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| This is a comments thread about FSM CD: All About Eve/Leave Her to Heaven |
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I saw All About Eve on DVD via Netflix a short while back, and I was struck by the score.
Absolutely gorgeous !!!
I don't usually listen to Golden Age scores, but this is something a little different to me.
There's a dark edge to the score that really fits Eve's character.
Alfred Newman at his best. I just wish the FSM CD was still available. I had to get this on Amazon MP3.
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What are the other Newman CDs in your collection, Mark? As for recommendations, I would strongly suggest The Prisoner of Zenda, David and Bathsheba, The Robe (preferably the LLL if you can find it for a decent price), The Diary of Anne Frank, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Kritzerland’s recent Henry King at Fox set which contains The Black Swan, Captain from Castile, Prince of Foxes (greatly expanded from the original FSM), The Gunfighter, and Love is a Many Splendored Thing.
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Posted: |
Aug 4, 2020 - 6:42 AM
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By: |
Mark
(Member)
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What are the other Newman CDs in your collection, Mark? As for recommendations, I would strongly suggest The Prisoner of Zenda, David and Bathsheba, The Robe (preferably the LLL if you can find it for a decent price), The Diary of Anne Frank, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Kritzerland’s recent Henry King at Fox set which contains The Black Swan, Captain from Castile, Prince of Foxes (greatly expanded from the original FSM), The Gunfighter, and Love is a Many Splendored Thing.
Many thanks for your reply. I have The Robe, A certain Smile, All about Eve.David and Bathsheba. Prisoner of Zenda, The Egyptian, The Snake Pit, Captain from Castille.Airport and A man called Peter. My copy of The Robe is a very old Screen Trax version so maybe I will try to upgrade that. I will have a look for the Henry King set too. I've seen Man Hunt turn up at a reasonable price occasionally - is that any good?
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What are the other Newman CDs in your collection, Mark? As for recommendations, I would strongly suggest The Prisoner of Zenda, David and Bathsheba, The Robe (preferably the LLL if you can find it for a decent price), The Diary of Anne Frank, How the West Was Won, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and Kritzerland’s recent Henry King at Fox set which contains The Black Swan, Captain from Castile, Prince of Foxes (greatly expanded from the original FSM), The Gunfighter, and Love is a Many Splendored Thing.
Many thanks for your reply. I have The Robe, A certain Smile, All about Eve.David and Bathsheba. Prisoner of Zenda, The Egyptian, The Snake Pit, Captain from Castille.Airport and A man called Peter. My copy of The Robe is a very old Screen Trax version so maybe I will try to upgrade that. I will have a look for the Henry King set too. I've seen Man Hunt turn up at a reasonable price occasionally - is that any good?
I’m afraid I’m not too familiar with Man Hunt, though I’ve been eyeing that one myself lately.
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Hi, Mark. For me Alfred Newman is second only to Jerry Goldsmith, and they are the only two composers on whom I've been completist. I state this so you can evaluate better by your own tastes what I'm going to write now.
Goldsmith may have been the more versatile of the two, but Newman might have been the greatest film composer (in my opinion) because of his gift of sheer melody, as well as the range and depth of emotion he could convey. He excelled in either power or delicacy, both as composer and conductor. You've responded to that power in that cue from LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN.
I first saw LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN years ago in a revival theatre having never heard a note of it, but to hear another Newman score; and I experienced the same reaction to that cue as you had (without your ability to savor it by rewinding). The theme you had heard earlier over the opening titles; but I think you responded to the emotional power that Newman applied to the stoic Gene Tierney scattering her father's ashes left and right, suppressing any display of her grief until she rides off alone and leans forward into her saddle horn, thinking she's unseen. (The skin crawled on my arms in the theatre.) Tierney looked stoic, but the turbulence was all Newman's.
