CAPTAIN KRONOS-VAMPIRE HUNTER.

Now I always felt that this was a movie that was a little odd, mind you any movie which has a mythical creature or being at its core must I suppose be looked upon with some trepidations don’t you think, after all do vampires exist, well I have never met one and I know quite a few odd balls. I saw the film initially on TV and at the time thought ummm, well that was different, but did I think this because I had already been somewhat conditioned about the folklore surrounding the Vampire by previous Hammer and Universal movies? When I thought of a vampire straight away, I had a mental image of Dracula or at least Christopher Lee as the Count, simply because of the generation I am from and the films that I grew up with. It may come as a surprise when I tell you that I saw the Hammer incarnations of Stokers famous Count before viewing the Lugosi movies as produced by Universal in glorious monochrome. I remember well seeing my first Dracula which was the 1958 Hammer production which was entitled The Horror of Dracula in the U.S.A. As the credits rolled and the music thundered, I felt scared I know it sounds silly, but I was just fifteen and had manage to persuade the lady on the ticket office I was old enough to see an X cert movie. The sight of the coffin being spattered with blood in the opening credits of the film made me think maybe this was not such a good idea. The thing is it was showing with Dracula Prince of Darkness, so I sat literally frozen to the itchy cinema seat in the Duke of York cinema Brighton, fixed on the screen. After a while it was ok, I was used to it or was I? I don’t think we ever fully grow out of being apprehensive around horror movies and I still find that those early Hammer movies with the rich colours, the wonderfully atmospheric sets, day for night sequences and the music a little bit scary, don’t you? 

I think this is why I found Kronos a bit harder to swallow, the way in which the vampire killed was different, the way in which the vampire could be dispatched and vanquished was also different although there were certain methods from the more traditional movies included within its storyline. This I think was something to do with the way in which the story was conceived and also because of the production team and director. Even the musical score was different, and the lead actor too was more of a swashbuckler and mercenary than a professor or expert on the occult, although he was surrounded by a team of people who seemed to know what they were doing.

At times I even noticed a style that maybe would have been inspired by the films of Kurosawa or Leone, especially in the scenes involving Kronos and the character Kerro played by Ian Hendry who was supported by his band of cutthroats who are paid to murder Kronos. But initially as I say I was a little confused and decidedly unimpressed on my first viewing. Until I sat down one evening and watched the movie on DVD and ended up loving it because of its inventiveness and its innovative approach to the tales of the vampire. Mixing mystery, with adventure and sword play with vampirism certainly worked and the performances by the impressive cast were also a bonus.

This although offbeat compared with other Hammer vampire movies was a polished and wonderfully dramatic production. Directed by Brian Clemens who also penned the story, as well as acting as co-producer on the movie with Albert Fennel whom he was already associated with via their collaborations on popular TV series such as The Avengers and The New Avengers and had also produced Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde in 1971 for Hammer which was an interesting take on the original story by Robert Louis Stephenson.

The score for Captain Kronos was by Laurie Johnson, who was the third member of the partnership with Clemens and Fennel. Johnson of course was a well-known figure in the world of TV and film music as well as being an important figure in British music as a composer and an arranger. His themes for the already mentioned The Avengers and New Avengers are still popular today, but unless you are a Hammer fan or a film music collector one would probably not associate Johnson with a Hammer Gothic horror and it was to be the only Hammer movie that the composer worked upon, and in interview he spoke to me about the film and his score.

“I became involved on Kronos, because it had been written and directed by Brian Clemens, who had also been the main script writer on The Avengers, and at around the time of Kronos he had become a partner with myself and Albert Fennel. The movie was a quite different approach to a vampire. Which I found refreshing, I was given about six weeks to score the film or thereabouts I cannot recollect the exact amount of time that I had to score the picture, but I always specified a minimum of one month. The orchestra on the score consisted of a large string section, horns, and solo trumpet. Philip Martell was musical director for Hammer, so it was he who conducted Kronos. I found him to be a very able and affable person, and I had in fact employed him myself on several occasions as associate conductor. This is an arrangement that I found extremely helpful, as it enabled me to either conduct or supervise from the control room, as I felt necessary. Over the years this was an arrangement that also suited my long-term friend and business partner Bernard Herrmann and myself on both our film and recording sessions.”

