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Posted: |
Aug 3, 2014 - 11:15 AM
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By: |
RoryR
(Member)
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Always wondered what kind of a relationship the producer had with these two composers.
Back to Williams / Goldsmith / Jacobs, perhaps they were relationships not unlike Irwin Allen working with both Williams and Goldsmith.
I'm wondering if Jacobs sought out these two composers for the projects.
I've read that Irwin Allen wasn't that crazy about what Jerry Goldsmith did on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." All must have been forgiven by the time of THE SWARM, though afterward Allen ordered that that movie was not to be mentioned (because he lost so much money on it).
And as far as Arthur P. Jacobs role as a producer, once production started and people were to be hired, Jacobs' associate producers Mort Abrahams (DOCTOR DOLITTLE, PLANET OF THE APES, THE CHAIRMAN, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES) and Frank Capra Jr. (ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM, CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, TOM SAWYER, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES) actually acted as the day-to-day producers, while Jacobs acted as executive producer. Also, the directors of these films had a large say in who would do the music, especially in the case of Frank Schaffner and PLANET OF THE APES.
Of the one film where Arthur Jacobs acted as sole producer, 1964's WHAT A WAY TO GO!, he hired Nelson Riddle.
There's an incident in John Gregory Dunne's "The Studio" where Arthur Jacobs walks in to an orchestral recording session for DR. DOLITTLE and gets greeted by Lionel Newman with, "Hello, lardass." Dunne writes, "Jacobs looked disconcerted, his sad, dark eyes nervously flickering back and forth between Newman and the orchestra."
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Always wondered what kind of a relationship the producer had with these two composers.
He worked with Goldsmith on:
THE CHAIRMAN
PLANET OF THE APES
ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES
and with Williams on:
GOODBYE MR. CHIPS
TOM SAWYER
I wonder if he tried to get Williams to Music Supervise and Conduct DR. DOLITTLE, as Williams did work with Leslie Bricusse at times. Maybe Williams was unavailable? He wound up hiring Lionel Newman and Alexander Courage for conducting and additional scoring.
Back to Williams / Goldsmith / Jacobs, perhaps they were relationships not unlike Irwin Allen working with both Williams and Goldsmith.
I'm wondering if Jacobs sought out these two composers for the projects.
According to the APJAC files on “Doctor Dolittle,” John Williams was not considered by Jacobs.
From all indications I can find within the thousands of pages of APJAC correspondence, Jacobs had very good and close relationships with Goldsmith and Williams (among others).
Lionel Newman's involvement as a “Music Supervisor” was borne out of necessity, with the film being so long in all phases of production and post-production and Fox having dumped $17 million into it. Plus the fact that the film was re-cut several times late in the game kept Newman and Courage mighty busy.
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And as far as Arthur P. Jacobs role as a producer, once production started and people were to be hired, Jacobs' associate producers Mort Abrahams (DOCTOR DOLITTLE, PLANET OF THE APES, THE CHAIRMAN, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES) and Frank Capra Jr. (ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM, CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, TOM SAWYER, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES) actually acted as the day-to-day producers, while Jacobs acted as executive producer. Also, the directors of these films had a large say in who would do the music, especially in the case of Frank Schaffner and PLANET OF THE APES.
Of the one film where Arthur Jacobs acted as sole producer, 1964's WHAT A WAY TO GO!, he hired Nelson Riddle.
There's an incident in John Gregory Dunne's "The Studio" where Arthur Jacobs walks in to an orchestral recording session for DR. DOLITTLE and gets greeted by Lionel Newman with, "Hello, lardass." Dunne writes, "Jacobs looked disconcerted, his sad, dark eyes nervously flickering back and forth between Newman and the orchestra."
Those “lardass” comments were typical fare from Lionel Newman and typify his reputation as a miserable SOB who was a fixture at Fox...referring to Goldsmith as “Gorgeous” and Williams as “Little Dimi.” All extremely petty, sophomoric stuff. I wonder how Newman reacted when Arthur Jacobs died so suddenly in 1973?
This is probably as good a time as any, but the answers to Zooba and Rory's questions and commentary (among other POTA, Goldsmith, Arthur Jacobs and Schaffner fans on this site) will all be answered in a book that I've been working on for well over a year...scheduled for release...soon...(approx. 300 page 6x9 trade paperback). This book should clear the air and dispel many long-held legends and provide heretofore unknown details that surround Jacobs' proudest creation—especially the scores and their composers... A formal announcement to come very shortly.
As far as the role Jacobs played as “producer” during the late 60's and early 70's, he was truly more of a hybrid...he wasn't a classic “executive producer” type we see today or a day-to-day “line producer.” Nevertheless, APJAC was his production company and anything going on with one of his films flowed from the top. In the years after Jacobs' death in 1973, Mort Abrahams and Frank Capra Jr. voiced opinions that Arthur P. Jacobs didn't do much and others did the hiring and firing. It turns out that Jacobs was far more involved than is popularly known. In going through each and every memo of every file in the Arthur Jacobs collection (and I mean ALL of them), one thing became abundantly clear: Arthur Jacobs called the shots, spun the ideas, wrote the checks and made ALL the personnel decisions. As far as composers go, Jacobs usually consulted with Lionel Newman (lardass commentary not withstanding); however, most directors (except Schaffner) didn't have any involvement or say in the hiring of composers. In fact, Mort Abrahams had no involvement with either Goldsmith or Rosenman's “Apes” scores; Capra's lone involvement being “Conquest.”
I've got to stop here, too much to give away. There's tons more fascinating info, but forgive me, I need to give people a reason to buy my book! Sorry.
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