Jim Kerkhoff wrote:I remain in complete concurrence with Richard. Silly me. I couldn't imagine musical accompaniment for silent comedy getting any worse than the Alloy Orchestra. Just goes to show, I guess.
Jim K
I am not familiar with Bill Frisell's scores, but you are saying that they are worse than the Allow Orchestra? I thought that only Maria Newman could surpass them ! To be honest, even some of the , in my opinion,BAD composers can sometimes get away with a passable score for horror or drama ( though maybe not Maria Newman - her score for Mary Pickford's"The Love LIght" sends me to the mute button), but comedy is different. I think that I am most picky about scores for comedy, since so much of what hits me as funny depends on the mood that is built around it. I can get into a drama sometimes even if the score is a bit off, but when the music lays a wet blanket on my comedy, I can't enjoy it with the sound!
After some of the really wonderful scores that I have been treated to (on DVD and live) , I have become even less understanding of a bad score that attempts to squash the mood of the comedy. I can deal with a fuzzy print and just be thankful that we still ahve the film at all ( at 80 and 90 years old, I appreciate that some of them just survived), but a thoughtless score that detracts from a great comedy has no excuse. There are plenty of great compsers out there.
And, speaking of Keaton, how does "The Club Foot Orchestra" get to stomp all over "Sherlock, Jr" when Vince Giordino and the Nighthawks had done such a wonderful score for that film?
Agnes McFadden