Movie Tournament: Classic Film Scores (1 Viewer)

[george kaplan]

The Godfather very easily.

 

[SteveGon]

The Godfather

 

[Ric Bagoly]

The Godfather

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

The Godfather
I nominate The Sand Pebbles by Jerry Goldsmith.
I second Fahrenheit 451 .

 

[Lew Crippen]

This may or may not be Rota’s best score, but its his only one so far in the tourney.

The Godfather (Nino Rota)

 

[Rain]

Though it fits the film very well, I've never really been crazy about the score to The Godfather. So...
Red River

 

[Rob Tomlin]

The Godfather

 

[Evan Case]

Just refreshed myself on Red River this afternoon. An excellent score, overall. I particularly liked the wordless choral sections (which, in their power, seemed almost Russian), the brief, quietly noble music accompanying the diary pages, and the riotous stampede cue.
My few beefs (no pun intended) were Tiomkin's tendency to "Mickey Mouse" the music (ie. an orchestral "hit" matched to each knife stab) and a slight overuse of the main theme in the latter half of the film. But that's about it.
That said, I'm still going to have to vote for The Godfather. Rota's score might be more straightforward, but it has an undeniable emotion that wins me over. Most effective would have to be the Sicilian/love theme that helps turn Michael's journey through the "old country" into one of my very favorite scenes in filmdom.
FWIW, though, I actually think the score to Part II is even better, especially the theme for Vito Andolini (or The Immigrant theme, as it's refered to on the soundtrack).
And speaking of emotional, I've decided to use my third selection on Alessandro Cicognini's score to De Sica's masterpiece, The Bicycle Thief. The score and film are guaranteed to well up the eyes of all but the harshest cynics.
Evan

 

[Jan H]

Red River - borrowed from Copland, but it's still far superior to Rota's, IMHO.

 

[Justin Doring]

Red River
The Godfather is like Morricone on a very bad day.
Jan, after countless listens, I'm still searching for Copland in Red River.

 

[Jan H]

Justin,

I picked up the Red River DVD on the dirt-cheap a couple of months ago after not having seen it for 10 years, and was thoroughly impressed and moved by the score once again. But wrongly or not, I could have sworn that the music was Copland. It sounds like it was inspired by Appalachian Spring. In any case, Rota's music isn't in the same prairie.

 

[Evan Case]

I didn't hear Copland, but I did hear the definite forefather to the The Guns of the Navarone theme. Understandable, of course, as it's the same composer.
Evan

 

[Agee Bassett]

Updated.
The Godfather claims bracket 4, 7-3, with little suspense until an eleventh hour surge by Red River. Weighing in with my two cents, I would have to agree with those who voted for Red River, for many of the reasons Evan detailed. Despite the periodic “Mickey Mousing” at choice moments, Tiomkin’s lovely and operatic score gives Hawks’ panoramic Western a bravura touch (with a pinch of Alexander Nevsky), distinguishing it as perhaps the American Western’s most unforgettable themes, until the genre was reinvented by Moross and Bernstein in the late 50’s. I don't know about Copland, though (who certainly deserves a place on the list). I'll have to have a listen again.
The Godfather, while a very fine score, I have always felt to be not a little overrated. Its masterpiece reputation has largely rode on the coattails of its overexposed Love Theme (recycled from his score to an earlier Italian film, Fortunella [1957]).
Evan: Appreciate the effort to revisit Red River before voting.
Okay, at five wild-cards after four brackets, we’re going too slow, so I’ve decided to take Justin’s suggestion and give everyone four additional seconds, as well as one additional nom.
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ROUND 1; Bracket 5:

The Bridge on the River Kwai (Malcolm Arnold)
vs.
To Be or Not to Be [1942] (Werner Heymann)

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[Jan H]

Sadly, Abstainarooney.

No "To Be".

 

[Agee Bassett]

Jan: Are there any scores you'd like to nominate/second?

 

[Evan Case]

I saw To Be or Not Be last year, but was alas concentrating more on Lubitsch and Benny than on the score. I don't remember the music well enough to vote for or against it in good conscience (and unlike Red River, I don't have a copy close at hand).
Abstain
Evan

 

[Evan Case]

Now that I have four seconds, I'll use one for The Great Escape.
There are others up there I also fancy, but I'm going to hold off as I expect (or at least hope ) that many other great scores I'm currently forgetting will be nominated.
Evan

 

[Jan H]

I'd put a shout out for either North's Spartacus or Rota's Nights of Cabiria, which is far more interesting musically, to my ears, than the Godfather films. What the hell,
Spartacus because I'm guessing there will be less "abstainaroonies" with that one. But "Cabiria" is great, too.

 

[Agee Bassett]

Jan: Spartacus has already been seconded, and qualified as a wild-card. You'll find the list of unseconded nominees right below the group Spartacus and Nights of Cabiria are in (page 1 is updated).

 

[Jan H]

Gotcha, Agee.
Let me do some thinking (and reading )
After reading the quite comprehensive (and excellent) list of film scores, guidelines and rules, the only film that I missed seeing was The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which was never a theatrical production. The excellence of the songs and score, and the fact that it was never a commercial attempt to capitalize on the success of a Broadway production should preclude the "no musicals" rule.