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Posted: |
Jan 13, 2018 - 4:57 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Perhaps we could get back to talking about Volume 2 of THRILLER, which hasn't even been released yet, but definitely will be!
So, in my quest to watch all of the episodes which will be represented on the second volume (coming to a virtual warehouse far from your house, in April or May), it was time to watch the penultimate on the list - although I don't know if they'll be in that order on the disc. Doesn't matter. It was "Masquerade". It was a dark, stormy night. The "Psycho" house looms out of the sheets of rain. Oh there's John Carradine! This should be quite spooky! Oh, there's Elizabeth Montgomery on her honeymoon with hubby... Tom Poston? Anyway, this actually turned out to be a surprise for me, because it was a comedic episode in the line of "The Addams Family". I'm not overly familiar with the show, but I didn't think they had done a comedy. Still, I suppose it stands to reason given the amount of episodes made. It's not really very funny or very good in any way, although it's watchable enough.
Watchable enough indeed. Oh my golly gosh, wasn't Elizabeth Montgomery absolutely gorgeous? I love her. I love that combination of strong-jawed defiance and wide-eyed innocence, although I think I actually preferred her just a wee bit more in The Twilight Zone's "Two", that post-apocalyptic episode co-starring Charles Bronson. In that one she got to show her really tough side, but of course with that vulnerability under the surface, and she was wearing military gear throughout, with a short skirt. There was something Jane Fonda-ish about her back then. The wide-eyed innocence. The strong-jawed look of defiance. Just to show you that I'm telling the truth, I never met Jane Fonda in real life, but Elizabeth Montgomery was my first girlfriend. It was 1945 and we were both twelve years old, attending the same school somewhere in the United States, I think. I kept taking her to see SPELLBOUND, and telling her to pay attention to Miklós Rózsa's music. I even recall singing to her, as we embraced, "You're holding me spellbound"! It got to the point where she said, "Look, it's either this Rosa gal or me. So choose, schmuck". And I chose Miklós. And the rest is history.
But enough of me. Jerry Goldsmith's score for "Masquerade" held Surprise Number 2. If you recall, I said half an hour ago that it surprised me that there was a semi-comedic effort in THRILLER. That was Surprise Number 1. Surprise Number 2 was that the score here is actually largely the same thematic material as in "Well of Doom" (represented on Volume One), the lumbering Herrmannesque "Gort"-type music for the lumbering Richard Kiel creature. I don't know without checking which episode came first, so I can't say if "Masquerade" is a reworking of "Well of Doom" or vice-versa. Whatever, here it's given a naturally much lighter treatment as befits the episode. It's not all that same theme of course. Overall, there's a kind of quirkiness to it - not burlesque as in "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" (probably my least favourite from Volume One, even if JamesF does say that it was the most fun to record). Yes, a sort of wry quirkiness is what seems most to the fore here. It's far from my favourite episode, and far from my favourite score, but again it'll demonstrate the breadth of material which we will be treated to soon, much more varied than Volume 1 (which was/is still great).
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Congratulations! A no-brainer purchase for me.
Sooo...maybe some Alfred Newman next for Tadlow? 
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I must say I am rather impressed by it ... especially as it should be used as a prime example to aspiring composers of how to compose and orchestrate for limited resources but get maximum effect from them so much so that you do not notice how small a chamber ensemble is used!
... and not only to aspiring composers, either.
Producers, executive producers, film editors, music editors, etc. ... plus those focus groups which studios/production companies rely upon so much.
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Leigh Phillips:
Most Valuable Player
two years in a row!!!!!
Brmo
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That's why Michael Abels should have gotten a best score Oscar nomination for GET OUT, as his score sounds like things
Goldsmith and Co were doing in the 50's and 60's. Proper inventive stuff.
Exactly. And in a pretty weak field, maybe even deserved a win. Get Out got multiple other nominations so really a shame that this great debut score was overlooked.
Yavar
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2018 - 10:11 AM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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And so it came to pass that I got around to watching the last episode featured on the Volume 2 list - "The Terror in Teakwood". It's really quite splendid stuff, with a great cast. I always found Guy Rolfe scary, ever since I saw (MR) SARDONICUS at the age of ten, and here he's quite wonderful as the demented musician. His physical presence is just right, aloof, gaunt, tall, arrogant and concert-pianisty with his hair all scraped back. Hazel Court was always a busty horror-freak's delight, Reggie Nalder gets to look sinister again (he could hardly avoid it), and Charles Aidman is there too to add a bit of well-done bland normality.
There are hints of THE HANDS OF ORLAC and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, but this episode is a bit more perverse even, with Rolfe as the pianist with the Salieri complex who desecrates the tomb of Liszt-handed genius "Carnowitz" (sp?) and, and... no, it's really too awful.
