FSMCD Vol. 11, No. 7

The Naked Spur:Classic Western Scores From M-G-M

Supplemental Liner Notes

Contents

The Naked Spur 1

The Wild North 5

The Last Hunt 9

Devil’s Doorway 14

Escape From Fort Bravo 18

Liner notes ©2008 Film Score Monthly, 6311 Romaine Street, Suite 7109, Hollywood CA 90038. These notes maybe printed or archived electronically for personal use only. For a complete catalog of all FSM releases, please visit:http://www.filmscoremonthly.com

The Naked Spur ©1953 Turner Entertainment Co., A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The Wild North ©1952Turner Entertainment Co., A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The Last Hunt ©1956 Turner EntertainmentCo., A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Devil’s Doorway ©1950 Turner Entertainment Co., A Warner Bros.Entertainment Company. Escape From Fort Bravo ©1953 Turner Entertainment Co., A Warner Bros. EntertainmentCompany. All rights reserved.

FSMCD Vol. 11, No. 7 • Classic Western Scores From M-G-M • Supplemental Liner Notes

The Naked Spur

Anthony Mann (1906–1967) directed films in awide variety of genres, from film noir to musical tobiopic to historical epic, but today he is most often ac-claimed for the “psychological” westerns he made withstar James Stewart, including Winchester ’73 (1950),Bend of the River (1952), The Far Country (1954) and TheMan From Laramie (1955). The best of these may be1953’s The Naked Spur, which works clever variationson an essentially simple storyline.

In 1868, Howard Kemp (Stewart) is making hisway alone through the Rocky Mountains on the trailof bank robber and murderer Ben Vandergroat (RobertRyan). Determined to bring the killer to justice,Howard unwillingly receives help from two strangers:unlucky prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) andArmy vet Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker), who was dis-charged for raping an Indian girl. These men are sur-prised to learn from the captured Ben that Howard isnot an officer of the law but a civilian determined toearn the $5,000 bounty on Ben’s head in order to buyback his ranch, sold out from under him by his unfaith-ful fiancee when he was off fighting the Civil War.

Accompanying the men as they make their wayacross the mountainous landscape is Lina Patch (JanetLeigh), Ben’s traveling companion and the daughter ofa now-dead partner in crime. Ben uses methods bothphysical (causing a cave-in, loosening Howard’s sad-dle on a narrow trail) and psychological (playing onJesse’s lust for gold and Roy’s lust for Lina) to turn hiscaptors against each other. In the end, Howard andLina are the only survivors—they decide to make anew life together in California rather than attempt torecreate Howard’s old life with Ben’s bounty.

The Naked Spur was the first screenplay written bySam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom, and it earned thepair an Oscar nomination for Best Story and Screen-play. Both writers enjoyed separate and lengthy ca-reers, largely in television: Rolfe went on to create HaveGun—Will Travel and develop The Man From U.N.C.L.E.and was still writing at the end of his life, penningepisodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek:Deep Space Nine; Bloom balanced TV work with a fea-ture career that included a shared credit on Land of thePharaohs and an “additional story material” credit forYou Only Live Twice.

Much of The Naked Spur was shot on location inthe mountains near Durango, Colorado, in altitudesranging from 9,000 to 14,000 feet, although a cave se-quence and a campfire scene (in which Jesse helps Benand Lina escape) were clearly filmed on soundstages.

The film received generally strong reviews uponits release, with Cue citing its “brilliantly written

screenplay” and The Hollywood Reporter calling it“finely acted,” although Variety felt that it was “proba-bly too raw and brutal for some theatergoers.” WilliamMellor’s Technicolor cinematography of the scenic Col-orado locations received particular praise, althoughseveral critics commented on the anachronistic appear-ance of Leigh’s “poodle-cut” hairdo. Allan Ullmanpenned a novelization of The Naked Spur that was pub-lished the same year; in his research he discovered thatthe film’s bounty for Ben was unrealistically high—a top bounty in 1868 Kansas would have been about$800—so he lowered it from $5,000 to $1,500 for hisbook. Oddly, the film’s press notes list Ben’s rewardas $15,000, an astronomical figure for the period.

Bronislau Kaper’s score for The Naked Spur also re-ceived favorable reviews, with Variety calling it “topnotch” and The Hollywood Reporter citing it as “unob-trusively an asset to the mood.” The Naked Spur wasone of dozens of films Kaper scored during his decadesunder contract to M-G-M, and his output for 1953also included another western, Ride, Vaquero! (FSMCDVol. 10, No. 9), and his Oscar-winning score for Lili(FSMCD Vol. 8, No. 15). Although Mann directed sev-eral films for M-G-M, The Naked Spur was his only col-laboration with Kaper; he never seemed to favor anyparticular composer, and his other westerns featuredscores from the likes of Hans J. Salter, George Duning,Elmer Bernstein and Franz Waxman. (This was, to befair, the era where the studios and producers largelydetermined personnel such as composers.)

Kaper’s main theme, which comes to represent theoverall situation rather than Stewart’s character specif-ically, is a versatile ten-note motive, useful for scenictraveling music as well as for tense action cues. Thecomposer also creates a secondary melody out of hisagitated main theme, a contrastingly smooth, hope-ful line that undergoes its own series of developments.Throughout the score, Kaper alternates gentle and en-ergetic cues while leaving two major action set pieces—a shootout with Blackfeet Indians who seek revengeagainst Roy, and a riverside finale—unscored. Kaper’ssensitive music goes a long way toward humanizingStewart’s protagonist: the “hero” is an unfriendly, tor-mented figure who brusquely insists on searching eachnewcomer at gunpoint, and is reluctant to share Ben’sbounty with the men who help him. Stewart’s brood-ing performance makes a striking contrast with RobertRyan (Richard Widmark was originally sought for therole, and Robert Horton was briefly announced), whowas directed by Mann to smile in nearly every scene,even when brawling with Meeker’s (similarly smiling)psychopath Roy. Ben is given a pair of sinister motives

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that slowly overwhelm the primary material as the out-law works to turn his captors against one another.

Midway through the film, Kaper introduces athird main theme, to represent the relationship be-tween Howard and Lina, who feel a growing attractionand a shared tendency toward romantic delusion—Howard foolishly signed his ranch over to his fiancee,while Lina persists in believing in the innocence of thesociopath Ben. This new theme is not an original Kapercomposition, but rather Stephen Foster’s classic “Beau-tiful Dreamer,” published posthumously in 1864, theyear of Foster’s death (and four years before the eventsof The Naked Spur unfold). “Beautiful Dreamer” is firstheard in a scene in which Howard begins to warmup to Lina after recovering from a gunshot wound,but as the friendly scene turns into an argument overHoward’s determination to buy back his ranch with$5,000 earned at the cost of Ben’s life, Kaper createstense variations on the Foster tune to reflect the con-flict. Throughout the rest of the score, Kaper reprises“Beautiful Dreamer” whenever the romance betweenHoward and Lina takes center stage. At the finale it ac-companies their final reconciliation, as Howard (in themost moving scene of Stewart’s performance) forsakesthe bounty for the chance at a new life with Lina.

—Scott Bettencourt

The Naked Spur was composed during a brief pe-riod (1952–1953) when M-G-M scores were recordedin stereo on 35mm three-track magnetic film, but thendubbed to monaural ¼′′ tape for archiving. FSMpresents the complete score from this monaural source,adding a subtle stereo reverb to enhance the ambiance.

1. Main Title Kaper’s score begins over theM-G-M logo, and as the names of the five lead actors fillthe screen (the entire cast, except for a group of Indians,who are quickly dispatched) the optimistic secondarytheme is introduced in a rather subdued setting; thismaterial, the film’s only instance of tracked music, isactually the opening 0:32 of the cue “Foothill Trail”(track 7). As written (and heard here), a spasmodicarrangement of Kaper’s main theme underscores theopening titles, which play out over a contrastinglyplacid shot of the Colorado Rockies. Once the castcredits have appeared, the camera pans to a close-up the “naked spur” on the boot of bounty hunterHoward Kemp (James Stewart) and the title appearson screen with a blast of brass. Kaper continues with afrenzied main title as Kemp rides across the landscape(a musical passage that suggests Kaper’s score for thefollowing year’s sci-fi hit Them!); the cue subsides asKemp sneaks up on Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell), a goldprospector.

2. Fugitive Howard pays Jesse $20 to put him onthe trail of Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan), an outlawwhom Howard is tracking. The score’s main theme al-ternates with the secondary theme over gently oscillat-ing accompaniment as Jesse leads Howard to the fugi-tive’s dead campfires; the men deduce from the tracksthat Ben is traveling with a partner and resolve to taketheir search to a nearby cliff.

3. Avalanche From the top of the cliff, Ben at-tempts to ward off Howard and Jesse by instigatinga small rockslide. The score plays up the danger ofthe falling rocks after the fact, with trepidatious stringwriting followed by two ideas for Ben that undergovarious transformations throughout the score: an omi-nous four-note motive (0:16) as well as a biting five-note figure (0:41). In response to Kemp’s rifle shots thevillain sets off another, more severe avalanche of boul-ders, marked in the score by a brass outcry; Howardand Jesse retreat to safer ground.

4. Captured The hunters receive unwanted helpfrom ex-soldier Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker), whohappens upon their standoff with Ben. Roy inheritsthe main theme throughout this cue, alternating withphysical action writing as the three protagonists teamup to capture the fugitive. Under the cover of Jesse’sgunfire, Howard attempts to scale the cliff with the aidof his lasso, the score ascending tentatively along withhim—he loses his footing and the cue erupts into a pan-icked suggestion of the main theme. Roy takes a turnwith the rope, and the score resumes its climbing mo-tion with a variation of the main theme; a brief inter-jection of the wailing brass from “Avalanche” is heardwhen Ben barrages Jesse with rocks, then the cue set-tles on a deliberate version of the outlaw’s four-notemotive as Roy finally reaches the top of the cliff. Hecreeps toward Ben and the Kaper creates tension withquiet dissonance until the outlaw turns to face his cap-tor.

5. Fight Ben’s companion, Lina Patch (JanetLeigh), ambushes Roy and grabs for his gun. Ben seizesthe opportunity and wrestles Roy to the ground whileHoward and Jesse continue to ascend the cliff. Ben’smaterial is developed into a convulsive piece of slash-ing strings and stabbing brass for the fight; the cuecomes to a furious halt when Kemp arrives and tearsBen off of Roy.

6. Wanted for Murder Ben sparks trouble amongthe hunters when he reveals a “Wanted for Murder”poster that boasts a $5,000 reward for his capture.Gloomy readings of the main theme give way to a con-flicted fusion of Ben’s four-note motive and the sec-ondary theme as Jesse and Roy argue with a resistantHoward—they naturally want their cut of the moneyfor helping to apprehend Ben.

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Horse Decision A tragic development of themain theme (first hinted at in “Captured”) is heard asthe captive couple leads the “partners” to Linas sickhorse. The material becomes agitated when Howardinevitably decides to put the animal out of its misery.Lina protests and Ben takes her aside to shield her fromthe violence. More important, he informs her that heneeds time—his only chance of survival is to pit hiscaptors against one another. The final 0:08 of this cuewas dialed out of the film.

7. Campfire Ben continues his manipulations asthe group rests near a stream. A murky, antagonisticsetting of the main theme punctuates an uncomfort-able silence among the travelers when Ben points outthat “money splits better two ways, ’stead of three.”The secondary theme is given a pure reading as theyset off on their journey, but its conclusion is spoiledby a dissonant stinger along with grunting strings andbrass as an Indian is revealed observing the party fromafar. The Indian rides off and the scene transitions tothe group camping in the woods at night, the cue fad-ing with a brief unresolved statement of the secondarytheme’s first three notes.

Foothill Trail Morning arrives and the group con-tinues toward Kansas. An austere, mysterious pas-sage underscores their progress with a high, shimmer-ing string texture juxtaposed against a wandering linefor cellos and basses. The main theme is hesitantlyreprised when Howard and Jesse wonder if they mightsave time by taking a trail over a distant mountainrange rather than traveling around it. The cue fadesout as Jesse retrieves his binoculars and Ben tantalizeshim with a story of unclaimed gold that is supposedlylocated nearby.

8. Indians Howard and Jesse ride ahead to in-spect the mountain range. A quietly intense renditionof the secondary theme plays as they decide to takethe trail over the mountains. The threatening mate-rial from “Campfire” is reprised when Howard spotsa tribe of Blackfeet Indians through Jesse’s binoculars.The two men ride back to the others, accompanied bypanicked string writing and brass calls; this materialis further developed in a subdued, foreboding pas-sage as Kemp alerts the rest of the group to the In-dians’ presence—Roy confesses that the Blackfeet areafter him for taking advantage of the chief’s daughterand Howard orders him to ride ahead to put the restof the party out of harm’s way. Though furious, theex-soldier complies and takes off on his horse.

Prelude to Massacre Kemp leads the group on-ward, the score sustaining tension with crunched har-mony for muted brass and trilling strings. The Black-feet reveal themselves on horseback behind Howard’sparty, all of whom attempt to remain calm. Roy is sub-

sequently shown hiding behind a fallen tree, waitingwith his rifle. The cue escalates with a low-end, oscil-lating tritone until the group finally turns to face theIndians. Roy instigates a shootout with the Blackfeet, asequence not scored by Kaper.

9. Aftermath The group kills the attacking Indi-ans, but Kemp is shot in the leg. He mounts his horseand the score stresses his pain with a development ofthe foreboding material from “Indians.” A low, angrysetting of the main theme sounds as Kemp regretfullysurveys the massacred Indians and the melody is fate-fully drawn out over time-lapsing shots of the ensuingjourney through the mountains. Howard becomes in-creasingly ill, the score addressing this with a dreary,wavering figure over the nauseous tritone from “Indi-ans.” After he falls off of his horse, the cue respondswith a jaunty trumpet cry as Jesse tends to him; theprospector announces that the group will set up camp.

