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I almost posted that one! I searched for a complete Talos scene, as that probably is my favorite of all his works. Bernard Herrmann's music is such a beautiful match although he did work with other impressive composers.
Speaking of Bernard Herrmann: Here's a movie that could have used some Ray Harryhausen stop-motion dinosaurs:
This is close to being my favorite "Twilight Zone" episode since I first saw it when I was 7 years old, when it debuted. As I grew older and loved it more, I think it became that I knew the tragic end of Gig Young's life and that he considered himself a failure, which makes the story particularly heartwrenching. He's always been one of my favorites with his mixture of wry humor and touch of melancholy. He was handsome and debonair, a wonderful comedic and dramatic actor. Yet, even with his Oscar win, he still believed he failed in his chosen career. So, I think of that when I watch this sad, touching story about a man who longs for his past~just as I do much too much.
Bernard Herrmann's music does lend so much to the mood of this brilliantly done episode. His style is like no one else's, and no one has been able to come close to the power of his music. I think the nearest I've found is Basil Poledouris.
(His father) "Martin, is it so bad where you're from?
"I thought so, Pop. I've been living on a dead run, and I was tired. And, one day, I knew I had to come back here. I had to come back and get on the merry-go-round and eat cotton candy and listen to a band concert. I had to stop and breathe and close my eyes and smell and listen."
"I guess we all want that. Maybe when you go back, Martin, you'll find that there are merry-go-rounds and band concerts where you are. Maybe you haven't been looking in the right place. You've been looking behind you, Martin. Try looking ahead."
Hooray! I found the complete score for "Jason and the Argonauts"! For me, it's difficult to find a more magnificent soundtrack that melds with the action on the screen~except perhaps for Basil Poledouris' "Conan the Barbarian" (the original, of course!).
Yes, I strongly commend such modern artists as John Williams and James Horner. However, without Herrmann, Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklos Rozsa and others, they wouldn't sound the way they do. People need to learn about the roots of today's composers of film scores before they place a crown on the head of John Williams.
I love this thread for giving us the opportunity to share our favorites.
EDIT: I wanted to note that I have been collecting soundtracks since I was in my early teens. I still have my library of film scores on vinyl, everyone from John Williams to Bernard Herrmann, from Basil Poledouris to Miklos Rozsa, from Richard Addison to Ernest Gold. It would be great if I could find some of their works to post here.
EDIT 2: I was born the year science fiction made its big comeback, and I'd like to think that this is my arrival music. *giggle* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cPEchNTSE0 The Day the Earth Stood Still ~ the GOOD one=}
Last edited by MystMoonstruck; 05-08-2013 at 03:06 PM..
I never tire of this movie and its music. The story might not be quite true to Robert Howard's works, but it successfully creates another world and captures the spirit of Conan (far more than the remake). Poledouris' music is spellbinding, powerful and pounding at one moment then becoming a lilting, hypnotic waltz then back to the music of a warrior. The moods are remarkable.
I do apologize for back-to-back posting and hope it's not too pushy. I tend to let my enthusiasm take hold. Maybe it's because I'm having a better day though the night was a rough one.
Back in the 1970's Ray Harryhausen's artistry made such an impact on my impressionable young mind that I even crafted a replica of his Centaur from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.
Mine has a wire armature which allows it to be animated or simply to hold a pose when being displayed.
Bernard Herrmann is nothing less than a musical genius and although many of his science fiction, fantasy and suspense thriller contributions are often remembered it’s his haunting score for the 1947 romantic film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir that I find to be his most beautiful work.
The lovely Mrs. Grizzmeister enjoys this bit of music so much that she often tears up when she hears it. Anyone who has seen the film to its touching ending will surely understand why.
Oh! That is so wonderful~both your model and your choice of his most-tender music. It's a lovely film with a score that suits it. I always enjoy his ranting about "me monkey puzzle tree!", which always made me wonder, each time I watched, "What the devil is a monkey puzzle tree?!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana
Frankly, I was terribly disappointed when I saw pictures of one! Why was he fussing about that?! It certainly has a more colorful name than it deserves. What was that? You want to know why it's called that? Well, even if no one asked:
Quote:
The origin of the popular English language name monkey puzzle derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850, when the species was still very rare in gardens and not widely known. The proud owner of a young specimen ... was showing it to a group of friends, and one made the remark, "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that". As the species had no existing popular name, first "monkey puzzler" then "monkey puzzle" stuck.
Now, aren't you glad you asked? Oh... You didn't?
Today's horticulture lesson is over (not that anyone paid any attention). *wry smile*
Back to the model: It's so cute, and it shows a lot of talent! I have seen a lot of stop-motion and diorama models throughout the years, and you really show a lot of skill with this. Trust me: I have seen some models that I had to be very polite about. After all, they could get better over time. I'd have loved to have seen your centaur in action. I love that film, of course, which is a standout for so many reasons: Tom Baker (my favorite Doctor Who) as the villain, John Phillip Law as Sinbad, the figurehead sequence, Kali's dance and battle, the fountain, the battle of the centaur and the gryphon, Kurt Christian as the dissolute son who becomes a hero (and returns in "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" as the wicked queen/sorceress' son)... I guess I'd have to list practically every element. "Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel!"
Next, I think I'll bring in another composer, one who provided wonderul accompaniment for an amazing film~"Watership Down". My mother, who is not a film fan, will watch this movie at any time!
Watership Down 1978 - Soundtrack: 16 End Titles - YouTube
Most of the score is by Angela Morley~formerly Walter "Wally" Stott! Yes, this composer/conductor had a sex change. Note that the prelude and opening are by Malcolm Williamson; Morley took over the task. She went on to work with John Williams.
Unfortunately, they don't have any of John Addison's "Joseph Andrews", but I found a sampler of his spirited score for "Tom Jones":
I love this soundtrack by John Addison: "A Bridge Too Far", a movie about the disastrous Operation Market Garden~a battle in which Addison himself fought! I've always been crazy about the main theme! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwB_SYdgGkE
^^^That's another one I almost posted! Every time I see that scene, I think of the windup-toy female who murders the sultan in "The Thief of Bagdad" (1940). I couldn't find that scene on YouTube, but she's beautiful, blue, multi-armed and lethal.
Miklos Rozsa's music for this fantasy film is just gorgeous, matching the Kordas' lavish production. I could find only snippets of the score, so here's the movie!
It's obvious that "The Thief of Bagdad" (which was a remake, by the way) was inspirational to Ray Harryhausen, Charles H. Schneer and others, except that there are no stop-motion creatures.
Rozsa seems to rarely receive a mention when people are praising composers. Here's another example of his skills, particularly with historical films:
Many of these composers excelled at working on an epic scale, the old-style films that were such an event in the theater, pulling us away from television. "A cast of thousands" was a common and TRUE claim! There were no CGI-fake crowds, and the sets were real, not~again~CGI. In recent times, Peter Jackson is just about the only person to have them actually build some sets; and, I admit, he made sure the computer-generated stuff was far above the usual soap-bubble stuff.
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Goodnight, sweet dean of Stop-motion animation