From what you wrote, Mark, it seems that you already owned (and presumably had listened to) the EVE/HEAVEN disc before you watched HEAVEN. If that's the case, I advise you to consider watching more of the films to appreciate onscreen the fine dramatic sense that exists in so much of Newman's work. Using HEAVEN's "Ash Ritual" cue and your response as a starting point, I would point you toward moments and entire cues in CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE, DAVID AND BATHSHEBA, THE ROBE, and THE EGYPTIAN among scores you own -- as well as THE RAZOR'S EDGE, DRAGONWYCK, ANASTASIA, and HOW THE WEST WAS WON (for starters) out of what you don't. If you don't respond as fully to them on disc as music, try watching the movies.
However, the Screen Trax was a budget CD release of the original LP rerecording of THE ROBE. It's a good performance and conducted by Newman himself, but with a smaller orchestra playing cues edited from the film versions; so it's definitely worth your while to find the complete double-disc edition, for sake of expansion and for sound quality. (The same goes for THE EGYPTIAN, if you have only a single-disc release -- but I urge you toward the soundtrack recording, as no rerecording's conductor ever matches Newman himself guiding the orchestra.)
And just for reference, I'm a Newman guy who hasn't gotten into MAN HUNT. But I haven't yet watched the picture again as an adult, so screen context might change everything with this composer.
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Man Hunt is a brilliantly produced album from LLL, but it's not among my favorite Newman scores. It's one of those Golden Age scores that interpolates a lot of pre-existing music, rather than allowing Newman to write wholly original material.
I'm a huge Newman fan; he may very well be my favorite Golden Age composer (although Rozsa gives him a run for his money). I think you should prioritize getting the Kritzerland Henry King box set, which has five Newman scores on five discs (and even if you have some of them already, they are improved here). My favorite Newman is Captain from Castile. Prince of Foxes took a bit longer to grow on me but I love it too, now. And one that's a bit under the radar is A Man Called Peter. Loved the FSM release of it and the Kritzerland I've heard is even better...
Yavar
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Posted: |
Aug 4, 2020 - 11:09 PM
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By: |
Mark
(Member)
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Some great thoughts on Newman's music.
Dear Steven (Lloyd). I had listened to the HEAVEN disc before I watched LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, and liked the main theme, but the emotional impact of the ashes scene has made me listen to the music in a different way, a visual and more emotional way I guess. I think of the film as a whole as well as the visuals of the Ashes scene whenever I listen to the music now. And that is what I love about film music. Sometimes you just play the music without having seen the movie and love it, and then later you watch the film for the first time and the music can then change emotionally and as an experience.
I will definitely take all recommendations on board. I actually have Razors Edge on DVD to watch and am look forward to that as I loved the book as a teen. I am hoping that the film leads me into the music as LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN did.
I was interested to read Erik's description of LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN as a noir. The film has THE most amazing, vivid colours. In fact next to the music the look of the movie was what stunned me most. Some years ago the sheer thought of having a film in technicolor described as a film noir would have rattled my cage, but I am more open to this idea of color films, and indeed non-crime films (ie the Robert Mitchum western Pursued) being described as a film noir.
However I still wouldn't quite put HEAVEN in the film noir category. For me, if it aint in black and white full of shadows and have an urban setting then it had better have most of the other elements.... The detective, the convoluted plot often involving a mcguffin etc and HEAVEN doesn't have that..... For me it is a mix of melodrama and thriller with noir undertones.
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Ive never been a massive Newman fan but bought this CD when it came out because All About Eve was one of his scores that I really liked enough to buy on CD. A few months ago I watched its companion score Leave Her to Heaven - I absolutely loved it (and the movie)..... I found myself rewatching over and over the scene where Tierney scattered her fathers ashes, mainly for the wonderful score. I'm slowly becoming a Newman convert and looking to expand my small ten CD or so Newman collection. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
I just wanted to add that if you really love Leave Her to Heaven, you must pick up the Kritzerland release of the complete score (I think it includes 3-4 cues not on the FSM, and everything in better sound quality):
http://www.kritzerland.com/heaven_girl.htm
I'm honestly kinda surprised that no label has revisited All About Eve in similar fashion.
Yavar
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