 |
| Goldsmith |
MacArthur: (Jerry Goldsmith) Universal's delayed
and much maligned 1977 attempt 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. Ultimately,
however, the movie played like a school history lesson, with little
conflict in the narrative to retain interest. The film thus 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 victorious march not as infectiously
entertaining and its extended moments of contemplation not as poignant.
Some, in fact, will consider
MacArthur's score 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
plaintive 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 that is guided by his affinity for the West
Point military school and the service generally. 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 regularly in the score, including a
performance with all the bells and whistles at the conclusion of "A Last
Gift." A third motif in
MacArthur is a frustrated three-note
phrase for the general's defeat in the Philippines, a prominent tool of
suspense in early cues like "The Tunnel" and especially the latter half
of "I Shall Return" that is later revisited during "The Prison" in
related guises. Another 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
challenging techniques on the piano utilized in
Star Trek: First
Contact.
Not much of Goldsmith's score for
MacArthur
deviates stylistically for particular locations. One exception is the
scene on Japan late in the movie. A slight oriental tone in the
progressions of "New Era" is a distinct reminder of
Tora! Tora!
Tora! but without the ethnic instrumentation. For this passage,
Goldsmith also sought to adapt a Japanese folk song as additional
respect for the locale. 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 the overall presentation.
For decades, the score was only available on a relatively rare entry in
Varèse Sarabande's flurry of 1990 CD releases of Goldsmith's
scores. Out of print and having sold for $100, the album was not worth
the pursuit at that price. It represented the re-arrangement and
re-recording of the score by Goldsmith for the initial LP record, a
treatment that did make the work a bit more palatable in the otherwise
abrasive portions of the original film performance. That recording for
the film was not heard on album until 2023, when Intrada Records offered
a 2-CD set that includes both the full film version of the score and a
remastering of the album recording as well. The film recording is
peppered with the source-like cues that Goldsmith and several associates
provided to the film, including a variety of newsreel-worthy renditions
of the score's main march. This presentation is highly fragmented, and
since it further exposes the dark underbelly of the work, listeners may
find themselves gravitating back to the warmer, remastered album
recording. In addition to these two versions of the score, Intrada
supplied eight minutes of alternate takes and another eight minutes of
outside source music not featured within the narrative of the film
version. One notable surprise is the inclusion of Goldsmith's
re-recording of "Hard Gained Ground" from
Lonely Are the Brave
for use in the background of a western film seen on screen in this
movie, marking a nice stereo option from Goldsmith's own baton for that
cue. Despite this nice inclusion, the 2023 album may not appeal to all
listeners even though it finally provides the film version. The score
for
MacArthur retains more interest than the composer's
subsequent
Inchon, but even at its best, it is an adequate but
ultimately mundane effort in this genre for the composer.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26
(in 124 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.29
(in 153,454 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert of the 1990 Varèse Sarabande album includes basic information about the score and film. That of the 2023 Intrada set contains additional notes about both.
