That Man from Rio ’Homme De Rio (That Man from Rio) Hit Delerue Style
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That Man From Rio ’Homme de Rio (That Man From Rio) hit Delerue style. The duo of de Broca and Delerue make it a good listen. Additionally, we’ve in - movie screens in 1964 and was an instant is a triumph of music and image working hand in cluded several short bumper cues that didn’t Lsensation, both in France, and then in the hand. seem to want to edit together well and were just United States, where, for a foreign film, it was really short repeated versions of cues we’d al - incredibly successful, with long exclusive runs At the time of the film’s release, United Artists ready used, and a few that didn’t make the final in several major cities. The film played both in its released two different 45rpm EPs – one in film. And we’ve included a few alternate takes of original French, and in an English-dubbed ver - France, and one in the UK – both with different several cues, just because they sounded good sion. Audiences ate up the antics of the film – it selections. Both were incredibly hard to find and and were slightly different in tempo and feel. In was hilarious, thrilling, mysterious, and all shot became instant collectors items, fetching large other words, this CD includes every note of music on location, in Paris, in Rio de Janeiro, in Brasilia money (when they could be found) on the col - Delerue wrote for the film and includes a lot of (a “city of the future” that was just then being lector market. There was about twenty minutes music never before available. built), and the Amazon. Add to that the incredi - of music between the two EPs – one had some bly electric star power of Jean-Paul Belmondo of the Brazilian source music (the French EP) Interestingly, some of the score was recorded in (a wonderful performance – in the English ver - and the other had a few score cues (the UK EP). mono and some in stereo. If I were to hazard a sion, he’s dubbed by the then up-and-coming In the States, United Artists Records had, in fact, guess, I’d say that the stereo tracks were Hal Linden), the unbelievable beauty, spunk, prepared a soundtrack LP that they ultimately recorded so that the film mixers would have con - humor, and charm of Françoise Dorléac (sister didn’t issue. trol over certain things in the mix, such as per - of Catherine Deneuve), the wonderful character cussion (there is a lot of exotic percussion), actors Jean Servais and Adolfo Celi, the literate Universal France issued a two-volume compila - strings, etc. Those instruments were hard- and very funny screenplay by Philippe de Broca, tion CD of Delerue/de Broca films – that release panned left and right (we were able to smooth it Daniel Boulanger, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, and included four tracks from the soundtrack (taken out a bit for the CD). So, the score presentation Ariane Mnouchkine, plus the frothy and effort - from composer tapes supplied by Camille is a combo-platter of mono and stereo, just as it less direction of de Broca, and it was no wonder Delerue). A couple of years later, Universal was recorded. the film was a hit – so much so that its screen - France then issued a two-fer that included That play was nominated for an Academy Award. Man From Rio and Chinese Adventures In For me, it’s a complete thrill to finally release the China. As the booklet stated, “the Rio cupboard complete soundtrack to one of my favorite 1960s The intention of the film’s director, Philippe de in Delerue’s archives was frustratingly bare: films – I think I saw That Man From Rio at least Broca, was to make the kind of movie that he tapes were missing, and there were unfinished thirty times during its initial release. I saw it first would like to have seen when he was twelve – takes, etc.” So, of the six tracks included on that at the Fine Arts Theater in LA, had many re - an adventure film that would see its hero (ac - release, only three were actually from the peated visits there, and then obsessively fol - cording to de Broca, strongly influenced by the soundtrack – the others were re-recorded by lowed the movie to other theaters, dragging as child he’d been) getting in and out of dangerous composer Alexandre Desplat. So, there has many people as I could to introduce them to the situations and handling them all with aplomb, never really been anywhere near a complete film. When it had its wider release in the Eng - whether chasing after the girl, fighting the bad soundtrack release of That Man From Rio – and lish-dubbed version, I saw that five or six times, guys, piloting an airplane, or parachuting into a certainly never one from the original source although it obviously lost some of its charm in sea of alligators. This was all done with the light - tapes. the dubbing, with an especially irritating voice est touch and very clever staging. At the begin - for Dorléac’s character. The film was issued on ning of the film, the film’s heroine is abducted in As it transpires, the reason for the “bare cup - VHS, but has never been issued on DVD in the broad daylight, and Belmondo chases after the board” was that the actual Rio tapes (not com - US. There is a French DVD (no subtitles) and a car, on foot. There is a dissolve to dusk; the car poser backups) were happily in safe keeping Russian DVD (with English subtitles). The film is arriving at the airport and Belmondo is still right here in the United States, at MGM – all of deserves a major special edition, but sadly both chasing it on foot. The film is filled with wonder - them – every note of music written for the film. Delerue and de Broca have passed on, and, of fully inventive sequences like that, one after an - There was the proposed album master, there the film’s principal players, only Belmondo is still other, and its 112-minute running time breezes were the film music stems, there was a reel of alive. by. If one reads comments on the film, it’s fre - the songs, there was an outtakes reel that had In the NewYork Times review of the film, Bosley quently stated that the movie is a Bond-like everything that wasn’t used on the proposed Crowther called it a “lulu” and said “Virtually spoof – nothing could be further from the truth. album master, and there were the original ses - every complication, every crisis involving immi - It has nothing to do with Bond. If anything, Bel - sion tapes, complete with multiple takes of cues. nent peril, that had ever been pulled in the mondo’s character is like an amateur Indiana It is from these original tapes that this album has movies, especially the old silent ones, is pulled Jones – on an adventure of a lifetime. been assembled. in this. And they are pulled in such rapid conti - nuity and so expansively played, with such élan For the score, de Broca turned to his friend and We tried, for the most part, to be true to the and against such brilliant backgrounds, that they frequent collaborator, Georges Delerue. He’d order of the film – it’s not always possible to do take your breath away.” And even though it was met Delerue in 1959, when he hired him to so, as music in the film was edited, abbreviated, not something he did regularly, Mr. Crowther score his first film, Les Jeux de l’amour (The and truncated. We’ve included only the full ver - even mentioned the score, calling Mr. Delerue’s Love Game). For Rio , Delerue rose to the oc - sions of the cues as written by Delerue. Also, if music “dreamy.” So, sit back and enjoy the casion, turning out one of his most delightful one stuck completely to the film order, there “dreamy” and wonderful music of Georges scores, one that perfectly accompanied the out - would be endless solo guitar tracks in a row, Delerue for That Man From Rio . It’s a helluva rageous action on the screen. The score has so endless Brazilian source music in a row – and ride. much variety and humor and melody and sometimes you have to do a little rearranging to — Bruce Kimmel beauty, and in so many different styles – from make a CD release be a good listening experi - pure adventure scoring to Brazilian rhythms ence. But we’ve been as true to the essence of (and some great songs), along with some haunt - the film sequencing as humanly possible, tak - ingly beautiful passages, and all in the classic ing whatever liberties we felt were necessary to.