As well as Johnson’s score there were sections of music utilized within the movie which had been composed by Malcolm Williamson, but I am unsure if these were additional cues or used as fillers or maybe sections that were added after the actual scoring had ceased and the producers wanted more music? But this was not unusual and had happened both before and after Kronos on other Hammer films, the MD whoever they were at the time selecting cues to add to the original score for greater effect. Johnson’s score is an accomplished one, with the driving main title theme being one of the many highpoints of the work. The ten note theme performed by solo trumpet which is used throughout and is a vital component of the pulsating central theme, has I have to say has similar attributes to the theme that Johnson wrote for The Belstone Fox in 1973, which manifests itself in that scores core theme and becomes more prominent in the Hunt sequence of the movie. This trumpet solo for Kronos is at times given a softer rendition via faraway sounding horns in a handful of cues, thus making it more of a gentle and calming effect in non-action scenes. Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter is probably one of Hammers best film scores, the composer creating a mystical and malevolent sound throughout. The music was released onto compact disc by the BSX label in the United States under license from the UK label GDI (who released several Hammer soundtracks) and has subsequently been made available on digital platforms such as Spotify. It has to it an uneasy but at the same time martial sound, with certain nods of acknowledgement to the style of composer Bernard Herrmann, with low woods and percussive elements being integrated into the soundtrack and evoking Herrmann’s Mysterious Island and Jason and the Argonauts. The composer also provides some more melodic and even religious, and romantic flourishes which come as a welcome respite to the remainder of the score which is action themed. There is also subtle use of cymbalom in a handful of cues, which adds atmosphere to the story that is unfolding up on the screen. But it is a four-note, then five-note motif which seems to be constantly present that the composer builds his score upon, with the motif being executed by varying instrumentation and acting as a calling card for Kronos.

The movie was given a late release in 1974 after several concerns being raised by censors in both the UK and the US. In America it was given an R rating and in the UK an X certificate. Because it was thought that the movie contained too much violence and had scenes of a sexual nature with a script that hinted at sexual acts. The movie was to be the first of a series of films to feature the titular character, but sadly this did not come to fruition.

Set in 16^th Century England during the European or Protestant Reformation. Dr. Marcus played by the excellent John Carson decides that he has to call in Captain Kronos portrayed by Horst Janson, with whom he served in the army to his village which is plagued by mysterious deaths which are a linked by the victims passing away with accelerated aging. Kronos and his companion, the Hunchback Professor Hieronymus Grost  portrayed by another wonderful actor John Cater are professional Vampire Hunters.

Grost explains to the initially sceptical Marcus that the dead women are victims of a Vampire who drains not blood but youth, and that there are “As many species of vampire as there are beasts of prey”. The discovery of another victim soon after the Vampire hunters arrive in the village confirms Grost’s explanation. On their travels Kronos and Grost  meet and take in a local Gypsy girl, Carla played by the beautiful actress Caroline Munro, has been put in the stocks for dancing on the sabbath, the duo release her and she decides to repay their kindness by becoming an assistant of sorts and later a romance between her and Kronos develops and they become lovers.

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The intrepid vampire hunters begin to carry out tests in the area to try and find out if there is a vampire roaming the countryside. But they are at first thrown off the scent when told that the person or being responsible for the killings is an old person, which does not fit the persona of a youth draining vampire, who theoretically would become younger after each victim, rather than aging.  

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Dr.Marcus decides that he will visit the family of a deceased friend, Lord Hagen Durward, where he speaks with Durward’s son, Paul played by Shane Briant and his beautiful sister Sara (Lois Daine). He however has to make his departure before having an opportunity to talk to his friends widow, the bed-ridden Lady Durward  portrayed by actress Wanda Ventham. While on his return journey Marcus is confronted with a dark figure who is wearing a cloak riding through the woods, Marcus encounters a cloaked figure which leaves him shaken and shocked as he discovers fresh blood on his lips.

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Meanwhile Kronos and Grost are at a local inn when they are confronted by a handful of brigands led by Kerro (Ian Hendry). They have been paid by Lady Durward to kill Kronos. They fail as Kronos far outmatches all of them. This is one of the scenes where I was reminded of both the genre of the Italian western and the films of Kurosawa, Kronos killing all three of the thugs with two swipes of his sword. After Kerro ridicules Grost for being a hunchback. The scene is moderately violent, but it is the barman and bar maid ducking down behind the bar that reminded me of the delicate balance between an act of violence and comedy think of the mule scene, in A Fistful of Dollars for example. Whilst this is taking place Marcus enlists the help of Carla and together, they rig up a network of traps in the form of bells on strings and ribbons in the woods so if the vampire touches them, they are all connected and will alert them.  

