershwin’s music from the Jazz Age and was inspired by the show’s “An American in Paris” number. For the next three years he sought support in bringing his film version to fruition. He found a partner in Gene Kelly who sold MGM executives on the concept of a dance film by screening the film “The Red Shoes” (1948). Arthur Freed was assigned production with a $2.7 million budget, Alan Jay Lerner was hired to write the screenplay, Gene Kelly would manage the choreography, and Vincente tasked with directing, with assistance from Gene Kelly. Kelly had seen Leslie Caron performing a ballet in Paris and he personally recruited her for the role of Lise Bouvier. Joining her would be Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan, Oscar Levant as Adam Cook, George Guétary as Hank Baurel, Nina Foch as Milo Roberts and Eugene Borden as Georges Mattieu. Read more…
M3GAN – Anthony Willis
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It’s always interesting to me to observe when things go ‘viral’ online. Right now, in the early months of 2023, you can’t open up Instagram or Tik-Tok without being confronted by some pre-teen girl (or, perhaps slightly creepily, not a pre-teen girl) re-creating the dance from M3GAN, a short scene where the protagonist of the movie of the same name prances in an office hallway – whirling arms and hair flips and even a hands-free cartwheel – before bloodily dispatching someone with the blade of a paper guillotine. The dance craze comes from the eponymous movie, a horror-thriller with a rich vein of dark humor, about a toy designer who makes an incredibly lifelike android companion for her recently orphaned niece, but who then comes to regret making it when the doll/robot inevitably becomes self-aware and goes awry, embarking on a murderous rampage. Read more…
DAVID AND BATHSHEBA – Alfred Newman
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Following the success of Paramount’s “Samson and Delilah” in 1949, 20th Century Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck believed it was time for his studio to enter the Biblical Epic genre. He decided that the film would focus on the life of the legendary King David of Israel. Zanuck personally took control of production, provided a budget of $2.17 million, hired Philip Dunne to write the screenplay and tasked Henry King with directing. The initial screenplay was a biopic, which would if filmed, render a four-hour movie. As such Zanuck directed Dune to pare it down, focusing entirely on David’s illicit affair with Bathsheba. For casting, Zanuck insisted on having the popular, successful, and beautiful actors Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward star as David and Bathsheba. Joining them would be Raymond Massey as Nathan, Kieron Moore as Uriah, and James Robertson Justice as Abishai. Read more…
ALIVE – James Newton Howard
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In October 1972 a plane carrying a rugby team from Montevideo, Uruguay, who were on their way to play a game in Santiago, Chile, crashed high in the Andes mountains. 15 of the 45 passengers and crew died on impact but the others – some of whom were badly injured – quickly had to figure out how to survive. During the following 72 days, the survivors suffered extreme hardships, including exposure, starvation, and an avalanche, which led to the deaths of thirteen more passengers; famously, but reluctantly, they were forced to resort to cannibalism to stave off death due to lack of food. Eventually two of the rugby players – Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa – decided to strike out for help. They climbed a 15,000 foot mountain without gear, and then hiked almost 50 miles. It took them almost in 10 days, but they finally stumbled into a remote village, where they could obtain help and call for the Chilean Army to rescue the other survivors. This incredible story was turned into a book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read, and then eventually into this film, which was directed by Frank Marshall and starred Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, and Vincent Spano. Read more…
DOG GONE – Emily Bear
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Dog Gone is a family adventure-drama film, directed by Stephen Herek, starring Rob Lowe, Johnny Berchtold, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. It’s a heartwarming true story about a college student named Fielding Marshall and his epic search for his beloved dog, Gonker, who goes missing on a hike and has to be found quickly as he is ill and needs a life-saving injection. Fielding’s search for Gonker becomes a local cause célèbre, making the news, and inspiring the community. It premiered on Netflix at the beginning of January and, normally, it’s not anything I would give a second thought to, based on the film itself. However, I want to take some time out to write about Dog Gone’s score, which was written by 21-year-old composer Emily Bear. Read more…
ALICE IN WONDERLAND – Oliver Wallace
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
As a young man Walt Disney was fond of the two Lewis Carroll novels “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and “Through The Looking Glass”. As early as 1933 he conceived of making a film adaptation, but it did not take form until 1945 and then would require six years to bring his dream to fruition. Disney personally managed production with a budget of $3 million, a team of thirteen writers were hired to craft a screenplay based on both of Carroll’s books, and a trio consisting of Clyde Geronini, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske were tasked with directing. A fine voice cast was assembled, including Katherine Beaumont as Alice, Ed Wynn as Mad Hatter, Richard Haydn as Caterpillar, Sterling Holloway as Cheshire Cat, Jerry Colonna as March Hare, Verna Felton as Queen of Hearts, J. Pat O’Malley as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Bill Thompson as White Rabbit, Joseph Kearns as Doorknob, Sink Trout as King of Hearts, and James MacDonald as Dormouse. Read more…
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