FSM PLEADS NOT GUILTY…of ignoring two classic scores for films involving courtroom drama, by renowned composers George Duning and Johnny Green, respectively.
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) combined courtroom drama with contemporary maritime adventure as it untangled the mystery of a freighter, the Mary Deare, found drifting in the English Channel. Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston team up as the freighter’s former first officer and a would-be salvage man, with Richard Harris a villainous saboteur.
Longtime Columbia Pictures composer George Duning ventured to M-G-M to score Mary Deare likely due to the film’s producer, Julian Blaustein. Duning provided an excellent score seemingly inspired by the mysterious hulk of the ship itself, with a churning, nautical bass figure giving way to a lovely main theme that achieves a surprising degree of warmth and hopefulness. Adding a modern color is a Novachord synthesizer, suggesting a sonar ping for the seafaring scenes, and foreshadowing the moods of 1960s television adventures such as Star Trek and the shows of Irwin Allen (some of which Duning scored).
Twilight of Honor (1963) was M-G-M’s attempt to make a feature film star out of Richard Chamberlain, TV’s Dr. Kildare. Chamberlain plays a young attorney given the hopeless task of defending the murderer of a popular businessman in contemporary New Mexico; he diligently uncovers a seedy underbelly of sex and infidelity to the case in order to exonerate his client. Claude Rains, Joey Heatherton, Joan Blackman and James Gregory play supporting roles.
Twilight of Honor was the rare straight dramatic score by Johnny Green (billed here as “John”) in the latter stage of his career, which otherwise comprised musical direction and conducting. Green was M-G-M’s former head of music (1949-1958) who wrote one of the greatest scores of the Golden Age in Raintree Country (FSMCD Vol. 9, No. 19) and penned many standards as a songwriter. Green wrote an unusual, propulsive main title for Twilight of Honor that sounds like the wheels of justice rolling over everything in sight; the entire score is written for brass, woodwinds and percussion (no strings) and also features a tender love theme, delightful “Southern gothic” moods and jazzy source cues. The complete score is presented here; an LP featured only four cuts along with miscellaneous selections from the MGM Records catalog.
The Wreck of the Mary Deare
01. Main Title (1:50)
02. Sands Curious (4:04)
03. Doubting Sands (1:23)
04. Captain Patch (3:17)
05. Wrecker Patch (1:21)
06. Patch Begs/The Sea Witch (1:25)
07. Patch’s Quest/Patch Discovered (1:59)
08. Trial Prelude (1:00)
09. Patch Desperate (1:28)
10. Operation Salvage (1:40)
11. Villain Higgins/Patch Vindicated/Trapped Divers (6:18)
12. Bulls Eye (2:04)
13. Higgins Has It/End Title (3:12)
Total Time: 31:25
Twilight of Honor
14. Twilight of Honor/Reception/Filthy Mob/Into Town (Twilight of Honor Prelude) (4:29)
15. Swift or Sure?/In Trouble (1:33)
16. Vicarious Blast/Only One Answer/A Little Rusty (3:17)
17. God Help Ben/Laura Lies/Nice Hands (3:27)
18. Loved You Then and Now (1:28)
19. Juke Jezebel (Juke Box) (1:56)
20. Confrontation/You Told Me Things (1:38)
21. I Like Deep Blue/Desperation (1:54)
22. Phoenix Fire Alto Saxophone Soloist: Ronny Lang (2:22)
23. Hitch-Hike (1:11)
24. The Emmis (1:44)
25. Suspenseville (0:43)
26. Don’t Lock Me Out—Finale (1:45)
Total Time: 27:54
Bonus Tracks
27. The Durango Drip (1:39)
28. Young Is My Lover (Bronislau Kaper & Mack David) (2:13)
29. Motel Mumble (1:02)
30. Dead Duck (0:34)
31. Ruby Duby Du (Charles Wolcott) (0:49)
32. Hats and Dogs Stomp (Lyn Murray) (1:40)
33. Whiskey Sour (0:49)
34. Juke Jezebel (Juke Box) (2:12)
35. Last Dance (Motel Radio) (Wolcott) (1:35)
36. Georgia Slop (Murray) (0:46)
37. Love Theme From Twilight of Honor (I Knew It Then; I Know It Now) (3:09)
Total Time: 16:53
Total Disc Time: 76:22
