Re: Superman (1978) John Williams' score

On Wed, 26 Jun 2024 19:57:48 -0000 (UTC)
"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote: 

 

Throughout June, TCM was playing various movies to celebrate the
scores of Hollywood's best-known composers. To honor John Williams,
they chose to play Superman. In the host's comments, it was new
information to me that Jerry Goldsmith had turned the movie down as
he was scoring something else, although you'd think the guy who
scored Chinatown over a weekend after the earlier composer was
fired would been able to do it, just by never sleeping for two
months. 

 

It's a great score, but it's always always always annoyed me that
you cannot hear the score properly over the opening titles because
of all the whooshing noises as each title flies by. I've always
hated that. Salkind hired the guy who had just received an Oscar
for Jaws, so I think the audience really wants to hear the music. 

 

Yes, I know the main theme is derivative (of previous works of his
own, plus the usual romantic composers that movie music is supposed
to sound like), but the first four notes of that one major theme in
the music conveys such a sense of joy and optimism, it's just
perfect. 

 

So much of the criticism many film composers have of "being
derivative" is wholly undeserved. Almost every time it's done
specifically and intentionally by the composer on orders from the
director. 

 

For example, the opening scene of STAR WARS, with the huge Imperial
Star Destroyer rumbling in overhead, almost endlessly. People say
Williams just lifted that part of the score from Holst's "Mars" from
"The Planets", but the reality is that Lucas actually temp-tracked
that scene with Mars and when Williams came in to score it, Lucas
kept sending him notes saying, "Make it sound more like Mars. I
really like the sound of Mars there." So Williams basically mimicked
Holst's piece as close as he could without risking a copyright
violation. 

 

So now all these years later, we have lackbrains like Hutt claiming
Williams all but plagiarized Mars in STAR WARS. 

 

The same is true for so many composers whose creativity is leashed
by whatever the director wants, not what they can actually produce. 

 
But from what I've read about Spielberg, he loved movie scores and as
a surrogate audience member, he knew what movie soundtracks were
supposed to sound like.
 
Even if derivative, Williams's job was to make it sound right and work
incidentally to the scene. Generally, he succeeds enormously.
 

One of the pieces I really like is "Welcome to Krypton" (I really
have no idea what it's called), slightly reminiscent of Aaron
Copland and early Charles Ives. 

 

1M1 Prelude / 1M1A The Planet Krypton 

 
Fair enough; nice nostalgic American music works great
 

Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor isn't the way I ever pictured Lex Luthor
but he made it work. Of course it would have been better to create
an all-new character for the movie. Why was Valerie Perrine a
henchwoman? Yes, she got to distract Major Nelson in that one scene
 

 

Which doesn't age well, as a bunch of soldiers surround a pretty
girl passed out on the side of the road and instead of summoning
medical help, they all giggle and start planning on how they're
going to sexually assault her. 

 
Was much of the movie's broader humor funny at the time? Lex's crimes
were pretty damn horrific, intending to kill 10s of millions. I
suppose he's killed more than that at other times. Do we need a scene
to lighten the moment to use a sexy female "victim" to distract idiot
naval officers and sailors mismanaging their duties? Or the gag with
Otis failing to input the coordinates Lex gave him?
 
The subtler humor worked. I remember the audience's laughter when
Clark couldn't find a phone booth to change into costume in.
 
Explain that gag to kids today. What's a phone booth? What's a pay
phone? What's a phone?

Kids today will have no problem knowing what a phone is.
They WILL wonder why he doesn't just reach into his pocket to get his
phone out, just like they do.

--
Rhino