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Miklos Rozsa's final soundtrack on new 2-CD set! Released as part of the ongoing Universal Pictures Film Music Classics Collection and in honor of Rozsa's 115th birthday (April 18, 1907), Intrada presents Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, the composer's masterful tribute to his own scoring style of the Golden Age and his very final film soundtrack. Carl Reiner directs Steve Martin in this 1982 homage to film noir, replete with murder, mystery and romance. Rachel Ward co-stars with a treasure trove of famous "cameos" by Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Burt Lancaster, Alan Ladd and others in bits from White Heat, The Lost Weekend, The Big Sleep, The Postman Always Rings Twice, This Gun For Hire and other classics. Miklos Rozsa has a most unusual opportunity to compose a rich symphonic score tipping his hat to the edged, aggressive dynamics of his earlier Double Indemnity and The Killers as well as paying tribute to his lush romantic vernacular. In signature fashion, Rozsa writes an angular motif for the suspense in the movie, full of interval leaps and intensity. Getting equal attention in the other direction is his warm, ravishing love theme, itself full of dips and swirls. Both ideas permeate the score throughout with a degree of forward motion and pace. Keeping the orchestra in tempo is noted film music composer Lee Holdridge, who was brought in to conduct Rozsa's "swan song" to the art form he so excelled at and earned three Academy Awards in the process. Intrada's presentation of this splendid work has been assembled and mastered from the 1/2" three-channel stereo scoring session masters vaulted in pristine condition in the Universal archives. CD 1 contains Rozsa's entire 62-minute score, CD 2 presents additional scoring cues and alternates. Footnote: Besides being the last soundtrack scored by Miklos Rozsa, this film was also the last to feature the incomparable costume designing of Edith Head. Score recorded in January 1982 by Robert Fernandez at The Burbank Studios. Lee Holdridge conducts, Miklos Rozsa composes. Intrada Special Collection 2-CD set available while quantities and interest remain!
- Intrada
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