10. Delirium Night falls and Kemp awakens,shrieking for his disloyal ex-fiancee, Mary. A soothingarrangement of “Beautiful Dreamer” for flute, accor-dion and strings plays while Lina pretends to be Maryand talks Howard out of his delirium.

Relaxation “Beautiful Dreamer” continues onlow-register flute before giving way to an existentialpassage for solo horn under shimmering strings as Bencallously explains Howard’s betrayal at the hands ofMary. This cue does not appear in the film.

Linas Loyalty The next morning Lina tends toHoward’s wound. “Beautiful Dreamer” is reprised forwoodwinds while the two connect—Kemp points outthat Lina is different from Mary and that she is, at least,loyal to Ben. He questions why she is with the fugitiveand tells her that Ben could never settle down and be-come a rancher as she has been led to believe. The songcaptures Howard’s nostalgia as he recalls his life as arancher; the material becomes anguished as they argueover Ben’s character flaws, with Lina pointing out thatKemp has only pursued Ben for the reward.

11. Loose Cinch Ben’s five-note signature is trans-formed into a devious motive as he secretly loosensKemp’s saddle. Howard limps over to his horse, to alumbering reprise of Ben’s other four-note idea, withthe main theme sounding as the hero mounts his horse.The group progresses through the mountains, to afragile but determined setting of the secondary themefor string harmonics and muted brass. Ben distractshis sickly captor by recounting the story of his owntroubled youth; the villain’s motives take hold whenKemp’s cinch finally becomes loose enough and theoutlaw kicks Howard off his horse and down a steepslope. A belabored version of Ben’s material under-scores Kemp defiantly pulling himself back up andmounting his horse while the others watch.

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“Beautiful Dreamer” struggles to remain opti-mistic after a transition to the group’s nighttime en-campment, with Lina attempting to fall asleep. Ben’smotives trade off throughout a scene in which the vil-lain prepares to kill Howard in his sleep—his plan isfoiled when Kemp is awakened by Jesse’s snoring.

Thunder Jesse goes to check on a noise and amelancholic rendition of “Beautiful Dreamer” under-scores Kemp observing Lina while she sleeps. He tucksher in and the melody fleetingly rediscovers hope ashe contemplates his feelings for her. As he walks awayshe opens her eyes, well aware of the burgeoning rela-tionship between them. Ben has witnessed the tendermoment and he smiles to a sinister bass clarinet read-ing of his five-note theme before the scene transitionsto a morning of rumbling thunder.

12. Cave-In A terrible storm forces the party totake shelter in a cave. Ben manipulates Lina into help-ing him escape by threatening to kill Howard. Timepasses and a deceptive, recoiling theme is introducedfor Ben laying awake while Roy and Jesse sleep. Af-ter a trembling, ominous passage references Ben’s four-note theme for the outlaw eyeing his escape route, thedreary material from “Aftermath” is hinted at as Linareluctantly distracts Howard near the mouth of thecave. The pitches created by the rain striking plates andbowls leads to a discussion of music and dancing—the two bond to an extended and increasingly impas-sioned reprise of “Beautiful Dreamer.” She confessesher dream of living in California and when he invitesher to live with him once he buys back his ranch inKansas, she responds uncertainly. The theme swells ashe grabs her and kisses her, only to be interrupted bysnarling action writing when Ben kicks out a support-ive column of rocks and starts a cave-in.

Cave-In Continued The fugitive’s material is de-veloped into a desperate piece of stabbing brass andshrieking strings as Ben crawls through a tunnel withKemp in pursuit. Howard grabs hold of Ben’s leg andthe main theme calls out defiantly on strings, punc-tuated by aggressive brass. The secondary theme isreprised on solo trumpet as Howard escorts the mur-derer back to join the others.

13. Prelude to Kemp vs. Roy Fed up with Ben’streachery, Kemp unbinds the outlaw’s hands and de-mands that he draw—Ben refuses, aware that he hasno chance against Kemp and that Howard will not killhim in cold blood. Kemp realizes that Lina distractedhim to help Ben escape and an outburst of the maintheme denotes him angrily kicking the plates that sheused to spark their warm conversation. The secondarytheme sounds for a transition to the group travelingunder clear skies the next morning.

Ben Unshackled After a disagreement between

Howard and Roy (over whether or not the groupshould cross a dangerous river) boils over into a bru-tal wrestling match, Ben finally ensnares Jesse with thepromise of gold: the prospector agrees to let Ben go freeif he leads him to fortune. The recoiling motive andtremolo string writing of “Cave-In” mark a late-nightscene in which they put their plan into motion—thefirst three notes of the secondary theme sound whenJesse secretly unshackles the outlaw. Ben insists thatLina accompany them and the scene transitions to thetrio riding along the river bank the following morn-ing. The score continues to build tension, culminatingin a violent trill when Ben pretends that his horse isspooked by a snake and in order to get the drop onJesse.

14. Lina vs. Ben To Lina’s horror, Ben shoots Jessedead. Gnarled string writing underscores the villainfiring Jesse’s shotgun into the air to attract the atten-tion of Ben and Roy, who are further upriver. Thescore launches into a propulsive setting of the B-theme,dressed with teasing statements of the main theme, asBen and Roy respond to the gunfire and ride downthe riverbank. Ben and Lina climb a cliff so that Bencan hide and pick off the remaining partners; the scorebuilds to a cathartic statement of the secondary themeas the couple reaches the top of the rocks.

15. Here They Come Overlapping outbursts ofthe secondary theme sound for Ben shooting down atJesse’s corpse to ensure that his pursuers will show.This short cue was not used in the film.

Stand Together Boys Roy and Howard arriveand inspect Jesse’s corpse. Ben prepares to gun themdown, with the score reprising both of his motives intheir original incantations from “Avalanche.” The sec-ondary theme builds fatefully until Lina grabs Ben’s ri-fle, sending his shot astray and allowing Howard andRoy to dive for cover.

16. Finale Kemp’s final confrontation with Ben isunscored. The villain is pinned down by Roy’s gun-fire and Howard climbs up the rocks using the nakedspur from his boot as a makeshift climbing aid—as hereaches the top of the cliff, he throws the spur at Ben,skewering the fugitive’s neck and forcing him into theopen. Roy shoots Ben and the villain’s body falls intothe river below. When the ex-soldier attempts to re-trieve the corpse from the rushing current, he is bom-barded by a huge tree hurtling downstream and iswashed away.

Howard pulls Ben’s body from the river and an-grily resolves to turn it in for the reward. Lina triesto convince him otherwise but he is indignant; aching,canonic strings enter when she promises to marry himand stay with him no matter what. A bittersweet rendi-tion of “Beautiful Dreamer” unfolds as he breaks down

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crying, unable to convince himself to take Ben to Abi-lene. The theme continues while Kemp buries Ben,playing through the final shot of Howard and Lina rid-

ing off for California. The end title cards receive anelated brass resolution of the secondary theme.

—Alexander Kaplan

The Wild North

The Wild North (1952) is not a western as muchas a “northern,” a frontier adventure starring StewartGranger as Jules Vincent, a French-Canadian trapper inthe early years of the 20th century. During a brief visitto civilization, Jules develops an instant, mutual at-traction for an Indian girl saloon singer (Cyd Charisse)and defends her from a bullying drunk named Brody(Howard Petrie). The next day, Jules and the girl headback to the wild in Jules’s canoe, accompanied by anapparently chastened Brody. A dangerous journeydown some rapids forces Jules to fatally shoot Brody inself-defense. Vincent leaves the girl at his cabin beforereturning to the wilderness, where he is tracked downby Pedley (Wendell Corey), a Canadian Mountie whoinsists on returning Jules back to civilization to standtrial for Brody’s murder. During a lengthy and danger-ous journey through the snowbound landscape, the an-tagonists become friends, but after a wolf attack leavesPedley in a near-catatonic state, Jules escorts him safelyhome and takes him on a canoe trip down the rapids toshock him into consciousness. Pedley, finding himselfin the same position as Jules during his fateful trip withBrody, tries to shoot Jules to gain control of the boat.Realizing Jules’s motivations in the killing of Brody, hethen testifies for the trapper at his trial. Jules is freedand the two men part as friends, as Jules returns to thewild with his Indian maiden.

The Wild North had as its inspiration a true-lifefigure: Albert Pedley, a Canadian Mountie (a retiredoctogenarian living in Scotland at the time of themovie’s production) who brought a lost missionarysafely home via a five-month trek through the wilder-ness, despite falling victim to the “white madness.”According to the production notes, the official sourcefor the film’s story was the chapter “When TerrorStalked Behind” from Walter W. Liggett’s 1930 book Pi-oneers of Justice: The Story of the Royal Canadian MountedPolice. Frank Fenton’s screenplay, however, focuses noton Pedley but rather his fictional antagonist, the trap-per Vincent, and the project’s changing title reflectedthe shifts in narrative focus, with the film called at var-ious times in its production Constable Pedley, The Con-stable Pedley Story, The Wild Land, The Wild North Coun-try and The North Country. The Wild North was the firstfilm for the Austrian-born director Andrew Marton fol-lowing his co-direction (with Compton Bennett) of the1950 Best Picture nominee King Solomon’s Mines, and itreunited him with that film’s cinematographer (Robert

Surtees, who had won an Oscar for Mines) and its star,Stewart Granger. Marton claimed that, as with mostof his M-G-M projects, he was offered the Wild Northscript only after “twenty-one other contract directorshad refused [it] for various reasons,” and he joked ofhis star, “I’m the only director in captivity who madethree pictures with Stewart Granger” (the third was1954’s Green Fire, FSMCD Vol. 6, No. 5).

While Marton and Surtees had filmed Mines onAfrican locations in temperatures up to 140 degrees,the locations for The Wild North provided a new set ofproduction problems: the storyline hinged on remotelocations in a variety of weather, including the deadof winter. The studio sent location scouts to northernAlberta’s Peace River area, where the real-life Pedley’sjourney had begun, but the region lacked an airstrip—not to mention the roads and facilities needed by afilm crew. Marton and the location scouts ultimatelyselected three different locations, for filming duringthree different times of year. The lengthy gaps in theshooting schedule allowed Granger to complete an-other M-G-M feature, Richard Brooks’s The Light Touch,during the hiatus, which made the extended schedulemore financially feasible for the studio.

Marton and Surtees chose locations for the win-ter scenes, which began filming in February 1951 nearGalena Pass, just below the Idaho-British Columbiaborder, and along the Wood River, near Idaho’s SunValley. A 35-mile path was cleared with a snowplow,and the crew journeyed to their locations by truck, jeepand dogsled. Cameras were equipped with a specialheating unit so that they could film at 20 degrees be-low zero, and a plywood board was used to keep thecamera from sinking into the snow. During locationscouting in Idaho, a ranger warned Marton about beartraps, and he was inspired to add a pivotal scene inwhich Pedley is felled by a trap and Jules must decidewhether to rescue him.

For the climactic river rapids scenes, Martonscouted locations in Canada, California, Oregon andWashington. He particularly favored a location in Fin-land, but the studio balked at the expense of flying thecrew out, so Marton chose Idaho’s Clearwater River,where an abandoned Civilian Conservation Camp wasused to house the crew for the May 1951 filming. Ac-cording to Marton, six stuntmen had died filming arapids scene for M-G-M’s 1928 film The Trail of ’98, so hewas especially careful with the sequence, which took

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three weeks to film. In Marton’s words, “When I said inthe production meeting that I wanted to shoot rapids,the sour faces that met me from the production tablewould have made a good comedy touch.” For dollyshots following the canoe down the river, the cameracrew was secured with safety lines, and long shots fea-tured dummies in the canoe, with the motion of thewater moving the paddles and making it look like theywere actually rowing.

Summer sequences were shot during July 1951near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with art director PrestonAmes building a small “Alberta” town as well as a vil-lage populated by 86 Shoshone Indians. Thanks to thefilmmakers’ precautions, there were no serious injuriesduring the lengthy and difficult production, althoughthe M-G-M editing staff were reportedly offended byGranger’s profanities during an outtake in which theactor fell over in the snow and his sled dogs draggedtheir sled and Granger’s co-star on top of him, caus-ing an M-G-M executive to warn Marton to “curb youractors.”

The Wild North has a surprisingly lightheartedtone despite its occasionally violent storyline (signif-icantly, the killing of Brody occurs between scenes),typified by Granger’s charming performance as Jules.Shortly before filming Marton instructed Granger touse a French-Canadian accent, and his distinctive vo-cal delivery (reminiscent of John Cleese’s “outrageousFrench accent” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail)and his tendency to call the stoic Pedley “bay-bee” pro-vide a striking counterpoint to scenes of Jules attempt-ing to strangle Pedley and plotting with two strangers,Ruger and Sloan, against the Mountie (in what playsas a miniature version of The Naked Spur). WendellCorey’s dry performance as Pedley provides an effec-tive contrast to Granger’s amiable hamminess, and is aforerunner of one of his most memorable appearances,as James Stewart’s skeptical policeman friend in RearWindow. Reviews were generally positive, with Varietycalling the film “generally absorbing.” Much mentionwas made of Surtees’s cinematography of the spectacu-lar scenery, especially his use of a brand-new color filmprocess from Ansco, heavily touted by the studio. Thefilm had its greatest impact on a 23-year-old stewardnamed Paul Richardson, on leave from the U.S. NavalAcademy, who was inspired by two viewings of thefilm—specifically, Father Simon’s line to Jules, “There’sno wilderness wide enough to hide a sin”—to confessto a murder he had committed the previous year.

