The Seven-Ups - M*A*S*H
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The Verdict - The Seven-Ups - M*A*S*H then (The Hospital, Plaza Suite, Love in all categories. Over the years the Story, The In-Laws), was hired to direct, film has lost not an iota of its power – and David Mamet was hired to write the it’s one of those films that you can just screenplay. Neither the producers nor watch over and over again and never Hiller liked Mamet’s script, so Hiller left tire of. JOHNNY MANDEL the project and the producers hired Jay Presson Allen to do a new script. Za- For The Verdict, Mandel wrote a very began his professional life in the 1940s, nuck and Brown liked her script. Robert short, very sparse, but hugely effective playing trumpet and trombone with var- Redford was interested in taking on the score. Running under fourteen min- ious top bands and performers. In the lead but didn’t like Allen’s script, so he utes, but placed perfectly in the film, late 1940s he began writing jazz com- suggested hiring James Bridges to write it’s amazing how such a little amount of positions for folks like Woody Herman, and direct. Bridges wrote a few drafts of music can still work so powerfully and Stan Getz, Count Basie, and Chet the script, but no one was happy with make such an impact. It’s a somber Baker. But in 1958, Mandel burst on the them and Bridges left the project, fol- score, but the cues have a dark beauty film music scene with his incredible jazz lowed by Redford. Then Zanuck and about them and his use of a choir is score for the Robert Wise film, I Want Brown hired Sidney Lumet and they not the cliché it occasionally is in other to Live, one of the greatest jazz scores sent him all the script versions up to scores. Sometimes less is more and ever written for the cinema. Over the that point. In the end, he went back to Mandel’s score for The Verdict is a per- years he’s written many classic scores, Mamet’s script. Paul Newman read it, fect example of it. such as The Americanization of Emily, liked it, and finally the film was on. The Sandpiper (which yielded the hit song, “The Shadow of Your Smile” for The Verdict tells the story of a THE SEVEN-UPS which he won an Academy Award), once-promising attorney who was Harper, The Russians Are Coming, framed for jury tampering and who is Rare is the film composer who hasn’t The Russians Are Coming, Point Blank, now an alcoholic reduced to ambulance had a score replaced at one time or Pretty Poison, M*A*S*H (both film and chasing. He takes on a case, and that another, especially from the 1970s on. TV), The Last Detail, Freaky Friday, Ag- case becomes a life-changer for him And with The Seven-Ups it happened atha, Caddyshack, Deathtrap, and The and a chance for redemption. to Mandel. Verdict, to name a few. All the while he continued doing arrangements for The fact that the producers initially did Producer Philip D’Antoni had already singers like Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, not like Mamet’s script is mind-boggling had a huge success with the film Bullitt, Barbra Streisand, Diane Schurr, Shirley because it’s so obviously great, and starring Steve McQueen, and that film’s Horn and others, as well as writing pop Newman turns in one of his all-time car chase had become an instant clas- tunes like “Where Do You Start” with best performances as Frank Galvin. sic. Then he produced another smash, Marilyn and Alan Bergman. As of this One could not ask for a better sup- The French Connection, starring Gene writing, he’s thankfully still with us at 92. porting cast: Charlotte Rampling, Jack Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Tony Lo He has a completely unique film music Warden, James Mason, Milo O’Shea, Bianco. voice, as you’re about to hear in the two Lindsay Crouse, and Wesley Addy, all The car chase in that film became even film scores we present here, along with giving memorable performances. No- more of an instant classic than the Bul- the world premiere release of his work body directed this kind of film better litt car chase. The film also won the on the M*A*S*H TV series. than Lumet, and it’s one of his best, too. Academy Award for Best Picture. Roger Ebert raved, “The screenplay by While making The French Connection, THE VERDICT David Mamet is a wonder of good dia- Sonny Grosso (the film was based on logue, strongly seen characters and a the exploits of Grosso and Eddie Egan), Upon its release, The Verdict was an structure that pays off big in the court- told D’Antoni a story about a group of instant critical and box-office hit. But room scene… the performances, the policemen who were only assigned fel- the road there was anything but easy dialogue and the plot all work together onies where the penalties were seven as is frequently the case in the world like a rare machine.” years and up. D’Antoni hired writers to of Hollywood. The saga began when write it and pitched it to Twentieth Cen- producers Richard Zanuck and David The film garnered five Oscar nomina- tury-Fox, who agreed to let him direct Brown purchased the rights to the novel tions – Best Actor, Best Supporting as well as produce. of The Verdict by Barry Reed. Arthur Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, and Hiller, who’d had a lot of success by Best Adapted Screenplay. Sadly it lost D’Antoni brought back Roy Scheider and Tony Lo Bianco to star, and pop- viously worked better for D’Antoni. But moved it to Saturday nights following All ulated the film with excellent New York the Mandel score is really great on its in the Family for its second season and character actors. While the movie has own. that turned the show around. Like sev- many memorable scenes and perfor- eral shows of that era, M*A*S*H was mances, it’s never quite in the same The previous CD release only had groundbreaking TV. While it would un- league as The French Connection. about nineteen minutes of it – here, dergo several major cast changes, the Like its predecessors, it, too, contains for the first time, you get the complete show was must-see TV right through to a lengthy car chase and it’s a doozy, score, close to forty minutes. You’ll note its final episode, “Goodbye, Farewell, designed by stunt coordinator and some differences in track titles and lay- and Amen,” which aired on February 28, driver Bill Hickman, who’d done both out – that’s because the earlier version 1983, capping an eleven season run. Bullitt and The French Connection. It’s had some sound issues that could not That extended finale was, at the time, a heart-pumping, brilliant sequence. It’s be corrected, so a few things were the most-watched and highest-rated amazing to watch these car chase se- moved around or presented in slightly single television episode in U.S. tele- quences – today most of that would be different form. One example: The track vision history, with a record-breaking done with CGI in a computer, but with called Antique Shop on the previous 125-million viewers. these films what gives the chases their release was actually an overlay for the visceral power is that it’s all very real Main Title, but because that portion of As with the film, Johnny Mandel pro- and very dangerous. It’s the highlight the Main Title couldn’t be used back vided some of the scores for the TV of The Seven-Ups. The film did reason- then, it was simply included as a stand- show, along with his iconic title theme. able business but did not replicate the alone track. The actual Antique Shop For this world-premiere release, all of success of The French Connection. cue was edited into the Main Title on the episodes featuring Mandel scores the previous release. While there are are from season one. It’s unknown why D’Antoni turned to still a few instances of wow, most of Johnny Mandel for the score. Don Ellis this has much-improved sound thanks — Bruce Kimmel had done The French Connection and to the expert work of Mike Matessino. had created a unique and dissonant score for that film. Mandel turned in a terrific score, but very different in style to Ellis’s jagged kind of music. In the M*A*S*H – end, D’Antoni went back to Ellis, who THE TELEVISION SERIES provided an excellent score that was much more in keeping with the feel of The 1970 film MASH was a smash. The French Connection. But thanks Irreverent and satirical, the Robert Al- to the new Twilight Time Blu-ray, one tman film took audiences and critics by can see exactly how the film would surprise. With a great screenplay by have played with Mandel’s score and, Ring Lardner, Jr. (based on the novel as always, that’s fascinating to watch. by Richard Hooker), and perfectly cast Much of it works really well and at times with such terrific actors as Elliot Gould, it seems to give the film an emotional Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt, underpinning that the Ellis score never Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Roger does.