Lust For Life (1956)
Serafin Sonnier
FSM's first release by Mikls Rzsa is a colorful masterpiece from the composer's long tenure at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: Lust for Life (1956), the acclaimed biopic starring Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh. The film is a top-notch production which reached new heights in historical accuracy and in honest treatment of its subject, a wildly talented but emotionally tortured artist.
Lust for Life is also the story of a man and Rzsa's score features several fully fleshed-out melodies. Vincent himself receives a questing theme of yearning and achievement, with a dark variant as the painter is gripped by loneliness and depression. His brother Theo is underscored by a compassionate, calmer theme; his prostitute lover Sien an equally soothing one of longing; and his friend and fellow artist Gauguin receives a theme of stolid determination. Even the jovial postman Roulin is given a comical theme for bassoon.
Rzsa was greatly fond of his score for Lust for Life and recorded a short concert suite of it for Decca, released on CD by Varese Sarabande. FSM's CD is the premiere release of the complete original soundtrack as recorded for the film, newly remixed from the original three-track stereo masters. Alternate takes and source cues are included as bonus tracks, and the entire package is given FSM's deluxe treatment, with liner notes by Jeff Bond and Lukas Kendall, and art direction by Joe Sikoryak.
Posted by Ag^Janus on September 23, 2013 3:49 AMReplyIt's quite good, but Fox Studio orchestra recordings sound better than MGM scoring stage. At least that is what I believe I hear according to those know. Ben-Hur is not terrible but I don't think it is good either. They just didn't know better.
My favourite Rozsa is Providence now, but before that, Tribute To A Bad Man ... oh Ponderosa. Posted by manderley on September 23, 2013 4:42 AMReply..... At least that is what I believe I hear according to those know.....
I'm sorry to have to take issue with your comments, but.....
Who exactly ARE "those who know"? Any names you care to bandy about so we can get
a handle on your claim?
John Williams spoke of his preference of recording on MGM's stage. Is he one who knew?
Alfred Newman recorded on MGM's stage as well as Fox's and Universal's and Paramount's and United Artists. Did he ever speak specifically to this?
Rozsa recorded at Denham, Paramount, United Artists, Universal, and MGM, among others.....did he ever comment on how poorly he felt his MGM scores were recorded as compared to the others?
The legend I've always heard was that the old Goldwyn recording stage on the United Artists lot was the best in town. Where does this fit into your Fox and MGM theory?
The reality is that all the stages were acceptable to excellent and the engineers acceptable to excellent---but they were all different and unique---just as the makeup of the orchestras, the conductors, and the composers and orchestrators were.
Every day on this board we hear that Jerry Goldsmith was "the best".
.....John Barry was "the best".
.....Ennio Morricone is "the best".
.....Alex North was "the best".
.....John Williams is "the best".
.....Alfred Newman was "the best".
Why is it that people can't understand or accept that there are no absolutes and there is no qualitative "best" in real life?
"The Best" is simply "What You Prefer".
Posted by pp312 on September 23, 2013 5:35 AMReply
Every day on this board we hear that Jerry Goldsmith was "the best".
.....John Barry was "the best".
.....Ennio Morricone is "the best".
.....Alex North was "the best".
.....John Williams is "the best".
.....Alfred Newman was "the best".
Why is it that people can't understand or accept that there are no absolutes and there is no qualitative "best" in real life?
"The Best" is simply "What You Prefer".[/endquote]
Except of course--as some of us already know--that Miklos Rozsa was the best. :) Posted by Ag^Janus on September 23, 2013 5:39 AMReplyOne question at a time please. Posted by OnyaBirri on September 23, 2013 8:38 AMReplyI found this CD for five bucks. I will have to spin it soon. Posted by Rozsaphile on September 23, 2013 9:39 AMReplyHas Edward Nassour returned to regale us once again with his endless aria da capo about scoring stages and studio orchestras? Since Ed had experience with audio engineering, he deserved to be taken seriously. But he really did linger on his one-note serenade.
To Manderley's point, Ken Darby (in Holywood Holy Land) claimed that Newman found the M-G-M facilities disappointing when he arrived for HTWWW in 1962. He supposedly introduced something that Darby called the "Newman pole" (for microphone placement) that resulted in a huge improvement. That statement always puzzled me, for I recall the HTWWW sound (at least on the LP) as somewhat muffled.
