Classic Ross Amico

Tag: John Williams

St Patrick’s Day Movie Music

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll be seeing double for St. Patrick’s Day, with selections from two films scored by John Williams (“Angela’s Ashes” and “Far and Away”) and two directed by John Ford (“The Informer” and “The Quiet Man”), with music by Max Steiner and Victor Young, respectively.

“Far and Away” may be of additional interest for the participation on the film’s soundtrack of The Chieftains, whose founding member, Paddy Moloney, died in October.

Actor Victor McLaglen won an Academy Award for his performance as Gypo Nolan in “The Informer” in 1935. 17 years later, he traded blows with John Wayne in one of film’s great donnybrooks in “The Quiet Man.”

If you miss it, you’ll regret it to your dying day… if ever you live that long. It’s an airing of the green, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

March 12, 2022
Superhero Movie Music A Picture Perfect Soundtrack

Look! Up in the sky!

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s “PICTURE PERFECT” – where the focus this week is on superheroes!

It’s true, I was wasn’t all that crazy about Tim Burton’s “Batman” (1989). In fact, I’m still waiting for someone to make the Batman movie I’ve got in my head. But that probably isn’t going to happen – we’re too far down the computer-generated, dystopian road at this point.

At least Danny Elfman actually made the effort to write a decent score. I admit I was underappreciative of it at the time of the film’s release. To me, Elfman was still “that guy from Oingo Boingo.” But it sounds better and better in light of all that has followed. Elfman’s love for Bernard Herrmann is evident. And don’t worry, I will spare you the Prince songs.

“The Avengers” may have provided the satisfaction of seeing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk on the screen all at the same time, but arguably “The Incredibles” (2004) was more fun. Pixar’s clever satire/adventure featured the vocal talents of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, and Samuel L. Jackson.

The score is a smart throwback to the swinging espionage films of the 1960s. Originally the producers approached John Barry to write the music, hoping for something very much in the style of his work on the James Bond films. But Barry declined, not wanting to return to his earlier style. In the event, composer Michael Giacchino was only too happy to step into Barry’s well-polished shoes.

“The Avengers” (2012), of course, is the 800-pound gorilla of superhero franchises, but in these days when each hyper-spectacle seems to surpass the last, not only in terms of din and seizure-inducing effects, but in the epic scope of its box office, that could very well change at any time. Before it does, we’d better sample some of the music from the first film, by Alan Silvestri.

To truly understand what is missing from superhero music these days, one need only refer to the gold standard of the genre, “Superman” (1978). John Williams’ score was from smack-dab in the middle of his heroic period, falling as it did, between “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Its star-spangled fanfare and march beautifully conjure memories of Superman music past – for the George Reeves TV series and, before that, the Fleischer Brothers cartoons – yet effortlessly surpass them like leaping a tall building in a single bound.

I know, I know, not every film can be, nor should be, the same, and Williams’ primary colors wouldn’t sit as well, perhaps, with the dark streets of Gotham. But why does everything have to be so grim these days? I read comic books when I was a kid, and I don’t remember everything being so hopeless.

I don’t want to hear about how the real world is a gritty place right now. “Superman” was made in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam, for crying out loud. Entertainment molds the world, every bit as much as the world shapes our entertainment. Is it too much to ask for a little fun and inspiration from our superhero movies? Can we leave the theatres feeling exhilarated, for a change, as opposed to simply exhausted?

All kryptonite will be encased in lead for “Everything’s Super,” on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org

March 5, 2022
John Williams Scores the Presidents

In a career that’s spanned over 60 years, John Williams has had opportunities to score just about every kind of film. Inevitably, these would include several fictionalized accounts of the American presidents. This week on “Picture Perfect,” just in time for Presidents Day, we’ll exercise our executive power and sample music from four of them.

“JFK” (1991) is one of three collaborations between Williams and director Oliver Stone. The film has more to do with conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination than anything to do with his presidency. A controversial feature, no doubt – Walter Cronkite dressed down Roger Ebert after he gave it a positive review – still, a compelling piece of cinema. It certainly inspired an effective score.

Kevin Costner plays New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, Sissy Spacek, his wife, and Gary Oldman, Lee Harvey Oswald. Tommy Lee Jones and Joe Pesci are unforgettable as a pair of outlandish conspirators (if you ever wanted to see Jones painted gold, then this is the movie for you), and Donald Sutherland delivers a virtuoso 16-minute monologue as a government whistleblower who identifies himself only as “X.”

Williams and Stone had previously worked together on “Born on the Fourth of July.” Later, they would reunite for a second presidential collaboration, a character study of Richard Milhous Nixon – in a film called, well, “Nixon” (1995). Anthony Hopkins, as the president, leads another impressive cast, which includes Joan Allen, Powers Boothe, Ed Harris, Bob Hoskins, E.G. Marshall, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Sorvino, Mary Steenburgen, and James Woods.

