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Topic: John Morris
Marian Schedenig
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I'm just listening to John Morris' wonderful Golden Age-like Spaceballs score (what about a decent score release for that one!?), and was wondering if he has written any other worthwhile scores?NP: Spaceballs Love Theme (2 minutes from the approximately 7 minutes of score on the soundtrack album)
posted 06-11-2000 12:33 PM PT (US) pietari
Standard Userer
His score for The Elephant Man is excellent. Itīs got a brilliant īCircusī-like main theme and some very touching music towards the end. Adagio for Strings also makes an appearance. Definitely worth getting
posted 06-11-2000 01:06 PM PT (US) Gae
Standard Userer
I only have "The 12 chairs" by John Morris (and I dont know it that well) but I can tell you that he usually scores Mel Brooks' films....so chances are if its a Mel Brooks film then its a John Morris score. I know he did "Young Frankenstein" which I remember as having a lovely haunting violin melody and imitating the kind of music found in the old "classic" frankenstein scores. As far as I know he did "High Anxiety" ( a Hitchcockian spoof), "Blazing Saddles","The Producers"( remember the song "Springtime for Hitler") and also the score to Lynch's superb "The Elephant Man"...which also contains Samuel Barber's moving "Adagio for Strings". Thats about all I can help you with. Im sure some one else will have more info on him. (P.S. Sorry for repeating what Pietari just wrote but I'm such a slow typer he must have written it just as I was doing mine...I need typing lessons!! )
Cheers Gae[This message has been edited by Gae (edited 11 June 2000).]
posted 06-11-2000 01:17 PM PT (US) Brad Wills
Standard Userer
Anything John Morris writes is exemplary. All of his scores for Mel Brooks' films, BLAZING SADDLES, HIGH ANXIETY, SILENT MOVIE (one of the few Morris scores to be released in its entirety without dialogue - hence the title- and a great one, too!), and his masterpiece of satire and homage YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN are textbook examples of comedy scoring. For me, the main title to YF is one of the most beautiful film melodies of all time. Morris also worked with Gene Wilder on THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER, THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER (great music saddled with the films dialogue on LP), THE WOMAN IN RED, and HAUNTED HONEYMOON. CLUE, THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS, and of course the Oscar-nominated THE ELEPHANT MAN are also fine. TDATD was announced as having an LP release but this unfortunately didn't pan out. I believe H. Rocco (Hiya, pal! See you Tuesday!) mentioned this as well in a different thread. As you can tell Morris is mostly associated with comedies, but in these films you can find a consumate dramatist at work and this is what sets him apart from most of the other "comedy score" writers. Among a few moments I can think of are Sherrif Bart's return to the railroad gang in BLAZING SADDLES, the creation of the creature in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (poorly mixed in the film), the escape in YF, and Rudy's hallucinatory profession of love in THE WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER. I haven't heard his score for the television version of THE SCARLET LETTER. Morris also composed a lovely score for the mini-series SCARLETT, the sequel (giggle..mff...bwahaa) to GONE WITH THE WIND. As a matter of fact, I have an extra copy of it and I'd be willing to sell it if you're interested. E-mail me!
posted 06-11-2000 01:32 PM PT (US) SBD
Standard Userer
It's about time someone started a John Morris thread. Thanks, Marian! Hearing Morris' theme for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, I thought to myself, "I'm sure glad he didn't score the whole film this way, because, as sad as it (the theme) is, people would've gone, 'I know I should be laughing, so why am I crying?'". His score for CLUE is also a classic. There really should be a CD featuring his music. Does anyone know where one can be found?
posted 06-11-2000 02:32 PM PT (US) H Rocco
Standard Userer
Brad Wills remembers correctly: I cited Morris' fine THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS in another thread. No sign of the promised LP, grrr grrr grrr. I don't know why he works so seldom, or appears to have fallen out with Mel Brooks, but he's done some really great work both in the dramatic field, and in the often even more complicated arena of comedy scoring. It's amazing that there seem to be NO print interviews with the fellow (well, there must be, you'd think, but in nearly twenty years following this hobby, I've yet to see one.)Tuesday 1 PM, isn't it, Mr. Wills? Remind me where to go. (All's I remember is that you're around the Flatiron building or something. I guess we'll chat tomorrow.) (you poor old 646 area code boy, you. )
posted 06-11-2000 07:50 PM PT (US) Swashbuckler
Standard Userer
On the moderately recent commentary track for Young Frankenstein, Brooks praises the living hell out of Morris. He considers Young Frankenstein his best score for him, and The Elephant Man his best score period.I find Young Frankenstein a perfect example of comedy scoring. According to the liner notes for the High Anxiety LP, which had a collection of music on the other side, Morris asked if all Brooks wanted was a collection of spooky cues. Brooks told him to write a beautiful Hungarian lullabye. When Morris asked him why, Brooks said, "Because it's part of the monster's past."
While the idea came from Brooks, the composition was by Morris, and the intelligence and restraint shown in that film's score is wonderful...
...and let's not forget his contribution to The Producers!
John Morris also scored Dirty Dancing, by the way.
posted 06-11-2000 09:03 PM PT (US) James
Standard Userer
Do you believe in coincidences? Just last night I watched Blazing Saddles.I can't really add anything to what has already been said, only this:
Elephant Man is on CD. GET IT!
The Scarlett Letter is not one of Morris' better scores. Perhaps it sounds better on CD, but in the movie (you can't call it a film because it was shot on video) the sound was horrible and any good parts of the score were ruined.
Pretty much anything by John Morris is worth tracking down, though. The Producers was released on CD, I believe.
Also, does anyone know how John Morris got the job of scoring Elephant Man? Mel Brooks was actually a producer of the film, but he left his name off the credits knowing that people would think it was a comedy (which it is not) if they saw his name attached to it. Interesting, huh?
James
posted 06-11-2000 09:23 PM PT (US) H Rocco
Standard Userer
That's right, Captain. And that's why Morris got to score THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS, as well. (And why Freddie Francis, the great cinematographer who did THE ELEPHANT MAN and also directed some Hammer and Amicus horror pictures, was engaged to direct THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS.) (Francis, who must be pushing 100 by now, won an Oscar for photographing GLORY, and most recently shot another picture for ELEPHANT MAN director David Lynch, THE STRAIGHT STORY.)Brooks also left his name off two other Brooksfilms productions, although he did help produce them: THE FLY and THE FLY II (scored by Howard Shore and Christopher Young, respectively ... I happen to know that Mel Brooks LOVED Chris Young's FLY II score, as well he should have.
posted 06-11-2000 09:30 PM PT (US) Marian Schedenig
Standard Userer
Wow, I didn't know he is that popular. I think I saw the Elephant Man album in stores several times, but I've never heard it.Brad: Thanks for the offer, but I don't know anything about that score, so I fear it's too "dangerous" to buy it unheard.
NP: Conan the Barbarian (Milan release)
posted 06-12-2000 05:21 AM PT (US) Bel366
Standard Userer
If you can find it, the LP MEL BROOKS' GREATEST HITS FEATURING THE FABULOUS FILM SCORES OF JOHN MORRIS (Asylum Records 5E-501)
is really worth getting. Side one is basically a soundtrack to HIGH ANXIETY, while side two has selections from other collaborations.Side One:
HIGH ANXIETY - Main Title
"High Anxiety"
Anxious Theme
"If You Love Me Baby, Tell Me
Loud"
End TitleSide Two:
THE PRODUCERS - "Springtime For Hitler"
"Prisoners Of Love"
THE TWELVE CHAIRS - "Hope For The Best,
Expect The Worst"
"Vorobyaninov's Theme
(The Walk Through
Russia)
BLAZING SADDLES - "Blazing Saddles"
"The French Mistake"
"I'm Tired"
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN - Main Title
"Puttin' On The Ritz"
SILENT MOVIE - "Burt Reynolds' House"
"Silent Movie March"Great stuff. I think that of the LPs I still have, I have probably listened to this one close to the most times.
posted 06-12-2000 06:44 AM PT (US) Brad Wills
Standard Userer
I can assure you the SCARLETT is a beautiful score, but if you're not interested that's okay. Anybody else????????
posted 06-12-2000 07:25 AM PT (US) Howard L
Standard Userer
I positively relish just thinking about the music in The Producers when Leo says "If we get caught, we could go to jail" and then the triumphant "I'LL DO IT" part with the fountain! Great piece of scoring.
posted 06-12-2000 10:59 AM PT (US) Marcelo Ferreyra
Standard Userer
I definetly would recommend
The Elephant Man.
I think that the movie would be very
boring without the Morris score.
A detailed excerpts of the score can be founded in the book "On The Track".
posted 06-12-2000 11:16 AM PT (US) Lou Goldberg
Standard Userer
I'm curious about Scarlett--email me with your asking price.
posted 06-13-2000 02:20 AM PT (US) mlw
Standard Userer
Morris is probably the greatest film composer we have. It's mostly due to his unerring instinct for locating the beyond-perfect archetype of whatever picture he's working with, articulating it with that piercing eloquence of soul. It's beautiful for the films, his ethos of restraint and just bringing out what is called for by his characters and nothing more-- but for his audience it just means we have so little of his work on recordings. The majority of his scores are extremely brief. I remember the few minutes of underscore on IRONWEED made for one of the most powerful scores I've ever experienced. Morris is all about inciting dignity and respect for human beings. Still works in TV. I don't know that I'd want to see John Morris compromise his ethic just to score explosion and beer commercial flics and inflated Julia Roberts sitcoms; I mean, it's great that someone like Elmer Bernstein still works, but at reduced power just to accommodate the noise. Goldsmith mostly does fuselage-like accompaniment at this point.
I think Charles Kiselyak, who did the special edition lasers of Platoon, Natural Born Killers, To Kill a Mockingbird, has expressed interest in doing a spec. ed. DVD of The Elephant Man. It would be sweet if Morris' original finale were restored or at least offered on a separate track, instead of the Barber piece, which doesn't work as well.
posted 06-13-2000 04:26 PM PT (US) H Rocco
Standard Userer
I've wondered why Morris doesn't work more often. Is it because he might have had a piece of the DIRTY DANCING soundtrack (he wrote the film's orchestral score, waaaay back in 1987)? If so, based on royalties from that bestselling disc, he probably never has to work again. This, I'm told, is why David Shire (who has a piece of the even better-selling SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER) doesn't work as often as he could; and Alan Silvestri is supposed to have reaped a massive windfall from his own chunk of THE BODYGUARD. (Of the three I just mentioned, Silvestri is the only one who seems to keep an active interest in remaining busy. In a similar vein, I think I need not raise the topic of TITANIC and onetime compulsive workaholic Horner's relative inactivity since ...)
posted 06-13-2000 08:43 PM PT (US) Chris Kinsinger
Standard Userer
A year or so ago, I purchased a promo CD of David Shire's work, and reading the liner notes led me to believe that he was practically begging for an assignment!
posted 06-13-2000 09:02 PM PT (US) Andre Lux
unregistered
"The Elephant Man" is one of my favorite scores.Simple wonderful. Realy touching. Just makes the movie almost perfect.
posted 06-13-2000 09:03 PM PT (US) mlw
Standard Userer
I think it comes down to, nobody knows who these guys are, nobody cares who they are. From recent interviews, I believe Shire works tv because that's the only venue in which to work now. That sucks totally. Instead of new high profile Shire scores we just get, if anything at all, a lame knockoff of TAKING OF PELHAM 123 with Chris Boardman's PAYBACK. If you do a write-up on MIA composers, no one reads it. It's all about the top 40 in soundtrack land...top FOUR...
[This message has been edited by mlw (edited 14 June 2000).]
posted 06-14-2000 12:55 PM PT (US) H Rocco
Standard Userer
Laurence Rosenthal is another one who seems to be stuck mainly in television. And does John Scott even work anymore? (Okay, the IMDb turns up a pile of recent credits, but not ENOUGH, at least for my taste.)
posted 06-14-2000 11:03 PM PT (US) SBD
Standard Userer
I've heard of a YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN CD for sale at Intrada. Does anyone know how much music is on it?
posted 05-30-2001 07:34 AM PT (US) Search Feature
Non-Standard Userer
JJ has a promo Young Frankenstein LP. We do not know if it has the same contents as Intrada's CD.The LP opens up with the supremely gorgeous theme. the remaining track, ALL of them have snippets of music, and some full tracks are dialogue, and lasts about 42 minutes.
At the end is included "pop" version of the YF theme, and personally, I find it an abomination.
JJ has transferred this LP to CDR, and replaced the pop single with a "reprise" of the main title.
NP -- 1011posted 05-31-2001 08:40 PM PT (US) Marcelo Ferreyra
Standard Userer
To SBDThe Young Frankenstein Cd does not have
much music.
Almost all is dialogs, with the cues
with effects token from the soundtrack.
YF deserves a release with the isolated
score, or a re-recording at least...posted 06-03-2001 09:04 PM PT (US) scored for life
Standard Userer
I think we are all in agreement-The Elephant Man is one of the finest scores ever and who cannot be touched by the reading of Romeo and Juliet sequence or the moment they discover he can talk-all enhanced by a very moving and beautiful score. Do not wait to hear first, you will not be disappointed!!
posted 06-05-2001 10:00 PM PT (US) Luscious Lazlo
Standard Userer
Regarding THE PRODUCERS: Morris's arrangement of "Love Power" is another psychedelic masterpiece from 1967. Notice the Bacharach-ish piano chords that accompany the following line: "Life is fine cause she understands". Which is immediately followed by an achingly beautiful passage: "Walking down the sunny street. Giving pretty flowers to the people that we meet."
posted 06-09-2001 02:56 PM PT (US) Luscious Lazlo
Standard Userer
JOHN MORRIS INTERVIEWINTERVIEWER: Why did you choose to use ADAGIO FOR STRINGS in THE ELEPHANT MAN?
MORRIS: No no, that was David Lynch. He said: "I love this and I've used it for a temp score. Somehow work it in there." I told him he was making a big mistake. Listen, ADAGIO FOR STRINGS is so pretty that it would work anywhere for anything. I told Lynch what's going to happen is this piece is going to be used over and over and over again in the future. And every time it's used in a movie it's going to diminish the effect of the scene. Now, when people see THE ELEPHANT MAN they go...ahhh, that's the music from PLATOON. Right away the effect is cut off and the audience is distracted. You should wed it to the original score and leave it alone. He said "no" and I told him he would regret it.
posted 08-23-2001 06:07 PM PT (US) Timmer
Standard Userer
Just shows that Morris was right!Years ago this was one of my all time fave peices of music (don't get me wrong, I still love it) but it's got to be said that it's been dilluted with overuse, I groaned when I heard this again in Platoon, Delerue's original score (partly based on this theme) was as moving and would have worked wonderfully in the film.
I just hope no film maker ever 'discovers' Vaughan Williams spiritually uplifting masterpiece Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis.
posted 08-23-2001 06:18 PM PT (US) Big Bear
unregistered
Funny you mention it, Timmer... I am a filmmaker and I have always been looking for a place to put the utterly transcendant The Lark Ascending by our dear departed Mr. Vaughn-Williams.But your gorgeous Fantasia is safe - at least from me.
posted 08-23-2001 06:22 PM PT (US) Marian Schedenig
Standard Userer
Incidentally, I watched the Ben-Hur DVD today, and noticed for the first time that the Christ music sounds quite similar to the Tallis Fantasia. Not that Rozsa copied it or something, but the overall sound is similar.NP: Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (Oslo Philharmonic, Mariss Jansons)
posted 08-23-2001 06:28 PM PT (US) Ken S
Standard Userer
There is still one thing to be said about John Morris' talent -HE REALLY KNOWS HOW TO COMPOSE A WALTZ !!!!
SCARLETT and THE ELEPHANT MAN both include soaring, majestic waltzes - and also the most gripping, epic horror music waltz, "The Nightmare" in THE ELEPHANT MAN. These simply get my juices flowing !!!
posted 08-23-2001 06:32 PM PT (US) Timmer
Standard Userer
Interesting Bear, I'd love to see HOW you could incorporate a piece like 'Lark', it's such a 'whole' piece of music and may be the reason why 'Tallis' has never been used in film.I don't know if any of you in the States got to see these, but director Ken Russell (The Devils, Tommy, Lisztomania etc) often used to direct classical specials for British TV among these he has profiled Debussy, Vaughan Williams and Holst (for whom he directed a music video set to the entire Planets suite)....what I can't understand is WHY I didn't video them at the time...what a dunderhead!
posted 08-23-2001 06:43 PM PT (US) Ken S
Standard Userer
quote:
Originally posted by Bel366:
If you can find it, the LP MEL BROOKS' GREATEST HITS FEATURING THE FABULOUS FILM SCORES OF JOHN MORRIS (Asylum Records 5E-501)
is really worth getting. Side one is basically a soundtrack to HIGH ANXIETY, while side two has selections from other collaborations.Side One:
HIGH ANXIETY - Main Title
"High Anxiety"
Anxious Theme
"If You Love Me Baby, Tell Me
Loud"
End TitleSide Two:
THE PRODUCERS - "Springtime For Hitler"
"Prisoners Of Love"
THE TWELVE CHAIRS - "Hope For The Best,
Expect The Worst"
"Vorobyaninov's Theme
(The Walk Through
Russia)
BLAZING SADDLES - "Blazing Saddles"
"The French Mistake"
"I'm Tired"
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN - Main Title
"Puttin' On The Ritz"
SILENT MOVIE - "Burt Reynolds' House"
"Silent Movie March"Great stuff. I think that of the LPs I still have, I have probably listened to this one close to the most times.
If Bel366 is still around - or anyone else who owns the quoted LP of Morris' music - please reply!! I would die for getting my hands on this LP - or just a tape copy of it...
KEN
"Ars est pecunia"
posted 12-13-2004 08:45 AM PT (US) Stephen Lister
Standard Userer
You could try this website (Netsoundsmusic.com) which I've used many times. They're a network of small independent sellers, and a couple of them have the HIGH ANXIETY LP for sale.
http://www.netsoundsmusic.com/nsdsii/1/72323963/1/high%20anxiety/1/1/9999.html
posted 12-13-2004 01:00 PM PT (US) Old Infopop Software by UBB