Music Out of Place?

CmdrAtticus

I just caught FRWL on the tube - haven't seen it in a while. I'd forgotten the details of some scenes, and one in particular seemed really strange to me. From the moment Connery arrives at his hotel and during the entire time he's checking his room for bugs, the JB theme is bashing over the soundtrack. Now, it's a great theme, but I kept waiting for Connery to say "Why didn't they tell me an orchestra would be rehearsing next door?". It seems totally out of place for what he's doing - checking in and going to his room quietly searching for devices. They did the same type of weird thing in the first film - as if the character needed this huge fanfare to let the audience know how great this character is every time he enters a scene. I'm surprised Barry did not come up with a quieter track more suitable for such scenes in RUSSIA and why Norman kept reusing the Bond theme over (was he rushed in doing the soundtrack and didn't have time to come up with addtional cues for the more sedate scenes?). It's one of the things that takes me a bit out of enjoying Dr. No...the tracks for many of the scenes seem almost cartoonish, and the constant use of the Bond theme blaring over the other scenes that just didn't need it.

Nick37

In the case of Dr. No, they probably had a limited budget so they only had a few musical pieces to use. FRWL, not sure. Perhaps the 007 theme which is prevalent during the theft of the Lektor would have been a bit better. It is quieter, but even it is much more action packed than the actual scene itself of Bond sweeping his room. I mean, it could be worse, it could have been playing over a scene of Sean using the bathroom.

*Sean reaches for toilet paper*

DAH DAH, DAAH DAAH...DAHH DAHHH DAHHHH ....DAAH DAAH...DADADAHHHHH.

Firemass

funny, I watched FRWL last night and thought the exact same thing. They make such a big deal out of "Bond Arriving" first by Pan Am and then checking into the hotel. The extended scene of him looking for bugs is fun because it actually fits the music quite well. I especially like the part where he's backing up from the wall painting and the music shifts. But yeah...overkill on the soundtrack? perhaps.

raptors_887

Anytime that annoying trumpet sound is played in Goldfinger LOL.

Silhouette Man

CmdrAtticus wrote:

I just caught FRWL on the tube - haven't seen it in a while. I'd forgotten the details of some scenes, and one in particular seemed really strange to me. From the moment Connery arrives at his hotel and during the entire time he's checking his room for bugs, the JB theme is bashing over the soundtrack. Now, it's a great theme, but I kept waiting for Connery to say "Why didn't they tell me an orchestra would be rehearsing next door?". It seems totally out of place for what he's doing - checking in and going to his room quietly searching for devices. They did the same type of weird thing in the first film - as if the character needed this huge fanfare to let the audience know how great this character is every time he enters a scene. I'm surprised Barry did not come up with a quieter track more suitable for such scenes in RUSSIA and why Norman kept reusing the Bond theme over (was he rushed in doing the soundtrack and didn't have time to come up with addtional cues for the more sedate scenes?). It's one of the things that takes me a bit out of enjoying Dr. No...the tracks for many of the scenes seem almost cartoonish, and the constant use of the Bond theme blaring over the other scenes that just didn't need it.

Yes, I've not seen FRWL in years and this really struck me as odd too. It really is not suited to this scene but I suppose that they were still trying to establish the James Bond character construct on the big screen at this stage in 1962-1964. This habit is dropped after Goldfinger, I think. Thankfully so. 8-)

Barbel

Hope this helps-

The shooting of FRWL ran longer than expected and John Barry was committed to another film (Zulu, if my memory serves) and had to go at his original contracted time. Editor Peter Hunt therefore used the Bond theme wherever he saw fit (much as he had done in DN) and even re-used portions of Norman's DN score (eg, the helicopter crash) when he had to.

Blackleiter

My, my - we really are looking for things to complain about. Must be a slow day! )

DEFIANT 74205

While I can see where you're coming from, I don't agree that it's out of place. I think it's a great accompaniment to the scene where Bond is searching for the bugs, reaching the crescendo (not being musically inclined, I'm not sure if that's the right word) when he found one behind the painting. That's perfectly timed.

LastRatStanding

Anyone seen this? Pretty funny! Check out his videos if you haven't. He certainly agrees with CmdrAtticus! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=14JpfLI3goU#t=255s

Firemass

LastRatStanding wrote:

Anyone seen this? Pretty funny! Check out his videos if you haven't. He certainly agrees with CmdrAtticus! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=14JpfLI3goU#t=255s

pretty funny. sidenote- i wish people would get the aspect ratio correct on youtube. how hard can it be?

