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| Holdridge |
Call of the Wild: (Lee Holdridge) No less than half
a dozen film adaptations of Jack London's classic novel have been put on
either the big or small screen, and this 1993 television version is just
as anonymous as most of the other versions. This variation was produced
by the American RHI Entertainment Inc. company that put many such
friendly adaptations on the small screen during the 1980's and 1990's
before the well-known
Gulliver's Travels in 1996 signaled their
declined. The bittersweet London novel involves a young boy who, during
the Gold Rush era, journeys to the Yukon in search of riches after
losing his relationship with his timber-industry father. Upon arriving,
the man is befriended by a mistrustful native and, of course, the true
star of the film: an Alsatian dog named Buck. Filmed in British
Columbia, this version of
Call of the Wild has no star power and
suffers from minimal production quality during its 90 minutes. In fact,
its entire existence would be forgotten if not for the one part of its
production that miraculously garnered an Emmy nomination. Composer Lee
Holdridge, still establishing himself as a force in the television movie
composition industry, was nominated for an Emmy for
Call of the
Wild in the "Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special
(Dramatic Underscore)" category. If any evidence of Holdridge's
overachievement in the television industry is necessary, then
Call of
the Wild should serve as that evidence. The composer consistently
provides music far superior to the quality of the films themselves, and
it is only because of Holdridge that this version of
Call of the
Wild is even mentioned ten years later. Fortunately, like many of
Holdridge's other strong efforts for obscure television productions, a
promotional release was offered from the composer in 1995 with a
sufficient 45 minutes of material to entertain his collectors.
When looking back at Holdridge's
Call of the
Wild score, there really isn't any one particular aspect of the
score (aside from the sparing use of a chorus) that makes it stand out.
Unlike the brass of
The Tuskegee Airmen, the guitar of
Old
Gringo, and the remarkable string themes in many of his other works,
Call of the Wild attracts attention to its quality by simply
existing a step above Holdridge's usual output at every step along the
way. Even in recording quality, the sound of this score is not as dull
and muted as many of Holdridge's other low budget television works. His
thematic performances by woodwinds, such as in the delicate "John's
Death" cue, are more pronounced. To an extent, this raw woodwind (and
brass) usage, along with some familiar chord progressions, reminds of
Basil Poledouris' location scores, though Holdridge never attempts to
incorporate native/Alaskan musical elements into his score as Poledouris
did in, for instance,
On Deadly Ground. Holdridge's title theme,
with surface similarities to Trevor Jones'
Last of the Mohicans
theme, is loyally conveyed throughout the score with the family-friendly
atmosphere of a slightly roughed-up James Horner kiddie score. When
employing the use of a choir in the latter half of the score, in fact,
parts of
Call of the Wild recall the triumphant moments late in
Horner's
Balto. The choral usage is something you don't hear in
many Holdridge scores, but as in
The Mist of Avalon, his
incorporation of an adult chorus can add a touch of awe to his harmonic
sensibilities. Hinted at in the concluding moments of "Buck Leads the
Sled Team," Holdridge saves its effect until the last four cues, when it
bursts into the mix with majesty. It is no doubt that the massive
orchestral and choral statements of theme in "Letting Buck Go" and
"Finale" are what garnered Holdridge the Emmy nomination for
Call of
the Wild; they are so memorable in their enhancement of his usual
high quality of writing that they alone make the rare CD worth the
search. Once again, Holdridge overachieves.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Lee Holdridge reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.77
(in 14 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.34
(in 7,592 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