The Goldsmith score here acts in a kind of "supporting role" to Caesar Giovannini's piano music. While greatly effective, it didn't strike me as being much different from what has been represented on Volume 1 - mostly low bassoons and Herrrmannesque devices for the suspense. I may of course change my mind when I hear it in its full glory on disc. Not really being a "collector" (or at least not a nutty one, says I), I don't have the DVDs of "Thriller", and am therefore watching them on acceptable-quality YouTube uploads. So I actually watched "The Terror in Teakwood" twice - first just watching it normally with a bottle of fine wine by my side, and the second time after I happened upon, by sheer good luck, the same episode but featuring the audio commentary, which in this case was a very good interview with Jon Burlingame, who spoke about "Thriller" in general (and Pete Rugolo, and Morton Stevens), but with much of the focus on "The Terror in Teakwood", logically.
A question for Mr Fitz - Giovannini wrote two piano pieces for this, right? The Nocturne and the Sonata (I think). I saw a few weeks ago on Facebook that the Nocturne had been adapted to accommodate the lovely Lucie and the violin. Will we be getting a piano-only version of the Sonata, or couldn't you find a pianist capable enough to play Carnowitz's "impossible" 7th?
Anyway, that's me watched all the episodes in anticipation. What a great series! Of the scores which will appear on Vol 2, my initial reaction is that I absolutely loved the ones for the first four on the list, and was slightly less impressed by the last two ("Masquerade" and "Teakwood"). My enthusiasm has been sufficiently sparked however to not only look forward immensely to the release, but also to revisit Volume 1, which was mighty fine.
I'm going to listen to Volume 1 again now, loud through the headphones. Do other people here do that? I mean, listen more than once to things they bought months, years or decades ago, or is it all about "Why don't you tackle my holy grail SANTO VERSUS THE AZTEC MUMMY"?
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2018 - 10:36 AM
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By: |
JamesFitz
(Member)
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And so it came to pass that I got around to watching the last episode featured on the Volume 2 list - "The Terror in Teakwood". It's really quite splendid stuff, with a great cast. I always found Guy Rolfe scary, ever since I saw (MR) SARDONICUS at the age of ten, and here he's quite wonderful as the demented musician. His physical presence is just right, aloof, gaunt, tall, arrogant and concert-pianisty with his hair all scraped back. Hazel Court was always a busty horror-freak's delight, Reggie Nalder gets to look sinister again (he could hardly avoid it), and Charles Aidman is there too to add a bit of well-done bland normality.
There are hints of THE HANDS OF ORLAC and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, but this episode is a bit more perverse even, with Rolfe as the pianist with the Salieri complex who desecrates the tomb of Liszt-handed genius "Carnowitz" (sp?) and, and... no, it's really too awful.
The Goldsmith score here acts in a kind of "supporting role" to Caesar Giovannini's piano music. While greatly effective, it didn't strike me as being much different from what has been represented on Volume 1 - mostly low bassoons and Herrrmannesque devices for the suspense. I may of course change my mind when I hear it in its full glory on disc. Not really being a "collector" (or at least not a nutty one, says I), I don't have the DVDs of "Thriller", and am therefore watching them on acceptable-quality YouTube uploads. So I actually watched "The Terror in Teakwood" twice - first just watching it normally with a bottle of fine wine by my side, and the second time after I happened upon, by sheer good luck, the same episode but featuring the audio commentary, which in this case was a very good interview with Jon Burlingame, who spoke about "Thriller" in general (and Pete Rugolo, and Morton Stevens), but with much of the focus on "The Terror in Teakwood", logically.
A question for Mr Fitz - Giovannini wrote two piano pieces for this, right? The Nocturne and the Sonata (I think). I saw a few weeks ago on Facebook that the Nocturne had been adapted to accommodate the lovely Lucie and the violin. Will we be getting a piano-only version of the Sonata, or couldn't you find a pianist capable enough to play Carnowitz's "impossible" 7th?
Anyway, that's me watched all the episodes in anticipation. What a great series! Of the scores which will appear on Vol 2, my initial reaction is that I absolutely loved the ones for the first four on the list, and was slightly less impressed by the last two ("Masquerade" and "Teakwood"). My enthusiasm has been sufficiently sparked however to not only look forward immensely to the release, but also to revisit Volume 1, which was mighty fine.
I'm going to listen to Volume 1 again now, loud through the headphones. Do other people here do that? I mean, listen more than once to things they bought months, years or decades ago, or is it all about "Why don't you tackle my holy grail SANTO VERSUS THE AZTEC MUMMY"?
Our Chopin prize winning pianist Jaromir Klepac could have played the sonata ....but I decided on a different approach by doing the Nocturne arranged for Solo Violin and piano ...as it works rather well I feel ....
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