The Shoes of the Fisherman

Gary Dalkin

Label: Film Score Monthly
Catalogue No: FSMCD Vol. 7, No. 6

Release Date: May 2004

Limited edition of 3000 copies

Also contains music from: Ice Station Zebra; Where Eagles Dare

This two CD set of Alex North's score for The Shoes of the Fisherman from Film Score Monthly does much what the company's recent double disc presentation of Diane did – offers a disc of score, plus a second album rounding-up related material which would not fit on previous single disc releases. Where the second Diane CD showcased more music from the title film and further material by composer Miklós Rózsa, or from films which he had scored, this time the remit is rather different, the bonus material being taken from 'MGM Widescreen Spectaculars' all released in 1968.

Thus apart from eight cues of source material from The Shoes of the Fisherman – which range from choral music in the Catholic tradition to jazzy party music to the tender, Barryesque 'Tiny Folly' – the second disc offers almost ten minutes of Michel Legrand's demos for his Ice Station Zebra score. The literally Cold War background of that adventure at least has something thematically in common with Fisherman, even if the cues really add nothing to the already very extensive FSM release of the excellent complete score.

The bulk of the second disc is taken up with a full reissue of the 1960's LP rerecording of Ron Goodwin's great score for Where Eagles Dare. This would be exciting enough in its own right, were it not that FSM have very recently issued a 2CD set containing the complete soundtracks to Where Eagles Dare and another Goodwin scored WWII adventure, Operation Crossbow. The rerecording is very faithful to the soundtrack, simply shorter, so acquiring it here is either for the very fanatical indeed, or a very nice bonus for those who want Fisherman and are not sufficiently interested in Eagles to buy the complete soundtrack. Those who buy Fisherman for North's music, not being familiar with Goodwin's, may fine a most welcome treat on the second CD…

Which complete supporting programme brings me to the main feature, Alex North's score for The Shoes of the Fisherman. A large scale drama made amid 1960's Cold War fever in which the first Russian pope attempts to prevent, through diplomacy rather than James Bond tactics, World War III.

After being removed from scoring 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by director Stanley Kubrick, North scored The Devil's Brigade, the moved onto Fisherman. For which, as part of his large scale and complex score, he recycled some of the modernist, pseudo spiritual music he had written for 2001. This he did amid passages of imaginative Hollywood-Goes-Russian post Maurice Jarre's Doctor Zhivago (1965) and playful 1960's Italian colourings not so far removed from Nino Rota's Fellini scores. There is music of religious grandeur, music of thoughtful introspection and low-key suspense, and the material originally intended for 2001. How this works in the film I have no idea – it was certainly wrong for the space odyssey and however bad Kubrick's personal treatment of North was, the director was right to replace it with iconic classical selections – but perhaps it fares better accompanying the near future speculation of Fisherman. In any case, a comparison can now be made between this use of the material and the cues as composed for Kubrick and recorded by Jerry Goldsmith and the National Philharmonic for album release in the 1990's.

As an album the current disc presents music which is rich, complex and rewarding, and should add further fuel to the endless debates about North's music and the whole controversy over his score being rejected from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Cues such as 'The Election' and 'The Gathering' particularly stand out as dazzling showcases for North's talent, glittering percussion and mysterious strings alternating with strikingly modern post-Straussian (Richard that is) fanfares.

There is much to admire here, and much to enjoy in an album which will take many explorations to uncover all its secrets and hidden depths. A very notable addition to the film music catalogue and an essential footnote to the study the most important film made to that date.

Gary Dalkin is a freelance editor. Books he has worked on include John Barry: The Man With The Midas Touch (revised 2nd edition), by Geoff Leonard, Pete Walker and Gareth Bramley, and The Struggle Behind the Soundtrack: Inside the Discordant New World of Film Scoring, by Stephan Eicke. You can find out more about Gary and contact him via his website - To The Last Word