Screen Archives has issued another major soundtrack CD, this time consisting of the scores for five major western classics: composer Dimitri Tiomkin's The Unforgiven, David Buttolph's The Horse Soldiers, Elmer Bernstein's Guns of the Magnificent Seven, David Raksin's Invitation to a Gunfighter and Gerald Fried's Cast a Long Shadow. Of these titles, only The Unforgiven and The Horse Soldiers had soundtrack albums issued for their theatrical release and the new CD was constructed from the surviving masters for those albums. We're particularly excited about the inclusion of the magnificent scores for these two drastically under-rated films. The Unforgiven (not be confused with Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven) was directed by John Huston and released in 1960. The director virtually disowned the movie, thinking it was an awkward and unsuccessful attempt to combine a message about racism with a traditional action film. Audrey Hepburn stars as a young woman who finds that she had been abducted as a baby from an Indian tribe and raised as white by a loving family. When the scandal is discovered many years later, the Indians demand that she be returned. Her adopted family refuses despite the urging to do so by their neighbors and friends. This sets up a tense conclusion in which the stubborn family battles alone against an overwhelming force of Indians who beseige their cabin.
While The Unforgiven is not a classic, it is clear that Huston was far too harsh on his own film. The movie is moody and atmospheric with some fine performances, though it is badly flawed by the miscasting of Hepburn who seems to have strolled out of Tiffanys showroom. She's far too erudite for a pioneer girl. Nevertheless, the film is quite suspenseful and boasts a great supporting cast including Audie Murphy, Lillian Gish, Joseph Wiseman and Doug McClure. It also features a haunting score by Dimitri Tiomkin that is clearly one of his best.
The Horse Soldiers is an equally underrated John Ford film starring the powerhouse teaming of John Wayne and William Holden The 1959 film is based on a daring raid into the deep south by a Union cavalry troop. Ford soured on the film midway through when he blamed himself for the death of a stuntman. Still, it stands as one of his best late career films even though critics were inexplicably lukewarm to it. The score by David Buttolph is a clever use of Civil War standards and original compositions.
This CD is limited to only 1500 units. To order click here