Liner Notes: Shooting the Actual Film
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THE WHISPERERS & EQUUS “ARE YOU THERE?” output, which includes Whistle Down sult. Take the fact that once the editing The Wind, The L-Shaped Room, stage has been reached those same Bryan Forbes’ 1967 film of The Whis - Séance On A Wet After-noon, King Rat, scenes can be rearranged, clipped, perers (based on the novel by Robert The Wrong Box, Deadfall, The Stepford flipped, optically revised or distorted in a Nicolson) is, sadly, barely remembered Wives, The Slipper and the Rose , thousand different ways: there is literally today. But it contains one of the finest among others, shows a consummate no limit to the number of variations. performances ever committed to cellu - filmmaker who was adept in any num - loid – Dame Edith Evans, who, at the ber of genres. He got superb perform - But the poor composer never enjoys time, was seventy-nine years of age. As ances from his actors, and his visual these luxuries. He comes along quite the New York Daily News said, “Here’s style was always interesting and always late in the day – usually when the film not merely the performance of the year, in service of the story he was telling. has been edited into what is laughingly it is one of the few truly great perform - And The Whisperers looms large in his known as “the rough cut” and is ex - ances by an actress in film history.” body of work. posed to it. In my experience, on these Evans’ performance of an elderly, lonely occasions, the director is more con - woman with a fantasy life, who hears For the score, Forbes used John Barry cerned with pointing out that “it’s all voices (the “whisperers” of the title), – they’d already done several pictures going to be different” than with the com - lives in seedy squalor, and who barely together, including Séance On A Wet poser’s own peculiar problems.” can exist on what she receives from the Afternoon, King Rat , and The Wrong National Assistance, is so haunting and Box . By 1967, Barry had already be - He goes on to eloquently point out how touching and magical – the emotions come a legend, thanks to his iconic grossly unfair it is for the composer to that play across her face at any given scores for the James Bond films. What - sit in a screening and then be expected moment for any given reason, the way ever alchemy sometimes happens be - to comment profoundly about how the she carries herself and cocks her head tween director, composer, and subject music will work, and then has to com - and asks “Are you there?” – well, it’s matter, happened repeatedly with pose to a looming deadline. So, for The simply not possible to offer enough Forbes and Barry and Barry’s score for Whisperers , Forbes decided to try an - praise. The Whisperers is not only one of his other approach: best, but a perfect marriage of film and The film itself is bleak and downbeat, music. Here’s Forbes on Barry, his “It was decided that John would write gray and rainy, and it didn’t catch on with score, and the composing process, from his music at the same time that I was audiences (it was a very strong year for the original LP liner notes: shooting the actual film. This meant that film, with The Graduate, Bonnie and by the time I came off the floor John had Clyde, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, “This is the fourth full length score that finished a complete score. He had the Wait Until Dark, Cool Hand Luke, The John has written for me and I have no script the same time as the actors, he Dirty Dozen and more), but was a hit doubt, whatever the merits of the actual saw assembled sequences of the film at with critics. Apparently enough Acad - film, his musical contribution is a major one. frequent intervals and spent a lot of time emy voters saw it because Evans re - actually on the studio floor observing ceived a Best Actress nomination. She I have always felt that film composers work in progress. In this way he became was in very good company – Audrey work under very adverse conditions. part of the production from the very be - Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Anne They alone, of all the creative elements ginning. Bancroft, and Faye Dunaway – but the involved in the making of a film are sel - award went to Katherine Hepburn. dom, if ever, given a second chance. We recorded his complete score, not in Evans did win the Silver Bear at the Take the fact that the screenwriter can snatches or short lengths to fit pieces of Berlin Festival as well as a Golden and very often does submit half a dozen film, but as a musical whole. I always Globe and BAFTA award. drafts before the final screenplay is ac - wanted him to have an opportunity with - cepted. Take the fact that the director out fetters, a chance to express himself The film itself is one that’s ripe for re - can, of course, shoot each and every in music as I expressed myself on film. discovery. Bryan Forbes was a very un - scene over and over again before pro - Not a very revolutionary idea, you might derrated filmmaker – but a look at his nouncing himself satisfied with the re - say. But, alas, unique in my experience. I think the result speaks for itself. If the film Shaffer based his play on an incident chestration for an ensemble of lower is remembered, John Barry’s music will he’d heard about involving a seventeen- string instruments – ten violas, eight cel - be remembered. If the film isn’t remem - year-old who’d blinded six horses. In - los, and six basses. Bennett’s under - bered, John Barry’s music will continue stead of reading about the actual score compliments Lumet’s visuals and with a life of its own, and since one can’t incident, Shaffer concocted his own tale Shaffer’s dialogue perfectly. win them all, in that case I shall be content about what might have caused the to rest on his considerable laurels.” young man to do such a thing. It was On a personal note – I had the extreme compelling theater, filled with Shaffer’s pleasure of producing a CD for a vocal - And Forbes was absolutely correct – the incredible wordplay, anguished charac - ist named Mary Cleere Haran. I was result speaks for itself. The film, unfor - ters, and innate theatricality. The play more than delighted to find that her mu - tunately, hasn’t been remembered mesmerized audiences – it had a very sical director was none other than much, but John Barry’s score does con - long run in London, and ran for 1209 Richard Rodney Bennett. Those days in tinue with a life of its own. performances on Broadway. It has been the studio working with him, and just revived many times since, most recently chatting between takes, was magical. The Whisperers was originally issued starring Richard Griffiths and Daniel Bennett was a charming, bright, won - on a United Artists LP and had a prior Radcliffe. derful person and he remembered that CD release on Ryko. That release, as we’d put out his score to Enchanted was the case with several Ryko issues, For the 1977 film, Sidney Lumet was April back in the Bay Cities days. He had dialogue tracks added between the engaged to direct, with Shaffer adapt - was delighted that I knew most of his score tracks, which, for most people, ing the play for the screen. Things that work, and we even talked about doing completely interrupted the wonderful were highly theatrical onstage became something similar to what we’d done flow of Barry’s original LP sequence. For real on film, and playwright Shaffer was with David Shire – a chamber album of this release, we have removed the apparently none too happy about the re - his movie themes. Alas, it never hap - added dialogue tracks and remastered alistic presentation of the abuse of the pened, but working with him is one of the sound. horses (obviously no real horses were the highlights of my record-producing abused in the making of the film). The career. “I AM YOURS film version had a fantastic supporting AND YOU ARE MINE” cast, including Colin Blakely as Alan The original United Artists LP of Equus , Strang’s father (Blakely also played along with its prior CD release (on Ryko Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play Equus was a Dysart during the original London run), – now long out of print), interspersed sensation from the minute the curtain Joan Plowright, Harry Andrews, Eileen five of Burton’s monologues (and a went up on its original production at the Atkins, and Jenny Agutter. The reviews scene with Firth) among the score cues. Royal National Theatre at the Old Vic in were, for the most part, respectful and Some of the monologues retained their London. The show had brilliant direction fine, but the film wasn’t a huge box-of - own track and had no underscore, and by John Dexter, and two amazing per - fice winner. Burton, Firth, and Shaffer all some were bookended with musical formances, by Alec McCowen as psy - received well-deserved Oscar nomina - cues. The result was a very nice listen chiatrist Martin Dysart and Peter Firth tions. for the first couple of times – after that, as his young patient, Alan Strang. It was one wished that the score could simply brought to Broadway, where Firth re - To score the film, Lumet turned to be listened to as a score, on its own.