Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) ranks high on any list of great directors. His films The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Straw Dogs (1971), The Getaway (1972) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) established an uncompromising voice on violence, masculinity, and most often the American West. Peckinpah's first masterpiece was Ride the High Country (1962), a tale of two aging lawmen (Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott) whose friendship and values are tested in one last job. The film established Peckinpah as a major creative force and is still viewed by some as his best work.
Peckinpah's most famous musical collaborator was Jerry Fielding; however, Ride the High Country was made several years before Peckinpah and Fielding met. Ride the High Country was instead scored by George Bassman, a veteran songwriter and composer whose Hollywood career (including M-G-M's The Clock and The Postman Always Rings Twice) was interrupted by the blacklist. Bassman's High Country score is utterly different from the music most associated with Peckinpah. His approach is melodic and almost cheerily old-fashioned, adding a dimension of Hollywood nostalgia for the film's aging stars. Bassman's main theme—a wistful, melancholy tune capturing the reflection of the characters—ably assists in the film's central relationship and heartwrenching conclusion.
Two years after Ride the High Country, producer Richard E. Lyons reassembled some of the cast and crew—and story elements—for Mail Order Bride. Buddy Ebsen, Keir Dullea and Warren Oates star in a light comic "B western" of an oafish heir (Dullea) forced into a mail-order marriage to claim his family ranch. Bassman's score (for his last Hollywood feature) is a perfect counterpart to Ride the High Country in that it even reuses the earlier film's love theme and action passages.
FSM's premiere release of Ride the High Country/Mail Order Bride features the complete underscores for both films in stereo, remixed and remastered from the original 35mm three-track elements. The CD booklet features an essay by Peckinpah authority Nick Redman, as well as FSM's usual program commentary.
Track listing
1. Main Title/The Contract for Gold (02:46)
RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962) tracks 1-16 (total time 32:25)
2. The Trek Begins/Elsa's Mad Dash/Arrival at Knudsens (01:27)
3. Elsa's Long Gown (01:05)
4. Heck Tempts Elsa (01:49)
5. The Boys Reminisce (01:22)
6. Love in the Hay/The Bigot (02:08)
7. The Trek Continues/Philosophy of Life (01:19)
8. The Big Pitch (01:33)
9. The Romance Deepens/Elsa's Concern/The Hammond Camp (03:58)
10. Attempted Rape/Elsa's Hysteria (01:20)
11. The Return from Coarsegold/Caught Red-Handed (03:26)
12. The Challenge/The Enemy Arrives (01:48)
13. The Gunfight Begins (01:17)
14. Heck's Grandstand Play/Turndown (01:10)
15. Elsa's Homecoming/Elsa's Promise/The Hammonds' Ambush/The Big Fight Begins/The Fight to the Death (03:37)
16. So Long Partner (Finale) (01:44)
17. Main Title (02:13)
MAIL ORDER BRIDE (1964) tracks 17-35 (total time 44:28)
18. The Cocky Wiseguy/Can't I Sonny (01:49)
19. The Lonely Cemetery (02:35)
20. The Hilarious Brawl (02:01)
21. They'd Hang You/A Fist of Solid Iron/Ain't No Hurry at All (01:34)
22. Jess Brings Lee Home (02:21)
23. Outhouse Inspiration/Will Lane's Research (01:01)
24. Kansas City Walks (including When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder) (02:33)
25. Hanna's Decision/Lee Visits Marietta (01:45)
26. Annie Remonstrates/First Meeting (01:20)
27. Wedding Polka (02:18)
28. Lee's Confession/I've Been Kissed Before (04:23)
29. Cooking/First Kiss/Building Montage (02:06)
30. Annie Tells Lane All (03:44)
31. Jace Guns Lane/Will Lane's Ultimatum (01:12)
32. Matt's New Bedroom (01:41)
33. A Letter for Annie/An Evil Jace/Fire by Arson (04:17)
34. Help Me Get 'Em Back/The Shoot Out (02:33)
35. We Want You to Stay/Return to Kansas City (02:23)
Total Duration: 01:15: |
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