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A giant bat then kills a young girl in a horrific and bloody attack, and Marcus then realises he is a vampire or at least is turning into one. He pleads with his old friend Kronos to kill him, after which follows a horrendous and painful to watch sequence where both Kronos and Grost attempt to kill Marcus, with a stake, by hanging, and other such methods, by accident Kronos pierces his friend’s chest with a metal cross. After determining the way to kill a vampire Kronos and Grost take a metal cross from the graveyard and after fighting off the villagers manages to turn the metal from the cross into a sword, a sword that will kill vampires and in the hands of the Captain it is indeed a deadly weapon.

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After waiting and watching Kronos ends up in the Durward mansion and is faced with a youthful looking Lady Durward who has hypnotised both her children and Carla, she has resurrected her dead husband Hagen (William Hobbs) and offers Carla to him, Kronos then steps into the picture and a deadly duel begins between Hagen and the Captain.

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In which Lord Durward is killed after which Kronos despatches Lady Durward, and releases both her children and Carla from her grasp. The end sequence is an impressive one and vastly different from any of the other vampire movie as produced by Hammer. The film concludes with Kronos and Grost heading off into the sunrise bidding Carla farewell and moving onto more adventures, so the producers left the audience wanting more and maybe expecting more, but sadly, these adventures have never been filmed, because it was during this period the 1970’s, that Hammer developed financial problems which forced them to stop production.

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There were however sequels in the form of comic books as published by The House of Hammer in 1976 and 1977 also Kronos rode again in Hammers Halls of Horror in1978 and in 2018 in the Titan comics publication. There was also a novelisation of the film published in 2011 penned by Guy Adams. Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter maybe different, but its an attention-grabbing motion picture, and because it is so different it has over the years attained a cult classic status.  

 

THE GREAT AIR RACE TO THE MOON, INSIDE IT AND BACK TO MONTE CARLO. (or RACE MOVIES).

 

The decade of the 1960’s was so much less stressful; do you not agree? Well cast your minds back if you can to the swinging sixties, filled with great new music and tantalising fashion direct from Carnaby street, the 1960.s when it was trendy or groovy to dress in red army tunics and burn lots on incense. When the Mini skirt raised eyebrows and those kinky boots that girls wore with them turned heads in the epicentre of COOL the City of London. It was not just the music and the fashion, it was the attitude in the 1960’s especially in GT BRITAIN, yes because at that time it was GREAT. Britain was the place to be, the place to look too for everything. Inventions, music, clothes and films. We as they say were on a roll even winning the world cup in 1966. Films or the majority of them were also a lot simpler, and I for one think more entertaining, simply because they were more varied and possibly better made. British talent was top notch and as Britain exited the 1950’s into this bright and colourful decade of the 1960.s we as cinema goers were treated by movies such as Zulu, Lawrence of Arabia, Khartoum, various Gothic horrors as produced by Hammer films, a plethora of CARRY ON sagas, and also some pretty promiscuous and sultry films of the adult variety. Among this magnificent variation of motion pictures there were a handful of films that I looked upon with some affection, these were RACE movies as I liked to call them. Maybe not all were British, but the majority were, even if they included American actors in their cast. The films I am referring to are THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES, ROCKET TO THE MOON, MONTE CARLO OR BUST and just squeezing into this collective FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, ok not really a race movie per say, but they were racing to the moon, kind of.

Title: GREAT RACE, THE ¥ Pers: LEMMON, JACK / FALK, PETER ¥ Year: 1965 ¥ Dir: EDWARDS, BLAKE ¥ Ref: GRE004AD ¥ Credit: [ WARNER BROS / THE KOBAL COLLECTION ]

 

Oh, yes and one more title which I cannot and will not leave out, Not British but hilariously funny and one of my favourites THE GREAT RACE. This for me was the best, it is a movie that even now I sit and watch in fits of laughter, much to the annoyance and bewilderment of many, who say this is just silly, NO, it’s genius, that’s what it is. The film which was released in 1965, had a substantial cast, in the form of Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Keenan Wyn, Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk, the latter in my opinion was deserving of an Oscar for his portrayal of Max an assistant to a rather insane inventor and all out nasty guy, Professor Fate. Lemmon and Falk worked well together and created a partnership that gave the movie something special. Lemmon’s quintessential bad guy character, often shouting PUSH THE BUTTON MAX, or YOU IDIOT at his manic assistant who was desperately trying to get things right, but always getting them hilariously wrong.

