Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Steven Spielberg

Spielberg Hitchcock Herrmann Williams Radio

When Steven Spielberg was introduced to Bernard Herrmann during a scoring session for Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” he wound up going all fan-boy.

“Oh, Mr. Herrmann!” Spielberg gushed. “I’m such an admirer of your work! You’re such an amazing genius!”

Herrmann, who was notoriously prickly, looked him up and down and scowled, before replying, “So why do you always hire John Williams?”

Interestingly, not long before, Spielberg, buoyed by the box office success of “Jaws,” worked up the courage to meet Herrmann’s one-time employer, Alfred Hitchcock, on the set of Hitch’s final film, “Family Plot” (which, coincidentally, Hitchcock also hired Williams to score).

Before Spielberg could say anything, Hitch had him escorted off set, commenting to actor Bruce Dern, “Isn’t that the boy who made the fish movie?”

The very night Spielberg met Herrmann (albeit briefly), the composer wrapped-up recording his music for “Taxi Driver,” went back to his hotel and died of a heart attack, in his sleep, in the wee hours of December 24, 1975. Hitchcock would follow his erstwhile collaborator in 1980.

I establish these connections, because two of my three radio shows this weekend focus on the music of Bernard Herrmann and John Williams.

In the mid-1950s, Herrmann and Hitchcock came together for a string of commercial, critical, and artistic successes, including, most notably, “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “Psycho.” But the two collaborated on no less than nine films, if we count “The Birds,” on which Herrmann acted as sound consultant.

Today, on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have selections from the other five – among them, “Marnie,” “The Trouble with Harry” and “The Wrong Man.”

Herrmann’s reworking of Arthur Benjamin’s “The Storm Clouds Cantata” was used at the climax of the 1956 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” as a frantic James Stewart attempts to thwart an assassination plot at Royal Alert Hall. (In the film, Herrmann himself appears on the podium.)

We’ll also hear a portion of the rejected score for “Torn Curtain,” the project that ended the Herrmann-Hitchcock association. Hitchcock fired Herrmann, when the composer ignored his instructions to write something light and popular, under studio pressure. John Addison was hired as his replacement, and the film was a failure at the box office.

In recent years, Herrmann admirers have had several opportunities to sample the composer’s original thoughts. Quentin Tarantino is obviously a fan. He used some of Herrmann’s “Torn Curtain” music in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

I hope you’ll join me for lesser-heard Herrmann-Hitchcock, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies.

But wait – there’s more!

Tomorrow is John Williams’ 93rd birthday. To celebrate, I’ve assembled a miscellany of the composer’s music for film, television, and the Olympic Games for “Sweetness and Light.” Among the offerings will be selections from several scores written for Spielberg and one (“Family Plot”) written for Hitch.

Hitch yourself to Herrmann, this Friday at 8:00 EST/5:00 PST; then send well-wishes to Williams, this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, on “Picture Perfect” and “Sweetness and Light,” respectively – exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday at 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

February 7, 2025
Close Encounters Returns Spielberg’s Sci-Fi Classic

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” will return to theaters for showings on July 7 & 10, as part of a broader, ongoing celebration of Columbia Pictures for the studio’s 100th anniversary. (It’s a Fathom Event; google the complete schedule.)

Watching “Close Encounters” for the first time as an 11 year-old was a watershed moment in my movie-going experience. If you’ve only ever seen it at home, you haven’t really seen it. This is a film that definitely deserves to be experienced in a theater. Say what you will about Richard Dreyfuss’ sideburns, for me this will always be one of Steven Spielberg’s best films, with a transcendent score by John Williams. I would go so far as to say, “Close Encounters” is the most musical non-“musical” blockbuster ever made. I write much more about it here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1608836975950253&set=a.279006378933326

Do yourself a favor, and check your local listings.

Alas, the “friendly extraterrestrial” movie seems to have been out of fashion now for quite some time. We seem to be mired in some neo-‘50s zeitgeist, as far as paranoia and invasion are concerned. But that certainly wasn’t the case back in 1982, when Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” almost singlehandedly turned everything on its head.

No more invaders from Mars. Spielberg would get to that a couple of decades later, when he remade H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” No, during the Reagan Era, with the Cold War winding down and terrorism not yet so much in the news, cinematic E.T.’s were benevolent at best, or at worst, just trying to do their thing. They were there to be misunderstood and even imperiled by man until a warm, fuzzy, often poignant finale.

Spielberg had already explored the concept of the benevolent visitor from space, of course, with 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” But there was an ambiguity for much of the film as to what exactly the aliens’ intentions were. In fact, there is at least one sequence that would have given a child nightmares. Whatever tension is generated dissolves in the euphoric finale, centered on the communicative power of music. Like so many films back then and so few now, “Close Encounters” doesn’t so much exhaust the viewer as leave him or her with feelings of uplift and hope.

John Williams wrote the music for both “Close Encounters” and “E.T.,” and the two scores couldn’t be more different. For “CE3K,” the avant-garde syntax of the early, eerier sequences dissolves into unabashed romanticism for the transcendent finale. “E.T” takes a much more intimate approach. The moving story of a friendship between a boy and a stranded botanist for another world is rendered in music that is by turns tender, buoyant, and touching. The score earned Williams a much-deserved fourth Academy Award. “E.T.” may very well be Williams’ masterpiece, and Spielberg’s too.

