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| Bernstein |
Trading Places: (Elmer Bernstein) The early 1980's
were a time when classic, timeless comedies seemed to grow in abundance,
and 1983's
Trading Places is among the best of that crop.
Director John Landis built upon his bankability after
Animal
House to steer
Trading Places to outstanding fiscal success
with a script of societal commentary that is just as relevant decades
later. Two cranky old owners of a commodities brokerage place a wager
about the debate over "nature versus nurture," intentionally destroying
the life of one of their rising young managers and replacing him with a
street hustler to determine if the environment of their company is more
determinate of success than the quality of character. Dan Aykroyd and
Eddie Murphy are those who literally trade places, and a stellar
secondary cast featuring Jamie Lee Curtis and Denholm Elliott achieved
remarkable chemistry that led to equally successful feature comedy roles
for most of them later in the decade. Landis' take on the script is
sharp with socio-political commentary that speaks to universal
stereotypes and remains funny to this day, though the charm of the
villainous brothers played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche keeps the
environment light at every moment. Landis had long been an acquaintance
and collaborator with composer Elmer Bernstein, and their work together
on
Animal House had contributed to the composer's type-cast as a
master of parody and straight forward comedy. The early 1980's were
dominated by such assignments for Bernstein, so much so that he
eventually sought to write for a dramatic film free of charge to reclaim
his glory days in the 1960's. While scores like
Airplane! and
Ghostbusters are clear reminders of the composer's ability to add
laughs, the latter score especially soured Bernstein's opinion of the
genre. That said, his work for
Trading Places is untraditional
when compared to its peers, serving as mostly an adaptation rather than
an original composition. It was Landis who had conceived of using
Mozart's overture to "The Marriage of Figaro" as the primary theme for
Trading Places; he had used Mozart pieces in the past as source
music to represent high class situations and determined that this
comical spin-off of the same sound was perfect to summarize the stuffy
atmosphere of the commodities brokerage (and that entire business sector
as a whole). Outside of this main influence, Bernstein was also tasked
with suggesting other classical influences without actually quoting
them, and as a reward for his efforts, the composer was nominated in the
later-retired "adapted music" category of the Oscars that year.
For enthusiasts of classical music who also maintain a
healthy collection of Golden Age film music,
Trading Places will
be a source of great humor. Bernstein expertly manipulates "The Marriage
of Figaro" into a range of emotional applications, starting with an
austere representation and eventually twisting it into variations closer
to the realm of Carl Stalling cartoon music. But in addition to that, he
references Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" march, traditional
jingles, a host of Christmas carols, and even some techniques of Golden
Age film composers on his journey to poke fun at every element in the
plot. This is definitely not a serious parody score; Bernstein clearly
attempts to be funny and, for some listeners, may not succeed. There is
very little original material to be heard in
Trading Places.
There is so much overt source usage that Bernstein's quasi-original
material still only clocks in at just over 20 minutes (or upwards of 25
minutes if you include some of his own source music, including the
Jamaican steel drum rhythm at the end of the picture). The actual score
portion starts heavily with the Mozart and Elgar imitation or outright
quotations; the first eight minutes are devoted to pumping up the class
distinctions that will later be torn down. As that happens, a few
snippets of original music do sneak into the score. Some of Bernstein's
standard suspense material for his comedy scores makes an appearance, as
does a pretty but inconsequential love theme on woodwind for the Aykroyd
and Curtis characters. But in the context of the film, so many Christmas
carols are applied to conversational scenes that the original portion of
the score (which is by necessity chopped into very short cues) has no
chance to accomplish much outside of maintain a basic overarching tone.
The final cue returns to the Mozart quotations to bring this part of the
soundtrack full circle. It took until 2011 before
Trading Places
received full treatment on album, and even then it's challenging to
appreciate outside of context. The La-La Land Records presentation
separates the score into 21 minutes of the original adapted material, 19
minutes of source music (most of which carols), and seven minutes of
alternate takes of the first grouping. Even when arranged together, the
original and adapted Bernstein music doesn't constitute enough meat to
merit much excitement on album. The soundtrack is so inextricably tied
to the comedy of the film that it inevitably makes you want to watch the
movie instead of attempting to enjoy the music alone. Bernstein
certainly succeeded at his task for
Trading Places, and the album
will bring a smirk to the face of anyone who fondly remembers the film
(especially those who intellectualize such scores), but the limited
product will appeal to only a small audience of Bernstein's most ardent
collectors.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert includes detailed information about both the score and film.