Despite the setting in the Canadian North ratherthan American West, The Wild North’s focus on a smallgroup of characters and their conflicts in the wildernessmake it a cousin of The Naked Spur. Bronislau Kapertook a similar scoring approach to The Wild North to

the one he would use the following year for Spur, witha strong main theme dominating the score. Kaper en-joyed a breakthrough hit the following year with hisOscar-winning score for Lili (FSMCD Vol. 8, No. 15)and its popular song, “Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo,” but many filmmusic fans rank among his greatest works the epic sea-faring scores for Mutiny on the Bounty (FSMCD Vol.7, No. 16) and Lord Jim (FSMCD Vol. 8, No. 11);his Wild North theme is a satisfying precursor to thoselarge-scale melodies. While Kaper was a contract com-poser at M-G-M during much of his career, parts of hisWild North score, especially the tension-filled cues, arestrongly reminiscent of the studio’s musical MVP at thetime, Miklos Rozsa, who in the early ’50s was scoringsuch M-G-M epics as Quo Vadis and Plymouth Adven-ture (FSMCD Vol. 6, No. 1). While the Wild North themedominates the score, especially in grand renditions ac-companying Surtees’s panoramic shots of remote lo-cales, Kaper also provided vigorous action cues, al-though the two longest action scenes—the surprisinglybrutal wolf attack (which Marton claimed was “shot ina corrugated iron shed on the M-G-M backlot”) and theclimactic confrontation on the rapids—are unscored.

Just as Kaper used a Stephen Foster melody asthe love theme for The Naked Spur, he used the song“Northern Lights,” which Cyd Charisse’s charactersings in her opening scene (dubbed in the finished filmby Ruth Martin), to represent the relationship betweenJules and the Indian girl he loves. The song was writtenby Charles Wolcott, who also conducted Kaper’s score,but unlike The Naked Spur, where the growing relation-ship between Howard and Lina serves as the emotionallinchpin of the story, The Wild North’s romantic rela-tionship is only a minor subplot, exemplified by thefact that the film’s credits only list Charisse’s characteras “Indian Girl.” Kaper uses brief snippets of Wolcott’smelody in his score, particularly for a campfire scenein which Jules and Pedley discuss the girl. As Mar-ton himself admitted, The Wild North is ultimately “alove story between two men,” but it is not unsurpris-ing that Kaper was not expected to write a Jules-Pedleylove theme. Variety’s review remarked that “BronislauKaper’s music score fits the story,” but his score doesmuch more than that, consistently maintaining dra-matic interest while musically reinforcing the grandeurof the setting.

—Scott Bettencourt

The Wild North was one of the last M-G-M scoresrecorded on monaural optical film (in October 1951),with these fragile masters dubbed by the studio to ¼′′

tape in the 1960s—by which time some cues were un-playable. Fortunately, acetate transfer discs at the Uni-versity of Southern California’s Cinematic Arts Library

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Library (part of their M-G-M holdings) were madeavailable to fill in the missing cues (albeit with slightlymore noise than the studio elements) and allow for thecomplete presentation of this exciting Kaper score.

17. Main Title Kaper’s bold, brassy main theme isintroduced over the M-G-M logo, with a majestic pre-sentation of the material for the title card over majes-tic mountain scenery. A more animated rendition ofthe theme plays as the remaining titles unfold, yieldingto a shimmering, awe-tinged reading as Jules Vincent(Stewart Granger) paddles his canoe toward a riversidetown. The cue takes on a more strained tone (alludingto the strife to come) as the trapper arrives at the town’sdock.

18. Northern Lights After rescuing a kitten froma collie, Vincent visits a hotel saloon, where he is capti-vated by a lovely Indian maiden (Cyd Charisse) andher vocal performance of “Northern Lights” (musicand lyrics by Charles Wolcott, sung in the film by RuthMartin). She finishes the melancholy song and ex-changes pleasantries with Vincent, who reveals that heis a friend of her people, the Chippewas. The two con-nect almost instantly but are interrupted by a drunkenthug, Brody (Howard Petrie). Jules dispatches him vio-lently and then spends the rest of the evening drinkingand talking with the girl.

19. Brody Jules agrees to take the girl north in hiscanoe, along with a seemingly apologetic Brody. Themain theme is given a pure, bucolic treatment as theydepart from the dock, but the mood is disturbed whenthe score nastily acknowledges a change in Brody’s fa-cial expression that goes unnoticed by Jules and thegirl. A recoiling line for Brody plays under the maintheme as the thug plots against the trapper; an out-burst of panicking brass, strings and percussion marksa transition to a distant shot of the canoe travelingdown treacherous rapids (and suggesting Jules’s off-screen murder of Brody).

Brody’s motive continues to quietly pollute themain theme as Jules and the girl arrive at the northernencampment of McQuarrie—without the other man.The melodic idea is developed into a nagging canonicpassage for strings as the couple attempts to reachVincent’s cabin without attracting attention from thetownsfolk. After they avoid a lawman, “NorthernLights” is quoted when Jules is forced to introduce thegirl to the aggressively friendly Father Simon (MorganFarley). The tune gives way to Brody’s material whenthe priest warns Jules not to travel into the wild, for aterrible winter is coming—the score hints that Brody’smurder is what will drive Vincent into the mountains.A foreboding orchestral passage unfolds as Jules ush-ers the girl into his cabin and informs her that they

will wait for the cover of night to travel to see theChippewas. Brody’s material continues to be devel-oped as the scene segues back to Jules and the girltraversing the river, with Vincent dumping a bundleof Brody’s clothes into the water. A reverent stringmelody sounds as the canoe arrives at the Chippewas’village.

20. Pedley Jules kisses the girl goodbye andleaves her with the Indians. A forlorn introductiongives way to a punishing rendition of Brody’s mate-rial and a belabored development of the main theme asVincent travels through the wilderness on foot. A tran-sition to Constable Pedley (Wendell Corey) arriving atthe McQuarrie police station is marked by an austerestatement of the main theme on muted brass.

21. Brody Assigned to bring in Vincent, Pedleyvisits the trapper’s cabin. A quietly threatening ver-sion of the main theme leads to statements of “North-ern Lights” and Brody’s motive as Pedley interrogatesthe Indian girl at the cabin; he warns her that it wouldbe best if Jules turned himself in.

22. Father A pensive introduction for stringsplays as the Indian girl considers the now-departedPedley’s words of warning. The scene segues to theconstable traveling into the wilderness on his dogsled,the score providing his search for Vincent with a single-minded repeated-note brass fanfare that leaps up anddown a minor third, over plodding accompaniment.The main theme is optimistically reprised during atransition to Jules making his way north. Trillingstrings and cautious woodwinds play as Jules dis-covers Father Simon, frozen and half-mad; hysteri-cal string writing and lurching brass underscore Vin-cent running toward the fallen priest, followed by adistraught string passage as Jules carries him into anearby cabin and lays him in bed.

Father’s Death Jules tends to Father Simon; be-fore the priest dies of hypothermia, he warns Jules thathe cannot hide from sin. Eerie woodwind writing playsas Vincent covers Father Simon’s corpse and looks overto the cabin’s doorway, where Pedley has arrived.

23. Stop It Pedley arrests Vincent and the twobegin their treacherous journey back to McQuarrie.While camping at night, Jules sneaks over to a sleep-ing Pedley, the score creating suspense with string har-monics and a creepy tune for flute over a persistent de-scending half-step on solo horn. The policeman wakesup before Vincent can strangle him, and the two menfight to a backdrop of darting strings, calamitous brassand snare punctuation. The cue builds to an uncom-fortable sustain when Pedley retrieves his revolver andlevels it at Vincent: a murky bass clarinet reading of themain theme plays under contrastingly hopeful wood-winds as he orders the fugitive back to his sleeping bag.

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The cue peters out after a transition to Pedley layingawake and watching Vincent sleep.

24. Sometimes After another unscored daytimesequence of traveling, Vincent and Pedley set up camp.A haunting passage for arpeggiating tremolo stringsand delicate woodwinds plays as Jules taunts Pedley,asking the officer if he ever dreams about death, andpositing that he might not wake up in the morning.The scene segues to daytime with the pair in transit;the main theme plays over trudging accompaniment asVincent jogs ahead of the sleep-deprived Pedley, whostruggles to stay awake on his dogsled. A dissonantline for muted horns enters the texture as Jules noticesthe officer momentarily falling asleep; a neutral versionof the main theme is voiced on clarinet for a transitionto the next nighttime campsite.

25. Ruger That same night, Vincent and Ped-ley are joined by two wandering travelers, Ruger (RayTeal) and Sloan (Clancy Cooper). Pedley insists that itwould be impractical for the four of them to make forMcQuarrie together, so once Pedley falls alseep, Rugerawakens Vincent and suggests that they dispose of theofficer. Brody’s motive is reprised for the exchange,with ominous underscoring focusing on a leaping ma-jor seventh for Jules appearing receptive to the pro-posal. Ruger retreats and the cue crescendos as Pedleysnaps out of his slumber to find Vincent back asleep.

Vincent comes to Pedley’s aid the following morn-ing when the visitors attempt to kill the officer; the vil-lains are given directions to Jules’s cabin and are senton their way.

26. You Are Lost A bustling development of themain theme underscores the protagonists’ continuingjourney through the snow, the material growing ingrandeur as they travel into the mountains. Forebod-ing strings and woodwinds sound when Vincent in-sists that Pedley admit to being lost; the officer re-fuses and the main theme reasserts itself, building toan awesome statement as they arrive before a particu-larly treacherous mountain.

27. I Am Lost Pedley leaves Vincent behindat their camp and explores the surrounding terrain.An urgent, canonic development of the main themesounds as he travels on his dogsled. He dismounts tosurvey a range of surrounding mountains, and after asickening swell of dissonance and harp glissandi he de-clares himself lost.

Back at the camp, Jules uses burning logs to fendoff visiting wolves, the score marking the animals’presence with nervous clarinet and a lurching motivefor strings. The scene segues to Pedley en route to thecamp with a brief reprise of the trudging material from“Sometimes”; his foot becomes ensnared in a bear trap,to an exclamation of low brass.

28. Not a Chance Pedley unlocks Jules’s hand-cuffs and the trapper in turn helps free the policemanfrom the bear trap—trust is finally established betweenthem. After a transition to their campsite at night, themen bond, accompanied by reflective developments ofthe main theme. Pedley enviously declares that thetrapper has a more appealing home to return to thanhe does, with the score reprising “Northern Lights” onflute to conjure the Indian girl and the cat awaitingJules. The main theme returns fatefully when Pedleyaccepts his handcuffs back from Vincent and tells himthat neither of them are going to make it back.

The following morning, Jules determines theirroute, to a pastoral line for woodwinds that mingleswith the main theme. As they embark anew on theirtrek, the primary melody gathers strength and buildsto an invigorating brass-dominated setting under rac-ing high strings. This material is interrupted by athreatening passage for wolves stalking the protago-nists: a snarling motive trades off with a struggling ver-sion of the main theme over a low, off-kilter pattern asthe beasts trail behind Vincent and Pedley. After a tran-sition to the travelers’ campsite, woodwinds close thecue on an air of uncertainty. The wolves’ subsequentattack on the men is unscored.

29. Read It The men fend off the wolves but Ped-ley is left in a near-catatonic state after the attack. Vin-cent attempts to snap him out of his condition when hetakes the officer’s progress log and writes a demeaningremark in it; the score responds with a disturbed devel-opment of the main theme against a descending five-note “breakdown” motive when Pedley offers no reac-tion. Escalating, unstable string writing accompaniesthe men as they continue uphill through the snow, themain theme struggling for exposure as Pedley blanklyfollows Vincent. The officer wanders away from Julesand the dogs, the score unfolding with dire, imitativewriting until Vincent catches up to Pedley and slapshim. Once again, the “breakdown” motive soundswhen the officer does not respond. An urgent four-note motive is introduced as Jules leads his mute com-panion back to the dogs and handcuffs him to the sled,with the score building to cathartic renditions of themain theme as the two persist uphill against a daunt-ing backdrop of mountains; the material climaxes asboth men collapse to the ground, exhausted.

There It Is Blustery woodwind and string runssound as Jules regains his composure and re-cuffs Ped-ley to the dogs’ leash, leaving the sled behind. Thefinal stretch of their journey is scored with strugglingiterations of the main theme as well as nagging de-velopments of Pedley’s minor third material from “Fa-ther,” and his breakdown motive. Vincent pointsout McQuarrie in the distance; the main theme plays

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over trilling accompaniment as he shakes the non-responsive policeman and barks at him: “You want togo in like this? You want people to talk about it the restof their lives? How the mouse brought back the cat?”The cue reaches a defeated conclusion for a transitionto Vincent’s cabin, where the Indian girl receives theweary travelers.

30. Rapids Jules decides that the only way he canbring Pedley back to reality is to make him face deatha second time. The urgent four-note idea from “ReadIt” is reprised as the men set out on the river in a ca-noe. Brody’s motive makes a threatening return whenthey reach the rapids, but the film’s climax is unscored:while navigating the treacherous river, Pedley comesto his senses. He shouts back at Vincent, demandingthat he help steer the canoe ashore but Jules refuses andputs Pedley in the same predicament the trapper wasforced to endure with Brody. The officer fires a shot-gun blast past the trapper and the boat overturns; thetwo make it to shore, with Pedley finally understand-ing that Vincent had no choice but to shoot Brody.

31. End Title and Cast Pedley testifies at trial—implying that Vincent killed Brody in self-defense—and Jules is set free. Vincent bids farewell to Pedley

and gives him his kitten, encouraging him to build alife around it. Pedley names the cat “Bay-bee,” Jules’saffectionate nickname for the officer. The scene tran-sitions to the river, where a calm, pastoral version ofthe main theme plays for Jules and the Indian girl set-ting off in their canoe; Pedley waves goodbye from thedock and the melody reaches a grand, celebratory con-clusion. The end titles offer a final robust rendition ofthe main theme over a shot of the rapids.