The “friendly” alien of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), Klaatu, may come in peace, but it is a message delivered with tough love. If mankind refuses to abide, his giant robot, Gort, will destroy the planet. At a time when Martians invariably meant trouble, this was actually progressive. Bernard Herrmann’s score is one of his best, and certainly one of his most interesting. Always an eccentric orchestrator, Herrmann’s concept of extra-terrestrial music incorporates violin, cello, electric bass, two theremins, two Hammond organs, a large studio electric organ, three vibraphones, two glockenspiels, two pianos, two harps, three trumpets, three trombones and four tubas. Overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques were also employed.

Finally, Ron Howard’s “Cocoon” (1985) is one of the more worthwhile of the seemingly endless procession of extraterrestrial films to be released in the wake of “E.T.” At least this one took a different approach by bringing alien forces into contact with a Florida retirement community, with the unexpected result of rejuvenating its inhabitants. A modern take on the fabled Fountain of Youth, the film is a showcase for veteran actors Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Jack Gilford, and Don Ameche (who won an Academy Award). James Horner’s score is much sought after by collectors.

Klaatu barada nikto! I hope you’ll join me for the touchdown of benevolent extraterrestrial films on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

July 5, 2024
Patrick Read Johnson 5-25-77 Interview

Finally, finally, FINALLY, the much-postponed Patrick Read Johnson was our guest last night on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. This time, neither wild horses nor Fios-munching squirrels hindered an hour of absorbing anecdotes about Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and the making of 5-25-77.

We covered a lot of ground, with Johnson talking about the long and winding road to the realization of his autobiographical coming-of-age tale that coalesces around the opening of “Star Wars,” on May 25, 1977. Even so, there’s plenty of material we never touched on. Perhaps at some point there will be a sequel? For now, you can enjoy what we’ve got, here:

Next Friday, Roy’s guest will be Bonnie Moss, who will share stories about her longtime friendship with actor Leonard Nimoy.

Then on Sunday, Roy and I will reconvene on a special night to talk about James Cameron’s first sequel to surpass expectations, “Aliens” (1986). Is it better than Ridley Scott’s creepy original? It certainly is a fresh take, and a thrilling one.

Cameron, of course, would go on to prove it was no accident with the successful sequels “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

We’ll do our best to Alien-ate everyone, on “Roy s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., next Friday and Sunday evenings at 7:30 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

Trailer for Johnson’s “5-25-77”

February 18, 2023
Spielberg, “5-25-77,” & Super 8 Nostalgia

Some interesting comparisons can be drawn between Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” now in theaters, and Patrick Read Johnson’s coming-of-age-in-the-era-of-“Star Wars” comedy, “5-25-77” (2002). Both filmmakers clearly poured their hearts and souls into these creative reminiscences of their early discoveries and explorations of the magic of film, largely through experiments with their families’ home movie equipment. In their cases, the cinema bug bit early and it wound up shaping their lives.

On the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” Roy and I will talk a little bit about Johnson’s “new” film (actually 18 years in the making), but mostly we’ll be using it as a springboard for our own personal recollections of writing and producing Super-8 movies all throughout our teens

My cousin and Roy’s lifelong friend, Joe Metz, will join us, along with special guests, a few of those who appeared in the films and helped out behind the scenes. We’ll talk about our undiscovered treasures, projects that occupied our formative summers (mostly), including “The Last Plot,” “Omelet,” “Inner Vorzyd,” “AERO/VOID,” “An Hour to Live,” “Journey to Where,” “Leviathan,” “The Pterodactyls,” “Man and Thin Man,” “The Road to Insanity,” and “A Gorgeous Guy in a City of Women.”

Sadly, the films themselves will not be shown, but we’ll have plenty of stories, a few stills, some first-hand accounts, and boxes of paraphernalia.

Self-indulgent? You bet. But Spielberg and Johnson’s passions were not unique. They just happened to be blessed with that magic combination of calling, talent, drive, and good luck to get where they are today. I’m sure there will be others among our viewers who’ve had parallel experiences.

We’ll be ready for our close-ups on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Join the paparazzi in the comments section when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc. The geekery and nostalgia will be strong with this one, this Friday evening at 7:30 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

PHOTO: Whipping up “Omelet” (1981), written and directed by Joe Metz, with yours truly, center, and Roy, obscured, on far right

January 5, 2023
Back to the Future on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner

When we have to turn the clocks back on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, we do so in a big way. Join us this week, when we put pedal to the metal in Doc Brown’s tricked-out DeLorean for a time-traveling discussion of “Back to the Future” (1985).

Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s tight, Academy Award nominated screenplay is a clever inversion of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Also, it celebrates a kind of knowing affection and fosters empathy across a generational divide. Incredibly, no studio wanted anything to do with it. It was finally Steven Spielberg who produced, after the success of Zemeckis’ and Gale’s “Romancing the Stone.”

The film sports career-defining performances by Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and especially Crispin Glover. All the predictable summer movie set pieces are there, but this is one blockbuster that is genuinely driven by characters and story.

With just the right balance of innocence and sophistication, “Back to the Future” capped a golden age of Spielberg summer movies that began with “Jaws” in 1975. It’s an era that, without a time-traveling DeLorean, will never come again.

It’s a reminder to “fall back” this weekend, as we pick up an extra hour. We’ll “make like a tree and get out of here,” on the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner.” Biff will join you in the comments section with the Turtle Wax (two coats!), when we livestream on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, this Friday evening at 7:30 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

November 3, 2022

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