Soundtracks

[movieman1957]

A place for all things musical on film.

Share your favorite soundtrack (doesn't matter whether the movie was any good.)
Know of one that is awful?
Favorite film composer?

etc.

[CharlieT]

Since different movies have different types of soundtracks, this is a little complicated to answer.

As far as soundtracks of musical scores of incidental music, my favorite goes with my favorite movie, To Kill a Mockingbird.

For previously recorded music that enhances the atmosphere of the film, I like Forrest Gump and The Big Chill.

For music that goes with the theme of the movie, I like Song of Norway, although it isn't a very good movie. The music by Edvard Grieg and the scenery make up for its flaws.

[ChiO]

Previously recorded music: DINER

Concert film: STOP MAKING SENSE

Soundtrack: The only soundtrack recording I've ever bothered to buy is LAST TANGO IN PARIS

[srowley75]

Share your favorite soundtrack (doesn't matter whether the movies was any good.)

For a while I was addicted to Michael Nyman's score for The Piano. I also liked the soundtrack to Monsoon Wedding.

Know of one that is awful?

I wish that MCA records (whom I believe owns the rights) would release the soundtrack to The Lonely Lady, which was only released as an LP (you can easily find copies on Ebay most of the time). The music is every bit as awful as the film itself - especially the title tune, sung by someone who sounds as though he were a graduate of Pearl Bodine's yodeling class.

I already own the soundtrack to Valley of the Dolls, which not only contains the title track sung by someone who is not Dionne Warwick, but also Ann's famous opening monologue (I love Barbara Parkins' voice) and that cah-razy Patty Duke number "It's Impossible." The only thing that'd have completed it for me would've been a track containing Neely O'Hara's final tragic tirade ("Lyon?...Ann?...Jennifer?...God?" etc.)

[MissGoddess]

Howdy, Chris.

I have a few favorite movie soundtracks
on cd/Mp3 that I enjoy listening to frequently. Several
of my favorite sountracks are the most redeeming---or
the only redeeming feature---of the movie, ha!

Favorite soundtracks/main themes:
The Sandpiper (Mandel)
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (Hermann)
Out of Africa
The Tamarind Seed
Somewhere in Time
The Detective
The Man With the Golden Arm
The Pink Panther
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Charade
Un homme et une femme
Rider on the Rain
Pal Joey

Favorite film noir soundtracks/themes:
This Gun For Hire
Key Largo
On Dangerous Ground
The Big Sleep
Laura
The Bad and the Beautiful
Touch of Evil
I also enjoy several of the "007" soundtracks and themes.

Favorite western soundtracks/main themes:
The Searchers
Rio Grande
The Big Country
The Magnificent Seven
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Some of the Enrico Morricone scores

[Professional Tourist]

My favorite movie soundtracks would be of movie musicals.

Some from non-musicals:
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Saturday Night Fever
How the West was Won
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
King of Kings

From movie musicals:
Dreamgirls
A Star is Born (1954)
Mary Poppins
1776
The Sound of Music
Victor/Victoria

[charliechaplinfan]

The first soundtracks I bought were Grease and Dirty Dancing.

Like Professional Tourist I like musical scores

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Young Girls of Rochefort
Gigi
Guys and Dolls
Footlight Parade
42nd Street
Gold Diggers of 33

I love the music from the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films.

I love Charlie Chaplin's compostions for his movies, particularly the opening song from The Circus, Modern Times and The Kid.

[stuart.uk]

Red River
The Kid
Limelight
The Big Country
Champions
City Lights
The Man Who haunted Himself
Sebastian
Miss. Marple (Margaret Rutherford)
Georgie Girl
James Bond Theme
The Saint (tv)

[Synnove]

I agree with above posters re. To Kill a Mockingbird, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mary Poppins, the Busby Berkley musicals and others! One of my favourite film composers is Danny Elfman. Sometimes he's inspired, like in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride or Edward Scissorhands, and sometimes his music sounds like rip-offs of himself like the score for the Spiderman movies. But he has made some lovely, memorable scores.

[phil noir]

Does nobody like Bernard Herrmann? His soundtrack to The Ghost and Mrs Muir is absolutely beautiful. I also like his music to Vertigo, Fahrenheit 451, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and the other Hitchcocks. (Although I do feel a bit self-conscious when the compilation I have comes to the music from Psycho - I would hate anyone to come round at that particular moment.)

Yesterday, inspired by this thread, I dug out my soundtrack to One From the Heart, the Francis Ford Coppola film from 1982. I only saw the film once and have very little recollection of it, but the songs from the film - written by Tom Waits, sung by him and Crystal Gayle - are wonderful.

The worst soundtrack of any recent film has to be Clint Eastwood's self-penned score to The Changeling. It was a kind of tinkly one-finger piano theme (I counted five other names on the credits responsible for its orchestration), and was horribly banal. It made every scene to which it was attached seem banal too - which was a shame since I thought The Changeling was a pretty good verging on excellent film.

[charliechaplinfan]

I love the music to Hitchcock films. One day you'll get caught out with that Psycho music

[Birdy]

All Fred and Ginger Films
Golddiggers Films
Most Disney Films

Modern: Chocolat (I still don't own that one)
Rent (My nieces make me play Track 1 - Seasons of Love, over and over. It takes exactly 5 times to get from their house to mine)
Moulin Rouge - Ewan McGregor's voice makes me want to melt
Lord of Dogtown for a great slice of 70s R&R

Oh - and who could resist The Graduate - "Look around the grounds until you feel at ease..."

Looking at my list, most of the soundtracks I like are really stage scores, aren't they?
B

[movieman1957]

Howdy, Chris.

I have a few favorite movie soundtracks


Favorite film noir soundtracks/themes:
This Gun For Hire
Key Largo
On Dangerous Ground

April:

I watched "On Dangerous Ground" last night. My bride enjoyed it as well. (She was trying to guess what was going to happen.) I enjoyed the music very much. It is not very often you get an "anvil" in the music but it was nice punctuation. Some of the deep string sections reminded a little of the sound Hermann used in "Psycho."

Very good at helping set the mood. Good score.

[rudyfan]

Does nobody like Bernard Herrmann? His soundtrack to The Ghost and Mrs Muir is absolutely beautiful. I also like his music to Vertigo, Fahrenheit 451, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and the other Hitchcocks. (Although I do feel a bit self-conscious when the compilation I have comes to the music from Psycho - I would hate anyone to come round at that particular moment.)

I LOVE Herrmann scores. I can listen to Ghost and Mrs. Muir and visualize the film, exactly, in my head. The music is so entwined. Same with Jane Eyre. Vertigo is haunting, yearning. For such a tough guy to get along with, Herrmann's music can be and often is transcedent. I'd love to find a more complete soundtrack to The Egyptian, with all of Herrmann's music. Seems a lot was cut or not used in favor of Alfred Newman's contribution.

I'm also very fond of Franz Waxman. Bride of Frankenstein and Sunset Blvd come to mind and unforgettable in A Place in the Sun. Many others.

Dmitri Tiomkin, David Raksin and, without question Korngold.

I'm also very fond of the scores of Howard Shore, Jerry Goldsmith.

I always recognize and love Max Steiner, too.

Crap, I love the music for Maltese Falcon and my brain can't remember the composer......

[mrsl]

.
Phil Noir:

I'm not very knowledgeable about soundtracks, but recently after watching The Ghost and Mrs. Muir for the umpteenth time, I finally realized how wonderful and descriptive the music was and wrote about it on one of these threads. Since then, I'm looking more closely for his soundtracks, or background music (whatever you call it).
.