As for LUST FOR LIFE, I agree, the sound is extraordinarily bright and vivid -- more impressive to my ear than the later BEN-HUR or KING OF KINGS. It's almost as if they goosed the audio to suggest the razor-sharp intensity of van Gogh's psyche. Posted by Joe Caps on September 23, 2013 9:46 AMReply
You took the words out of my mouth.
Newman certainly did not like the MGM sound.
However, do NOT use the lp of How the West Was Won to judge how a score sounds.
Do use the LP of anything, especialy MGM records. which loved to schmear all kinds of strange reverb onto their orchestral scores. Posted by Ag^Janus on September 23, 2013 10:07 AMReplyI miss Ed's talk.
We all agree Tribute To A Bad Man and Lust For Life sound wonderful. Also Raintree County has a good sound too, that's probably after stuff was fixed.
Miklos Rozsa had the thickest style I ever did hear. Not mistaking that style where ever it was employed. Posted by Rozsaphile on September 23, 2013 10:59 AMReplyAgree of course that HTWWW sounds better on CD than LP. To my ears, at least, it still lacks the vivid immediacy of LUST FOR LIFE, recorded years earlier, near the dawn of movie stereo. Nor does anything I've heard from Fox sound that brilliant. Perhaps it's just that Metro did a better job of preserving its materials. View more comments view last Track List Click on track TIME for MP3 sound clip. Click on track title (selected tracks only) for Real Audio.
Lust for Life
No, he is not dead, as People Magazine announced. Cleft-chinned and steely-eyed American superstar Kirk Douglas lives! He was born as 'the ragman's son' (the name of his 1988 autobiography) known as Issur Danielovitch Demsky, in Amsterdam, New York, in 1916. His parents, Bryna (Sanglel) and Herschel Danielovitch, were Jewish immigrants from Chavusy, Mahilyow Voblast (now in Belarus). Although growing up in a poor ghetto, Douglas was a fine student and wrestled competitively during his time at St. Lawrence University. He gained entry into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts but only appeared in a handful of minor Broadway productions before joining the US Navy in 1941. In 1945, he returned to the theatre and did some radio work. On the insistence of ex-classmate Lauren Bacall producer Hal B. Wallis screen-tested Douglas and cast him opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946) . His performance received rave reviews and further work quickly followed, including an appearance in the Film-Noir I walk alone(Byron Haskin, 1948). It was the first time he worked alongside Burt Lancaster. They appeared in seven films together, including the dynamic western Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (John Sturges, 1957), the John Frankenheimer political thriller Seven Days in May (1964), and their final pairing in the gangster comedy Tough Guys (Jeff Kanew, 1986).
Douglas scored his first Oscar nomination playing the untrustworthy and opportunistic boxer Midge Kelly in the gripping The Champion (Mark Robson, 1949). The quality of his work continued to garner the attention of critics and he was again nominated for Oscars for his role as a film producer in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and as tortured painter Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), both directed by Vincente Minnelli. In 1955 Douglas launched his own production company, Bryna Productions, the company behind two pivotal film roles in his career. The first was as French army officer Col. Dax in director Stanley Kubrick's brilliant anti-war epic Paths of Glory (1957). Douglas reunited with Kubrick for yet another epic, the magnificent Spartacus (1960). The film also marked a key turning point in the life of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted during the McCarthy communist witchhunt in the 1950s. At Douglas' insistence, Trumbo was given on-screen credit for his contributions, which began the dissolution of the infamous blacklisting policies begun almost a decade previously that had destroyed so many careers and lives.
It's very interesting to read of Kirk's reaction to the role. It is also almost too painful for the viewer in its truthfulness. Truly, a magnificent performance.
A very interesting article, and I appreciate the heads up on the TCM schedule. I must pay particular attention to Rosza's score, keeping in mind his goal.
Kevin - Your post has gotten me interested in reading Kirk Douglas's autobiography - and in seeing "Lust for Life" again, particularly to hear Rosza's musical interpretation of Van Gogh's style.
Lately the Don McLean song "Vincent" has been running through my mind from time to time. A beautiful, haunting reflection on Van Gogh. I can't imagine what Douglas must've gone through when he went into character - such a tortured man. Impossible to believe Van Gogh couldn't sell his work in his lifetime - but it's now valued in the millions, one painting valued at $150 million +. At least Picasso had the satisfaction of making money with his art in his lifetime...
I'll be watching or recording "Lust for Life" when it airs next week. Thanks, Kevin.