THE LONG, HOT SUMMER; SANCTUARY: Composer: Alex NORTH Orchestrations: Note: Not Credited probably Edward Powell

Varese Sarabande Limited Collectors Editions, Time: 76.53 - 29 tracks (mostly stereo) LHS: 1-16/S:17-29 **** * Tops Producer: Nick Redman, Robert Townson, Performed: 20th Century-Fox Studio Orchestra , Jimmy Rodgers, Julie London, vocals Conductors: Lionel Newman, Alex North
by Ross Care
THE LONG, HOT SUMMER and SANCTUARY are two parts of a trilogy of 1950s 20 th Century-Fox films (loosely) based on the novels of William Faulkner. All three are scored by Alex North who, thanks to his groundbreaking score for the film of Tennessee Williams A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE in 1951, had developed a reputation for scoring properties that were both literary and erotic. Many also had southern backgrounds well suited to Norths innovative fusion of orchestral and jazz techniques. Collectively Norths southern scores (including these two and STREETCAR) also constitute some of the sexiest music ever composed in Hollywood, and strongly influenced other new 50s composers such as Elmer Bernstein and Kenyon Hopkins. Like THE SOUND AND THE FURY (which completes the trio) the film of LONG, HOT SUMMER is actually more Tennessee Williams than Faulkner. (Norths score for SOUND is the only element that really evokes the Faulkner ambiance in that film). The excellently-scripted, highly entertaining SUMMER seems specifically influenced by Williams CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, and the Orson Welles character, gruff town boss Will Varner, is an overtly Big Daddy-like figure. Norths music is essentially lyrical, and a title song provides the thematic basis for much of the score. As sung by Jimmy (Honeycomb) Rodgers, its both lyrical and intense, and its melody is associated with the developing relationship between Paul Newman, a drifter bucking a reputation as a notorious barnburner, and Joanne Woodward, Varners repressed but self-aware daughter. The long, expansive melody reappears in several beautifully rearranged cues, (Easy Living Respect) peaking in Ashamed, a transcendent 5.54 cue for massed strings with dreamy vibes and bells. Jazz elements represent the films earthier couple, Tony Franciosa and Lee Remick, who play Jody and Eula, Varners put-upon son and nubile daughter-in-law. Eulas theme is actually a fusion of jazz and 50s rock that was turned into a song, Hey, Eula, which is not heard in the film or on the disc. Norths cues for the troubled Jody are among the more serious in the score, suggesting the heavier, more intense mode of STREETCAR. Remick stars as Temple Drake in Tony Richardsons film of one of Faulkners more sordid novels, SANCTUARY. Befitting the story the sound is darker than the composers other two Faulkner scores. Nobody could musically move from the delicate, almost neurotically tender to the raunchy, sometimes ominous low-down like North. SANCTUARY, another tale of a southern ladys fall from grace, provides ample opportunities for this defining North trait, notably in the extended I Remember Sanctuary and Little Girl cues. The score is also built around a bluesy title song that is not heard in the film, though this disc features a mono version of it coolly sung by Julie London. (Rodgers SUMMER title track is also mono only). LONG, HOT SUMMER was released as a Roulette LP, but the score for SANCTUARY was never recorded, making this a rare and impressive North premiere. North of course had a remarkably wide range as a composer, but I consider these early southern scores, from STREETCAR to the now finally available SANCTUARY, to be among his most essential work. I frequently hear that North is difficult for some listeners, but for an introduction to his unique work I suggest this disc, especially the lyrical LONG, HOT SUMMER, which is as easy to take as a southern breeze on a sultry day.