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See also some Antheil soundtracks that are, you know, actually available on CD, namely The Pride and the Passion and Dementia.
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Antheil had only one soundrack album released in his lifetime.
And as far as I know only one symphonic piece was later rerecorded. It's from The Specter Of The Rose - Ballet Waltz (by Charles Gerhardt with the London Cinema Symphony Orchestra).
I started a thread about Pride and the Passion many years ago, by the way:
https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=59888
For those interested, this thread however is focused on The Juggler's music.
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"See also some Antheil soundtracks that are, you know, actually available on CD, namely The Pride and the Passion and Dementia."
***
Hi, Bruce, Happily I've long had TPATP, but don't recall seeing any announcement about Dementia. Found it of course at Kritzerland and ordered it just now. I've seen conflicting info about release dates, though. Is it due out in August?
Thnx,
P.
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Although I don't have dementia, I do have DEMENTIA, and frankly I had the nagging feeling that I vaguely remembered buying it back in the day, but when I saw that Amazon listed it thusly...
Manufacturer: Kritzerland
Date First Available: June 7, 2021
Label: Kritzerland
ASIN: B096R4M5D7
... I wondered if I was mistaken. Hence the confusion of which I wrote. Thanks for providing the necessary clarity, Stefan!
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And now that that's settled --
Thank you, Sehnsuchtshafen, for this thread! THE JUGGLER happens to be one of my very favorite scores. From what I gather, there's little or no hope that the original tracks survive, so until I make my second million and can afford to sponsor a re-recording, it'll have to remain one of my mad dreams.
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I've recently revisited this film and score and have redone the three suites fixing some volume issues and crossfades.
The re-uploaded suites are now richly illustrated and chapters are added so you can directly access the individual selections (see the embedded videos in my previous post).
A few additional comments on the film and score:
Initially, Stanley Kramer wanted author Michael Blankfort to direct the film but Blankfort was refused a passport for travel to Israel by the United States State Department because the author had been a Communist many years earlier. Kramer reassigned the film to Edward Dmytryk who served almost a year in prison in 1948 after being convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to divulge his political affiliations. After his release from prison, the director moved to England but returned to the U.S.A. and gave testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and, as a result, was removed from the film industry "blacklist". – Blankfort co-produced “The Juggler”. He would never direct a feature film.
Kirk Douglas's agent had advised him to film outside of the States for two years, so he could avoid paying taxes. “The Juggler” marked the first Hollywood feature film shot in the relatively new state of Israel. But due to inadequate filming facilities in Israel, producer Stanley Kramer had to shoot the interiors in Hollywood. Even though he had intended to shoot the entire picture in Israel.
The film is interesting to watch today because of the locations it was filmed in the early 1950s. It's a "message film" by Kramer, of course, and discussing it here will most likely cause problems because of the political subject.
I've always enjoyed watching Paul Stewart in a film. He has a great part in The Juggler. On the other hand, Kirk Douglas with the Juggler's clown face didn't really work for me. And the story line with the love interest was just not convincing in my view if you consider how deeply traumatized the Hans Müller character really is.
George Antheil's score is memorable and in my view one of his best efforts in the field of film music.
When I listen to his music, I have the strong feeling that Antheil on some occasions emulated the film noir style of Miklós Rózsa. As examples, just listen to the chase music (Suite II, Selection 3b and c).
And then you get the highly romantic music of Sequence 4 (Suite II again): If you didn't know who wrote it what would be your guess the composer was? -- Anyway the score is wonderful, and most of it is contained in the three suites.
There is a lengthy dance scene in the Kibbutz with singing. I don't think this is Antheil's material so it is not included in my selections.
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