leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (03/06/86)
>Unfortunately, no soundtrack was released for THE RIGHT >STUFF. I copied bits and snatches off of my Beta Stereo >Hi-fi video player, but it is of course marred by voices and >sound effects. I have heard a rumor, though, that part of >the score was from a 60's movie by Elmer Bernstein or Henry >Mancini, titled something like "White Dawn". Following the release of the movie, one Evelyn Leeper started calling Warner Brothers on a regular basis asking when the soundtrack would be released. At first they said it was delayed but was coming, then they said that the lack of popularity of the film did not warrent a record release. I think she tried one last time after the score won an oscar, but they still claimed that there were no plans to release a soundtrack album. I also had heard that there was indeed some legal entanglement due to the music used for John Glenn's orbital flight acutally being from WHITE DAWN, a 1974 film also directed by Philip Kaufman. WHITE DAWN was the true story of whalers whose boat was swamped and who were rescued by eskimoes. It may be just as well. The film boasts two original pieces of music but they are repeated quite a bit. This makes the score memorable, but a soundtrack album of such a score is usually pretty dull. A prime example is the score for THE VIKINGS. When you see the film the score sounds pretty good, when you hear the score on a record you realize you are just hearing variation upon variation of the same simple theme. The same goes for Goldsmith's score for PAPILLON, considered one of his best. He repeats the main theme an awful lot, usually in variation. If, in fact, the score will be released on one side of a record, that is probably the best way to release it. That way you get the two main themes (which I'd call "The Right Stuff March," and "Yeager's Flight") much of the rest is classical music -- Holst's THE PLANETS, Debussy's (I think) "Afternoon of the Faun" (I think) -- that nice borrowed piece from WHITE DAWN, pop music of the period, etc. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper