Although it's not in the same league as "The OMega Man" or "Capricorn One," it is a fun composition.

I'm looking forward to Professor Fate's theme as well as that sappy "tree in the forest" song that had the follow the bouncing ball motif.

This is also one of my all time favorite movies.

Why didn't any of y'all tell me about this one?

I got my copy -- bought it at Footlights, which is having a five day sale through Sunday. 15% off!

I LOVE The Great Race! One of the greatest pie throwing scenes in the history of cinema!

I'd really like to get a hold of some good cuts from "Charade." Especially the fast-paced chase music with all the percussion.

This score was on my "Grail List" for MANY years. It's good to see folks talking about it, and this underrated composer.

BTW, I chekced the MovieMusic.com store before I ordered it from Footlights. I woulda ordered it from you if you'd had it.

I shall have to rent The Great Race to hear this score.

quote:

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NP Robin and Marian.

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oh, how I miss that score.

It currently resides in the plains and dustbowl of West Texas, whilst I pine for all my scores...

NP -- Awakenings, Randy Newman; sadly only on cassette

either that, or he's man-whorin' in Pahrump.

(oh, what an appropriate city name).

Consider the set of people who engage in discussions here and other places on the net regarding film music:

You are probably under 34 (52% of web users fall into this age with 40% of this group under 22).
You are probably, a narrow slice of the 4% of Americans who actually buy classical music, even though 1/3 of Americans say they like classical music. Film music is not even rated in the 1992 survey. (Too small to make the statistical cut, I suppose.)

You are probably male (64% likely). Quoting the survey:

"Men and women have relatively minor differences in musical tastes. Yet certain stereotypes about music and the sexes may contain a grain of truth. Women prefer music that is gentler and more lyrical, while men tend to like their tunes fast and loud."

Taking into account these things, you are probably a male, born in 1967 (Keep in mind that this is for the older segment of this group. Most would be younger than this) or later who is part of a very small piece of the music buying public. You would have been ten or younger in 1977 when Star Wars hit the scene. Your formative years would have been spent without Henry Mancini (Unless you happen to live in a house with a fan) or the bulk of jazz infused scores, the golden age composers were mostly dead or scoring very few films.

The scores that made the big impression on you were John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner orchestral feasts because these were the films you saw that enchanted you and brought about your interest in film music.

Of course, once you got into the hobby you heard about other composers who composed things in the 60’s and even longer ago than that far off decade. You may even have seen some of these movies via the VCR, but that’s not the same as going to the Cineplex and being blown away by the massive sound a modern cinema sports.

These are generalizations and so there are always those who don’t fit this profile even though they fall into this group, but I think this does hold true mostly for the bulk of film score fans in this group. This is why (in my view), threads about golden age composer languish and threads about Gladiator run rampant. This is why John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner top most lists on this or any other board.

course I'd heard Star Wars and Jaws, but was only keenly aware of the main themes and nothing more.

NW -- Ravens vs Raiders AFC Championship Game

I think that is the way he (Henry Mancini) wanted it. Back in the 70's, I used to listen to a steady diet of Mancini albums and the "easy listening" was exactly the target he aimed for with most of his albums. He fact, he would often re-arrange his music from films to make it more jazzy and fit the Henry Mancini mode. From "Symphonic Soul" to "Brass on Ivory" (His collaboration with Doc Severinson), which both contained Film or TV cuts were clearly aimed at the easy listening crowd.

The only real exception that I recall was an album (can’t recall the cassette title) that he recorded with the London Symphony when he recorded a suite from The White Dawn. A beautiful piece of orchestral work. The other cuts on the album were played straight as well, but Baby Elephant March is Baby Elephant March. He played as in Hatari! but it was already jazzy and funny so he really didn’t have to do anything to it.

I just don’t think he took his film scores very seriously. He saw his job away from supporting the movie with his score as an entertainer. So he arranged his works accordingly. Take a look at The Great Race. He includes all the songs, which are clearly easy listening, and the score itself is geared towards that particular listener. In a way, he is very much like John Williams in that he was willing to re-arrange a score to make it more accessible to his audience.

