Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

Hollander’s cue “Heaven” from Here Comes Mr. Jordon (1941) for part of the Main Title
of 20 Million Miles To Earth. Then he talks about a David Diamond cue from Anna
Lucasta (1949) used in the Harryhausen movie as well (rocket ship crashes). Etc. So
M.B. (the man, not the coffee) is the unsung composer for the original music written for
the early Harryhausen flicks and many other Columbia movies.
So I would say that, as a film music researcher, the Schecter special feature that
runs around 22 minutes is the best item in the dvd set. He did his detailed homework and
it shows on the documentary. I’d like to see more such film music special features (and
not necessarily special commentaries as the movie is running because a lot of times they
are not very informative or entertaining at all).
I managed to very briefly study the condensed score for this movie one afternoon
around 2000 or 2001. As David Schecter discussed in his excellent long special feature
(“Film Music’s Unsung Hero”), music was both tracked in from various other composers
, and also freshly added by the un-sung hero, Mischa Bakaleinikoff (I can finally spell his
name but don’t ask me to pronounce it correctedly! : ) In fact a cue or two spelled his
name “Misca.”
“Mister Monster # 2” Cue # 10493. Dvd location : 00:49:22/ Most of the first
three pre-bars (A, B, C) were not used in the movie except for the last half of “C.”
Trombones on the middle staff of three sound mf, after a quarter rest, small octave B/Line
1 C dotted half notes tied to whole notes next bar (silent in Bar “C”). On the bottom staff
of Bar A are the strings and woodwinds in C time playing small octave F# quarter note
up to Bb/middle C quarter notes tied to dotted quarter notes back down to F# 8 th up to
(Bar B) Bb/C dotted 8ths down to F# 16 th up to Bb/C dotted half notes to (Bar C) F# 8 th
up to (yes, you guessed it!) Bb/C dotted quarter notes to same dotted 8ths down to (yes,
you guessed it!) F# 16 th up to Bb/C quarter. Fortunately not much of this was used since
it may have been been a bit boring to hear! Double-bar lines traverse down the score at
this point, signaling a change in the music (which indeed occurs as the It! The Terror
From Beneath the Sea! Attacks the poor puny policeman walking and smiling on the
beach!).
So in Bar 1 (dvd 00:49:24) we see trumpets in the middle staff now playing flutter
whole notes Line 2 E/F#/G# --rather dissonant close intervals but it can be more strident
with even closer intervals. I suppose high woodwinds and strings play fingered trem (or
legato trem “shakes” for the woodwinds) between Line 3 G#-A# whole notes (repeated
next two bars). Other instruments are trill on Line 1 G# whole note tied to next two bars,
and yet other instruments there in the top staff sound ff small octave A#/middle C# tied
whole notes (perhaps they are trill as well). I believe VC/CB and perhaps low woodwinds
on the third or bottom staff play Great octave and small octave C whole notes tied to
quarter notes next bar down to Bb 8 th down to F# dotted quarter notes to same 8ths tied to
whole notes in Bar 3. The trumpets were flutter whole notes tied to next bar and to 8ths in
Bar 3 (followed by an 8 th and two quarter rests marks). Then they play (dvd 00:49:32)
Line 1 F to E up to Bb “3” triplet value 8ths up to (Bar 4) E whole note. Violins at the
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