KC and Erin and I discussed the music during and after watching the film, and I think it was an important aspect of the parody. What do you all think of the music?
I don't know that I would have noticed the music much beyond its being corny-dramatic in a "Bonanza" type way. You should elaborate, Ben, on the parody aspect.
Yeah, I thought the music was cool. The kind of corny music that makes you feel good, makes you want to root for the good guys. That's the end of my commentary, though.
As I watched the film, I became convinced that they had chosen a hack composer to write the score. The scoring packed in so many musical cliches in such a short space that I thought it must have been written by a person copying Western film scores.
I thought it wouldn't be possible for a composer to write such a perfect parody, so I assumed that whoever picked the hack knew exactly what they were doing -- they found the perfect composer with no creativity to write a score that just reflected all the other Western scores out there in order to emphasize that the film is a masterpiece of subtle parody.
But after I watched the film, I checked to see who had written the score. It was none other than Elmer Bernstein, perhaps the greatest film composer who ever lived.
He wrote the scores for The Ten Commandments (1956), The Magnificent Seven (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Animal House (1978), Airplane! (1980), Ghost Busters (1984), ¡Three Amigos! (1986), Wild Wild West (1999), and 250 other films and TV shows.
He was the only guy who could have written such a subtle parody of the Western film score.
But why do you call this film "a masterpiece of subtle parody"? Do you really believe the parody is THAT subtle? I thought the "Bonanza" type music was pretty unsubtle myself. It was pretty brassy, like the Technicolor and some of the characterization and dialogue. What am I missing, though?
I think it may only seem obvious because we're viewing it so many years later. At the time it was made, it would have been hard to be sure whether the film took itself seriously.
If it had been more subtle, I wouldn't have known it was a parody. Then again, I wouldn't have known Little Shop of Horrors was a parody if I hadn't been told, so maybe it's just me.
I suppose I call the film a subtle parody because there seem to be so many people out there who aren't in on the joke. The people who call it dumb or unrealistic or cheesy.
I think it's true, as Ben said, that it might have been different to see it 40 years ago.
I'm a little slower on the uptake than your average movie-goer. I don't know that I would have concluded all on my own that this was a parody, but once it was suggested it seemed totally in-your-face obvious.
I really didn't pick up on the parody, maybe because music in many '70s music is so bizarre. (There are scenes from "Carrie," for example, with pretty pipe music befitting a feminine products commercial. I don't think music in that time always made a good match for its subject matter.) I also haven't seen enough westerns to make a comparison. They all seem, on the surface, a little cheesy to me.
How can we have eight comments already and nobody has mentioned that spectacularly awful title song? That was as bad as the worst of the James Bond title songs.
When that song started up, I knew I was in for either a bad movie, or one that was going to tweak a few noses.
DW, the worst opening song in the world has to be that stupid Rod McKuen song "Jean" at the beginning of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." (It also was nominated for best song). And that's a FANTASTIC movie. Sadly, more people are familiar with those sappy, bullshit lyrics than will ever read or see "Miss Brodie."
I heard the song "Everybody's Talking" the other day, which I really like — good opening for "Midnight Cowboy." Or am I a sucker for melancholy tunes?
I agree with you, kc. The theme had me thinking "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," and "Rawhide."
DW brought up Sergio Leone earlier. To me no western film score has ever stacked up to what Ennio Morricone did, particularly in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."
Ennio Morricone was a genius. The spaghetti westerns would have struggled to rise above hack B-movies if not for the lift from Morricone’s haunting moody scores.
15 comments:
I don't know that I would have noticed the music much beyond its being corny-dramatic in a "Bonanza" type way. You should elaborate, Ben, on the parody aspect.
Yeah, I thought the music was cool. The kind of corny music that makes you feel good, makes you want to root for the good guys. That's the end of my commentary, though.
As I watched the film, I became convinced that they had chosen a hack composer to write the score. The scoring packed in so many musical cliches in such a short space that I thought it must have been written by a person copying Western film scores.
I thought it wouldn't be possible for a composer to write such a perfect parody, so I assumed that whoever picked the hack knew exactly what they were doing -- they found the perfect composer with no creativity to write a score that just reflected all the other Western scores out there in order to emphasize that the film is a masterpiece of subtle parody.
But after I watched the film, I checked to see who had written the score. It was none other than Elmer Bernstein, perhaps the greatest film composer who ever lived.
He wrote the scores for The Ten Commandments (1956), The Magnificent Seven (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Animal House (1978), Airplane! (1980), Ghost Busters (1984), ¡Three Amigos! (1986), Wild Wild West (1999), and 250 other films and TV shows.
He was the only guy who could have written such a subtle parody of the Western film score.
Interesting about the composer.
But why do you call this film "a masterpiece of subtle parody"? Do you really believe the parody is THAT subtle? I thought the "Bonanza" type music was pretty unsubtle myself. It was pretty brassy, like the Technicolor and some of the characterization and dialogue. What am I missing, though?
I think it may only seem obvious because we're viewing it so many years later. At the time it was made, it would have been hard to be sure whether the film took itself seriously.
If it had been more subtle, I wouldn't have known it was a parody. Then again, I wouldn't have known Little Shop of Horrors was a parody if I hadn't been told, so maybe it's just me.
I suppose I call the film a subtle parody because there seem to be so many people out there who aren't in on the joke. The people who call it dumb or unrealistic or cheesy.
I think it's true, as Ben said, that it might have been different to see it 40 years ago.
I'm a little slower on the uptake than your average movie-goer. I don't know that I would have concluded all on my own that this was a parody, but once it was suggested it seemed totally in-your-face obvious.
I really didn't pick up on the parody, maybe because music in many '70s music is so bizarre. (There are scenes from "Carrie," for example, with pretty pipe music befitting a feminine products commercial. I don't think music in that time always made a good match for its subject matter.) I also haven't seen enough westerns to make a comparison. They all seem, on the surface, a little cheesy to me.
How can we have eight comments already and nobody has mentioned that spectacularly awful title song? That was as bad as the worst of the James Bond title songs.
When that song started up, I knew I was in for either a bad movie, or one that was going to tweak a few noses.
Wasn't that Glen Campbell singing? Was he spectacularly popular then or something? Because he sure got away with a lot.
Hehe. That song was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. It lost to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head."
My understanding is that Campbell was a hot commodity at the time, and that's how he got the role.
Oh my God, "Raindrops" was the theme song for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
DW, the worst opening song in the world has to be that stupid Rod McKuen song "Jean" at the beginning of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." (It also was nominated for best song). And that's a FANTASTIC movie. Sadly, more people are familiar with those sappy, bullshit lyrics than will ever read or see "Miss Brodie."
I heard the song "Everybody's Talking" the other day, which I really like — good opening for "Midnight Cowboy." Or am I a sucker for melancholy tunes?
I agree with you, kc. The theme had me thinking "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," and "Rawhide."
DW brought up Sergio Leone earlier. To me no western film score has ever stacked up to what Ennio Morricone did, particularly in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."
Hear! Hear!
Ennio Morricone was a genius. The spaghetti westerns would have struggled to rise above hack B-movies if not for the lift from Morricone’s haunting moody scores.
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