Bonus Tracks32. Northern Lights (pre-recording) This slightly

shorter arrangement of “Northern Lights” wasrecorded prior to production, at which time it was pos-sibly planned for Cyd Charisse (singing here, to pianoaccompaniment by Arthur Rosenstein) to perform herown vocals.

33. Rapids (alternate) This unused, earlier ver-sion of “Rapids” finds the sympathetic four-note mo-tive from “Read It” replaced by a passage for threaten-ing brass, undulating woodwinds and nervous strings.The latter portion of the cue, featuring Brody’s theme,is identical to what is heard in the film (disc 1, track 30).

—Alexander Kaplan

The Last Hunt

The Last Hunt (1956) paired two of M-G-M’s topmale stars of the era, Robert Taylor and StewartGranger, as Civil War veterans who join forces to huntbuffalo for their valuable hides. Sandy McKenzie(Granger) is a former buffalo hunter who gave up thatvocation to become a cattle rancher, but when his cat-tle are killed in a buffalo stampede he reluctantly re-turns to his old trade. Charlie Gilson (Taylor) is anIndian-hater and an expert shot who relished killingduring his time in the war. The hunters hire twomore men to help with the buffalo skinning, a one-legged old drunk named Woodfoot (Lloyd Nolan) anda red-headed, part-Indian “half-breed” named JimmyO’Brien (Russ Tamblyn).

After some of their horses are stolen by Sioux,Charlie tracks down the thieves and kills them, bring-ing a surviving Sioux girl (Debra Paget, replacing an in-jured Anne Bancroft) and baby boy back to their camp-site. Charlie takes the girl as his mistress, but she fallsfor McKenzie instead. Charlie kills a white buffalo,whose hide has religious significance for the Indians,and an Indian friend of Jimmy’s is killed in a duel withCharlie over the hide. When the girl steals the hide sothat Jimmy can place it over his friend’s grave, an in-creasingly paranoid Charlie is convinced that McKen-zie has stolen the hide and is trying to cheat him outof the proceeds. McKenzie and the girl flee, and Wood-

foot (armed only with an unloaded gun) is killed tryingto stop Charlie. Charlie tracks McKenzie and the girl toa cave and plans to wait them out overnight in a bliz-zard, but the next morning McKenzie and the girl findhim frozen to death, wrapped in a buffalo hide with hisgun still clutched in his hand.

Filmmaker Richard Brooks began his Hollywoodcareer in the early 1940s writing B-movies, but by theend of the decade he had gained prominence withscreenplay credits on such crime classics as Brute Forceand Key Largo; meanwhile, his novel The Brick Foxholewas made into 1947’s Crossfire, which earned five Os-car nominations—including Best Picture. Brooks madehis feature directorial debut with the 1950 Cary Grantthriller Crisis, and over the first half of the decade hetackled an eclectic variety of projects, culminating inthe 1955 classic Blackboard Jungle, a gritty drama abouta crusading teacher and his delinquent students thatearned him his first Oscar nomination (for his adapta-tion of Evan Hunter’s novel). The Last Hunt was hisnext film, going into production a few months afterJungle’s March 1955 release, and could hardly be moredifferent from the small-scaled black-and-white Jungle:a lavish, Technicolor CinemaScope production, filmedat scenic South Dakota locations.

Despite its traditional western spectacle, with itswidescreen buffalo hunts and stampedes, The Last

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Hunt is ultimately, like many other Brooks films (suchas his most famous western, 1966’s The Professionals),a drama about conflicts between men. Robert Taylor’sCharlie Gilson is a fascinating antagonist: a racist whoenjoys killing, but also a complicated man who gen-uinely desires the friendship of McKenzie. He alsowants to earn the Sioux girl’s affection (he refuses toforce himself on her, a plot point added at the insis-tence of the Production Code Administration, whichdid not want the film to feature any implied rape).While Robert Taylor’s reputation as an actor has di-minished over the years (Pauline Kael compared himto Tom Cruise, and did not intend it as a complimentto either actor), he skillfully embodies Gilson’s con-tradictory nature, while Granger has the much eas-ier task, using his effortless charisma to portray thesympathetic McKenzie in a much more low-key per-formance than his broadly charming work in The WildNorth. An overall theme in the film is the futility ofviolence, and the title The Last Hunt refers not only tothe buffalo hunt but also to Gilson’s ill-fated pursuit ofMcKenzie, resulting in a surprisingly understated cli-max with Gilson perishing not in blaze of gunfire butfreezing in a snowstorm.

The Last Hunt is little remembered today, but it wasfavorably reviewed at the time of its release, with Tay-lor’s change-of-pace performance as Charlie and LloydNolan’s colorful work as Woodfoot (The Film Dailycalled it “an Oscar performance”) garnering much ofthe attention, as did the buffalo stampede sequence,which was filmed with four cameras and featured 1,000buffalo, herded by jeeps and wranglers. Variety re-marked that “Daniele Amfitheatrof’s music sets upmoods appropriately,” while The Film Daily termedthe score “a strong production asset.” Amfitheatrof’smusic, his only collaboration with Brooks, makes asatisfying companion piece to the scores for Brooks’smore famous westerns, Maurice Jarre’s rousing, Latin-flavored The Professionals, and Alex North’s rambunc-tious, Oscar-nominated Bite the Bullet.

Daniele Amfitheatrof (1901–1983) was a Russian-born composer who worked at nearly all the Holly-wood studios during the 1940s and ’50s. His ad-vanced harmonies and impressionistic writing werewell-suited to evoking the spirituality and beauty ofNative American cultures (albeit via a Hollywoodprism) in both The Last Hunt and Devil’s Doorway, histwo M-G-M “Indian” scores presented on disc twoof this collection. Amfitheatrof’s score for The LastHunt features four principal melodies, each of whichchange their meaning over the course of the story.A noble, western-flavored theme introduces the filmand is given a rousing rendition in the first buffalohunt sequence, but it eventually comes to represent the

film’s Indian characters, as Amfitheatrof orchestratesthe melody with a classic Hollywood Indian sound.

More pervasive is Amfitheatrof’s main theme, ananguished anthem that is regularly used to repre-sent the buffalo, at times in a way that predicts JohnWilliams’s famous shark theme from Jaws. In certainscenes, the composer gives the motive a deep soundsimilar to how Bernard Herrmann scored underseaand subterranean creatures in Beneath the 12-Mile Reef(FSMCD Vol. 3, No. 10) and Journey to the Center ofthe Earth, but as the plot element of the white buffalohide gains prominence, Amfitheatrof uses the motiveto evoke the Sioux’s reverence for the animal. Over thecourse of the story, the conflict changes from man vs.animal to man vs. man, and the composer even uses thetheme to represent Charlie as he becomes the story’sclear antagonist.

J.P. Webster’s 1857 song “Lorena” functions notonly as source music—performed by Woodfoot on hisaccordion—but as a love theme in the underscore. Thetune was sung during the American Civil War to re-mind soldiers of their sweethearts and wives at home,and Amfitheatrof uses the tender melody to character-ize Civil War veteran McKenzie’s burgeoning relation-ship with the Sioux girl. “Lorena” is joined by a sim-ilarly romantic theme, associated with McKenzie’s de-sire for a more peaceful life away from the hunt; thistheme is often used for scenes with the baby Sioux boy.A lighthearted motive (based on the romantic theme) isapplied to Woodfoot, reinforcing his status as a comicrelief character and thus helping make his ultimate sac-rifice all the more unexpected.

—Scott Bettencourt

This rare release of a Daniele Amfitheatrof score isgiven an added bonus in that it is presented in sterlingstereo sound from the original 35mm three-track mag-netic film scoring masters. Disc 2, tracks 1–14 presentthe complete score as heard in the film.

DISC TWO

1. Main Title The Last Hunt opens with apanoramic, Norman Rockwell-style painting of a buf-falo hunt, and Amfitheatrof’s noble western themeplays over a lengthy title crawl. A foreword explainsthe history of buffalo hunting in the West, expressinggratitude to “the officials of Custer State Park, the U.S.National Monument at Badlands and to Governor JoeFoss of South Dakota” for their cooperation in allowingthe location filming, as well as explaining that the buf-falo killed in the film were part of the “annual thinningof the herd.”

As the explanatory crawl gives way to the openingcredits, the buffalo theme bursts forth with foreboding

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octatonic harmony; a biting string/brass pulse even-tually enters to propel the melody forward. A racingscalar accompaniment is added to the texture beforethe melody for “Lorena” is introduced on concertinaover light string activity.

2. A Place of My Own On the grazing lands ofDakota, cattle belonging to rancher Sandy McKenzie(Stewart Granger) are killed by a herd of stampedingbuffalo. Charlie Gilson (Robert Taylor) arrives on thescene and proposes that he and McKenzie form a part-nership hunting buffalo. Sandy is initially reluctantand the “peaceful life” theme is introduced as he re-flects that “all he’s ever wanted is a place of my own.”While he is distracted, a buffalo (presumed dead) pullsitself to its feet, and a menacing version of the buffalomotive sounds as the animal lurches toward Sandy;Charlie spins around and shoots the animal dead, toan exclamatory brass outburst. A conflicted version ofthe peaceful life theme plays when a grateful Sandy de-cides to accept Charlie’s proposition.

The scene transitions to the two men heading to-ward town and Sandy, fed up with killing, changes hismind yet again, to a pure statement of the peaceful lifetheme. The buffalo theme sneers on muted brass andcompetes with the romantic melody as Charlie con-vinces Sandy to stick with him to earn money for a newherd of cattle.

3. Let Her Go In town, the partners recruit Jimmy(Russ Tamblyn), an Indian half-breed, and Woodfoot(Lloyd Nolan), an old codger; a threatening introduc-tion of brass and strings plays as they set out on theirmules and horses. The group reaches the buffalo rangeto an imitative setting of the western theme. The inebri-ated Woodfoot spots a rampaging herd of buffalo andsteers his wagon after them, with the pulse from themain title returning to form a propulsive foundationfor the western theme. A contrastingly comical line—Woodfoot’s motive—is introduced on trumpet as theold man’s steering becomes increasingly perilous, andafter a fleeting statement of the buffalo theme the cuetransforms into a demented hoedown (built out of themain title’s racing strings) as Charlie unsuccessfully at-tempts to restrain him. (This cue is slightly edited inthe film due to deleted footage.)

A Wet Ending Three of the score’s principal ideas(the western theme, the buffalo theme and the peacefullife theme) trade off with the hoedown material onceSandy catches up with the herd and leads the buffaloout of Woodfoot’s path; the cue reaches a furious cli-max as the drunk codger proceeds to crash the wagoninto a stream.

4. It’s a Bit Windy Yet The men set up camp andCharlie resolves to get some meat. An angry settingof the buffalo theme gives way to a brief reprise of the

main title’s pulse for a transition to a grazing site, witha creepy reading of the buffalo theme sounding on con-trabassoon as Charlie dismounts his horse and sneaksup on the animals.

Sorry, No Buffalo Today The buffalo theme playslethargically as one of the animals becomes spooked byCharlie’s presence. Before he can get closer, the herdpanics, to a reprise of their frantic material from themain title. Charlie takes cover and fires a few shotsin their direction, but they are already too far gone. Aplayful line for flute and bassoon acknowledges his de-feat.

Shame of It Night falls and the men discuss thefuture of the buffalo over their campfire. A cautiousversion of the buffalo theme unfolds as Sandy andWoodfoot attempt to convince a stubborn Charlie thatthe herds will not last forever if the hunting continues.A forlorn reading of the peaceful life theme soundswhen Sandy recalls that in the span of one year all ofthe buffalo were wiped out of Arkansas.

Just Keep at It A brief, scornful passage fortremolo strings and muted brass plays as Indians stealthe group’s mules.

I’m Going to Get Them Mules The buffalo themeemerges from agitated writing and is applied to Char-lie as he prepares to set out after the thieves. Lamen-tative strings suggest the western theme for Sandy at-tempting (and failing) to talk Charlie out of killing theIndians, who do not view stealing horses as a crime;Woodfoot’s rascally motive plays when the old drunkdeclines to join Charlie, and the buffalo theme is fate-fully reprised as Gilson rides off after the natives.

5. Are You the Mother Charlie tracks down theIndians and kills them; a morose development of thebuffalo material (inherited by Charlie) plays when hereturns to camp with the stolen mules as well as ahostage Sioux girl (Debra Paget) and the baby boy sheis caring for. A delicate mingling of “Lorena” andthe peaceful life theme underscores Sandy meeting theyoung boy. Charlie’s theme returns as he bemoansthe child’s presence and instructs Jimmy to ask thegirl if the child belongs to her. Before he can do so,Sandy asks her (in her language), to a string repriseof “Lorena.” Once she gives a reluctant nod, sinis-ter muted brass plays for Charlie ordering Sandy tohave her wait in his quarters and prepare him a meal.McKenzie ignores him and walks off.

6. That Was Your Ma The following morning,Sandy finds the little boy perched beside a stream; thepeaceful life theme and “Lorena” are tentatively devel-oped as McKenzie wanders over to the child and won-ders where the girl is. The melodies are passionatelycombined when Sandy sees her bathing nearby andhe bashfully turns away. After an interruption from

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Charlie’s material (as he observes the situation fromnearby), the girl puts on her clothes and the roman-tic themes swell together for her and Sandy sharing anawkward but tender moment. The cue concludes withanother suggestion of Charlie’s theme as he sneers tohimself and rides off.

7. Fast With a Gun At night, Sandy lays awake—disturbed that Charlie is spending time with the Siouxgirl in the privacy of his shack. Meanwhile, Jimmy asksWoodfoot if he knows of anyone as fast with a gun asCharlie, and the old man replies in the negative, to aforeboding statement of the Charlie’s theme. Wood-foot’s motive is quoted on bassoon as he takes a swig ofalcohol and the scene transitions to the next day, withSandy riding out in the open country. Charlie’s themereturns as he sneaks down a hill toward a herd of graz-ing buffalo.

