One of Friedhofer's finest. It's a very interesting score and I would love to see it re-issued in stereo. Please correct me if I have erred here, but I understand that there was a stereo vinyl version of this issued (I have the mono vinyl version and (unfortunately) the poor quality CD).
It might be of interest to some of you that the film was originally helmed by Stanley Kubrick and that Sam Peckinpah had a hand in the original script. Brando ended up directing the film and his original cut was around FIVE HOURS LONG!!! Wow! . I can't imagine what that must have included.....would sure love to see it re-assembled though (although there is about as much chance of that happening as there would be in finding a pristine copy of the score for "In Love And War"). Needless to say, Paramount was not very happy with the prospect of a 5 Hr. cut of the film, took it away from Brando, and re-cut it to 141 minutes or so. I wonder what this ( the 5 Hr. version) was "temp" tracked with? Or if at all? I cannot imagine Paramount letting Friedhofer write a score for anything other than the final 141 minute cut. Would love to hear from anyone who might have more insight on this . Brando was (obviously) not happy with the final cut and expressed his displeasure that it was not the picture that he "made" and that the characters were all black-and-white and "not gray-and-human as I had planned them". Once again, it's sad that one of Friedhofer's masterworks is not readily available.
--Rich
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