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I watched the movie for the first time in decades last night and was happily surprised to find it's actually above average, not at all the fecal storm that some (including Newman) tried to make it seem. I mean, the sets and script are at times hilariously bad, but those points are fewer and far between than I remember...by far.
It's not Ben Hur or even the Robe...however, the soundtrack certainly is.
I am split between two recordings...just how much better does the more recent version sound? I like the idea of extras, but I'm mostly interested in the overall quality in terms of listening. Are they both the Bernstein conducted?
Forgive my ignorance, and any help would be hugely appreciated.
https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/TxUAAOSwmFNZZqKE/s-l225.jpg
http://img.soundtrackcollector.com/cd/large/Silver_Chalice_FMC3.jpg
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It plays sort of like a really weird OS Star Trek episode at times.
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It plays sort of like a really weird OS Star Trek episode at times.
In fact, the movie actually seems like one of those at times LOL!
But that added to the charm for me. Just finishing the movie again, this is actually not a bad picture at all imo. Granted, the score has a LOT to do with the watchability factor.
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Posted: |
Sep 22, 2017 - 7:31 AM
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By: |
waxmanman35
(Member)
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I watched the movie for the first time in decades last night and was happily surprised to find it's actually above average, not at all the fecal storm that some (including Newman) tried to make it seem. I mean, the sets and script are at times hilariously bad, but those points are fewer and far between than I remember...by far.
It's not Ben Hur or even the Robe...however, the soundtrack certainly is.
I am split between two recordings...just how much better does the more recent version sound? I like the idea of extras, but I'm mostly interested in the overall quality in terms of listening. Are they both the Bernstein conducted?
Forgive my ignorance, and any help would be hugely appreciated.
https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/TxUAAOSwmFNZZqKE/s-l225.jpg
http://img.soundtrackcollector.com/cd/large/Silver_Chalice_FMC3.jpg
No contest. The FSM release is from the original tracks, almost complete. The Bernstein re-recording used a much-reduced orchestra that didn't do the score justice.
As to the sets "hilariously bad," many of the backgrounds were intentionally designed to appear like Christmas card art. The interior sets had a spare futuristic look. I'm not suggesting whether it's successful or not, but it did give the film a unique look.
Waxman's score is a masterpiece. Music critic Alfred Frankenstein wrote a detailed analysis of the score which I believe was reprinted in Bernstein's "Film Music Notes."
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I tried the FSM version, but the sound quality put me off (plus the C&C, obviously). I prefer the Bernstein rerecording, as well as the suite on the LEGENDS OF HOLLYWOOD set.
Thanks so much to everyone, I went with both the Bernstein and the FSM.
And I learned a lesson, not to write off a movie just because other people didn't like it.
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I don't know about a Christmas card look, but I'd say the sets were unabashedly theatrical and modern, spare, unapologetically anachronistic... In terns of visual daring, on a par with the same studio's TRACK OF THE CAT, with William Wellman's experimental color photography of black and white images.
I loved all the Bernstein Club LP's, to a greater or lesser degree, but my heart sank when I originally played the SILVER CHALICE disc and heard the first track stop short without playing one of my favorite, magical sections, for the street of the silversmiths. Nowadays, I can very much enjoy the Bernstein abridgment for what it does contain, but that's in no small part thanks to the fact that the FSM album has finally given me all the missing pieces I'd longed for.
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Not as bad as reported.
The sets are a trip.
Set designer Rolf Gerard, of the New York Metropolitan Opera, used color symbolically in his modernistic set: white marble-like sets were used to depict Antioch; gold for Jerusalem; and red and black for Rome. Participants in the crowd scenes were dressed in a light neutral color, so that the principal actors would stand out.
Noting the “modernistic feel” of the settings, the Variety review reported that they were “at variance with the Biblical period of the story.” However, a review in Fortnight found the sets “remarkable,” reporting that “frequently scenes are played before smooth, rectangular surfaces which can spotlight the actors much better than realistic settings.”
I had a feeling at least a few of the sets were a bit Expresssionistic, in the Hitchcockian way (but less obvious...see the still excellent "Marnie").
I think a lot of artistic planning went into that movie. The main problem for me is the what-were-they-thinking script.
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Thanks for the discussion on this one. ..I'm going to spend some time with the FSM today, since I can never seem to really connect with this score.
Nevermind, re-read the above...
-Sean
I have both in the mail, but have checked out what exists of the FSM on youtube and Amazon and been very impressed. Too bad Waxman didn't have a Ben-Hur scale movie to put this soundtrack to, at times I think he actually reaches Rosza level musically on this.
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For those of you who enjoy this score
THE STORY OF RUTH
or
DEMITRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS
Due to both your reccomendation as well as some choice samples I've ordered Story of Ruth. Sounds like yet another Waxman masterpiece, thanks!
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