Then there was THE GREAT LESLIE played by Tony Curtis, who was the opposite to Fate. Leslie was debonair, handsome, rich, and just oozing with charm. The love interest was provided by Natalie Wood, who played a woman campaigner for votes for women and also a reporter who in the end tagged along with both Fate and Leslie. Film maker Blake Edwards based his story and screenplay upon a race that took place in 1908, between New York and Paris, but cleverly turned and twisted the true events to create a witty and jovial script that he eventually transported to the silver screen. The film maker set out to make the funniest comedy ever, and I think the only thing he used from true events was the route of the race. The director dedicated the movie to Laurel and Hardy, the film itself containing numerous set pieces of comedy that were taken straight from the silent era all of which were visual. It was filled with slapstick and references to other movies and genres, the saloon brawl scene for example way of the top but a gentle nod to the Western, there was also in many scenes that involved Fate the look of so many scenes that we associate with deranged professors in many horror and sci-fi movies of the past. Then we had the obvious connection with THE PRISONER OF ZENDA in the latter part of the movie, when Lemmon takes on his duel role as the Prince of a kingdom, when the real Prince is kidnapped by enemies who want the throne for themselves. This section of the movie ends in a somewhat drawn out swordfight, which again is a nod to the Swashbuckler movies such as THE SEA HAWK and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

There is even a scene where Natalie Wood visits THE GREAT LESLIE who is in a tent on the seashore, shades of the Desert Sheik as in Valentino. Returning to slapstick elements we are even treated to a magnificent PIE FIGHT; it is just a wonderfully funny and entertaining movie. The musical score was by Henry Mancini, who became Blake Edwards main man as far as music in his films was concerned. Mancini on this occasion producing a score that covered everything on screen, supporting and underlining the action and giving at times a subtle but truly masterful accompaniment to the abundance of comedy moments. Scoring comedy can be nightmarish, because if a composer goes over the top or is too laid back it can ruin any punchline or any visual comedy scenarios, but for THE GREAT RACE, the composer got the formula just right. Mancini also wrote two songs for the film, which he penned in collaboration with lyricist Johnny Mercer. THE SWEETHEART TREE was sung on screen by Natalie Wood who was dubbed by Jackie Ward, with the instrumental of the song serving as the opening music for the film. It was also recorded by Johhny Mathis. The other original song written for the movie was, HE SHOULDN’T-A, HADN’T-A, OUGHTN’T-A SWANG ON ME, which was performed by Dorothy Provine who played Miss Lilly Olay in the movie.

Mancini re-recorded the soundtrack for RCA VICTOR before the movie was released as the label and also the film studio were both quietly confident it was going to be a sure-fire hit, they were not wrong. Mancini and Mercer received an Academy Award Nomination for THE SWEETHEART TREE, but it failed to win on the night of the Oscars. The score itself is typical Mancini, as in lots of themeatic material and filled with clever little motifs for each character on screen, the most enjoyable being the track entitled, “PUSH THE BUTTON MAX” which is something we hear Professor Fate scream at his assistant so many times. The soundtrack was originally released on LP back in 1965, and there have been subsequent CD releases and digital versions for download, but the best version by far has to be the three compact disc set on La La Land records , yes three CDS two containing Mancini’s film score and the third disc being a straight re-issue of the the LP version of the soundtrack but with much improved sound. If they were to make this movie today, well stop there because they would not re-make it would they unless of course it was called something like FATE AND FURIOUS, now theres a thought.

 

From a race from NEW YORK to PARIS to something a little further away, in fact something out of this world, THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, was a pretty tame but at the same time entertaining comedy/adventure or so some thought, me amongst them. The film was scored by Laurie Johnson, who we all associate with THE AVENGERS television series as well as other British TV series from the 1960.s and 1970,s. The composer is also associated with conducting at times for Bernard Herrmann and writing the scores for films such as THE BELSTONE FOX and CAPTAIN KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER. His score for THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON was a standard work, but one too that contained some really atmospheric and it is also a score that is often overlooked or neglected by film music collectors. The film which was based on a story written in 1901 by H G Wells, did moderately well at the box office as it appealed to both adults and children. Directed by Nathan Juran and produced by Charles H Schneer, the screenplay was the work of science fiction writer Nigel Kneale.

 

 