White One Racked with guilt, Sandy positionshimself near a herd and shoots the animals, until onlyone remains: a rare white buffalo (known to the Siouxas “Big Medicine”). The octatonic main title renditionof the buffalo theme returns to lend the animal a mythicair and also plays to Sandy’s reverence for the beast.A devastated string sustain and accented brass burstforth when Charlie suddenly shows up and shoots theanimal in the head. Sandy’s stunned reaction is ac-knowledged with a muted brass version of the peacefullife theme; as the hunters stand over the fallen buffalo,the cue designates Sandy and Jimmy with mournfulstring writing while nagging renditions of the buffalotheme represent a proud, insensitive Charlie.

8. Now You’ll Kill Our Religion At the encamp-ment, Sandy unloads skinned hides from the wagon.The buffalo theme receives a murky reading when theSioux girl sees the white buffalo’s skin. A hollowsuggestion of “Lorena” sounds on strings as she tellsSandy (in English): “You take away our food. Now youkill our religion.” She walks off and Sandy is joined byWoodfoot, to a reprise of the old man’s comic motive.

Big Medicine Jimmy’s Sioux friend, SpottedHand (Ed Lonehill), visits the encampment and takesnote of Big Medicine’s white skin, to a seething state-ment of the buffalo theme. The western theme gets asomber development as Spotted Hand offers to tradehis mules for the valuable skin. Nervous materialbuilds under Charlie walking over to one of the mulesand attempting to mount it; a playful bassoon rendi-tion of the western theme results when the animal be-comes agitated and knocks him to the ground. Charliesubsequently refuses to make the trade and a tense pas-sage incorporates the buffalo and peaceful life themesas Sandy tries to convince him otherwise. SpottedHand challenges Charlie to a gunfight, with the hunterreadily accepting. The western theme’s somber version

plays as Spotted Hand asks what Charlie has to gain bykilling him, and the villain responds: “Just pure plea-sure.”

Just Pure Pleasure, Boy Charlie and SpottedHand prepare for their face-off while Woodfoot countsout 30 paces; the score creates a sense of impend-ing doom, incorporating Charlie’s melody into sparsewriting for drums and winds. (The nervous, repeatedlow-end figure in the background is an overlay playedby novachord, celli, basses, bassoons and drums.) Thevillain’s material gives way to the western theme asSpotted Hand says a prayer, and the cue snarls to itsconclusion just before the fighters take their places andprepare to fire.

9. Well, I’ll Be Damned Charlie shoots Spot-ted Hand and the score responds with swelling brassand panicking strings. Gilson wonders why the In-dian wanted the buffalo hide, the western theme play-ing tragically as Woodfoot explains the skin’s religiousvalue. After Jimmy announces that Spotted Hand isstill alive, a comical muted reading of Woodfoot’s mo-tive sounds for the old man teasing Charlie.

The scene transitions to night at the camp wheretroubled, quivering underscore incorporates Charlie’stheme as Sandy, Jimmy and the Sioux girl tend toSpotted Hand’s wound. An austere version of Wood-foot’s theme alternates with the western theme as theold man continues to tell Charlie of the Indians’ wor-ship for the buffalo (in the finished film, the open-ing of the second part of this cue, 0:43–2:26, is dialedout). Sandy informs Charlie that Jimmy is taking themortally wounded Indian to die back on the Siouxreservation, and the score brews with sporadic low-register tension when Charlie refuses to let them takethe mules.

Heartbeat Effect Charlie draws his pistol and or-ders Jimmy and Spotted Hand to dismount the mules.When Sandy challenges him, he threatens to shootMcKenzie; the skinner responds by holding a knife tothe villain’s belly. A heartbeat-like pulse plays throughtheir standoff, building anxiety and counting downSpotted Hand’s final moments until the Sioux falls offhis mule, dead.

Charlie Gets the Hat A passage of nervous flut-tering and timpani plays as Jimmy drapes his friend’scorpse over a mule and leads the animal from camp.The buffalo theme sounds when the Sioux girl dis-creetly passes Jimmy the white hide; Charlie missesthis while picking up Spotted Hand’s hat from theground. The scene transitions to Jimmy giving theSioux a proper Indian funeral in a large tree, whereSpotted Hand is wrapped in the skin of the sacred buf-falo. A tragic rendition of the western theme plays onstrings as Jimmy recites a Sioux prayer.

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10. No Heart for Slaughter Sandy visits townby himself to sell the buffalo skins. He is consumedwith self-loathing for killing buffalo and for leaving theSioux girl with Charlie. After a drunken brawl in a sa-loon, he returns to the encampment and resolves to freethe girl. Charlie is initially elated to have his partnerback but he has become mentally unstable because hecan no longer find buffalo to kill. He throws a fit whenSandy informs him that the prized white buffalo skinis missing.

A transition to Sandy riding through a field of buf-falo skeletons is scored with unsettling brass devel-opments of the buffalo theme. When the hunter lo-cates a small herd, he cannot bring himself to open fire;the peaceful life theme resurfaces as he sets down hisweapon and reclines.

Where’d They Go At night, while Charlie issleeping, Sandy leaves camp with the Sioux girl, herboy and Charlie’s horse. The next morning tremolostrings and agitated winds play for Charlie discover-ing that they are missing. The villain sets out to findthem and unnerving trills sound as Jimmy wonders ifCharlie would actually kill his friend—Woodfoot reck-ons so. The scene segues to the three skinners search-ing the valley on their mules to the accompanimentof suspenseful string dissonance and meandering lowbrass. While Charlie investigates a nearby cave (onethat he and Sandy once used for shelter from haz-ardous weather), Woodfoot and Jimmy find his miss-ing horse tied to a tree. Jimmy releases the animal andpunishing brass underscores Woodfoot scaring it off sothat Charlie cannot use it to track down Sandy. Thecue ends before Charlie shoots Woodfoot for betrayinghim.

11. Starving Reservation Woodfoot’s motivemakes a brief appearance as Jimmy retrieves the oldman’s concertina and places it beside his corpse. Deso-late brass and strings mark Sandy and the Sioux girl ar-riving at an Indian reservation, where they are greetedby a white representative. A grim pentatonic melodyplays as Sandy is informed that the Indians are starv-ing and that the Army has failed to show up with apromised shipment of food.

I Go With You Sandy decides to ride to townfor the Sioux and retrieve supplies from the Army. Ayearning rendition of “Lorena” plays as the Sioux girloffers to accompany him. Sandy warns her of the dan-ger Charlie poses, but she is committed to him. Theyride off toward town to a stern reprise of the Indianmaterial.

12. Pretty Lookin’ Too In town, Jimmy is reunitedwith Sandy and the girl; they leave for the reservationwith cattle and supplies. While Charlie is collectingmoney for skins, he learns that Sandy was recently in

town and has only just left. Bitter brass and a fleetingstatement of the peaceful life theme denote his reactionbefore the scene transitions to Sandy, Jimmy and thegirl braving treacherous, snowy weather to reach thereservation. The score sustains a jittery, ominous toneas they take refuge inside a cave, with Charlie arrivingon horseback outside.

I’m Waiting Charlie shouts up to Sandy fromthe foot of a hill that leads to the cave, demandingthat he show himself. Suspenseful, taunting materialfor muted brass and string harmonics plays as Charliethreatens to kill the mules and cattle meant for the In-dian reservation. Sandy bargains with the villain andmanages to secure Jimmy’s release; Charlie insists thatthe girl remain, however, and a straining version of“Lorena” sounds as Sandy holds her close. The peace-ful life theme underscores Jimmy’s farewell to Sandy;the boy runs down the hill and sets off for the reserva-tion with the cattle, as unraveling chromatic suspensegives way to a deformed brass version of the romanticmaterial. Sinister writing closes the cue as Charlie tellsSandy to wait until morning for their showdown—Charlie does not trust him in the dark.

13. It’s Time We Gave Them Something As theweather becomes increasingly frigid, Charlie strugglesto maintain his sanity; a stray buffalo arrives on thescene and Charlie kills and skins it in an attempt tokeep warm, muttering to himself all the while.

The majority of “It’s Time We Gave Them Some-thing” does not appear in the film (possibly due todeleted or reedited footage). The cue’s opening isheard as morning arrives, with Sandy preparing to faceCharlie. In the film the score jumps ahead (skippingthe interaction between “Lorena” and the peaceful lifetheme, as well as a hint of Charlie’s theme) to arriveat 1:16 for Sandy kissing the girl goodbye and exitingthe cave. Quietly horrific string utterances and martialpercussion follow Sandy down the hill toward his op-ponent.

14. Frozen to Death and End Title Sandy reachesCharlie and flinches upon seeing him, a gruesome lowbrass hint of Charlie’s theme marking the revelation ofhis frozen corpse, sitting up with buffalo skin drapedover him, his pistol pathetically drawn. Chilly stringsprovide a backdrop for Charlie’s theme as Sandy ex-amines the corpse and the Sioux girl escorts his horsedown to him. Doomed brass underscores Sandy’s dec-laration, “Frozen to death.” As he and the girl rideoff together, the buffalo theme builds to a contrastinglyoptimistic conclusion.

End Cast “Lorena” returns for the end credits,which play out over the painting from the film’s open-ing sequence.

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DISC THREE

Bonus tracks for The Last Hunt are found at the endof disc three:

Alternate Score25. Main Title (original version with alternate

ending) This earlier rendition of the main title featuresa more subdued presentation of the opening westerntheme; the closing arrangement of “Lorena” plays onwoodwinds instead of accordion.

26. That Was Your Ma (original version) Theopening orchestration of this cue emphasizes solo fid-dle rather than clarinet (see disc 2, track 6). The brassappearance of Charlie’s theme halfway through is alsomore forceful.

27. Well, I’ll Be Damned (original version) Theclosing bars of this cue feature a suspenseful version ofthe peaceful life theme for Sandy’s standoff with Char-lie instead of the threatening percussion of the rewrit-ten music (disc 2, track 9).

Charlie Gets the Hat The original version ofSpotted Hand’s funeral (disc 2, track 9) is scored witha different rendition of the western theme to close thecue: brass (not violins) set contrapuntally over the buf-falo theme. (The first half of the cue is the same record-ing in both versions.)

28. Where’d They Go (original version) The skin-ners’ search for Sandy (disc 2, track 10) features unusedcounterlines based on Charlie’s theme and the peacefullife theme. An urgent rendition of Woodfoot’s theme

was intended to underscore Jimmy and the old manfreeing Sandy’s horse.

29. I Gotta Kill Sandy This unused cue featuresgloomy readings of the buffalo theme and Woodfoot’stheme amid suspenseful string writing. Accordiontakes up “Lorena,” but dissonant strings corrupt thetune before the sinister buffalo theme returns to closethe cue. It is unknown what scene this was meant toaccompany, although the cue title likely references dia-logue by Charlie.

Source MusicA great deal of source music was recorded for The

Last Hunt, both for saloon sequences and for Woodfoot,who often sings and plays a concertina while sittingaround the campfire. The bulk of this material consistsof familiar tunes such as “The Yellow Rose of Texas,”“Sweet Betsy From Pike” and “Lorena”; due to theirrepetitive nature and limited space available on thisbox set, most of these source cues are not presentedhere.

Three source pieces not used in the finished film,however, are included at the end of disc three, allsung by Bill Lee: Disc 3, track 30 is the period song“Lorena” (utilized by Amfitheatrof as the score’s lovetheme), track 31 is “Buffalo Skinners” (evoking the buf-falo hunters’ trade) and track 32 is a medley of threeNative American chants: “He Lies Over There,” “I FearNot” and “Song to Secure Buffalo in Time of Famine.”

—Alexander Kaplan

Devil’s Doorway

Devil’s Doorway (1950), is, like The Last Hunt, aboutNative Americans and, like The Naked Spur, was di-rected by Anthony Mann. By the early 1950s, Holly-wood was dealing more openly with the issue of prej-udice in such films as Pinky (about a black girl passingfor white), Home of the Brave (a paralyzed black WWIIveteran) and Gentleman’s Agreement (a Gentile reporterinvestigating anti-Semitism). Fox’s Broken Arrow, re-leased a month before Devil’s Doorway, was consideredthe breakthrough film due to its positive portrayal ofAmerican Indians and their conflict with whites, butDevil’s Doorway took an even more uncompromisinglook at the subject. (Doorway was screened for the pressbefore Arrow opened, but the studio apparently lackedfaith in the film and waited another four months torelease it.) Many Hollywood films that examine suchissues attribute all of the blame to one evil character:Devil’s Doorway may feature an individual villain (aconniving, deceitful lawyer) but it makes clear that it isthe government policies toward Indians that ultimatelylead to the downfall of the main character, a Shoshone

Indian named “Broken Lance” Poole.The film begins with Poole returning to his

Wyoming home after winning the CongressionalMedal of Honor for his service in the Civil War. Havingserved alongside, and even commanded, white troops,he is convinced that the tide is turning toward equal-ity for Native Americans, but discovers that the re-verse is true—with the influx of new settlers, prejudiceagainst Indians is increasing, and the government’snew Homestead Act has taken away all his rights to hisfamily’s property. He enlists the help of Orrie Masters(Paula Raymond), a beautiful female lawyer, to makehis case with the government, but discovers that as anIndian he is a “ward of the state,” not an American citi-zen, and does not even have the right to homestead hisown land.

Goaded by racist lawyer Coolan (Louis Calhoun),a group of sheepmen attempt to settle on Poole’s prop-erty, prompting a series of violent skirmishes betweenIndians and settlers. Poole is determined to defendhis land to the end with his fellow Shoshones, know-

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ing that he will almost certainly lose. When Poolekills Coolan, Orrie calls the cavalry in time to savethe Indian women and children, but a fatally woundedPoole, the last surviving Indian man in the battle, donshis Civil War uniform and gives the cavalry officer a fi-nal salute before falling dead. The film is careful not tolet Poole off the hook for his downfall, despite his at-tempts to use the law to plead his case: his own inflexi-bility helps seal his fate, giving the story an essentiallytragic dimension. Director Mann was pleased with theend product, remarking, “I think the result was morepowerful than Broken Arrow, more dramatic too.”

