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MacArthur: (Jerry Goldsmith) This 1977 attempt by
Universal to recapture the dramatic success of wartime documentary-style
pictures from earlier in the decade was one of a few high profile looks
at the endeavors of American general Douglas MacArthur. Unfortunately,
MacArthur failed to garner the respect of its model,
Patton, despite a carefully restrained and highly acclaimed
performance of the title character by Gregory Peck. Audiences were
treated to a much more introverted and contemplative investigation of
MacArthur's activities from 1942 to 1951 than they perhaps expected,
with very little energy to sustain action enthusiasts. In comparison to
its peers,
MacArthur is indeed a dull narrative, though the
intent of director Joseph Sargent was to expose the lesser known
elements guiding the General's decisions rather than the tangible
results of those commands. By all accounts, the historical figure was
fairly represented in the film, exploring both MacArthur's egotistical
side and the U.S. government's careful watch over him. The film failed
to gain much traction in the theatres, though it performed better than
the disastrous 1981 MacArthur propaganda film
Inchon. Both were
provided with occasionally rousing scores by composer Jerry Goldsmith, a
veteran of the war genre who was known for his keen sense of balance
between respect and bravado in his music for such productions. He had
perfectly captured the essence of this merging in his Oscar-nominated
work for
Patton in 1970, still a popular score many decades
later. Scores for World War II films were frequent in the previous
decade of his career, and many of these were popular despite extending
out of stereotypical military marches for assignments like
Tora!
Tora! Tora!. It's no surprise that both the productions of
MacArthur and
Inchon sought Goldsmith's services because
of a typecast that he had created for himself, and while he fulfilled
his basic duties for these relatively late war entries in his career,
none of these efforts could compete with his earlier music. For many
listeners,
MacArthur will sound like a faint echo of
Patton, its march not as infectiously entertaining and its
contemplation not as poignant. Some, in fact, will consider
MacArthur as dull as the picture, an understandable opinion
despite being somewhat unfair.
Goldsmith's march for General MacArthur is relatively
well known because it was often paired with
Patton in a
"General's Suite" for his concerts. The march is propulsive in its
percussion and appropriately heroic in its brass layers, though its tone
is perky in a purely John Philip Sousa style of pomp. This bubbly tone
is a bit deceptive, because the bravado conveyed in this identity runs
counter to the style of the rest of the score, though as a tool to
represent the General's public persona (and reputation), it is accurate
enough. Closer to the heart of the score is the secondary theme of
contemplation that accompanies the character in his lengthy scenes of
introversion. Heard first on plaintiff strings in the latter half of
"MacArthur March (Main Title)," this theme is expanded to the full
running time of "The Treaty," translating the impact of the man's
decisions into a hearty and weightier sense of duty. From the warm solo
woodwind performances to the grim brass alternatives later in the same
cue, Goldsmith applies this theme with greater dexterity than the title
march. The march is indeed revisited in the score, including a
performance with all the bells and whistles at the conclusion of "A Last
Gift." An important instrumental motif in
MacArthur is the
striking of three bass notes on piano keys with a hammer (manually
performed), a grating sound that effectively conveys the bitterness of
wartime consequences. Heard immediately at the outset of the march, this
motif is dominant at the start of "I Shall Return" and, in its
application to scenes of solemn gravity, foreshadows similar techniques
on the piano utilized in
Star Trek: First Contact. A slight
oriental tone in the progressions of "New Era" is a distinct reminder of
Tora! Tora! Tora!, though without the ethnic instrumentation.
Otherwise, the remainder of
MacArthur is strictly conservative in
its approach to meandering, gloomy variations on the contemplative
secondary theme and a few singular ideas. One overarching weakness of
the score is its inability to tell a story in and of itself, its parts a
bit disjointed in their overall presentation. The score has only been
released once on album, a rare entry of Varèse Sarabande's flurry
of 1990 CD releases of Goldsmith's scores. Out of print and having sold
for $100, the score is not worth the pursuit at that price, an adequate
but ultimately mundane effort in this genre for the composer.
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The insert includes basic information about the score and film.