The movie was a full colour production that told the story of a supposed trip and landing on the moon in 1899. The film opens in 1964, and we see that the United Nations has launched a rocket flight to the Moon. A multi-national crew of astronauts are aboard the UN spacecraft as it lands on the Moon As they touch down, they all believe that they are the first lunar explorers. However, it is not long before they realise that someone has been there before them, they discover a Union Jack flag on the surface and a note mentioning a Katherine Callender (Martha Hyer), which claims the Moon for, Queen Victoria.  Attempting to trace Callender, UN authorities discover that she has died but that her husband Arnold Bedford (Edward Judd) is still living and now resides in an elderly peoples rest home.  The nursing home staff do not let him watch television reports of the expedition because, according to the matron, it “excites him”, and they basically dismiss his claims to have been on the Moon, because of his age and what they regard as his signs of insanity. The UN send their people to the rest home to question Arnold about the alleged Moon expedition all those years ago, and Arnold begins to tell them his story. The film then goes into flashback mode, relating what Bedford and a Professor Cavor did in the 1890s. Far-fetched and a little wooden as in acting terms, yes, but it was also rather entertaining. Ray Harryhausen provided the stop-motion action and created the Selenites which were giant caterpillars that roamed the subterranean caverns of the moon. As I say it was inventive and did contain a rather nicely done eccentric laced performance by actor Lionel Jefferies as inventor Joseph Cavor, who was always a pleasure to see on screen. I think the most outstanding music in the movie by Johnson was his very English sounding pastoral that acted as the LOVE THEME within the score. It was a fully symphonic work with many of Johnsons musical trademarks present throughout, i.e. rasping brass, rhythmic percussion and soaring strings. The love theme was issued on several compilations, with the soundtrack being released by UNICORN RECORDS, CLOUD NINE RECORDS and then later by Varese Sarabande in mono. Varese also released a collection which included FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, THE AVENGERS, CAPTAIN KRONOS and HEDDA.

 

 

In recent years the score has also been available on various digital sites. The score is a rare movie excursion for the composer who is still best known for his work on 60’s and 70’s TV shows. Born in London in 1927, Laurie Johnson received his musical education and training at the Royal College of Music. At the age of 18 he had a few orchestral works published, which also had been broadcast on the radio. At the same time, he was composing and arranging for the popular Ted Heath Band. Later he went on to work on compositions and arrangements for most of the major bands of the fifties. These included Jack Parnell, Ambrose, Geraldo and Mantovani. At the age of 21 Johnson had a recording contract with EMI and formed his own orchestra. It was in the mid-fifties he began to compose music for films, in 1955 composing, arranging and conducting the music for THE GOOD COMPANIONS.

 

From outer space to something close, I suppose you could say a close encounter with space, because despite the efforts of the many protagonists in the 1967 production, Jules Verne’s ROCKET TO THE MOON, the rocket did not actualy leave earths atmosphere.

Released in the United States as THOSE FANTASTIC FLYING FOOLS, which does not really have the same ring to it as the UK title, the film did not do well at the box office, the tepid reception from audiences, was probably due to feeble attempts at keystone/Chaplin type comedy that was visual rather than spoken that fell flat in ninety percent of scenarios. Plus, the English comedy did not transfer well to American audiences’ sense of humour and likewise American laced gags or punchlines did not work out-side of the States. Even the presence of a strong-ish cast did not aid the pictures popularity, Burl Ives, Lionel Jefferies, Troy Donahue, Terry Thomas, Gert Frobe, Graham Stark, Daliah Lavi and Judy Cornwell. But it was not the fault of any of these excellent actors or indeed the director Don Sharp, no the problem with “Rocket” was that it had some great ideas, but the film failed because it was not shall we say consistently amusing in fact it was one of those movies that aspired to emulate other RACE movies such as THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES and maybe even THE GREAT RACE, but never quite made it.

The music for ROCKET TO THE MOON was the work of British born composer John Scott, who scored the movie under the name of Patrick John Scott. The soundtrack was in my opinion one of the films very few highlights. It is one of those occasions when the music is far superior to the film it was written for. The soundtrack was released on LP record at the time of the film being in cinema’s, but it very soon became deleted, probably because the film failed to attract attention. I remember the LP being available and seeing it in record shops and also in local decorating shops called Bargain Wallpapers, yes there it was with so many other soundtracks on LP in a rack inside the front door with the emulsion and the woodchip wallpaper. Why, well I don’t know really, I suppose to pull in customers or maybe just to generate extra revenue for the stores. All I know is I spent many a Saturday morning going through the albums and coming out with armfuls of titles including KING RAT, STAGECOACH, THE WHISPERERS, KHARTOUM (2 one sided white label disc set) LORD JIM etc. But I digress the LP soundtrack from ROCKET TO THE MOON soon became a rarity, and I have to say I have seen it maybe three or four times in my lifetime. The score was not re-issued at all in LP format but in 2017 thanks to Kritzerland records in the States we were presented with a compact disc edition, which I for one welcomed. It contained fourteen cues which was the original content of the album, but it had, or should I say has great sound quality.

