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FILMTRACKS.COM
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Review of Something Wicked This Way Comes (Georges Delerue/James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on Intrada Records' 2009 or 2024 releases of James
Horner's competent replacement score if you desire the adequately
whimsical, often unconventional choral and symphonic blend heard in the
film.
Avoid it... on those albums if you seek the better primary theme for the boys in the film, in which case Georges Delerue's otherwise darker rejected score will more effectively appeal to your romantic sensibilities, especially as heard on the composer's 1989 re-recording of 12 minutes from this work.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Something Wicked This Way Comes: (Georges
Delerue/James Horner) It had long been the dream of author Ray Bradbury
to work with Walt Disney in the production of a film and, separately,
adapt the story of Something Wicked This Way Comes that had so
long eluded the big screen. At the outset of the 1980's, Bradbury got
both wishes fulfilled at once, though like the townspeople of his
fantasy tale, the granting of these desires came with undesired side
effects. When Disney picked up Something Wicked This Way Comes,
Bradbury offered a screenplay that told of redemption and dark magic, a
story of a mysterious carnival of evil that rolls into an American town
one October night and thrills the people of the area in more ways than
they could have imagined. The master of the carnival, "Mr. Dark," along
with his shady associates, can sense the deepest fears and regrets of
others, and his attempts to work his wicked magic on two young boys give
an embattled but ultimately redeemed father played by Jason Robards the
chance to shake his own demons while resisting the forces of evil that
tempt him. Director Jack Clayton's film was perhaps destined for
post-production problems, for Bradbury's story was a tricky balance
between the traits of wholesome youth in a 1920's Americana setting and
the always uneasy and sometimes terrifying malice of the carnival's
atmosphere. The production did indeed experience significant alterations
after principal photography was finished, partly due to a nervous studio
after at least one poor test screening, and its debut was delayed a
year. As is so typically the case in such studio panics, the composer of
the film is among those to be summarily dismissed, and this is
unfortunately what happened to European romance master Georges Delerue.
When Disney's own choice for the assignment, Jerry Goldsmith, was
unavailable on short notice because of his work on Twilight Zone: The
Movie, Clayton actively sought services of the young James Horner,
who had just recently wowed audiences with his sudden and impressive
emergence for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Despite an extremely busy year for Horner, the composer agreed to give Disney the score the studio believed was a better fit for the post-production rearrangements that changed the flow and, to a lesser extent, the demeanor of Something Wicked This Way Comes. Perhaps one irony in the post-production mayhem involving this film was the eventual realization that the music by Delerue and Horner wasn't too terribly dissimilar in terms of instrumentation and tone. The two scores both earn significant respect from the collectors of their composers, and, at the end of the day, either soundtrack would have sufficed for the picture. For Delerue, this score would join the later Platoon as two of his highest profile efforts of the 1980's, despite (or perhaps in part because of) the fact that both were undeservedly rejected. In both the composer and the studio's defense, however, the primary reported reason why Delerue's music was removed here was because of the extensive special effects and other alterations to the finished cut, requiring fresh recordings. The composer was devastated by his removal from the project because it came at a time when he was eager to move part-time to Los Angeles and tackle Hollywood productions on a regular basis. He was also close friends with Clayton. For enthusiasts of Delerue's music, an even greater irony revealed itself when Disney considered his work for the film to be too dark, a descriptor completely at odds with the composer's usual reputation. Indeed, the romance writer's music for the film remains one of his most mysterious works, with short bursts of fright quite unusual for him. An eerie atmosphere prevails in his score, floated by disembodied female chorus and an increased amount of dissonant lines of counterpoint to his primary ideas. His main theme for the film is, however, vintage Delerue, led by absolutely gorgeous solo flute in trademark fashion. This theme of both innocence and wonderment is heard in several places throughout his work, including the mesmerizing and hypnotizing gypsy scene involving the town barber, but the end credits cue allows the remainder of the ensemble to join the flute and string accompaniment for a fluid conclusion of the idea that is as attractive as the composer's most hearty drama themes. Outside of the prominent statements of the standard, lovely Delerue main theme in Something