BYU-FMA, Screen Archives Entertainment and Chelsea Rialto Studios are proud to announce the new 3-CD box set CAGED: THE DARK SIDE OF MAX STEINER. This historic album features music from seven films noir composed by Steiner during his Warner Bros. post-war period.
In addition to CAGED, other classic Steiner scores included are KEY LARGO, THE UNFAITHFUL, FLAMINGO ROAD, BACKFIRE, THE BREAKING POINT, and LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE. These works represent Steiner underscoring psychological drama with alternatingly intense and introspective accompaniment. The CD’s include all of the surviving music from the scores represented, including music not used in the films and alternate tracks featuring Max working the orchestra.
CAGED has become a cult classic and features Oscar-nominated performances by Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson, as well as an Oscar-nominated screenplay. Max Steiner’s score brilliantly reflects the harrowing ordeal of a young girl sent to prison. KEY LARGO is John Huston’s film version of the Maxwell Anderson play. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson and Lionel Barrymore, the brilliant characterizations are sensitively given further depth by Steiner’s compositions. THE UNFAITHFUL was Warner Bros.’ reworking of their 1940 classic THE LETTER, with Ann Sheridan playing the role originally done by Bette Davis. Max Steiner had written an exotic score for the original and for the updated version he presents a far more urban musical setting. FLAMINGO ROAD is a film noir soap opera and Steiner provides a blowsy score that perfectly fits Joan Crawford’s social-climbing carnival girl. BACKFIRE and THE BREAKING POINT both feature minimal contributions by Max Steiner but LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE is an all-out penny-dreadful musical murder-go-round. Starring Ruth Roman, Richard Todd and Mercedes McCambridge, the film was directed by King Vidor with an acute eye for psychological terror and Steiner does his part admirably to aid in establishing the mood.
All scores were recorded at Warner Bros. with orchestrations by Murray Cutter and conducted by Max Steiner. In addition to the soundtracks, the box set features a 36 page full-color booklet with essays by James V. D’Arc and Ray Faiola, as well as a generous amount of original photographs and publicity material. Disc mastering by Ray Faiola, Chelsea Rialto Studios. Package design by Jim Titus.
Please visit Screen Archives for track timings, audio samples, and full ordering information:
Oh wow Caged used to show up what seemed like every week on Million Dollar Movie or whatever and I watched it several times as a youngster. Great flick for an impressionable little rodent, si? Hope Emerson was the meanie of meanies, scarred me for life.
Oh wow Caged used to show up what seemed like every week on Million Dollar Movie or whatever and I watched it several times as a youngster. Great flick for an impressionable little rodent, si? Hope Emerson was the meanie of meanies, scarred me for life.
Howard - my sisters and I watched CAGED eight times a week on Million Dollar Movie. We all know the whole thing by heart!! "If that's what dames are wearin' outside I'm glad I'm in here!"
Wow - well worth the wait! And just after I have finished transferring all my old Max Steiner Music Society cassette tapes onto CD for my collection. Can't get enough of Max! Good work, Ray!
Great set. Interesting to see that even FLAMINGO ROAD is included which as far as I know was not part of the former Steiner library. Does this mean that WB still had the music tracks for this score or have the acetates been found anywhere else in the meantime?
On the other hand, I wonder that there is nothing at all from such a famous and essential film noir as MILDRED PIERCE on this set - not even the 6 minutes which have formerly been available on the Tony Thomas MS 15 LP (which also contained suites from CAGED and THE BREAKING POINT) - whereas music from the much less known BACKFIRE and BREAKING POINT has been included. Was there any reason for this?
FLAMINGO ROAD was, in fact, among the acetates. MSMS never transferred them. There are a few other similar titles. As for MILDRED PIERCE, it was one of several titles that had peculiar legal tie-ups, though this one, frankly, surprised me. In any case, there are only 5 minutes extant.
Many thanks, Ray, for your interesting reply! Strange that there are such legal tie-ups with MILDRED PIERCE. I remember that you have already told us a few years ago that only these few minutes of MILDRED PIERCE exist.
Wow!!! I was thinking it was one CD, not a 3 CD box! I really love film noir and Max did indeed score many such films. This looks fantastic! An instant buy for me. Thanks Ray and Craig!
Great News Ray. Thanks for the early heads up a while back, it kept me at least in buoyant mood during the many months of the current golden-age drought.
