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| Broughton |
Tombstone: (Bruce Broughton) When actor Kurt
Russell decided in 1989 to make a film about Wyatt Earp, little did he
know the trials that awaited him. Kevin Costner had already beaten
Russell to the idea, but had failed to come to agreement with
Tombstone writer Kevin Jarre (son of famed composer Maurice
Jarre) about the inclusion of so many incidental characters in the plot.
Costner thus sought director Lawrence Kasdan and they began production
on
Wyatt Earp, all the while using Costner's considerable
influence at the time to harm Jarre and
Tombstone's distribution
chances. This, despite the fact that Russell had agreed to helm
Tombstone and assemble a monumental cast to eclipse the most
notable ensemble Western performances of prior years. Unfortunately for
Russell, his cast and crew saw considerable turnover during production
due to a variety of awkward reasons, and he employed director George P.
Cosmatos to ghost-direct a film that was being rewritten on the set to
accommodate changes in cast. The ambitious production featured Russell,
Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, and Bill Paxton in the lead roles while teasing
audiences with supporting performances from Charlton Heston, Robert
Mitchum, Harey Carey Jr., Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Dana Delaney,
and heartthrobs Jason Priestley and Billy Zane. Casualties of the
production's difficulties were Glenn Ford and Willem Dafoe, the latter
interestingly refused for the Doc Holliday role by the studio (Disney's
Buena Vista) because of his involvement with
The Last Temptation of
Christ. The story did indeed suffer from fragmented attention
because of Jarre's overblown script, but the usual Earp, Holliday, O.K.
Corral scenarios were well enough executed (especially by Kilmer,
surprisingly) to earn the film positive reviews. Russell had the last
laugh over Costner, because
Tombstone beat
Wyatt Earp to
theatres by six months and doubled its budget at the box office while
the Costner endeavor was often forgotten as a financial disaster because
of
Waterworld not long after. Both films failed to capitalize on
a genre that had run out of steam after
Silverado,
Dances With
Wolves, and
Unforgiven had expended audiences' tolerance of
modern Westerns. For film score collectors,
Tombstone had the
benefit of composer Bruce Broughton's services, despite
Silverado
director Kasdan's involvement with
Wyatt Earp, which went to
James Newton Howard as part of his enduring collaboration with
Costner.
There are remarkable similarities between the
approaches taken by Howard and Broughton towards their respective
assignments, both using similar tones not traditional to the Western
genre to avoid stereotypes. For Broughton, these specifically manifested
in a cimbalom, tin whistle, bhodran, and contrabass sarrusophone. A
massive trombone section emphasizing its lowest ranks also contributes
to the relatively bass-heavy tone of
Tombstone. The themes
conjured by Broughton for this film are similar in robust construct to
those of
Silverado, though the composer has never again really
captured the adventurous essence of that score's primary identity. In
fact, comparisons to
Silverado are inevitable in Broughton's many
Western scores to follow his Academy Award nomination for the 1985
classic, none more so than
Tombstone. The musical tone of the
1993 film is even darker in its material for the villains, though
regardless of the composer's claims as to a substantially more menacing
ambience in
Tombstone, much of it does continue to exhibit either
the wholesome or upbeat spirit of
Silverado. Several major themes
exist in the latter score, though their use isn't as flashy as the
placements of the main theme in
Silverado, so
Tombstone
relies on a steady stream of high quality material that spans greater
emotional range to ensure its success. The title theme for
Tombstone is a muscular identity ready for war, introduced in
"Arrival in Tombstone" and largely absent from the score until the final
cues. Fortunately, Broughton did record a concert arrangement of this
theme alone for enjoyment on album. Of softer personality are the themes
for Earp's family (expressed with exuberance in "A Family") and a
replacement for the character of "Josephine." The "Arrival in Tombstone"
cue is perhaps the most interesting expression of the score's theme,
featuring some of the most prominent placements of the whistle and
cimbalom. The evil "Cowboys" of the story are afforded growling,
percussive rhythms heard immediately at the start of the score; this
propulsive material is remarkably ominous in its metallic clanging
effects and snarling pounding through the bass region and will remind of
Alan Silvestri's action material at times. The remainder of the score
often explores these ideas (arguably with the exception of the title
theme) in interesting directions, a cue like "Fortuitous Encounter/Wyatt
& Josephine" a welcome respite from the darker shades.
While
Tombstone is definitely at its best when
reinforcing its thematic content, the middle sequences in the score do
resort to more generic suspense techniques with strings and brooding
passages of minimal volume. And, although much is made about the unusual
specialty instrumentation added to the mix for this score, there is a
fair amount of xylophone, wood block, and standard brass usage to make
an enthusiast of the genre comfortable. The woodwind techniques in "The
Town Marshall" are familiar as well. Some of the crescendos of agony in
Tombstone definitely get your attention, however, with the duo of
"Morgan's Murder" and "Morgan's Death" applying ultra-melodramatic brass
layers and timpani pounding over clanging chimes that is reminiscent of
John Williams'
Star Wars music. During the action sequences,
Broughton isn't afraid to lay on the cymbals in constant crashes and
rolls as well, highlighting "Finishing It" with an unmistakable sense of
victory. Overall, some of the middle sections of
Tombstone are a
bit generic in the mass of Broughton's career, but there is more than
enough thematic interest in the opening and closing thirds of the score
to heartily recommend it on album. Broughton was also proud of his
original music for the traveling theatre group in the film, offering
something of a slight carnival atmosphere in its pompous little
overture. Ultimately, however,
Tombstone will appeal to
Silverado enthusiasts no matter the attempts made by Broughton to
distinguish the later score. The similarities between them are simply
too great to ignore, and while many of the composer's subsequent Western
works would be dismissed because they couldn't rival
Silverado's
legacy,
Tombstone comes satisfyingly close. The Intrada Records
label has always been loyal to Broughton's work and has presented
multiple versions of both scores through the years. The initial Intrada
release of
Tombstone at the time of the film's debut offers the
66 essential minutes of music from the score, but includes only one of
the Fabian theatre group pieces. An expanded edition from the label in
2006, pressed without a limit in quantity, added twenty minutes and
remastered the whole. The follow-up set does indeed sound better, though
not significantly so, and the handful of incidental, short additions to
the score are, with the possible exception of "No More Curly Bill," not
particularly interesting. The second CD does provide alternate takes and
the theatre source cues, amounting to 14 minutes (dominated by the
concert arrangement of the title theme). Unless you are deeply in love
with this score, the original 1993 album should suffice if you already
have it in your collection.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Bruce Broughton reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.36
(in 11 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.28
(in 4,513 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts of both albums include information about the score and
film, though the 2006 set features a more extensive analysis.
