Ahoy gents! Lazy FB land-lubber here. Sorry for the inactivity. You core (should I say corps?) Pebbles have tirelessly provided much knowledge and trivia related to this film. Remember when, in the primitive early days of personal computer ownership, there were chat rooms? Well, perhaps Im more of what they used to refer to as a lurker. I barely have a peep to add, compared to the fonts of Sand Pebbles knowledge which have flowed on the page. But, I will finally weigh in with one of my own peculiar corners of Pebbles fandom: the marvelous Jerry Goldsmith score. As a child, I thrilled to the occasional (albeit edited) telecasts of both The Sand Pebbles and The Blue Max. I later learned that the marvelously inventive and supportive scores for each of those films were written by Mr. Goldsmith. The Main Theme to The Sand Pebbles never fails to give me chills with its ominous, foreboding, relentless build; likewise, the Main Theme to The Blue Max uses inspiringly ascending phrases and a dramatic Teutonic feel to set the scene for aviation adventure. At Indiana University, I discussed (what little I knew about) film scoring with the instructor of my one-and-only film history course, Prof. Harry Geduld. He graciously invited me to his home one afternoon after class to briefly survey his amazing collection of soundtrack LPs. This was during the late 70s, so with blank audio cassette in hand, he drop-needled his way through various soundtrack albums, recording some key selections as we went along. Naturally, the first album I inquired about was Our Favorite Films soundtrack. He quickly pulled out (the original, Lionel Newman-conducted) LP and recorded the Overture, the Main Theme and the Battle cues. He further explained that Goldsmith was a student of Miklos Rosza, and recorded the Main Theme of Roszas Blood on the Sun to compare and contrast each composers use of Asian themes in their arrangements and orchestrations. I cant imagine that I can bring anything very arcane to your esteemed company, so you guys are probably long-since aware that the Overture on the original soundtrack LP is not the same piece which was used in the film (and on the more-recent Goldsmith-conducted soundtrack CD). The actual film overture is dominated by the melody of Jake & Shirleys love theme (And We Were Lovers). The Overture on the original soundtrack LP, of which Goldsmith was later dismissive, is a bit more straight-forward, with slight overtones of Hollywood Asian exotica. Do any of you own the limited-edition CD presenting the expanded original movie soundtrack (Newman-conducted)? It quickly came and went out of print ten or fifteen years ago, but I was able to find it on eBay a few years back. That CD contains much more of the films soundtrack than has previously been available. A bonus track at the end of the disc is the second version/original LP version of the Overture to which Ive been referring. I suppose I could chalk up my fascination with this issue to my peculiar niche of nostalgia: having grown up experiencing The Sand Pebbles only on television, I had no awareness one way or the other about the various overtures (they didnt air overtures for broadcast, only theatrically, as you folks know). So, all I had was my precious cassette recording of the original soundtrack LP to listen to over and over, until the CD era - and until I owned the film on VHS/DVD/BD. Well, decades later, another piece of the scoring puzzle fell into place recently, while I was watching a Perry Mason rerun. It was an episode entitled The Case of the Blushing Pearl, from 1959(?), and like many television series episodes from the late 50s/early 60s, the music was composed by - - Jerry Goldsmith, pre-film-score-genius days. Lo and behold, the primary musical motif running throughout the episode was the theme which was later recycled as the original soundtrack LP Overture. The episode involves Japanese-American characters, so this was an opportunity for JG to flex the compositional skills which would later be applied to a much more dramatic effect in so many films. You folks must know the music to Tora Tora Tora, some of which is reminiscent of the Sand Pebbles score, but for which JG utilized more-specifically Japanese themes and instrumentation. On a very subjective note, I always have to roll my eyes when I hear John Williams sideways appropriation of Goldsmiths stirring Patton March for the film Midway. Wasnt the first time Williams has basically borrowed other composers themes in whole... Sorry if Ive rambled on too long, for you few remaining Pebbles who might be reading. Lawrence, Roger, Steve - you guys are incredible. And Im loving the German-release lobby cards - ausgezeichnet!
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 23:57:33 +0000
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