Scott’s bristling and energetically carefree central theme is wonderful, and immediately hooks the listener, it is a theme that pops up here there and everywhere within the score, the composer arranging and orchestrating it differently to suit the films comedic and dramatic moments. I suppose it’s a slightly whimsical and melancholy sounding piece, but it is one of those compositions that although simple is haunting. Scott was no stranger to film music but as a performer rather than a composer when he scored ROCKET TO THE MOON, he had been the eighth member of the John Barry Seven often performing with the group on shows such as DRUMBEAT in the early 1960.s and it was Scott who performed the alto saxophone on John Barry’s iconic James Bond score GOLDFINGER, and performed sax for Henry Mancini on THE PINK PANTHER and CHARADE. His first film score proper was for the Sherlock Holmes adventure A STUDY IN TERROR. Despite ROCKET TO THE MOON being something of a damp squib, Scott’s score has manged to survive and have a life and a following away from the confines of the movie, sadly the CD re-issue also failed to ignite much enthusiasm amongst film music collectors which is a great pity as there is a wealth of Scott soundtracks that might have been re-issued if it had.

 

We go from the expanses of space or at least aspirations to enter it, to something a little closer to the ground, still airborne (most of the time at least), going up, down, flying around, looping the loop and defying the ground. THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES, was a typically British comedy and boasted a cast that was to say the least an impressive line up before the days of the all-star cast. Most of whom, flew up and down with their feet in the air, enchanting the ladies and stealing the scenes, and at the same time entertaining cinema audiences. The musical score was by British composer Ron Goodwin, who provided the movie with a soundtrack that was suitably quirky, comedic and thematic. Goodwin seemed to be comfortable within any genre of movie, but it is certainly true to say that he excelled when working on comedies and war films. THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes. Was released in in 1965 (the same year as THE GREAT RACE) and helmed by director Ken Annakin who also co-wrote it. The movie focused upon the flying frenzy craze that erupted in the early days of aviation and told the story of a race from the two most prominent European Capital cities, London and Paris.

Set in 1910, the fictional tale did well at the box office and although in more recent years it has certainly aged in its telling of the story and also the dialogue and comic content still manages to entertain. I have already mentioned the cast, which was an International affair, with the likes of, Stuart Whitman, Sara Miles, James Fox, Red Skelton, Terry-Thomas, Alberto Sordi, Gert Frobe, Jean Pierre Cassel, Robert Morley and Eric Sykes. With brief but amusing performances from the likes of Tony Hancock, Benny Hill, Sam Wannamaker and Dame Flora Robson. The storyline did seem to focus more upon the British participants and ridicule the German characters via the bumbling Gert Frobe, even Goodwin’s score parodied the sound of the German military march with the composer placing his own inimitable style and musical identity upon it. The composers music was an important and integral part of the movie, filled with various themes and sounds which related to individual characters, as in the German sounding march, the harmonica solo for the American entrant to the race Stuart Whitman and a particularly bouncing and vibrant sounding Italian theme that introduced and accompanied Alberto Sordi’s character. To say that Goodwin’s score is a classic is in my opinion understated, maybe throw in iconic and innovative too, which will give you an idea of its standing, importance and stature within film music history. The soundtrack was originally released on an LP record on Stateside records, the contents of which was a mix of both dialogue and music, the dialogue taken from the film introducing most of the tracks on the album. The jaunty opening song was also given a single release in England and entered the British charts in the year of the film’s release and given regular plays on the BBC radio. Terry-Thomas was excellent as the rascal of the story accompanied by his creepy henchman Courtney played by Eric Sykes.

 

The soundtrack as I say was released on LP on Stateside records and then 20th Century fox , but it was not until 2011 that the soundtrack was to have a CD release on the Intrada label, which was greatly expanded containing thirty three tracks as opposed to the original album which had just twelve cues. Goodwin would often conduct a suite of the music from the soundtrack in concert and it was a piece tat also appeared regularly on many of the composer Studio 2, compilation albums which were so poplar in the 1960.s and 1970.s. After the success of THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN, a sequel or at least something that was in the same vein of the movie was needed, but it did not appear until 1969, again directed by Ken Annakin, MONTE CARLO OR BUST or THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES hit the screens and attracted a fair amount of interest amongst audiences around the world. The score again was by Ron Goodwin who also provided the film with a catchy theme song performed by veteran performer Jimmy Durante.

The film was also one of these movies that included an all star cast before we really knew what that was, Terry Thomas, Erik Sykes, Gert Frobe starred, in fact many of the cast from THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN featured in MONTE CARLO, with Annakin introducing new charters portrayed by Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Tony Curtis and Susan Hampshire as the love interest.

