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| Goldsmith |
Rio Lobo: (Jerry Goldsmith) As the final film of
acclaimed Hollywood director Howard Hawks, 1970's
Rio Lobo was a
movie a decade or two behind the times. So, too, was lead actor John
Wayne by that time, but their final collaboration has earned nostalgia
points long after failing badly up front at the box office. Wayne is a
Union colonel during and after the American Civil War who takes it upon
himself to investigate the Confederate robbery of a payroll train during
the war that clearly involved traitors on the Union side. Over several
years, Wayne's character leads his group of unlikely allies in a fight
against these traitors in Texas, eventually tracking down his prey and
helping local protagonists in their own fight against the rotten men.
The story was too placid and accommodating of Wayne's advancing age,
however, leaving few moments of excitement and little genuine intrigue.
While the reputation of
Rio Lobo has improved since its debut, it
has also become a symbol of Hawks' inability to continue adapting in the
industry after having spanned both the silent and golden eras of cinema.
Hawks had worked with a wide range of composers during that time, and
Jerry Goldsmith was still a relative newcomer when he tackled
Rio
Lobo. The composer had handled a range of Westerns already, but none
with the legendary Wayne at the top of the credits, so the assignment
presented him with a new opportunity to broaden his own credits while
bolstering the high recognition for his other 1970 works. The project
didn't really allow Goldsmith to open up with an Aaron Copland-style of
writing, however, the end result residing somewhere between the more
reserved parts of
Hour of the Gun and
Wild Rovers, with
few of the glowing highlights enjoyed by the latter shortly after this
score's writing. Compounding this score's highly restraining positioning
is its scarcity in the final mix on screen. Much of the movie contains
no music, including the whole first 25 minutes after the titles and
during the early robbery scenes. Other cues were dropped or placed in
unintended locations in the picture, though not as blatantly as would be
the case in
Wild Rovers.
For listeners familiar with Goldsmith's standard Western stylings,
Rio Lobo will sound consistent with his prior and future works in
the genre. The typical orchestral ensemble is joined by a slight
electric bass as the only contemporary element. A touch of synthetics
and Echoplexing add to the reverb of the soundscape, though the monaural
version of the score that was heard in the picture somewhat obscures
these techniques because of its highly aged sound. The usual assortment
of Western instruments, like acoustic guitar, cowbells, and scratcher
comb, is employed, with marimba, accordion, and mandolin providing a
touch of minor color added in a few places. There is some brief
recognition of Native American culture through momentary woodwind use in
"A Good Teacher," where Goldsmith previews the motif he later used in
One Little Indian for the same concept. There are not many
explosions of pure action in
Rio Lobo, and those that exist are
often quick to disappear, as in "Cordona's Capture." Instead, the score
is mostly marginal in attitude. The atmospheric cues harbor little
attraction, though Echoplexed bassoons and low string growls in
"Unexpected Gun" are moderately effective, this tact continuing in
portions of "No Place to Go" and "The Raid." The tense "The Scar/Hang on
a Minute" was partially dropped from the film, and Echoplexed
synthesizer tones open "The Trade" for otherworldly suspense in the
long, drab cue. All the remaining cues make some use of the composer's
only thematic identity for the score. This idea is reasonably good but
never satisfyingly fulfills itself in an exciting, major key mode, its
swinging personality there in the constructs but too depressed in the
minor mode to ever really explore it. The theme provides a rousing
bridge sequence and is supported by bolder counterpoint in big
renditions. That counterpoint seems to be applied to support Wayne's
presence in the picture. One of the most distinctive aspects of
Rio
Lobo as a film is its opening credits sequence; Goldsmith expresses
his main theme by solo acoustic guitar in "Rio Lobo Main Title," but
that performance is actually shown on screen in a variety of unique
close-ups of the instrument. The sequence doesn't have anything to do
with the rest of the film, per se, but it instead offers an overture of
the score in a purely unique way.
Goldsmith's main theme for
Rio Lobo offers
bright colors in "The Capture" but still remains rooted in the minor key
with the guitar and ensemble, building to a notable performance late in
the cue. It's upbeat on big brass and harmonica in "A New Arrival," the
counterpoint lines nicely prominent. The glorious ensemble performance
near the start of "A Good Teacher" was dropped from the scene but was
used for the opening logos of the movie. Including the nice counterpoint
and bridge sequence to the idea, this moment starts to preview the
enthusiasm of the highlights of
Wild Rovers, and the cue then
moves on to accordion and mariachi trumpet renditions. A short but
attractive performance on trumpet over guitar, scratcher comb, and
castanets yields to more Echoplexed bassoons carrying the suspense
thereafter for just the chord progressions. The theme is slightly
plucked amongst the suspense of "No Place to Go" and stews for half of
"Plans" before a percussively exuberant burst with marimba and
xylophone. Secondary phrasing from the theme contemplates in "The Raid"
with help from the marimba and woodwinds, and the theme's counterpoint
lines on woodwinds punctuate the chimes banging in the dramatic "The
Cantina." The melody mightily struggles early in "The Trade" and follows
the rather unexciting final confrontation music in "Rio Lobo End Title,"
only about a minute of rousing closing development following in the
major key. On album is also an unused performance in "On to Rio Lobo"
that extends the mariachi trumpet version of the idea. Also largely
rejected from the film is a plethora of source cues recorded by
Goldsmith for military settings and saloons. In the end,
Rio Lobo
has all the right ingredients and occasionally shines in its thematic
performances, but the rather unhappy demeanor of the whole work highly
retrains it. A major detriment are the original monaural source elements
for the entire score; the only surviving stereo alternatives of some
cues were supplied by Goldsmith for the initial CD release. Two limited
albums have existed for
Rio Lobo, both the 2001 Prometheus
Records and 2012 La-La Land Records albums splitting the available mono
and stereo tracks, and the latter providing the whole score in mono
along with a bevy of source cues. The stereo versions are really good
edits for likely album use at some point, a much better listening
experience than the badly archival mono. No truly satisfactory album is
available for this decent but underwhelming Goldsmith Western.
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- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on Album: **
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.2
(in 146 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.22
(in 155,390 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts of both albums contain detailed information about
the score and film. The 2001 Prometheus album's copies are
hand-numbered.
