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This is a comments thread about FSM CD: The World, the Flesh and the Devil
 
 Posted:   Jun 21, 2011 - 11:58 AM   
 By:   Sir David of Garland   (Member)

I just opened this cd and found solid, solid Rozsa dramatic scoring, plus those interesting stylistic bonuses that are mentioned in the notes. I especially liked the music later in the disc, when the mood of the film appears to have changed.

I can understand especially why he chose to excerpt the Prelude for other recordings, as it is a real curtain-raiser.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 22, 2011 - 7:53 AM   
 By:   Rozsaphile   (Member)

This reminds me of a small oversight in the notes. Rozsa's oeuvre actually contains not three but four films in the genre of science fiction. Overlooked here is The Man in Half Moon Street (1945), a version of Barre Lyndon's stage play that is better known from the 1959 Hammer remake, The Man Who Could Cheat Death.

 
 Posted:   Jul 19, 2015 - 4:31 AM   
 By:   Uhtred   (Member)

Had this CD for about a year, played it a couple of times and enjoyed it, but didn't find it too memorable compared to some of my other Rozsa albums. I put it on a couple of days ago and something just clicked, and now I just can't stop listening to it. What a wonderful release!

 
 
 Posted:   Jul 19, 2015 - 12:40 PM   
 By:   Dorian   (Member)

I first heard the theme as conducted by Elmer Bernstein on the 1984 Utah recording many years ago and fell for it immediately. The FSM CD was one of the first Rozsa scores I bought and is one of my favorite of his scores (from the lower-profile films, anyway), such a great music. I have never seen the film but nevertheless I was very surprised how little space and recognition Rozsa devoted to this score in his autobiography. Seems like it was rather a routine job for him.

 
 Posted:   Jun 8, 2018 - 12:58 PM   
 By:   WagnerAlmighty   (Member)

It's interesting how little a topic this was a few years back. Can anyone else tell me their feelings on this release please? Any help would be hugely appreciated.

 
 Posted:   Jun 8, 2018 - 3:17 PM   
 By:   Yavar Moradi   (Member)

This is a superb Rozsa score, but I'll just cut to the chase, WA...you need to pick up *all* of the FSM Rozsa releases with the sole exception of The Power (because it's included on the box set in superior form, rendering that disc only worthwhile for Atlantis: The Lost Continent by Russell Garcia...and any Rozsa fan should definitely start with his fine score to The Time Machine first).

Yavar

 
 Posted:   Jun 8, 2018 - 3:37 PM   
 By:   WagnerAlmighty   (Member)

This is a superb Rozsa score, but I'll just cut to the chase, WA...you need to pick up *all* of the FSM Rozsa releases with the sole exception of The Power (because it's included on the box set in superior form, rendering that disc only worthwhile for Atlantis: The Lost Continent by Russell Garcia...and any Rozsa fan should definitely start with his fine score to The Time Machine first).

Yavar


The Power so far is one of my absolute delights from the Treasury, I am nuts about it! I went a whole week playing All the Brothers Were Valiant from that set...tell me THAT version isn't awesome!!!!

Okay, you twisted my arm lol! ALL the FSM Rozsa...pronto! smile smile

I have read many comments on other sites about how similar many Rozsa scores sound, which to me is kind of silly. How could Rozsa not sound like Roza? He had a totally distinct, signature sound.

Dr. Kildare next week woo-hoo!

 
 Posted:   Jun 8, 2018 - 3:38 PM   
 By:   WagnerAlmighty   (Member)

Oh, have to mention Green Fire and how fun it is! Another wonderful effort (even more cool because I never heard of the score until a couple of weeks ago).


 
 
 Posted:   Jun 9, 2018 - 5:30 AM   
 By:   Graham Watt   (Member)

I only got around to buying this about a year ago. I'm not really a completist, even when it comes to my favourite composers, and I vaguely recall seeing the film years ago and thinking that the score was fairly standard.

And in a way it IS fairly standard. But "fairly-standard" Rózsa for me is pretty damn good. I like this score now very much, but it did take a few listens before I was hooked. Reading the great liner notes by Jeff Bond and LK helped (I miss the FSM label in that respect), and a rewatching of the movie anchored the whole thing for me. Interesting to hear Rózsa doing jazz at one point. I find that bit almost annoying, but its fascinating nonetheless in its Bernstein (Leonard) parallels. The liner notes explain all that in detail. The rest could almost be for a film noir (well, I suppose you can't get much darker than the end of the world), but lurv raises its head, and so we get an optimistic theme for the Harry Belafonte character, which again for me is borderline-annoying to listen to. There you go - faint praise indeed. But I feel like listening to it right now, so thanks for bringing the subject up. I'll be back soon to tell you that none of it is actually annoying at all.

Still, at the moment, I'm classing it as "second-tier" Rózsa, on a par with two others I got around the same time - THE SEVENTH SIN and TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN. Those took three or four spins before I really started to appreciate them. After that they became kind of addictive.

Having said that, none of the three I've mentioned in this thread come close to what is my absolute favourite second-tier Rózsa on FSM. That would be VALLEY OF THE KINGS, which does not have a good reputation as a film, and which seems to be largely overlooked by the majority. I think it's a truly wonderful score.

The mention of GREEN FIRE made me realise that I'd always avoided that one too. I wonder if I'll ever get around to getting it. It has never shouted "priority" to me, but neither did WORLD FLESH N' DEVIL, 7TH SIN, TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN or especially VALLEY OF THE KINGS, all of which I acquired on a whim without thinking too much about it beforehand. I might use that system more from now on.

 
 
 Posted:   Jun 9, 2018 - 6:07 AM   
 By:   Clemens   (Member)

I love this score very much! And although Rozsa did not do comedies -- his own words -- I really enjoy his score for 'LADY ON A TRAIN'...one of Deanna Durbin's last movies...not so much a comedy, as a light-hearted film-noir caper...Never-the-less, it is a really good Rozsa score!!

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 22, 2024 - 5:26 AM   
 By:   Howard L   (Member)

Just watched this film for the first time since seeing it as a youngster on a “Saturday Night at the Movies” or the like. It was scary then for me seeing Manhattan abandoned so; this time around the b&w cinematography combined with an adult desolate feeling made it overwhelming. How they managed to get NYC so still and quiet is beyond me. But I’m a confirmed sucker for b&w films from that era filmed there and in London and surrounding areas but also out in the country where things weren’t so built up and populations were sparser.

Echoes of Rozsa’s Ben-Hur permeate this score, especially at film’s climax. It’s funny how composers do that when scoring one or more films around the same year. I noticed this the other day while watching part of The Great Escape on TCM. Mr. Bernstein sure did brush a bit of TKAM into it. As did Herrmann for Psycho from TZ’s “Walking Distance” which were just months apart.

The common denominator is good music all around from damn good composers.

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 22, 2024 - 7:51 AM   
 By:   Prince Damian   (Member)

Decent score. Decent film not seen it in ages ( have it on dvd). The cast do well considering it's a three hander ( or header?!). Like mentioned the deserted streets were well done.

 
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