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NEW HENRY MANCINI SOUNDTRACK CD IS A GROOVE-DRIVEN, MASTERFUL ROMP
Film Score Monthly releases the complete The Thief Who Came to Dinner, another cool delight from the chart-topping film composer
Linden, VA – May 29, 2009 – Throughout the 1960s, no other film composer had as many movie-theme hits on the playlists as Henry Mancini.
But few of Mancini's classic ‘60s and '70s scores are available in their original soundtrack recordings, as the composer typically re-recorded his scores for RCA Victor (concentrating on source cues and pop arrangements of themes). An exception was The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973), released by Warner Bros. Records in its original film performance, and presented now by Film Score Monthly on CD in complete form for the first time.
The Thief Who Came to Dinner was a light comedy/suspense/caper film – exactly the sort of project that Mancini often scored for Blake Edwards – directed and produced by Mancini's friend Bud Yorkin from a screenplay by Walter Hill (adapting a novel by Terrence Lore Smith). The film stars Ryan O'Neal as a charming, self-made cat burglar who takes to robbing wealthy Houston mansions almost for the fun of it; along the way, he falls in love with a beautiful socialite (Jacqueline Bisset) and outsmarts a well-intentioned insurance investigator (Warren Oates).
Mancini's delightful, groove-driven score updates the composer's classic light suspense/comedy sound from the 1960s (The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, Arabesque) for the "mod" era of the early '70s, with electric keyboards and Fender bass adding a pulsating, modern component and "cool" moods to his flawless big band brass and suspenseful strings. It has often been said that Mancini packed more melody into his bass lines than the typical composer did in an entire score; The Thief Who Came to Dinner is a perfect case in point, hooking the listener from the opening conga riff and maintaining interest as a masterful and enjoyable romp. In addition to the dynamic "heist" music (which grows out of the main theme) the score features a soothing love theme for Bisset's character, catchy source cues and compelling one-off Mancini score creations like the boogie-woogie "Tail Gate."
This premiere CD of The Thief Who Came to Dinner features the Warner Bros. Records program followed by the previously unreleased score and source cues. Two early demos of the main themes are included as well. The entire recording has been newly mixed from the original 2" 16-track masters engineered by Dan Wallin on the Warner Bros. scoring stage (then known as the Burbank Studios scoring stage). The album is designed so that the tracks can be programmed in film sequence, if so desired. New liner notes are by Scott Bettencourt and Lukas Kendall, giving FSM's customary detailed information on the production and the recording.
The CD is available now from Screen Archives Entertainment at www.screenarchives.com.
Check it out at http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=12471
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Cool! More Mancini is always great news. Thanks guys.
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A superb score written during the 5 year estrangment with Blake Edwards. This is a good one.
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It's a great Mancini score. I like the stuff he did in the early /mid 70's with the ARP systhesizer. The same machine used on the "Mystery Movie" theme.
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It's a great Mancini score. I like the stuff he did in the early /mid 70's with the ARP systhesizer. The same machine used on the "Mystery Movie" theme.
AND Cade's County!
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HEAVENS!!!
This is friggin' fantastic!!!
Never thought this to be released any time soon... I love this score, I think I'm going to listen to the LP right now!
I love the old album - but this is much, much more! And of course - better!
Thanks again, Lukas & co. for some of my Holy Grails being unearthed!
Just BRILLIANT!!!
So if there's BULLITT (Original & Complete) to be released by FSM - and somehow I really, really believe this will happen in the forseeable future -
as well as MARATHON MAN (LaLaLand, I'm sure you're well into doing this one right now ;-), Sixties' and Seventies' heavens are opened up soon and wide.
But don't forget CHARLEY VARRICK - Aleph or whoever is going to do this... that would be one more Holy Grail delivered.
Great times for all Silver Age Soundtrack lovers, that's for sure!
WOW!!!
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It's a great Mancini score. I like the stuff he did in the early /mid 70's with the ARP systhesizer. The same machine used on the "Mystery Movie" theme.
AND Cade's County!
And "Killer Joe" on the "Mancini Generation" TV soundtrack.
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WHOA!!! This has made my year!!! This great Mancini score finally is coming to my cd player!!!
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
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