 

 

Goodwin’s score was magnificent and rivalled the work he had done four years previous on THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN. The soundtrack was issued in 1969 on the Paramount records label, and as far as I am aware has yet to be released onto the compact disc format. Goodwin again arranged the principal themes from his score into a suite which appeared on the aforementioned compilations on Studio 2, plus the suite was at times performed in concert. It is a manic sounding work which has brilliant comedic timing and is filled with musical innuendos, with Goodwin once again pulling out all the stops and delivering a vibrant and entertaining soundtrack. It is a score crying out to be re-issued and maybe the likes of La La Land or Intrada might one day do this. Until they do we must content ourselves with the original LP record to savour the humorous and madcap compositions of Goodwin.

LIONEL BART.

English: portrait of Lionel Bart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Born into a Jewish family, Lionel Begletier was the youngest of seven children who were brought up in Stepney in the East End of London, His Father was a tailor. Lionel Bart as he was to become known as received no real formal musical education apart from a few violin lessons, but he soon became disinterested in these and his Mother very quickly literally threw out the violin he was practicing upon. However because of the young Lionel’s interest and aptitude for music his teacher declared that he was a genius and at the age of 16 he won a scholarship to St Martins school of art and began to become involved not just in music but in set decoration painting sets for plays etc. Whilst at the school he saw a notice advertising for song writers and it was this decision to make a career change that altered his life forever, it was during this period that he also decided to change his surname name to Bart, apparently this was inspired by a bus journey that took the young lyricist and composer past ST BARTHOLOMEWS church every day, the Church which was known by locals as St Bart’s attracted Lionel’s attention and he decided to become Lionel Bart. Bart’s first foray into writing a musical came in 1958 when he came up with WALLY PONE OF SOHO, this was not that successful and although it did attract some attention it was not a runaway hit for Bart. It was at this time in his career that he wrote songs for a number of  British rock and roll artists of the day, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele among them.

Many of these such as LITTLE WHITE BULL, ROCK WITH THE CAVEMAN, LIVING DOLL etc becoming iconic and enduring favourites worldwide. The latter reaching number one in the hit parade of 1959 and staying there for 6 weeks. His first success in the world of musicals came in 1958/59 with FINGS AI’NT WOT THEY USED TO BE and after this he teamed up with composer Laurie Johnson to bring LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS TO London’s West End.

It was also at this time that Bart began to develop more fully an idea he had for a musical which was based upon a classic tale written by Charles Dickens, OLIVER which Bart decided to set to music after seeing the David Lean film version of the story eventually came to the stage in the June of 1960, this was after numerous promoters and companies turned it down, resulting in Bart financing the production him self. Bart was convinced that the show would be a flop and apparently did not stay in the theatre on the first night instead taking himself off elsewhere with actress Barbara Windsor only to return at the end of the musical to receive no less than 16 curtain calls, and soon the show had advance sales of 30,000 in its first week. Based on the success of OLIVER Bart became much in demand and soon had two other musicals to his name in the form of MAGGIE MAY and BLITZ which although did not have the same appeal as OLIVER were still nonetheless lucrative ventures for the composer. It was also at this time that he wrote the title song for the Bond movie FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE as well as co-writing with and for Anthony Newley, it seemed that Bart was unstoppable and at the age of just 30, he was rumoured to be earning £16.00 an hour which in the 1960’s was more than impressive. Bart’s next musical TWANG (1965) was based on the story of Robin Hood  but on this occasion it was not such a rosy tale for him, especially as to finance its production he sold off all the rights to OLIVER. TWANG failed miserably and ran for less than a month, its disastrous opening night saw scenery and sets collapsing and “boos” and shouts of “GET OFF” coming from the audience. Bart estimated that the ill fated TWANG  lost him over a million pounds and also lost him the rights to his most successful venture OLIVER.

In 1968, Columbia pictures produced a film version of the musical OLIVER, Directed by Carol Reed and starring the wonderful Ron Moody as Fagin, with Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes and Shani Wallis as Nancy, it also featured young actors Jack Wild as the artful dodger and the angel faced Mark Lester in the title role. The movie was a runaway success being nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning in 6 categories including best original score, but this must have been a bittersweet success for Bart as he had relinquished all rights to do with the musical.  In 1972 he became a bankrupt with debts of over £73.000. Bart had also began to drink heavily which resulted in him contracting diabetes, he did manage to win his battle with alcohol and drug addiction but had done irreparable damage to his liver and his career hit rock bottom, he did however still carry on working and in 1977 penned the musical LIONEL, but compared with his success from previous years it paled in comparison. Bart did however manage to return to the public eye when OLIVER was revitalised for the west end by Cameron Mitchell during the early to mid 1990‘s, Cameron who had secured the rights had written into the deal that some of the royalties would be paid to Bart. The lyricist took on a supervisory role for the comeback production and once again was his old flamboyant and larger than life self. He also penned HAPPY ENDINGS for a commercial that was run by a building society which reached number 65 in the UK charts and wrote numerous other jingle type compositions for advertisements on both radio and television. After OLIVER was revived it gave Bart more drive and he began to work on a number of projects that had for many years been gathering dust, i.e. QUASIMODO, which was based upon THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAMME. Lionel Bart died of cancer on April 3rd 1999 at Hammersmith Hospital London aged 68.

