 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was about 13 when I saw this film. The film and it's music had a huge emotional impact on me that's lasted my whole life. I remember buying the soundtrack on L.P. and crying when listening to the music Marvin Hamlisch composed for the scene at the end when the story's hero Ned Merril (Burt Lancaster) finally arrives home. I finally got the nerve up to tell Mr. Lancaster how much I enjoyed this film during a L.A. Philharmonic Mahler concert we were at...(he used to attend these quite regularly). Anyway, anyone else out there a fan of film, music or both?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Every day, I had to order that guy outta my pool.
Every day, he walk through my backyard without an invitation and swim laps.
I hadda call the cops.
What good is living in suburbia, outta the noise and headache of the city, if this is gonna happen?
|
|
|
|
|
|
couldn't agree with you more , i think THE SWIMMER , the film, is vastly overlooked , i saw it at revival house in NYC. it really is a stunning piece of film work, and BURT LANCASTER has never been better, and i cannot praise the score enough. I got this at FOOTLIGHT RECORDS and it is worth every penny i spent on it! hope it finds its way to cd soon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE SWIMMER still stands as my favorite Hamlisch score. I'm sure my love of it stems from it's "Bersteinish" sound , no doubt thanks to the orchestrations by Leo Shuken and Jack Hayes who did most of Bernstein's scores in those days.
It's a haunting first effort that really deserves a formal CD release. I'm working on a conversion of the LP but both my copies seem to suffer from inner groove distortion on the final band on both sides--unfortunately involving the wonderful "Hurdles" track that finishes out side one.
The only score that Hamlisch did after this one that had that great Americana flavor was his pilot score for the short-lived1973 James Franciscus TV series, DOC ELLIOT. The theme was just terrific and also very much in the Elmer Bernstein open air vein.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love this score, Arthur - the film is incredibly weird but very haunting, with music to match. It's by far the most inspired score I've heard from Hamlisch - I played my LP to death years ago, wallowing in those gorgeously lush, heartbreaking melodies and sixties grooves! Sadly I lent it to a friend whom I subsequently lost touch with and never saw my beloved LP again! So like others, I would love a CD release (as someone else suggested, a pairing with THE APRIL FOOLS would be an inspired release)
Thanks for reminding us all of this great score.
best
Matt
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arthur -- how nice to hear from you! Actually, I noticed your name on another posting in somebody else's thread a while back, and wondered how you were doing. And, if you were still marketing used cd's? Anyhow, it's particularly gratifying to see you posting about THE SWIMMER. I won't repeat what I've contributed to this Message Board in the past on this topic, for fear of boring the membership, but I was a go-fer on THE SWIMMER in my suburban Connecticut county the summer of 1966, and have many memories of the production.
I'm on record as agreeing with the folks who assert the importance of Shuken and Hayes to this fine score. For what it's worth, there was an "unofficial" release on cd a few years ago, but let's indeed hope for a legitimate edition some day.
I'll just add that in recent years the film finally seems to be coming into its own, after struggling to be appreciated in the late 60's when it was first released. One sign: the special feature on THE SWIMMER in the Sunday New York Times magazine a year or so ago, featuring both an essay and a fashion-spread recreating scenes from the film (with David Hasselhoff filling in for "Splash" Lancaster).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hello Preston,
Your post almost slipped by me. You were one of my favorite customers. Thanks to you and all of those who responded to this post... it's quite overwhelming to read these responses to a film I watched with 2 other people total at an exclusive run at the Beverly theatre in Beverly Hills (just after they premiered the wildly succesful PLANET OF THE APES). Yes I do have many secondary market soundtracks for sale but I moved from L.A. to Australia about 4 years ago and continue to sell most of them on e bay.
Please e-mail me with your e-mail address at: arthursoundtracksunlimited@yahoo.com I have some questions regarding the filming of THE SWIMMER I'd love to ask you. In addition if you (or anyone for that matter) have any questions regarding collectable soundtrack c.d.s I still stay well informed on this topic...(remember the ABC lists?)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I want to hear Preston Jones' memories of The Swimmer!
This is one of my favorite movies, too. It has a lot of purely soapy scenes--the schism between these and the more naturalistic ones like Lancaster at the public pool can be explained by the fact that Lancaster had Sidney Lumet come in after he had a falling out with original director Frank "Mommie Dearest" Perry. Another lost Perry gem is Diary of a Mad Housewife.
I recently got a fairly decent copy of the score and I had the exact same reaction of getting all misty-eyed at that great, final cue. I can't wait for the DVD...go, Burt!
I'll definitely get Preston to respond here as well then, thanks Jeff. One small correction: it was Burt's friend Sidney Pollack..(not Lumet) who came in later to re-direct some scenes most importantly the one with Janice Rule (to replace Barbara Loden) which made Perry very unhappy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Apr 8, 2003 - 11:02 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
joan hue
(Member)
|
Because of this thread, I rented The Swimmer last week. Loved the music and the movie.
I want to track down Cheever’s short story upon which this movie was based. What a
scathing, satirical indictment of suburbia.
I too would like to know more about the dual directors. Was the film finished by one
director and then had certain scenes reshot by Pollock? Or did the first one leave part way
through?
I kept thinking, “Wow, Burt baby still looks good in a bathing suit. Not much money
spent on his wardrobe.” I also wondered where this was filmed. I can’t imagine a REAL
suburb where there are such HUGE houses divided by several miles of bucolic pastures
and trees. Oh, well, had to provide a few miles between each house to enhance the
journey. (Those forested areas are probably malls by now.)
While the movie may be a bit dated in style and look, it still packs a punch at the suburbs,
Yuppydom, and the whole notion that materialism equals bliss. The last scene was just
heartbreaking, and Burt’s performance was great.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Didn't Pollack do Lancaster's Castle Keep? That's another wonderfully pretentious Sixties acid trip...
We have similar tastes Jeff...I love that one too flaws and all...and there's one-eyed Burt all alone again defending the castle and staring down the Nazis...what a finish!....Lucky again I saw this one on the big screen. A favorite of Joe Dante's. The reports were that the castle they used in the film accidently caught fire and burned down. Although some of Michel Legrand's score is terribly out of place, his main theme is deliciously haunting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
