The Stripper/Nick Quarry (Limited Edition CD Soundtrack)
Sound:
B Music: B
In one of
the only theatrical film/TV soundtrack combo Soundtracks I can recall, the FSM
label of Film Score Monthly Magazine has issued a limited edition CD of
Franklin Schaffner’s 1963 debut feature The
Stripper, which also inaugurated a very fruitful relationship with composer
Jerry Goldsmith. Fox has not put the
film on DVD yet, but with a score like this, plus a cast that includes Joanne
Woodward, Claire Trevor, Carol Lynley, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Michael J. Pollard,
it should be very interesting to watch.
Here, we
have the soundtrack, broken up into sections.
There is the main music score, the diagetic radio music (nine tracks!),
“the strip act” (four tracks) and two bonus tracks. That is pretty thorough and shows how a
composer, especially one of Goldsmith’s caliber, can layer sound with all kinds
of effect and character. This is also a
time when the studios were not license-crazy and they would let a composer do
all kinds of composition for a film.
Now, that is considered “unrealistic” automatically, but given the
usually bad licensing choices made by studios and the majority of poorer
filmmakers we have today, you can see how good Goldsmith was here.
If that
was not enough on one CD, FSM has added tracks from the 15-minute-demo reel
that failed to launch a series called Nick
Quarry. Such demo reels were
considered a way for the studios and networks to save money in trying to sell
an idea, as was the case in the failed Batgirl
pilot often sold as a bootleg as if it were a full pilot show or even
full-length telefilm. Supposedly too
violent for its time, the Goldsmith music probably enhanced that aspect too
well and scared off the networks, but it is a film that ought to be made
available for us to see now. The music
is very good.
The PCM
2.0 sound is stereo for the most part on The
Stripper, with the final track noted as mono. The Nick
Quarry tracks are all monophonic, but some remarkably good music for the
four tracks that are here. This CD has
been limited to only 3,000 pressings, which includes its very informative
booklet, so we suggest you check it out (literally check out a copy for order
even) at www.filmscoremonthly.com
where you can get more details on this and other music exclusives.
- Nicholas Sheffo
