Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #989
Written 7/1/03, Revised 4/3/09
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Buy it... if you are easily captured by George Fentons' ability to use the
lyrical romanticism of lush themes and soaring action cues to produce grandeur of
broad scope and harmony.
Avoid it... if scores about flying leave your feet on the ground, for
Fenton's music here is one of film music's most historically engaging
compositions for the concept of heroic flight.
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| Fenton |
Memphis Belle: (George Fenton) Depicting a heroic bomber
mission in World War II, Memphis Belle is a tale of the final exploits of
a bomber plane by the same name. With a gallant crew, the US Air Force B-17
bomber makes its 25th and final bombing run over Germany during the concluding
stages of the war, though, as you might imagine, the mission doesn't go as
smoothly as hoped. The story of Memphis Belle is as exciting as it is
heroic, with the famed plane nearly meeting with disaster before miraculously
returning safely at the end. Thus, the film's glory is tapered by a significant
feeling of somber suspense for nearly its entire length. Classically-inclined
composer George Fenton had not yet proven himself an expert in the realm of
period scores, but with a series of historical British dramas eventually defining
his accomplished career, Memphis Belle fits snugly in his trademark sound.
Fenton would be able to develop a remarkably romantic score for the film amid a
military backdrop, which is a dream come true for any composer. Additionally,
Fenton was tasked with integrating several staples of 1940's pop and jazz music,
and he would do so in such a fashion that the period source material would flow
seamlessly into and out of his own orchestral compositions. Fenton adapted the
tunes of "Green Eyes" and "Amazing Grace" very well into the pre-flight portions
of the film, with the latter song occupying the vital sequence as the bombers
prepare to make their last take-off into the scene of battle. Fenton also offers
an adaptation of "Danny Boy," which stands alone as a soul entry at the end of
the Memphis Belle album and doesn't match the musical styles of the film
(even though it does match the attitude and emotions of the other music). The
Harry Connick, Jr. performance of this piece (a fan favorite) unfortunately
didn't make it onto that product. Still, the result of Fenton's integration of
all of these elements into his score is a work of heartfelt beauty that many film
music collectors continued to refer to as his best achievement throughout the
rest of the decade.
The romanticism in
Memphis Belle swells with all the
alluring style of classical lyricism and harmony. While the majority of the
original cues for the score exist in the pleasant tones of the major key, Fenton
inserts a handful of minor key motifs in order to accentuate the fright of the
crew. The structural consistency of Fenton's themes and lesser motifs, from
beginning to end, cause these shifts between emotions to happen without the
listener even noticing until he or she is hit with the emotional response. The
score's weakness (although some would easily rate
Memphis Belle as a
flawless work) is its slow build-up to the emotional plateau that Fenton
maintains during the entire final flight of the bomber. A more powerful hint of
the mission to come, as well as a deeper emotional response in the earlier cues,
may have elevated this score to even greater heights. Even as it is,
Memphis
Belle takes hold of you without fail in "The Final Mission" (unless you are
caught by the rendition of "Amazing Grace" in the previous cue), as the plane
becomes airborne. The raw energy and enthusiasm of the driving bass strings and
snare in this cue create a dominant, emotional hold over the listener from that
moment on. After an interlude with one somber cue and another period song, Fenton
presents over fifteen minutes of uninterrupted action and romantic success from
the cue "The Bomb Run" through the magnificent "End Title Suite." This material
exudes the same sense of grandeur that Fenton would insert quite regularly into
his nature documentary scores of the following decade. Fenton's ability to merge
all of his major motifs from the score into one suite at the end of the album is
remarkable, making for a powerful and sometimes intoxicating melodic effect.
While all of this action is explored, Fenton never loses the hint of swing that
was inserted into the musical mix with the period songs; a slight atmosphere of
jazz is evident in the underscore during which the action is held to a minimum.
Overall, Fenton collectors may be disappointed by the fact that only about 30
minutes of the composer's original composition appears on the album, but the
period songs are so well interpreted and integrated by Fenton into his own
writing that the album will be a positive experience for nearly any enthusiast of
shamelessly romantic orchestral grandeur.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check:
For George Fenton reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.64
(in 14 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.44
(in 16,916 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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