Silhouette Man

Barbel wrote:

Hope this helps-

The shooting of FRWL ran longer than expected and John Barry was committed to another film (Zulu, if my memory serves) and had to go at his original contracted time. Editor Peter Hunt therefore used the Bond theme wherever he saw fit (much as he had done in DN) and even re-used portions of Norman's DN score (eg, the helicopter crash) when he had to.

Ah, that explains it. What would we do without our musical maestro, eh?

Napoleon Plural

It probably does help build a bit of suspense as well, as really this is a bog standard Bond checks into his hotel room scene, so it helps to imply he's up to something, checking to see if the place is bugged. Of course, in a way arriving at an airport and checking into a foreign hotel were kinda exotic and rare things to do back then.

Shady Tree

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Of course, in a way arriving at an airport and checking into a foreign hotel were kinda exotic and rare things to do back then.

Agreed... and I think this is the main point. In the early 1960s, international air travel and the experience of checking in to hotels abroad wasn't as commonplace as it is now; it was largely the preserve of the well-off and privileged. In DN and FRWL Connery, with his rough-around-the-edges persona, is almost a surrogate for working class audiences for whom, at the time, international travel was still an aspiration/fantasy. To that extent, the spectacle of 'Bond Arriving' was in itself thrilling and exciting - and so the use of The James Bond Theme as a fanfare to mark the routines of the experience (strolling through airport Arrivals, being handed a key by a hotel receptionist, tipping a porter, etc.) wouldn't have seemed as over-the-top as perhaps it does now.

On a different note, there's a musical cue in LTK which really grates with me. It's at the end of the PTS when Bond and Leiter parachute from the plane for Leiter's wedding. A triumphalist brass note strikes exactly the same chord as a whoop/cheer, but not at precisely the same moment: the effect is cheesy and (as I remember it from cinemas in 1989) groan-inducing. It's probably a point which belongs more in the Music forum, but it sort of goes with this topic too. I can't quite make up my mind whether it's the whoop or the music which is 'out of place'.

Silhouette Man

Shady Tree wrote:

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Of course, in a way arriving at an airport and checking into a foreign hotel were kinda exotic and rare things to do back then.

Agreed... and I think this is the main point. In the early 1960s, international air travel and the experience of checking in to hotels abroad wasn't as commonplace as it is now; it was largely the preserve of the well-off and privileged. In DN and FRWL Connery, with his rough-around-the-edges persona, is almost a surrogate for working class audiences for whom, at the time, international travel was still an aspiration/fantasy. To that extent, the spectacle of 'Bond Arriving' was in itself thrilling and exciting - and so the use of The James Bond Theme as a fanfare to mark the routines of the experience (strolling through airport Arrivals, being handed a key by a hotel receptionist, tipping a porter, etc.) wouldn't have seemed as over-the-top as perhaps it does now.On a different note, there's a musical cue in LTK which really grates with me. It's at the end of the PTS when Bond and Leiter parachute from the plane for Leiter's wedding. A triumphalist brass note strikes exactly the same chord as a whoop/cheer, but not at precisely the same moment: the effect is cheesy and (as I remember it from cinemas in 1989) groan-inducing. It's probably a point which belongs more in the Music forum, but it sort of goes with this topic too. I can't quite make up my mind whether it's the whoop or the music which is 'out of place'.

Very well put there, Shady. I just adored your post. Nail hit firmly on the head, methinks.

CmdrAtticus

Barbel wrote:

Hope this helps-

The shooting of FRWL ran longer than expected and John Barry was committed to another film (Zulu, if my memory serves) and had to go at his original contracted time. Editor Peter Hunt therefore used the Bond theme wherever he saw fit (much as he had done in DN) and even re-used portions of Norman's DN score (eg, the helicopter crash) when he had to.

Thanks so much - having edited films, I had a feeling the explanation was something along those lines. So, it wasn't that they chose those cues specifically for those scenes - they were the ONLY ones they thought fit them given the existing music they had. As far as the fanfare notes for the airport arrrival scenes in the films..I never had a compaint about those - but its a far cry from showing someone arriving by jet at an exotic location (which was a novelty for most at the time) to something mundane as checking in at a front desk or just hunting for devices in a room. Anyway, the image of Bond in the loo reaching for the toilet paper or showing him exiting the loo as we hear a flush with the Bond theme crashing over the soundtrack gives a me a bit of the giggles!

Barbel

CmdrAtticus wrote:

Thanks so much - having edited films, I had a feeling the explanation was something along those lines.

My pleasure!