English: Lionel Bart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cover of Oliver!

THE HOT POTATO.

When you start to listen to Guy Farley’s music for THE HOT POTATO, instantly you are taken back to the glory days of film scoring, when John Barry ruled supreme and Laurie Johnson and Edwin Ashley’s infectious and pulsating TV themes were resounding from every television set in the UK. Farley’s score for THE HOT POTATO I have to say is one of the most entertaining and listenable scores to be released thus far this year. The composer certainly has embarked on a labour of love here, I say that because it is such a mesmerising and engrossing work, which is carefully and meticulously woven together. It is filled to overflowing with references, nuances and trademarks that could as I have already stated belong to John Barry or Edwin Astley and Laurie Johnson, it has about it a presence a sound and a colourful and exciting attraction that I for one have not found in many film scores since the late 1960,s and early 1970,s. I love the way in which the composer utilizes harpsichord and also low woods and combines these with that pizzicato Barry-esque sound and further embellishes these with the use of strings and brass. Whilst listening to the score I found myself being reminded of such scores as THE KNACK, IPCRESS FILE, QUILLER MEMORANDUM and PETULIA, plus there are certain phrases and flourishes throughout the work that could be from either THE SAINT or RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (deceased) and also there is a big band sound that acts like a glue bringing everything together, which is very much in the style of  Laurie Johnson when he scored TV series such as THE AVENGERS. But I think more than anything it is the harpsichord and the use of at times cheeky but at the same time bold sounding brass stabs plus those low at times almost rough and smouldering sounding woods and the even more seedy jazz influenced sounding muted trumpet punctuated by bass and stroked percussion that holds the attraction for me. Of course in certain cues one can also here the influence of Barry’s 007 soundtracks, the composer re-creating the style which Barry employed in THUNDERBALL, which is ominous and tense but also hauntingly melodic. I recommend this soundtrack without any reservations whatsoever and whole heartedly, and I am just off to listen to it again…

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter.

At last Laurie Johnson’s vibrant and powerful music for this classic Hammer horror is available on disc for collectors to savour over and over. The soundtrack release was announced some two years back by GDI records in the UK, but after repeated announcements it never saw the light of day and GDI seemed to vanish without trace. There was even talk that GDI were in fact a bootleg label and had not cleared all the appropriate copyrights for their releases, hopefully this release will put all those rumours to bed as I would hate to see any further projects fall foul of PRS etc because the rights had not been properly secured. There were countless announcements of GDI releasing certain soundtracks in association with other labels such as Silva Screen, Percepto, and even the Italian labels Hexachord and Digitmovies. This production is a collaboration between GDI and BSX records in the States, and is also rumoured to be the first of many such releases, in fact another classic Hammer score (which one we do not know) is being announced as I write this review. I remember seeing KRONOS for the first time and first impressions in my case were not that good, however after seeing the film again about five years ago I now think it is probably one of Hammers better efforts within the area of movies concentrating on vampires. I certainly picked up on the films spaghetti western influences, right from the outset with the hero riding into town and the fight in the tavern etc. This film is without doubt far removed from the style and appearance of Hammers early vampire films starring the ever popular Christopher Lee as the infamous Count Dracula. The score too is a far cry from James Bernard’s familiar Dracula music, even listening to it now it sounds modern and also more fitting, by this I mean that on occasion Bernard’s music was somewhat intrusive and dare I say over the top music, whereas Johnson’s score fully supports and enhances the storyline of the picture and although one is aware that music is playing on the soundtrack it never overpowers it just creates the required atmosphere. In many ways the music that Johnson composed for KRONOS is more akin to the style of the composers long time associate Bernard Herrmann. The use of strings and also the presence of low sombre sounding bassoon on many of the cues is certainly a Herrmann trademark. I am not going to select any particular cue as being outstanding or going to analyze the score track by track or note by note, let us just say it will suffice to comment that this soundtrack is a must have for any Hammer fan and also an essential purchase for collectors of good film music. Packaged well in the same way as GDI used to present their CD releases, with informative and easy to read notes by Randall D. Larson and decorated with various stills etc from the movie. Well worth having.