Glad to see the love for this score here. It is my all-time favorite Michael Small score (MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON is a very close second). I absolutely fell in love with this score when I heard it with the film in 1978. I was working in a theater as a projectionist where it played and so got to hear it many times. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when it was FINALLY released 30 years later. The lovely cue as Richard Farnsworth's character rides out to die on the prairie is still capable of almost bringing tears.
it is inded brilliant, from the folksy opening, through the bernstein-ish cattle rustling tracks, the john barry-like aural depictions of sweeping vistas, the heartfelt theme for the relationships, and the typical psychological approach by the composer which results in a sense of... there's something not quite right here... or are these just my paranoiac delusions...
and then there's that absolutely stand-out track near the end, with towering momentous chords worthy of the best of someone like alex north at his most epic.
Agreed. Absolutely brilliant. Small is in my top 5 and I recently got my copy of the score and was blown away. The man was a genius. Another lovely surprise was the score for KIDCO.
The film is awesome, too. A favorite of mine from the late 1970s. A slow-burning tone-poem like Ford's My Darling Clementine. At the time of release some critic quipped that Comes A Horseman was "Jane Eyre on the prairie" and there's something to that. Think of it as an American Gothic western, character-driven instead of action-driven although it has some action as well. It's about coming to terms with one's past transgressions so that one can get on with life. Watching the repressed, self-loathing character of Ella bloom into a woman who embraces life and falls in love is one of Jane Fonda's finest achievements as an actress. I crossed trails with Fonda at a social occasion shortly before filming started and she had just about disappeared into her character. She is matched by the intensity of Jason Robard's tragic cattle baron who, because of the life he has lived, sees no boundaries in the land or in relationships. Photographer Gordon Willis lights his face to suggest Satan on earth. What Willis does with light and shadow and color and faces and landscapes has to be seen to be felt, even surpassing his work in The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2. Director Alan J. Pakula finds visual metaphors that are constantly surprising, and he is observant of western ways and behaviors. He stages his story as a kind of tableaux of the old west yielding painfully to modern times.
MGM's DVD was perfectly acceptable fifteen years ago, but a new high-def transfer is sorely needed. Meticulous care must be taken with the color timing of the film. It is not to be "yellowed" or "tanned" which have become the pre-sets for most digital transfers of westerns. If only people would just discover the film it would be recognized for the classic work of art that it is.
A preliminary oil painting by Martin Hoffman for the poster art.
Agreed. Absolutely brilliant. Small is in my top 5 and I recently got my copy of the score and was blown away. The man was a genius. Another lovely surprise was the score for KIDCO.
While praising the film, let's not forget Richard Farnsworth, whose Best Supporting Actor Nominated performance led to his late-career blooming into starring roles. From a stunt rider and actor in "third outlaw on the left" roles, his great acting in COMES A HORSEMAN led to a chance to give brilliant performances in THE GREY FOX and THE STRAIGHT STORY among others. I always enjoyed seeing him appear in any film.
While praising the film, let's not forget Richard Farnsworth, whose Best Supporting Actor Nominated performance led to his late-career blooming into starring roles. From a stunt rider and actor in "third outlaw on the left" roles, his great acting in COMES A HORSEMAN led to a chance to give brilliant performances in THE GREY FOX and THE STRAIGHT STORY among others. I always enjoyed seeing him appear in any film.
He was a wonderful actor. May he now Rest in Comfort and Peace.
