Filmmakers and Film Composers #1

I’ve been collecting soundtrack LPs for some time now, but after reorganizing recently, a pattern began to emerge on the backsides of the record jackets: that of the past practice of directors contributing liner notes to their film's soundtracks.

Discovering this odd bit of ephemera gave me the idea that shining a light and reprinting these (often brief) thoughts here would offer a glimpse into the relationship between filmmaker and composer, in addition to hopefully providing a context as to why a certain score or composer may have been chosen for the film in question.

With this in mind, I’d like to add that this will be the first in a series with the intention of eventually expanding and adding MP3 tracks to the posts -- just as soon as I figure out how.*

So, without further adieu, here's Blake Edwards on Henry Mancini's score for the big-screen adaptation of the former's television series, "Peter Gunn".

GUNN (1967)
Music from the Film Score Composed and Conducted by Henry Mancini

“As I entered the first scoring session of our new “Gunn” film, I was delighted to see that the band contained most of the familiar faces that had done the original TV show.

Hank and I had discussed the music for the “Gunn” film thoroughly and he confessed to me that this was to be one of his most difficult assignments. The six years that had passed since the TV “Peter Gunn” went off the air had seen sweeping changes, not only in jazz, but in all phases of the pop music spectrum.

As the score unfolded, everyone on that scoring stage agreed that Hank had done what was needed – he brought “Peter Gunn” up to date without sacrificing the feel and excitement of the original.

I think you will agree.”

Blake Edwards

*If anybody’s out there that knows, feel free to comment and clue me in so I can join that exclusive club of blogs with MP3 downloads.