By 1950 Indians may have no longer been the de-fault villains in Hollywood westerns, but genuine Na-tive American lead actors were (and still are) a rar-ity, to say the least. Poole was played by none otherthan M-G-M star Robert Taylor (born Spangler Arling-ton Brugh), with dark makeup and longish hair pulledstraight back. Taylor’s casting received some criticismfrom reviewers at the time, but he brought an appro-priate somberness and dignity to the role—clearly he,like the filmmakers, wanted to do justice to the Indiansand their plight—and when he starred in Quo Vadis ayear later, no one complained that he was not really aRoman.

Director Anthony Mann had specialized in filmnoir during the 1940s, and Devil’s Doorway was his firstwestern. While it has never achieved the critical rep-utation of the series of westerns starring James Stew-art that Mann would later direct, it is an exceptionallywell-directed film that, with its black-and-white pho-tography and downbeat storyline, makes a fascinatingtransition from the noir to western genres. (Anothernoirish Mann western, The Furies, was shot after butreleased immediately before Doorway.)

Much of the impact of Devil’s Doorway derivesfrom John Alton’s expert cinematography. Alton hadshot several of Mann’s noirs, and his work on Door-way balances rich, crisp exteriors reminiscent of thelandscape photography of Ansel Adams with strik-ingly composed, deep-focus interiors. Devil’s Doorwayproved to be the last collaboration between Mann andAlton: the cinematographer moved on to color and awide variety of projects, sharing the Color Cinematog-raphy Oscar for 1951’s An American in Paris for hiswork on the ballet sequences. (Alton’s final credit wasfor the pilot episode of the Mission: Impossible TV se-ries.) Doorway’s screenwriter, Guy Trosper, was nom-inated for a WGA award for his script in the long-abandoned category of Best Written American West-ern, and went on to a prestigious career that includedsuch classics as Birdman of Alcatraz and The Spy WhoCame in From the Cold.

Devil’s Doorway was composer Daniele Amfithe-

atrof’s only score for an Anthony Mann film. While thestoryline of Doorway is distinctly monothematic—verylittle transpires in the narrative aside from Poole’s at-tempt to maintain control of his land—Amfitheatrof’sscore is not dominated by a particular theme, and thecomposer uses a variety of motives and musical moodsto tell the story. The principal melody depicts Pooleand his fellow Shoshones, but Amfitheatrof’s cues tendto turn on a dime, closely attuned to the tone of a sceneon a moment-by-moment basis. He provides Scottish-tinged music for the sheepmen led by Scotty Mac-Dougall (Rhys Williams), and while his drum-laden In-dian cues are typical of Western scoring at the time,they help add to the film’s tragic inevitability.

The somberness of much of the score is balancedby Amfitheatrof’s musical evocation of the spectacu-lar countryside, which virtually all of the characters(even the despicable Coolan) covet. The composeralso provides a comical motive for Orrie’s nosy mother(played by familiar character actress Spring Byington).The working relationship between Poole and Orrie (hisshock at meeting a female lawyer makes a nice paral-lel to the whites’ prejudice against the Indians) hintsat an attraction that is never addressed openly un-til the finale, and Amfitheatrof fittingly emphasizesthe underlying tension and conflict of their scenes to-gether rather than employing traditionally romanticmusic. While an early scene of Poole bringing a reluc-tant white doctor to his home—only to find his ailingfather has already died—is scored only with the on-screen source of Indian chants (composed by AndrePrevin), the action-packed final reels feature nonstop,large-scale scoring. Along with its other qualities, thesomber effectiveness of Amfitheatrof’s music shouldserve as a rebuttal to those who only know his west-ern scoring from his final work in the genre, his offbeat,oft-derided music for Sam Peckinpah’s Major Dundee.

—Scott Bettencourt

Devil’s Doorway is presented on this collection fromthe surviving optical 35mm monaural film cues, whichwere subsequently archived by M-G-M on ¼′′ tape.Unfortunately, the masters are incomplete, and in thiscase acetates could not be found to fill in the miss-ing cues. (Acetates for M-G-M scores archived atUSC exist only for films with production numbers of1501 or higher; Devil’s Doorway is production num-ber 1468.) The surviving cues offer a more-than-captivating glimpse at Amfitheatrof’s engaging musicfor the film’s Native Americans and their dark journeyundertaken in the film. Reel and part numbers are pro-vided in the program commentary below to help thelistener understand the “gaps” created by the missingcues.

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Among the lost cues are the main title (1M1—obscured by sound effects in the finished film, render-ing it unsuitable to be lifted from the film soundtrackitself). For purposes of introduction, the opening ti-tle sequence features Lance Poole (Robert Taylor) onhorseback, riding through Wyoming’s mountains backto his hometown of Medicine Bow; the accompany-ing cue introduces and develops Amfitheatrof’s bold,pentatonic-flavored main theme as well as the com-pound Scottish melody associated with MacDougalland the sheepmen, concluding with a noble brass fan-fare that comes to represent Lance’s service in the army.

15. Looking for Green Pastures (2M3) Early inthe film, Lance suffers the death of his father (FritzLeiber) at his Indian homestead, Sweet Meadows.“Looking for Green Pastures” appears with agitatedbrass and strings for Poole’s loss, giving way to sweep-ing statements of the main theme for a sequence ofLance and the Shoshones rounding up cattle on theirproperty. The Scottish melody plays innocently whensheepman Scotty MacDougall (Rhys Williams) arriveslooking for grazing land. Lance angrily announces thatSweet Meadows belongs to him, and he rides off withbrass defiantly calling out his theme.

16. Meeting (1M2) This unused cue falls in se-quence prior to disc 2, track 15, but has been placedhere for listening purposes (as “Looking for Green Pas-tures” is a better cue to begin the Devil’s Doorway pro-gram, in the absence of the “Main Title”). Poole arrivesat the town saloon and is reunited with his friends: thebartender, Bob (Tom Fadden), and soon-to-be sheriff,Zeke (Edgar Buchanan). They are impressed by hisdecorated uniform, but bigoted lawyer Coolan (LouisCalhern) chimes in, noting that things were differentwhen he was in the army. Lance dismisses the com-ment and leaves the bar to find his ill father. “Meeting”was likely intended to play under the bar dialogue butwas not used in the finished film. The piece’s bouncingstring writing and tentative brass fanfares might havelent the scene a more urgent and ominous air.

17. The First Client (3M2) In another scene atthe saloon, Coolan instigates a brawl (unscored byAmfitheatrof) between Lance and Ike Stapleton (JamesMillican), a vicious cowboy, over the ownership ofSweet Meadows; after Poole emerges victorious, hevisits lawyer Orrie Masters (Paula Raymond) in hopesthat she will help him legally homestead his own land.“The First Client” underscores the end of their initialuncomfortable encounter with a somber passage forwoodwinds and strings; subdued impressionistic writ-ing continues after Poole leaves and Orrie’s motherchides her for taking on an Indian as her first client.The cue captures Orrie’s delicate compassion as the

lawyer implies that her father would have done thesame, with her mother quick to agree.

Running Into Indians (4M3) A broad statementof the main theme accompanies a transitional shot ofthe Shoshones working on Sweet Meadows. A subse-quent scene of a shotgun-toting Mrs. Masters boardingher daughter’s wagon is underscored with the intro-duction of her comical descending motive; the musicplays to the mothers overcautious disposition as thewomen set out to deliver disappointing news to Lance.

The main theme is quoted as the scene transitionsto Sweet Meadows, where Lance finishes pounding apost into the ground, happily unaware of the land of-fice’s decision; the Masters women arrive and as theyare surrounded by the Shoshones, the score plays uptheir trepidation with suspenseful writing for stringsand muted brass. Tribal percussion plays as Lancesenses his visitors’ fear and dismisses his friends. Hetakes Orrie’s hand to help her out of the wagon, and al-though he shies away when sensing her discomfort, themusics warm impressionism acknowledges the ges-ture. The cue peters out as Lance escorts the women tohis porch, where Orrie informs him that his homesteadapplication has been turned down. Infuriated, Lanceinsults Orrie’s profession and denounces the law thatforbids him from homesteading his land.

18. Talons of an Eagle (4MA) Agitated, trillingstrings mark the arrival of Jimmy (Henry Marco), afatigued Shoshone boy, who collapses near Lance’sporch. Orrie expresses concern, but Poole will not carryJimmy inside, instead encouraging him to reach thehouse under his own power. A belabored version ofthe main theme underscores the boy pulling himselfonto the porch, where a Shoshone woman finally col-lects him and brings him inside. Tribal percussion en-ters under the theme as Lance explains to the Masterswomen that Jimmy has just completed a rite of passage,having traveled into the mountains alone and returnedwith the talons of an eagle. Orrie finds the test cruel,but Lance responds that the tribe must know that theycan depend on the boy to fight.

Shining Spear (4AMA) Jimmy comes back out-side and presents the talons to Lance, who dubs him“Shining Spear”; Amfitheatrof offers hopeful chordalstatements of the main theme, with Orrie’s mothervoicing her approval of the Shoshones’ strong senseof family. The piece ends on an air of suspense whenthe scene transitions to Lance escorting the Masterswomen back to Medicine Bow.

19. There’s Still Hope (4M6) Lance and his guestsencounter a group of Shoshones who have fled thereservation; living conditions have become intolera-ble there, so Poole illegally allows them to stay on hisproperty. The scene shifts to outside the Masters home,

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where “There’s Still Hope” underscores the farewellbetween the Indian and the women. A sympatheticrendition of the main theme gives way to lush stringwriting as Orrie tells a grateful Lance that she will fightto have the law changed so that he can rightfully claimSweet Meadows. Before Lance rides off, the playfulmotive for Orrie’s mother is restated when he informsher that the firing pin on her rifle is rusted off.

Making Camp (wild, 4M7) The Scottish melodyis reprised for a transition to the open country—thesheepmen are poised to cross Devil’s Doorway, the en-trance to Sweet Meadows.

20. Time to Compromise (5M1) Orrie brings Mac-Dougall’s son, Rod (Marshall Thompson), to see Pooleabout allowing him and the other sheepmen to useSweet Meadows for grazing. Embittered strings playthrough Lance’s refusal to compromise. The cue takesa final hopeful turn when he agrees to negotiate if Or-rie’s petition to revise the homesteading law is success-ful.

21. MacDougall Shot (5M2) After Lance is in-formed that the MacDougalls are staking a claim by hiswater hole, a threatening, chromatic build of strings,brass and timpani underscores him retrieving his gunbelt. Furious string writing escalates through a transi-tion of Lance riding to the water hole—his confronta-tion with the sheepmen is marked by unnerving trillsand sporadic timpani. Before the younger MacDougallcan open fire, Poole shoots his hand; Ike (the cowboywhom Lance beat up) witnesses this and rides off toinform Coolan. (The opening 0:20 of this cue is dialedout in the finished film.)

22. I’m So Sorry (wild, 6M2) Word of the Mac-Dougall shooting spreads and results in the townspeo-ple’s refusal to sign Orrie’s petition. The Scottish themeis reprised for “Earth Is Our Mother” (6M1, not on thisCD), underscoring the lawyer’s apology to Rod and thesheepmen for what happened. “Earth Is Our Mother”also features a reverent arrangement of the main themewhen Orrie informs Poole of the failed petition andagain pleads that he make concessions to the sheep-men. Lance refuses to give up his land, explaining hisdeep connection to the valley.

“I’m So Sorry,” the cue included here, does notappear in the film, possibly due to deleted footage.After a tentative introduction, the cue features pen-sive woodwind and string developments of the maintheme. The concluding material is contrastingly stark,with unison writing punctuated by unsettling disso-nant chords.

Dynamite Attack, Part 1 (6M3) Poole leads theShoshones on horseback out into the valley to engageSheriff Zeke and the invading sheepmen. Forebodingbrass plays over a native bass drum pulse as Lance sur-

veys the white men from afar. When the party reachesthe Indians, Lance levels his pistol at Zeke, the scorebuilding dissonant tension as he warns the sheriff notto come closer. Zeke is unconvinced and Poole furi-ously leads his own men back up into the mountains,the score following with busy, chromatic string writing.In the finished film, the music continues with a violentaction cue, “Dynamite Attack, Part 2” (7M1, lost andthus not included here), which plays through the open-ing of the Indians’ subsequent attack on the sheepmen.

23. Indians vs. Sheepmen (wild) This unrulyaction cue (which does not appear in the film, possi-bly due to deleted footage) is dominated by the maintheme: fragmented versions of the tune chaoticallytrade off with rhythmic brass figures, ferocious stringwriting and pounding percussion.

24. Sheriff’s Dead (7M2) Several Indians, sheep-men and sheep are killed during the ambush. “Sheriff’sDead” begins with an anguished brass fanfare as Lanceand the surviving Shoshones retreat from the battle. Agnarled rendition of the main theme runs its course asthe camera pans away from the Indians to reveal thecorpse of the sheriff.

Wire (7M3) Coolan is given the title of “tempo-rary United States Marshal” and gathers a posse tostorm Lance’s property. Threatening low strings walkunder the opening of “Wire” as Orrie telegraphs a mes-sage to Fort Laramie requesting the aid of the U.S. Cav-alry. The scene transitions to Sweet Meadows, wherethe Shoshones are hard at work barricading the areaaround Poole’s ranch. Resolute iterations of the maintheme play over a tribal beat as Lance supervises thework of his people and promises young Jimmy a gun“soon enough.” A dry statement of the melody soundswhen Poole takes a moment to appreciate a Shoshoneinfant, the percussion resuming as he picks up a rifle.