I know there are some on the list who put down Silva, but I like their re-recordings. And if we could get some of Charade's chase/suspence music, that would be excellent.

JEC--That's what I mean, I count on this group to keep me updated on new "old" music coming out. I just happened to have some free time to do some browsing and came across it. Don't keep this stuff under your hat. Next thing you'll be telling me is that MYSTERY ALASKA's been out for six weeks LOL.

Joan: Rented The Great Race yet? I want to know what you think.

I was looking at some videos today and found THE THORN BIRDS, an
older TV mini series. I remember adoring the main theme, so I looked at the
cover and discovered the music was by Mancini. He was certainly more
versatile than many realize.

It has all my favorite tunes from the movie, the "Great Race March" and Professor Fate's theme "Push the Button, Max!" and the "Pie-In-the-Face Polka."

It also has the madcap beginning of the race "They're Off" and the "Royal Waltz."

Songs include the above mentioned "Sweetheart Tree" and something called "He Shouldn't-a, Oughtn't-A Swang on Me!" (the latter sung by Dorothy Provine.

Only about 26 minutes of music -- par for the course for a soundtack in the 60s. I kinda wish they'd doubled up with Ron Goodwin's "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines."

Now I want to see the movie again. Guess I'll introduce it to the kids this weekend.

You were right, I said "latter" not "former."

The "former" song, "Sweetheart Tree" is sung on the CD by the "corus (sic)" and not Natalie Wood (Natalie Wood, *sigh*).

Professor Fate and Max are my two favorite characters from the movie. I was so glad when they won!

I've always wanted to make a model of that great looking car, too. No luck.

And Professor Fate's theme is my favorite piece of music from the CD.

A very creepy tune that Mancini did for the Audrey Hepburn thiller about a murderer who terrorizes a blind girl. The whistling is the creepest part!

As far as I know, there is no score release on CD other the main title on a Big Film Music release called (Naturally) Film Music of Audrey Hepburn.

Actually, I thought I would bring this one back up for discussion now that most of these Mancini albums are available in the MovieMusic store.

The original score, as heard in the film, has never been released, although to my ear, some of the music from "The Night Visitor" (which WAS released on a CITADEL CD some years ago) reminds me of the more dramatic portions of the "Wait Until Dark" score.

I've been on a Mancini kick myself lately, and think it would be great to hear more of the original music this very talented composer wrote for films spanning 30 years.

This album includes some other work by Henry Mancini like Two for the Road and Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

It also includes the main title from How to Steal a Million by "Johnny Williams".

After spending 10 years in the Universal scoring pool writing cues for Francis the Mule, Abbott & Costello, and various monster movies, Mancini broke out with Peter Gunn and had an amazing streak of scores that resounded with the public: Mr. Lucky, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hatari!, The Days of Wine and Roses, Charade, etc.

Unfortunately, many of the soundtrack albums for Mancini films highlighted the themes and source cues over the more dramatic scoring. Breakfast contains a wonderful sequence of scoring near the film's end where they search for the missing cat in the rain but forget ever hearing it on one of RCA's LPs. In fact, in this respect, all of the Mancini soundtracks are disappointing. There are cues from Hatari! and Two For The Road and Charade that are so good but instead we get all the pop stuff.

And I'm sure the pop stuff kept Mancini from getting serious jobs though he still did get them (i.e. Wait Until Dark, The White Dawn, The Night Visitor) and did great but "un-Mancini-esque" things with them.

AMC just showed Man's Favorite Sport on the 21st and I caught most of it. In an interview for Fanfare Magazine, Mancini called it the one film he didn't want to do: "I did it as a favor." And yet, it has a really fun score that has completely fallen through the cracks.

Silver Streak is out on CD now. It also just played on AMC. And it's a great blend of both Mancini fun and suspense cues.

Themes to both Fear and Frenzy-rejected are on Mancini's Music, Monsters and Meyhem CD. Oddly, Hitchcock dumped Mancini because his score was too serious, maybe too Herrmann-esque. Goodwin gave Hitchcock the main title he wanted but the rest of Goodwin's score harks back to Herrmann as well.

Gae NP Film Music "End Titles" compilation