Jerry Goldsmith wrote one of his most lyrical yet disturbingly haunting scores for The Other, a 1972 American horror psychological thriller film directed by Robert Mulligan, adapted for film by Thomas Tryon from his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, and twins Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, with Victor French, John Ritter, and Jenny Sullivan.
This score is one of my favorites from the 1970s and a particular standout from Goldsmith, IMO!
At the 9:56 mark, one of my favorite cues from the film begins. In this scene, Niles and Ada (the grandmother) are in a field and Niles wants to play the great game. This is something his grandmother taught him and his brother, Holland, to do. He concentrates on a bird and then becomes one with the bird, seeing the world through the bird's eyes. It's a thrilling scene in the film, IMO.
It's a wonderful score and, along with The Mephisto Waltz, the two scores that ratcheted up my Goldsmith interest after a great 60s decade. Still waiting for an improved release of this pairing.
I think it's way past time that "The Other" was given a major recording effort...either as a complete issuing of all recorded cues, or as a new recording.
I watched and reviewed this 11 Jan … I found JG’s score did what was required but was not exceptional or memorable. I doubt I’d be inclined to spend mega-bucks to add it to my 100+ JG collection.
I’m not surprised the film is not well-known though do complement the two young boys for being so convincing.
Bear in mind that as much as a third of the score went unused. It seems the producers got cold feet as to how scary they wanted to film to be, and cut much of the creepier music. The Twilight Time blu-ray presents most of the score on the alternate audio track.
I watched and reviewed this 11 Jan … I found JG’s score did what was required but was not exceptional or memorable.
I had a very different reaction to the music, though I have never seen the movie. The music (which I know from the suite released along with THE MEPHISTO WALTZ) is Jerry Goldsmith in top form. Very haunting music. (Only the sound quality is lacking.)
The SPYS expansion was initiated by La-La Land/Mike Matessino before the Disney purchase of Fox was completed. When’s the last time Varese expanded/released a Fox title? Chain Reaction almost 8 years ago? Or no maybe it was The Omen 40th anniversary edition almost 7 years ago. I suspect that’s the complication which explains the delay on this, Mephisto Waltz, the Flint scores, and the other Omen scores… but I suspect if anyone can help make it happen, Mike Matessino can. He’s both worked with the Fox holdings recently, as well as Varese. In our recent epic 4+ hour chat on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he expressed a desire to revisit Damien: Omen II (it was his first time doing this sort of work for Varese and he was never quite satisfied with his work on it, plus there’s been a lot of new tech in the 2+ decades since then which might help repair the film recording). And he didn’t get to work on the other two Omen scores so he’s interested in tackling them too. It’s only a short skip from those to The Other and Mephisto Waltz… so let’s all cross our fingers!