25. Coolan Attacks (8M1) The propulsive open-ing measures of “Coolan Attacks” play as Orrie ridestoward Lance’s home to intercept Coolan and hisposse. Night falls, and just as the mob is ready toattack, Orrie arrives and pleads with them, rational-izing that they need not go through with the assaultsince the cavalry is already on its way and will removethe Shoshones. Orrie’s overtures are represented bya twisted, ever-changing line voiced on lush strings;Coolan’s rebuttals are treated with scornful brass. Thefirst 1:07 of this cue appears in the finished film withthe remaining music (1:08–3:22) dropped, presumablydue to deleted footage—the unused material alternatesbetween a taunting development of the “twisted” idea,the main title’s closing fanfare, and the main theme.

Second Attack (8M2) The twisted motive isvoiced on woodwinds after Coolan dismisses Orrieand lights a keg of dynamite. The ensuing battle be-

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tween the Shoshones and the posse is scored with fren-zied writing that emphasizes rapidly descending linesand forceful brass (some of this material was previ-ously established in the unused portion of “Coolan At-tacks”). Urgent readings of the main theme give wayto a subdued, tragic setting of the melody after Lance’shouse is destroyed by dynamite and the Indians areoverwhelmed. Poole then orders that the women andchildren be evacuated to the reservation. The cue re-establishes its aggressive tone, with bold chromaticismand pungent fanfares spelling doom for the Shoshonesas more and more white men advance toward them.The music subsides as Lance resolves to take the fightto the enemy and to “make it count.”

26. Good Luck (8M4) A suspense cue, “U.S. Cav-alry Arrives” (8M3, not on the CD), plays through asequence in which Poole and his men sneak into thewoods and quietly kill several members of the mob,including Coolan. “Good Luck,” the cue presentedhere, employs threatening low brass, tremolo stringsand martial percussion for the U.S. Cavalry assemblingon Lance’s property.

It’s Hopeless (9M1) Lt. Grimes (Bruce Cowl-ing) permits Orrie to try to convince Lance to surren-der. “It’s Hopeless” provides chromatic tension for thelawyer running toward Lance’s house. An anguishedrendition of the main theme sounds when Poole admitsher into his destroyed residence; the women and chil-dren are still huddled inside, having refused to returnto the reservation. The cue unfolds with bitter stringwriting suggestive of the main theme, and scowlingbrass as Poole stubbornly refuses to surrender, know-ing that the trial Orrie guarantees him will mean cer-tain death.

“The Children Were Happy Here” (9M2, not onthe CD) continues to apply tension to their conversa-tion as Lance laments that the children will not be ableto grow up with the freedom he was able to providefor them in the valley. He angrily addresses the mu-tual attraction he and Orrie feel, holding the lawyermore than close enough to kiss her—but ultimately dis-missing her (marked by a bittersweet version of themain theme), telling her, “A hundred years from nowit might have worked.”

27. Memories (9M3) Poole wearily walks throughhis scorched, empty home to the accompaniment of“Memories,” which supplies a moody passage empha-sizing low-register woodwinds and trilling strings. Hepicks up his father’s pipe and studies it as the soundof the cavalry’s gunfire suddenly fills the air; a fatefulreprise of the main theme signals Poole’s final decision.Before he steps outside to meet his destiny, he eyes hisCivil War uniform, to a fleeting suggestion of the fan-fare figure. Climatic rising brass and tribal percussionunderscore him calmly revealing himself to the cavalryand firing at them in vain—he is shot, and descendingjagged brass mimics his crumbling to the ground.

Last Walk (9M4) The tension of the previous cueis carried over for mortally wounded Lance taking Or-rie’s advice: He shouts his terms for surrender to thecavalry, agreeing to turn himself in if the women andchildren are allowed to return to the reservation. Ner-vous trilling continues even after Lt. Grimes acceptsthe offer, and a quotation of the main theme plays en-couragingly as Lance places brave young Jimmy, thelast remaining “man,” in charge of the survivors.

Resigned renditions of the main theme underscorethe Shoshones marching out toward the reservation,with a tragic contrapuntal setting of the material fol-lowing as Lance trails behind them dressed in his waruniform. The brass fanfare is reprised over a snare rollwhen he salutes the lieutenant and falls dead before theofficer and Orrie. “It would be too bad if we ever for-got,” the lawyer says, before Grimes looks out towardthe Wyoming mountains, to a tragic concluding state-ment of the main theme’s opening pitches. The endtitles play out over a glorious arrangement of the maintheme’s second half, similar to its presentation duringthe opening titles.

28. Indian Lament This slow-paced source pieceof wordless male and female moaning over percussion(composed by Andre Previn) is performed on screenby the Shoshones; early in the film it is divided overtwo separate scenes of Lance Poole’s father dying inhis bed, prior to “Looking for Green Pastures” (disc 2,track 15). The recording may have been repurposedfrom an earlier M-G-M film.

—Alexander Kaplan

Escape From Fort Bravo

Escape From Fort Bravo (1953) involves the escapeof Confederate prisoners from a Union stockade in theArizona Territory during the Civil War. As the filmbegins, Union Captain Roper (William Holden) leadsBailey (John Lupton), an escaped prisoner, back to FortBravo—making him walk across the Arizona desert atthe end of a rope while Roper rides on horseback. The

other prisoners—and even Roper’s commander—feelthat Roper’s treatment of Bailey is cruel, but Roper be-lieves that he needs to discourage the other Confeder-ates from escaping, especially as the fort is under threatfrom a vicious band of Mescalero Indians. Roper andhis men track down a group of missing supply wagonsonly to find the drivers killed by the Mescaleros, their

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bodies staked to anthills.The soldiers then rescue a covered wagon under

attack from the Indians. One of the wagon’s passen-gers is beautiful Carla Forester (Eleanor Parker), whois traveling to the fort to attend the wedding of thecommander’s daughter, Alice (Polly Bergen), to one ofRoper’s men, Beecher (Richard Anderson). The seem-ingly stone-hearted Roper develops an apparently mu-tual attraction with Carla, not realizing that she isthe fiancee of Marsh (John Forsythe), a Confederateprisoner, and is ingratiating herself with Roper to aidMarsh’s escape. With the help of a Southern sympa-thizer, Carla and Marsh escape from the fort after Al-ice’s wedding, along with Bailey and two other prison-ers, Campbell (William Demarest) and Cabot (WilliamCampbell).

Roper and Beecher track down the escapees but,heading back to the fort, the group is attacked bythe Mescaleros and pinned down. Bailey escapes onthe only surviving horse, apparently to save himself.After Campbell and Cabot are killed and Marsh andBeecher seriously wounded, Roper leaves the hidingplace to draw the Mescaleros’ fire in a gallant act of self-sacrifice. As he is felled by bullets, the cavalry comesto the rescue, summoned by Bailey. With Marsh dead,Carla is free to love the wounded but still living Roper.

Escape From Fort Bravo began as a screenplay titledRope’s End, a collaboration between Philip Rock andMichael Pate. While Rock only boasted a few subse-quent screenwriting credits, including John Franken-heimer’s failed WWII fantasy-comedy The Extraordi-nary Seaman and the 1961 sci-fi thriller Most DangerousMan Alive (for which he and Pate wrote the originalstory), Pate had a remarkably varied career in film andtelevision spanning across five decades, mostly as anactor, with roles encompassing everything from Flav-ius in Joseph L. Mankeiwicz’s Julius Caesar to the vam-pire gunslinger in Universal’s horror western Curseof the Undead. Ironically, considering Fort Bravo’s useof the Mescaleros as undifferentiated villains, Patehimself played a variety of Indian roles throughouthis career—most significantly as the villainous SierraCharriba in Sam Peckinpah’s Major Dundee, whose sto-ryline of Union soldiers and Confederate prisonersteaming up to battle Indians makes it a clear successorto Fort Bravo. In his later career, Pate worked largelyin his native Australia: among his behind-the-cameracredits were the screenplay and direction of the 1979romantic drama Tim, starring Piper Laurie and MelGibson.

Rock and Pate’s script was rewritten by Frank Fen-ton, a prolific screenwriter of the 1940s and ’50s whoseother western credits included The Wild North and Ride,Vaquero! Fort Bravo director John Sturges began his ca-

reer making B-movies at Columbia in the 1940s, but bythe ’50s he had moved on to regular work at M-G-Mand productions of increasingly larger scale. Fort Bravowas shot on location in Gallup, New Mexico, and atthe Death Valley National Monument in California. Al-though it was briefly announced as a 3-D project, it wasultimately shot in 2-D in the new Ansco color processpioneered on The Wild North. (While several reviewsat the time commented on the film’s “widescreen” cin-ematography, it was actually filmed in a 1.66:1 as-pect ratio, which is even narrower than today’s non-anamorphic films.) Over the course of the produc-tion, the title changed from Rope’s End to simply FortBravo and finally to Escape From Fort Bravo, although,strangely, the film’s final title card lists the film as justFort Bravo. (Equally strange, the synopsis in the film’spress notes has Carla fleeing for help in the finale in-stead of Bailey.)

William Holden was in the midst of a remarkablehit streak when he played Roper in Fort Bravo, withThe Moon Is Blue and his Oscar-winning performancein Stalag 17 released the same year. His dependablecharisma and sardonic edge were among Fort Bravo’sstrongest elements, although Holden is such a confi-dent star that it is almost hard to believe his charac-ter falling for Carla’s wiles. In addition to Holdenand female lead Eleanor Parker (a popular actress ofthe time who is less remembered today for her threeOscar-nominated performances than for her role as theBaroness in The Sound of Music) the cast is dominatedby faces who would later become more familiar ontelevision, including John Forsythe, Richard Anderson(who would appear in films such as Paths of Glory andSeconds but is most often remembered today as OscarGoldman on The Six Million Dollar Man) and WilliamDemarest (a member of the Preston Sturges stock com-pany who became a household face as Uncle Charlieon My Three Sons).

While the other films in this collection featuredscripts that took pains to portray their Indian char-acters as sympathetic figures perpetually misunder-stood and mistreated by white settlers, Escape From FortBravo takes the opposite tack, with the Mescaleros serv-ing only as a vicious, anonymous menace that bringsthe white characters, Union and Confederate alike, to-gether against a common Indian enemy. Overall, Es-cape From Fort Bravo may be a standard if enjoyablewestern adventure, but it is the nameless Indians whoprovide the film its biggest thrills. The climactic battleserves as the story’s highlight, with the Mescalero war-riors pinning the good guys in a ravine and circlingtheir location with spears before launching a long-distance arrow attack with the precision of modern ar-tillery. This sequence earned the most favorable atten-

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tion from reviewers at the time of the film’s release,and is the part of the film where Sturges, who sevenyears later would helm the classic western The Mag-nificent Seven, was really able to show his stuff. Over-all, Sturges made striking use of small human figuresamid the large, bleak landscape, and though the sev-eral night scenes filmed on soundstages contrast some-what jarringly with the location work, the large setswith their massive cycloramas have their own GoldenAge Hollywood beauty.

Jeff Alexander had worked in features mostly asa vocal arranger on such projects as Singin’ in the Rainand On the Riviera before Escape From Fort Bravo, whichis one of his first credited feature scores. Thus itis fitting that his score should be dominated by twosongs. The first of these, “Yellow Stripes,” serves as thefilm’s main theme and is used to represent the heroicUnion officers at Fort Bravo. It was written not byAlexander but by Stan Jones, a park ranger-turned-actor/songwriter whose most famous composition isthe Western classic “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” JohnFord’s 1950 Rio Grande had previously featured “Yel-low Stripes” and other Jones songs—as well as Joneshimself in a small acting role. (Jones also wrote theUnion cavalry march in The Horse Soldiers, “I Left MyLove,” featured on FSM’s first westerns collection.)Fort Bravo’s main title features a vocal version of “Yel-low Stripes,” although Alexander also recorded an ear-lier version that employs the song less prominently.Jones’s tune receives an especially rousing version in“Roper’s Lopers,” as Roper and his men ride out of thefort, and there are also effective, pensive renditions forscenes of the heroes riding into danger.

The other principal song, “Soothe My LonelyHeart,” featured music and lyrics by Alexander, andthe sheet music was released commercially to tie inwith the film. The theme is introduced in an early scenein which Marsh consoles Bailey, who has just been re-turned to the fort at rope’s end, and is first used torepresent the plight of the Confederate soldiers, im-prisoned far from home. This is reinforced when oneof the prisoners sings the song on screen (dubbed byBill Lee), but over the course of the story the melodyalso becomes associated with the growing attractionbetween Roper and Carla, such as when he forces akiss on her. Alexander also introduces another roman-tic theme during this sequence, as Roper gives Carla ascenic tour of the desert landscape, but for the film’sclimax “Soothe” is again used for the Roper-Carla re-lationship, as well as for the moment when Roper ac-knowledges Bailey’s heroism.

Despite the film’s darker underpinnings (the un-easy truce between opposing forces, Carla’s deceit-ful pursuit of Roper), Alexander’s music tends to em-

phasize its grander, more scenic values, and his cuesfeature such jokey titles as “Ants in Their Pants,”“Sweet Sioux” and “White Cliffs of Roper.” Besides theUnion soldiers (characterized by “Yellow Stripes”) andthe Confederate prisoners (associated with “SootheMy Lonely Heart” and the occasional interpolation of“Dixie”), the third main force in the film’s narrative isthe Mescalero Indians. Although Alexander recordeda few Indian-inflected cues, the final score is largelydevoid of Indian elements, and the filmmakers madethe unusually effective choice of leaving several of thescenes with the Indians unscored. The virtual silenceof the shots of the Mescaleros stalking our heroes addsgreatly to the suspense, and the climactic arrow attackbenefits greatly from the reliance on visuals and soundeffects, even though Alexander’s action material forthe earlier chase scene is also rousingly effective.

