Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

-The Raid (1954) *** � [music ***]
http://www.lovingtheclassics.com/The-Raid-1954-DVD/prod_2079.html
This is actually a quite good, interesting, entertaining Civil War drama based in
New England close to the Canadian border. It’s one of the best of the B-movie westerns
category. I like the excellent casting, the intelligent script, good editing, just about
everything. Van Heflin is top-notch is his role as the leader of the Confederate POW who
plans havoc on a Vermont town. Anne Bancroft is excellent as well, and so is Richard
Boone in his one-armed Union soldier role. Lee Marvin, Peter Graves and James Best are
also bonus actors in this well-done movie. The music by Roy Webb is fine, does the job
well (although I could imagine Herrmann doing this one!).
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-Canadian Pacific (1949) *** [music *** �]
http://www.lovingtheclassics.com/Canadian-Pacific-1949-DVD/prod_461.html
Entertaining enough Canadian Rockies western starring in a roughed surveyor
role, Randolph Scott. You’ll also see a natural villain type, Victor Jory, a lovely Jane
Wyatt (Doctor Knows Best here!), and a very young Nancy Olson (I’m a Nancy Olson
fan). But I prefer Olson as a blonde or at least lighter hair! I like the Dimitri Tiomkin
score here, better than a many done in this period and into the early to mid-Fifties (better
than Peking Express, for example).
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-Secret of the Incas (1954) *** [music ** �]
http://www.lovingtheclassics.com/Secret-of-the-Incas-1954-DVD/prod_2299.html
I like this movie better than the one I just reviewed immediately above but it is no
secret that it is no classic movie! You don’t need a Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) with
an Indiana Jones type fedora to help you find a better Fifties adventure-drama in 1954
starring Heston (The Naked Jungle comes to mind). But it is interesting to watch,
especially since they used Peruvian location areas such as Machu Picchu. Incidentally,
you may want to buy this movie if you are really into the Indiana Jones movies since it
inspired the later series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_the_Incas
The music by David Buttolph is fine. It is not one of his best but I certainly liked
it better than Addison’s score for The Black Knight—but I liked the music by Danielle
Amfitheatrof for The Naked Jungle better than Buttolph’s score here.
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© Copyright 2011 Bill Wrobel
Completed Monday, July 18, 2011 at 4:27 pm EDT]
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