Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

-A Talk With Hitchcock (1964) ***
http://www.amazon.com/Talk-Hitchcock-
Alfred/dp/B00004TJOU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1292891125&sr=1-1
http://www.bernardherrmann.org/articles/transcripts/telescope/
-Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) *** 1/2 [music *** 1/2]
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Two-Disc-Deluxe-Miriam-
Collection/dp/B00125WAXM/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1292891196&sr=1-1
-The Towering Inferno (1974) **** [music *** 1/2]
http://www.amazon.com/Towering-Inferno-Special-Paul-
Newman/dp/B000EHSVOG/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1292891309&sr=1-1
[reviewed Friday, June 03, 2011]
I consider this a “classic” disaster flick produced by Irwin Allen. I enjoyed it
more than Allen’s The Poseidon Adventure. There are a creative combination of elements
that cause a combustion of cinema capital here. It looks great (excellent production
values), moves along quickly, has interesting characters and dialog (thanks to the clean,
crisp writing of Stirling Silliphant), has a terrific cast, and so forth. My wife & I really
like this movie, finding it quite entertaining. I would’ve liked Ernest Borgnine (of
Poseidon Adventure fame) in a role especially, maybe Karl Malden (in Hotel) but there
are already plenty of appealing stars in this movie! It was great seeing Don Gordon
alongside McQueen (dvd 00:43:46) again. There are a lot of great scenes and dialog. I
particularly liked around 48 minutes into the dvd when the Fire Marshall (McQueen)
goes up to the Promenade big party and confronts the William Holden character.
O’Hallorhan was not going to let Duncan put his thumb on him! I recommend that you
listen to the commentary by F.X. Feeney. There is also a water tank full of other special
features on Disc 2. I would consider this dvd a “must buy” for your collection.
-Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) **** [music ****]
http://www.amazon.com/Beast-20-000-
Fathoms/dp/B0000B1OGE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1292891503&sr=1-3
I personally consider this a classic dinosaur-on-the-rampage movie with a terrific
score by David Buttolph. To offset the monster we have a very beautiful Paula Raymond!
She is lovely! Harryhausen’s creature is just terrific, one of my favorite Harryhausen
creations. I already did a short rundown on the score:
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/buttolph/beast.pdf
-Time After Time (1979) *** 1/2 [music ****]
http://www.amazon.com/Time-After-Snap-
Case/dp/B00005JL98/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1292891623&sr=1-3
201