The always masterful programmers over at Turner Classic Movies: TCM are devoting prime time tonight to the artistry of John Williams. Williams, of course, is the world’s most famous (and most successful) film composer, having written music for “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Superman,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List,” the first three “Harry Potter” films, and well, I’m sure you could name a half dozen others.
His longest collaboration has been with director Steven Spielberg, with 26 features (most recently, “Lincoln”) and counting. TCM will be kicking off what should be an exceedingly interesting evening for Williams aficionados with Spielberg’s theatrical debut, the undershown “The Sugarland Express” (1974), at 8 p.m. ET. Goldie Hawn and William Atherton play a Texas couple – Atherton an escaped convict – who lead the police on a wild chase as they attempt to prevent the adoption of their son. Along the way, they become unlikely folk heroes. That’s harmonica legend Toots Thielemans on the soundtrack.
That’s followed at 10 p.m. with a rebroadcast of “AFI Master Class – The Art of Collaboration: Spielberg-Williams,” in which the two screen titans discuss their 40 year association before an audience of aspiring filmmakers at the AFI Conservatory.
Then at 11 p.m. comes the rare opportunity to see “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing” (1973), with Burt Reynolds as the head of a band of train-robbers in the old west, again on the run, forced by circumstance to ride with the wife (Sarah Miles) of the Wells Fargo agent who pursues them. The music (actually replacing a rejected score by Michel Legrand) melds a pop-tinged main title with the Williams sound we all know and love.
Experience John Williams before “Jaws” (1975) and “Star Wars” (1977) made him a household name, tonight on TCM.
Music from “The Sugarland Express”:
And from “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing”:
PHOTO: Williams in the ‘70s