Williams also wrote the music for Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” (1997). The film, about a mutiny on a slave ship in 1839 and the resulting courtroom drama, features two American presidents: Nigel Hawthorne plays Martin van Buren, the sitting president; and again, Anthony Hopkins appears, in a memorable supporting turn, as aging former president John Quincy Adams. Adams argues the defense of the Africans who took part in the mutiny.

Finally, Daniel Day-Lewis plays the nation’s 16th president, in Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (2012). He’s lent strong support by Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Steward, and Tommy Lee Jones, this time as Thaddeus Stevens.

It’s a bold assessment, but Day-Lewis elevates “Lincoln,” the film, to greatness, with arguably one of the most amazing performances in cinematic history. Day-Lewis’ gentle but shrewd Man of Destiny would go to any lengths to hold the country together. Williams taps into America’s proud musical heritage, clearly influenced by Copland and the folksier side of Ives, to create a score of stirring nobility.

I hope you’ll join me as we continue with our observance of John Williams’ 90th birthday. Williams’ scores will be represented through at least St. Patrick’s Day, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies. The presidents take precedence, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: (clockwise from left) Day-Lewis as Lincoln; Hopkins as Nixon; poster for “JFK;” Hopkins as John Quincy Adams

February 19, 2022
John Williams Jerry Goldsmith Virtual Conversation

If you are a fan of either John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith, you will be transfixed by this virtual conversation, documented in 2021, but reposted this week by The Legacy of John Williams. It’s one of those rare instances where I thought I’d sample some of it with the idea of watching the rest later, and before I knew it, I wound up watching the whole blessed two hours!

Participants include names familiar to film score fanatics – writer Jeff Bond, producer Mike Matessino, and engineer Bruce Botnick, composer David Newman (who played violin on a number of Williams and Goldsmith scores of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s), studio pianist Mike Lang (who worked with Williams, Goldsmith, and Henry Mancini), and conductor Leonard Slatkin (who grew up in Hollywood and later conducted Williams’ film and concert works, as well as Goldsmith’s “Music for Orchestra”).

The geekier you are about film music, the more you will love this. Lots of behind-the-scenes reminiscences and entertaining anecdotes about the artists and the industry. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bt3XCJG8gA

February 19, 2022
Gothic Romance: Music for Creepy Houses

Windswept moors. Destructive passions. Byronic guilt.

The term “Gothic romance” doesn’t necessarily connote a love story. In 19th century literary tradition, “romance” was often suggestive of the mysterious, the adventurous, the sensational – a kind of pleasing terror, often touched by elements of horror.

This week on “Picture Perfect, I strike my annual blow against Valentine’s Day with music from movies featuring creepy old houses, ghosts, malevolent housekeepers, and madwomen in the attic.

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” (1940), based on the Gothic novel of Daphne du Maurier, is a clear throwback to the works of the Brontë sisters. Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine star, but Judith Anderson steals the show as the ice-cold Mrs. Danvers. The film was the recipient of an Academy Award for Best Picture, the only Hitchcock film to be so honored. Franz Waxman’s opulent and atmospheric score flares at its operatic climax.

Collectively, the Brontë sisters were responsible for some of the most tortured romances in English literature. Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre,” a work which clearly anticipates “Rebecca,” was adapted most famously in 1940, again with Joan Fontaine, and featuring Orson Welles as Rochester. Three decades later, a television version of “Jane Eyre” (1971) appeared, with Susannah York and George C. Scott. The music for the latter was by an up-and-coming composer, only a few years away from superstardom: John Williams.

“Uncle Silas” (1947) is a Gothic romance that sidesteps the love story altogether. Forced to live under the guardianship of a sinister uncle and a malevolent French governess, its heroine is thrust into an atmosphere of insinuating menace. Sheridan Le Fanu’s “old dark house” thriller was made into a film by Gainsborough Studios, and released in the United States as “The Inheritance.” A young Jean Simmons plays the imperiled heiress. The music was by Alan Rawsthorne, a distinguished concert composer, who nonetheless managed to compose 27 film scores. Bernard Herrmann considered the score for “Uncle Silas” to be one of the finest ever written.

Finally, we’ll hear music from a beloved adaptation of Emily Brontë’s tale of star-crossed love, “Wuthering Heights” (1939). Merle Oberon is Cathy and Laurence Olivier is Heathcliff. Alfred Newman’s music yearns and sobs right along with us.

It’s an hour of gloom and doom for Valentine’s Day. Join me for Gothic romances on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

NOTE: In honor of John Williams’ 90th birthday on February 8, this is the first of several episodes that will incorporate at least one of his film scores. Next week, for Presidents Day Weekend, it’s hail to the chief, as John Williams does the presidents!

February 12, 2022

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