Film Score Monthly has released the original soundtrack from the terrific 1960s action adventure Dark of the Sun (released in the UK as The Mercenaries) starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown and Kenneth More. Here are the official release details:
What
decade would have a great score by a French composer for a violent
English film done in Hollywood style set in Africa? The 1960s, of
course -- and you can find the CD on Film Score Monthly’s Silver Age
Classics.
Dark of the Sun (1968) starred Rod Taylor and Jim Brown as
mercenaries (the film is also known as “The Mercenariesâ€) on a mission
in war-torn Congo of the early 1960s to retrieve refugees and an
expensive cache of diamonds before they can fall into the hands of
Simba rebels. The film becomes a “Heart of Darknessâ€-style tale plagued
by violence, betrayal and murder—and it has a corker of a score by
French composer Jacques Loussier, famous for his “Play Bach†jazz
albums and largely French film and TV assignments such as the theme to Thierry la Fronde.
Loussier’s score to Dark of the Sun matches the offbeat
melodic invention of Ennio Morricone and the brassy inflections of John
Barry’s James Bond scores while remaining the very personal work of its
composer. The main theme consists of three layered ideas: a plucked
pulse, a jazzy, syncopated bass line for piano and harpsichord, and a
distinctly European minor-mode melody often voiced by strings. The
score expresses the tragedy and subtext behind the violence of the
on-screen images, while acknowledging the action explicitly in several
jazzy action cues.
The Dark of the Sun score somewhat defies description
except that it abounds with the kind of invention and melody that
marked 1960s film scoring (such as that of Barry, Schifrin, Legrand,
Goldsmith, Morricone and others) and has long been a favorite of
soundtrack collectors. Loussier never again scored this kind of
mainstream adventure film but he provided a winner in this premiere
effort.
FSM’s definitive CD of Dark of the Sun features the
complete score (less one brief cue which was lost) in stereo,
containing all of the music from the previous MGM Records LP (and
Chapter III CD) -- and much more -- in improved sound quality. Liner
notes are by Didier C. Deutsch, Alexander Kaplan and Lukas Kendall
incorporating new comments by the composer.
TO ORDER CLICK HERE
UK ORDERS CAN BE PLACED THROUGH MOVIE GROOVES BY CLICKING HERE