Wicked This Way Comes, the score loses the same flighty spirit, with the carnival offered a five-note motif (sometimes extended to a sixth note) that ominously broods in the bass region. This theme is first heard immediately in the opening bars of Delerue's score, menacing in its bass brass and pipe organ deliberation as the title is scrawled and the train approaches. The idea stubbornly dies out after the conclusion of the climactic confrontation at the magical, age-altering carousel, a faint echo on solemn trombones that still shows no regret in its tone. The use of atonal female vocals, sometimes shrill in their application, creates a generally forbidding ambience. The explosive brass rhythms of the final confrontation are a side of Delerue not often heard. Because of the poor condition of the known surviving sources for Delerue's original score, it took a long before a satisfying album release of this music prevailed. For a long time, the only available copies of Delerue's session tapes broke the score into so many short cues, sometimes only 10 seconds in length, that it was difficult to appreciate. Widely distributed bootlegs with the innumerous short cues circulated for many years, many of which containing a handful of source recordings (of mostly carousel organ) and problems with shifting mono/stereo dynamics. In 2011, a little over half an hour of the score's highlights was finally pressed officially by Universal France, though the source for this CD was the composer's personal tape of poor quality. Even here, the atrocious sound quality makes this recording difficult to enjoy outside of a collector's intellectual study of the music itself. The Universal CD also suffers from a terrible cut in the music at 3:30 into "Mirror Maze," at which point a sequence of music is arbitrarily missing. After Disney finally discovered the full master tapes for the score, Intrada Records issued a proper 74-minute presentation in a much-improved sound in 2015, complete with numerous alternate takes. For those seeking the absolute best sound quality, however, Delerue rearranged and conducted an attractive suite from the rejected score as part of a fantastic collection known as "The London Sessions" in England in 1989. Released by Varèse Sarabande at the time and again in 2001 as part of a comprehensive set, Something Wicked This Way Comes was often considered a highlight of "The London Sessions" despite some complaints from purists regarding the choice of material to perform and distinct differences in tempo at times. For the re-recording, Delerue conducted and produced four cues from Something Wicked This Way Comes, starting with the final confrontation and shifting to a short, filler performance of the title theme for the boys and town. After a significantly rearranged version of the cue for the gypsy/barber scene, Delerue concludes with his triumphant end credits cue. While it would have been nice to have heard the opening credits and associated train arrival music, which would have given (and necessitated) a representation of the creepy choral aspect of the score, the twelve minutes that are heard in that suite are more than enough to suffice for casual listeners. Two faint hints of the carnival's theme of evil do exist in the second section of that suite. The gypsy music, set to alluring varied percussion, is the highlight of the suite, extended from its original form and largely replacing the wild, accelerating crescendo in the film version with an undeniably lovely performance of the main theme at 7:15 that makes the piece more tolerable for entertainment purposes. On the whole, for those looking for just a taste of Delerue's Something Wicked This Way Comes, the superior sound quality and pleasant arrangements of the "London Sessions" re-recording is a definite recommendation. It was once speculated in a discussion about the director's career that Delerue's score was better tuned to the film that Bradbury had originally intended to create but that Horner's alternative ultimately better fit the version of Something Wicked This Way Comes that Disney released. Clayton reportedly literally pursued Horner with a cassette tape of Delerue's score, insisting that he give the production his attention. After a rushed recording process, Horner's work for the project ultimately better addressed the sense of warmth and heart that the two boys brought to the story, infusing a more personal environment in much the same way he would accomplish when replacing Elmer Bernstein's larger-than-life score for The Journey of Natty Gann a few years later. Horner conjured for Something Wicked This Way Comes a satisfying theme for woodwinds and strings that is heard shortly into "Main Titles" and eventually prevails in "End Titles," by which time the idea has received harmonica treatment. There are similarities between this theme and the many that the composer would write for his children's scores of the early 1990's, especially in the fluffy woodwind figures and tingling percussion. It doesn't have the same attractive personality of the theme for The Journey of Natty Gann, nor is it as lofty as Delerue's main theme, but it suffices. Horner's carnival theme is a step in the right direction, however. Some joke about this Horner construct representing what the composer might have written had he accepted the assignment of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, for the elegant, minor key progressions here have basic similarities to John Williams' Hedwig theme for that franchise. Others mention that it sounds like a variation of Williams' Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back, which is a little more accurate given that Horner's idea is a slight inversion of the opening progression. This theme is present in many places throughout the score, including a prevalent influence in "Dark's Pandemonium Carnival," but never does it really receive a second muscular performance on brass to rival the announcement of its arrival in the first minute or so of "Main Title" (nor is it as playful again, either). In "The Carousel," you hear a slight hint of the pipe organ rendering of this theme that mimics what Delerue had attempted. The theme's translation to extremely high strings in "Magic Window" is particularly unnerving. Otherwise, Horner's carnival theme is mostly restricted to slight woodwind performances that create a sense of wonder instead of wholesale fear. As per usual for Horner in the early 1980's, a propulsive rhythm section highly unique to his career serves as a highlight. First heard in the final minute of "Miss Foley in the Mirror" under the carnival theme, this rhythm suddenly erupts at about 1:30 into "Discovered," brutally following the pursuit of the boys in what remains one of the most effective moments in the score. This motif, when combined with the disembodied female vocals that pierce several moments in the work with their atonality, suggest a reference to the Dust Witch played by Pam Grier in the story. The use of tapping cymbals, pounding piano, and violently chopping strings in "Discovered" previewed many of Horner's future cues for panic, almost matching the similar action and suspense material in Brainstorm in intensity. An interesting singular cue from Horner is "Side Show," which owes quite a bit to Delerue (one must wonder if Horner had heard how the veteran composer had tackled the scene and imitated it), though instead of leading the flute and percussion to an ominously descending string figure, Horner utilizes the eerie female vocal effects. The use of unconventional vocal techniques in film scores of that era was a byproduct of Goldsmith's success with The Omen, and the crying and wailing in Horner's score foreshadows dissonant techniques heard better in Willow. Another area in which Horner didn't differ much from Delerue was in the employment of organ tones for the carousel itself, though only in "The Carousel" does the seemingly manipulated source recording work its way (with great difficulty) into Horner's score. The remainder of Horner's recording is standard to his career, "The Boys Buy a Lightning Rod" extending the effortless theme for the boys and "Magic Window" equaling the minor suspense music (with swooshing percussion to imitate the wind) that would exist in the composer's later children's scores. The second score for Something Wicked This Way Comes will be a worthy addition to a Horner collection, predictable in its tone but unpredictable in its tools and structures of suspense. Neither score was officially released until Intrada Records worked with Disney's technical gurus to restore a digital master tape of Horner's score in 2009, resulting in a 45-minute presentation of impressive clarity on par with the label's remastering of The Journey of Natty Gann not long after. In 2024, the label used the same source to expand the presentation back into its original ordering and add a slew of source pieces composed by orchestrator Greig McRitchie. As mentioned before, Intrada had already treated the Delerue score to the same degree in 2015, supplanting the awful bootlegs and 10 to 15-minute suites on foreign compilations. Both are fine works, though Delerue's retains an edge in terms of memorable tone. Fans regularly disagree on this, so use your affinity for one composer over the other in general to guide you in the right direction.
TRACK LISTINGS:
1998 Horner Bootleg:
Total Time: 45:48
2003 Delerue Bootleg: Total Time: 69:19
2009 Intrada Album: Total Time: 45:02
2011 Universal Album: Total Time: 65:23
2015 Intrada Album: Total Time: 73:34
2024 Intrada Album: Total Time: 59:29
NOTES & QUOTES:
The bootlegs contain no uniform packaging. The inserts of the 2009, 2015, and 2024 Intrada
albums include information about the score and film. That of the 2011 Universal product includes
detailed information about the circumstances of the rejection of both of the scores included,
presented in French and English. Sufficient information about the crews on the latter product
(for the recording and the album) is lacking.
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2009-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Something Wicked This Way Comes are Copyright © 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2024, Dark Records (Bootleg, Horner), Bootleg (Delerue), Intrada Records (Horner), Universal Music (Delerue, France), Intrada Records (Delerue), Intrada Records (Horner) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 8/25/09 and last updated 3/19/24. |
