Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

ehearsal of the fight that somehow was kept in the movie. Give me Errol Flynn and Basil
Rathborne any day! The dialog is rather laughable at times (especially between Rodrigo
and Jimena—pronounced “Chimey” or something-- such as starting at dvd 00:40:03) but
I’ve heard similar strange dialog in epic films of the old, old periods before (such as The
Fall of the Roman Empire). Actually I liked the latter movie a bit more than El Cid
because of the great stars (James Mason, Alec Guinnes, Stephen Boyd, and others) and
because of Tiomkin’s terrific music—but both movies get only a three-star (***) rating
out of five.
However, the score by Miklos Rozsa gets a four-star rating. The music is better
than the movie. There are many musical sequences I really enjoy. One of my favorites is
located on the dvd at the start of Chapter 20 (starting 00:1:19:41) before Cid battles the
13 men. The propulsive rhythm starting at 1:20:21 is really nice. There are nice freezeframe
points from 1:20:31 thru 1:20:42 with the expanse below and the sea. That early
fight scene between the Cid and the King’s overweight champion I mentioned earlier;
well, I happen to have the full-score music to that cue starting on the dvd at 00:34:49.
Amazingly at USC two cues from the movie were in a folder attached to score materials
for King of Kings.
I had put on the images of my two hand-copies on the Rozsa forum a few years
back. Here is the link on that “Courage and Honor’ EL CID” topic:
http://miklosrozsa.yuku.com/topic/1109/Courage-Honor-EL-CID
A year earlier or more I discussed it more in the Topic, “El Cid’s Orchestrations”:
http://miklosrozsa.yuku.com/topic/912/EL-CID-Orchestrations
There is a wealth of information and opinions on the Rozsa Forum regarding El
Cid so feel free to consult that excellent site. You can also refer to my Blog # 37 for
added information regarding El Cid:
http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/blogs/37.pdf
-The FBI Story (1959) *** 1/2 [music ****]
http://www.amazon.com/FBI-Story-James-
Stewart/dp/B000FTCLQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293596568&sr=1-1
This is a very entertaining movie for me but not a classic. I love the gorgeous
Technicolor, the terrific stars, and most of all, I love Max Steiner’s score. The movie
opens just right—in s suspenseful build-up manner as Jack Graham (played nicely by
Nick Adams) watches dear old mom depart on a plane (Flight 21, Gate 12 at 6:15 pm).
Only he knows that there is a not-so-nice bomb on that flight! The movie did not start off
with a boring, talking, neutral scene. Right off the bat the picture grabs your attention.
And Steiner’s edgy simple rhythm (00:03:03) really sets the tone perfectly. You also hear
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