—Scott Bettencourt

This premiere release of Jeff Alexander’s score toEscape From Fort Bravo is, like The Last Hunt, taken fromthe original 35mm three-track scoring masters. Unfor-tunately a few cues (such as “Mescaleros Chase,” track10) suffered damage over the years—the sensation ofthe music oscillating from speaker to speaker (“imageshift”) is actually caused by the right channel droppingout. Every effort has been made to minimize this andother issues.

1. Main Title and Foreword A joyous, martial set-ting of Stan Jones’s “Yellow Stripes” plays through theopening credit sequence as a band of Union soldiersride out of Fort Bravo into the Arizona desert—themale chorus track is actually drawn from an unusedversion of “Roper’s Lopers” (track 14). After the titlesconclude, a conflicted minor-mode setting of the tunelumbers forward for Captain Roper (William Holden)forcing escaped prisoner Bailey (John Lupton) to walkback to the fort while tied to Roper’s horse. A fore-word appears on screen, telling of the hatred betweenthe fort’s Union soldiers and the captive Confederates,as well as the threat posed by the Mescalero Indians,after which the theme continues to unfold over its wan-dering bass line. Decorated with chattering brass fan-fares, it plays through Roper’s arrival at the fort withhis prisoner.

2. Marsh and Bailey Confederate Capt. Marsh(John Forsythe) is granted permission to visit Baileyin the fort’s hospital. Solemn strings and woodwindsplay as Bailey apologizes to his captain for trying toescape on his own. Alexander introduces his aching“Soothe My Lonely Heart” theme when Bailey de-scribes his hometown in Virginia, with the melodyreaching a delicate conclusion as Marsh promises to get

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the soldier home.3. Roper’s Lopers “Yellow Stripes” undergoes a

series of increasingly triumphant readings for Roperleading a group of Union soldiers into the desert tosearch for missing supply wagons. The theme petersout with uncertainty as the men see the wagons burn-ing in the distance.

Ants in Their Pants The soldiers ride towardthe destroyed wagons and an angry rendition of “Yel-low Stripes” is set among unsettling strings and In-dian tom-toms that represent the Mescaleros. A por-tentous tritone-laden passage sounds as the soldiers ar-rive at the wagons and wonder where their drivers are;the score responds with a nervous trill that builds tothe revelation of the dead drivers staked to anthills.A mournful line introduced on clarinet plays as Lt.Beecher (Richard Anderson) decries the Indians’ meth-ods to Roper.

4. Sweet Sioux After the soldiers give the driversa proper burial, they are ambushed by the Mescaleros.As the Indians encircle the troopers on horseback andassail them with arrows, the score launches a relent-less attack cue: an obsessive figure for percussion andlow-end piano trades off with darting lines for stringsand woodwinds as well as dire brass fanfares. Dur-ing the cue’s second half, the low-end figure becomesa driving ostinato that bolsters twitching woodwindsand brass as the soldiers shoot down their foes; the re-maining Mescaleros eventually retreat, and with themtheir aggressive material.

5. Troop Droops A warm setting of “YellowStripes” underscores the soldiers traveling to RockSprings, with Roper carrying a wounded Beecher onhis horse. Night falls and the men set up camp atthe springs; the soothing tune continues as Roper dis-cusses the preceding Indian attack with a subordinate,Chavez (Alex Montoya). The captain notes the dispar-ity between the violence and their beautiful countrysurroundings, but their moment is interrupted by dis-tant sounds of commotion.

Stagecoach The Mescaleros chase after a coveredwagon carrying Carla (Eleanor Parker); in the finishedfilm, Alexander’s bustling cue for this sequence is re-placed with a tracked version of “Sweet Sioux.” Aswritten, the chase is scored with an exclamatory three-note motive that is answered by whimsical, frantic ac-tivity; this material trades off with a marauding line forhorns as well as biting syncopated material for windsand percussion. The troopers ride out and fend off theIndians, with the wagon arriving safely at the soldiers’camp.

6. Roper and Carla Roper greets Carla and sheexplains that she is on her way to Fort Bravo to attendthe wedding of a friend, Alice (Polly Bergen). Sensi-

tive strings and woodwinds hint at the forthcoming ro-mance between Carla and the captain as she changesthe dressing on Beecher’s wound.

To the Fort A yearning, romantic melody forhorns and imitative strings is introduced after a tran-sition to the following day with the Union soldiers ar-riving at Fort Bravo with Carla.

7. Soothe My Lonely Heart At night, flirtatiousCarla escorts Roper to his room and the couple passesby the Confederate prisoners who are gathered out-side. Two of the rebels perform a haunting arrange-ment of “Soothe My Lonely Heart” for voice, guitarand harmonica while a distracted Marsh watches hisfiancee walk with Roper. (The vocal here is performedby prominent Hollywood dubbing singer Bill Lee.) Af-ter Carla and Roper arrive outside the captain’s quar-ters the underscore adopts the tune as a love theme forstrings and low-register flute. Carla continues to makeadvances toward Roper and he agrees to escort her toa dance the following night.

8. Off to Watson’s The score introduces lush, pas-toral material for a brief transitional scene of Roper ac-companying Carla and Alice to town. The women in-tend to buy a wedding gown for Alice, but Carla alsosets the rebels’ plan for escape into motion, aided by ashopkeeper—a Southern sympathizer named Watson(Howard McNear).

White Cliffs of Roper The pastoral material of“Off to Watson’s” is developed into a soaring themefor Roper’s mountainside date with Carla. After themelody is introduced for the couple riding out of FortBravo, the writing takes on a delicate, troubled tonefor rebel prisoner Campbell (William Demarest) not-ing to Capt. Marsh that Roper and Carla have become“thick”—Marsh is naturally not pleased, but he trustshis girl. The scene transitions to the couple travelingthrough the desert and the new theme is given a boldtreatment on horns and strings as they reach the cliffs,capturing a sense of freedom outside the fort as wellas the majesty of the scenery. Carla resists Roper’s ini-tial advances but once he forces a kiss on her and pro-fesses his feelings she gives in, to a reprise of “SootheMy Lonely Heart” over chromatic accompaniment.

9. Search Begins After Alice’s wedding, Roperproposes to Carla, who panics when she realizes thatshe has fallen in love with the captain. Carla deviatesfrom the plan and escapes from Fort Bravo in Watson’swagon with Marsh and a small band of rebels. Whenthe escape is discovered the next day, Roper is assignedto track down the fugitives and bring them in. The cap-tain and his troopers ride out of the fort to a stern, con-trapuntal rendition of “Yellow Stripes.”

Is This Trip Necessary Roper finds the escapedBailey at a saloon in town; the Union soldiers continue

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to search the desert with their prisoner in tow, to ac-celerated versions of the “Yellow Stripes” developmentfrom “Search Begins.”

10. Mescalero Chase Roper and his men captureCarla and the other Confederates but they are trackedby the Mescaleros as they journey back to the fort.Once the heroes become aware of the Indians’ pres-ence, the Mescaleros pursue them through mountain-ous terrain accompanied by a propulsive 9/8 actioncue, a musical approach similar to the previous attacks.When Bailey falls off his horse, the group stops to helphim; as they make their stand against the Mescaleros,the score responds with desperate brass developmentsof the “White Cliffs of Roper” theme. The soldiers takecover behind a ridge and the unruly cue dies down asthe Indians race toward them, killing Chavez.

11. Dawn and Decision The Mescaleros positionthemselves on a nearby mountain and pin down thesoldiers; Bailey manages to escape on the sole remain-ing horse but Campbell and Cabot are killed.

Creepy woodwinds and high strings signal the ar-rival of dawn, and Roper decides that his only chanceof saving Carla, Marsh and Beecher is to convincethe Indians that they are already dead by marchingout into the open and sacrificing himself. As he ex-plains his plan to the remaining Confederates and cov-ers them with dirt, the score offers a doomed pas-sacaglia development of “Soothe My Lonely Heart,”with a pure version of the melody and its chromatic ac-companiment sounding when he and Carla embrace.

Alexander adapted this cue into his composition“Brown” for the 1956 Capitol Records concept albumFrank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color.

12. Roper Shot Roper walks toward the moun-tain, facing certain death. The Mescaleros shoot himand as Carla reacts to this the score enters with a dire,pentatonic “Indian” line for strings and suspensefulbrass. The captain pulls himself from the ground andcontinues toward the Indians, with a distant Cavalrybugle call sounding—it is unclear whether its usageis meant to be part of the underscore (foreshadowingthe soon-to-arrive Union soldiers) or if the tune is actu-ally being performed by one of the soldiers off screen.The Indians reveal themselves on horseback, swarm-ing around the wounded Roper, and the score buildstension with punishing brass.

Troopers Arrive “Yellow Stripes” triumphs overthe aggressive Indian material as Bailey shows upwith the Union soldiers in the nick of time. As theMescaleros are chased off, Carla runs out to cradleRoper in her arms, the score acknowledging her con-cern and the dissipating action with unwinding stringsand woodwinds. “Soothe My Lonely Heart” is brieflyquoted for Roper complimenting Bailey, who wanders

over to the fatally wounded Marsh. A fateful readingof “Dixie” is traded between winds as Marsh acknowl-edges Baileys heroism with a warm glance before dy-ing.

End Title “Yellow Stripes” builds to a tri-umphant, brassy conclusion for the soldiers travelingback to the fort.

End Cast The end titles play over reprised footageof the film’s key players. “Yellow Stripes” receivesa confident arrangement for male chorus with jauntybrass.

Alternate ScoreEscape From Fort Bravo was evidently finished,

screened to mixed results, and then reworked andrescored to the point where many cues exist in twoor more versions. Jeff Alexander’s recordings for thefilm stretch from March 19, 1953 (when he recorded BillLee’s vocals of “Soothe My Lonely Heart”) to early fallof that year—his initial orchestral recording sessionswere on July 23, 29, 30, August 3 and 4, then he re-turned on September 17 to re-record virtually the en-tire score (tracks 1–12, discussed above). There is onlyone substantial conceptual difference between the orig-inal and rescored versions, which is that Alexander ini-tially created ambient cues for the offscreen threat ofthe Mescaleros featuring exotic percussion and eerieorchestral overlays (recorded separately), but for therescored film either this approach was creatively aban-doned or there was not time to execute it again.

13. Main Title (original version) The first versionof the “Main Title” omits the cheery vocal rendition of“Yellow Stripes,” segueing from a portentous openingto the dirge-like music for Roper returning Bailey to theprison—with a brief, triumphant statement of the “Yel-low Stripes” theme possibly intended for the first shotof the Union fort.

14. Roper’s Lopers (vocal version) An unusedversion of track 3 features the “Yellow Stripes” themesung by male chorus over exuberant orchestrations.(This is, in fact, the vocal track that was repurposedfor the “Main Title” of the finished film.)

15. Roper’s Lopers (original version) A secondearly version of “Roper’s Lopers” is essentially theinstrumental arrangement from track 14, without thechorus.

Ants in Their Pants (original version) This is thefirst example of Alexander’s attempt to use exotic per-cussion and eerie instrumental overlays (discarded forthe finished film) to evoke the offscreen threat of theMescaleros; it was intended to be heard as Roper andhis men find the remains of the fort’s lost supply wag-ons. (See track 3; in the finished film version, a merehint of the percussion can be heard at the start of the

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cue.) This particular selection has been reconstructedusing the stereo percussion from the studio elementsand a monaural acetate of the orchestral overlay, as thatparticular studio element was damaged beyond use.

16. Homeward Bound/Mescaleros These twoshort cues, having no direct counterpart in the scoreto the finished film, feature more of the ambient per-cussion for the Mescalero threat.

17. Troop Droops (original version)/StagecoachThe original version of track 5 leans much less heavilyon “Yellow Stripes,” instead introducing the ascendingmotive that will become the romantic theme in “WhiteCliffs of Roper.” “Stagecoach” is the same recordingheard in track 5.

18. Search Begins (original version) An earlyversion of disc 3, track 9 features urgent, dramaticstrains rather than the questing statement of “YellowStripes” from the finished film.

19. Indians Sighted/Mescalero Chase (originalversion) “Indians Sighted” is another percussion-based cue with no counterpart in the score to the fin-ished film. “Mescalero Chase” is an early version oftrack 10, featuring the same concept but differences inmusical content—for example, a passage for percus-sion and piccolo is unique to this track.

20. Dawn/Decision This track is substantially thesame as track 11; in the film’s original configuration,however, the cue was recorded in two parts to sur-round a reel change.

21. Roper Shot/Troopers Arrive/End Title/EndCast (original versions) This is the original config-uration of the film’s climactic music. “Roper Shot”

is completely different from the finished film version(track 12), featuring the ethnic percussion with over-lays as in other Mescalero cues. “Troopers Arrive” issubstantially the same music as in track 12, but an ear-lier recording with different timings. Half of the “EndTitle” is the same recording as in track 12, the other halfdifferent (for timing purposes), while the “End Cast” isthe same recording in both tracks.

Source MusicEscape From Fort Bravo also included various

source music cues for dance sequences related to thewedding celebration midway through the story. Mostof these instrumental pieces are not included here, butthe following three tracks present some noteworthy vo-cals recorded for the film.

22. Soothe My Lonely Heart Bill Lee recordedthis full-length version of “Soothe My Lonely Heart,”marked in the scoring paperwork as “publisher’s ver-sion.” In fact several versions were recorded, oneof which may be the rendition released on an MGMRecords 45rpm single.

23. Shenandoah This is a Bill Lee performanceof the traditional “Shenandoah,” not heard in the fin-ished film, but included on the flip side of the “SootheMy Lonely Heart” single.

24. Battle of Chanc’llerville/Rebels’ Rant Thesetwo Civil War-era songs (unused in the film) are pre-sented here for one reason only: they were sung a cap-pella by Jeff Alexander himself as part of the recordingsessions.

—Alexander Kaplan

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