Prince Of Foxes (Limited Edition CD Soundtrack)
Sound:
B- Music: B
During
his tenure as the head of the Fox music department, Alfred Newman scored Henry
King’s 1949 epic Prince Of Foxes and
it is one of the most remembered elements of the film. For those who only think of Newman’s work in
association with the Fox Fanfare and CinemaScope films of the 1950s, this turns
out to be one of his most interesting and surprising works. There are rich uses of orchestration involved
and this gets comparatively darker than most Newman works are known for
being. After World War II and before TV
took hold, this was Fox’s way of the studio system trying to rebuild itself.
It
certainly makes sense why Orson Welles wanted to be involved, as this had all
the makings of a film that could help Welles reestablish credibility after this
falling out with the establishment after his RKO contract failed in the battles
over creative control on Citizen Kane
and The Magnificent Ambersons. We will reserve comment on the film until Fox
has the film on DVD.
The PCM
2.0 Stereo is real stereo, coming from the two-microphone arrangement in which
Newman recorded the score, one microphone in the front, one in the back. From this a stereo split can be derived. The recording shows its age, but it also
tempts me to wonder if some kind of DTS ES discreet 6.1 mix could me made form
the elements, the way Disney did a 5.1 DTS mix from the Fantasound off of their
1940 classic Fantasia, which helped
to introduce the idea of stereophonic sound in the first place. The booklet is also a plus, loaded with the
usual information one has come to expect from the FSM label.
This is
one of the earliest releases from FSM (which can be ordered on their website at
www.filmscoremonthly.com
offering their entire catalog of great discs) and even then shows how ambitious
the label was being. The pressings were
done carefully and the limited number of 3,000 ensures high-speed duplication
did not interfere with the sound quality.
No wonder these titles are always such a treat to go through.
- Nicholas Sheffo
