Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

format. Couple it with one of the best scores by Max Steiner you definitely will savor a
classic movie, most entertaining to watch and enjoy thoroughly. The sets, costumes and
gorgeous Technicolor print are all a delight. There is a decidedly light touch in the story
approach—rightly so—but with enough drama and excitement that was expertly woven
in the mix by director Vincent Sherman. I immensely enjoyed Robert Douglas as the evil
Duke de Lorca.
I already wrote a 75-page rundown on the music on my site, accessed here:
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/steiner/adventuresofdonjuan.pdf
-2007 New Year’s Concert (Zubin Mehta) **
http://www.amazon.com/New-Years-Concert-2007-
Philharmoniker/dp/B000JFZ9FW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1292888160&sr=1
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-The Verdict (1982) ***** [music ****]
http://www.amazon.com/Verdict-Paul-
Newman/dp/B000063US3/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1292888229&sr=1-3
What a great movie! In fact This movie about a lost man seeking redemption
deserves a masterpiece five ***** star rating. This film was directed by the most
esteemed Sidney Lumet (who just recently died in early April 2011) and super-featured
Paul Newman in his best acting role ever. David Mamet wrote the superb screenplay.
Plus having the great James Mason onboard is the icing on the cake. This is pretty much a
perfect drama. It is no coincidence that another perfect drama is a 1957 film direct by
Lumet, 12 Angry Men. I really recommend that you listen to Lumet’s audio commentary.
The music by Johnny Mandel works very well (what little of it is there). I was
really floored back in 1982 when I first saw the film in the theater early on in the picture.
On the dvd 00:05:45 you witness the drunken Frank Galvin rampaging his office. The
music is so dark and Herrmannesque that it is rather startling. The reason there is little
music was explained by Lumet in his commentary at 22 minutes and then 52 minutes into
the commentary. He stated that music shouldn’t be doing what the movie is doing; that is,
it shouldn’t be mickey-mousing the scenes. That would obviously shun the likes of Max
Steiner doing the score! He also did not want even mood music interfering with the
reality within the picture.
-Illegal (1955) *** 1/2 [music ****]
http://www.amazon.com/Illegal-Steal-Film-Double-
Feature/dp/B000PKG7CK/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1292888446&sr=1-1
I liked this black & white Warner Bros. movie starring Edward G. Robinson (I’m
a Robinson fan!) as District Attorney Victor Scott, Nina Foch, and Hugh Marlowe. There
are many interesting co-stars in this minor or borderline film noir crime drama: DeForest
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