Kritzerland is pleased to present a world premiere limited edition soundtrack release:
STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND
Music Composed and Conducted by Victor Young
In 1955, Paramount Pictures released the second film in their new VistaVision format -Strategic Air Command. With its extraordinary aerial footage and location shooting, VistaVision would really come into its own. The film was, in a word, breathtaking. Add to that a great cast headed by James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Lovejoy, Barry Sullivan and Harry Morgan, the great cameraman William H. Daniels, a terrific screenplay by Valentine Davies (book and film of Miracle on 34th Street, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, The Benny Goodman Story, The Glenn Miller Story) and Beirne Lay Jr., and great direction by Anthony Mann (many great noirs, an incredible run of western films starring James Stewart, and the magnificent El Cid), and you had a recipe for success. Strategic Air Command was the sixth-highest grossing picture of 1955. The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther raved, “Never, in many years of looking at Air Force and aviation films, have we seen the familiar wide blue yonder so wide or so magnificently displayed as it is in the VistaVision process used to project Strategic Air Command. But above all, there are those airplanes, the roaring engines, the cluttered cockpits, the clouds and sky. These are the things that make your eyes bug out and your heart leap with wonder and pride.”
And one of the primary reasons the heart leaps with wonder and pride is the film’s stunning musical score by Victor Young. Young’s body of work is astonishing, and includes such great scores as Golden Boy, Reap the Wild Wind, The Glass Key, The Palm Beach Story, The Uninvited, The Great Moment, Ministry of Fear, Love Letters, To Each His Own, Golden Earrings, The Big Clock, State of the Union, The Paleface, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Samson and Delilah, Gun Crazy, Bright Leaf, Rio Grande, Scaramouche, The Quiet Man, Shane, Three Coins in the Fountain, Johnny Guitar, The Country Girl, Around the World in Eighty Days, and that is only the very tip of the Victor Young iceberg.
Young’s score for Strategic Air Command is one of his greats. It has everything you’d want in a score - a rousing main title march, beautiful and emotional music for the drama, and, above all, some of the greatest “flying” music ever written for the screen. Young’s scoring of the flying scenes virtually turns those sequences into ballets of flight, a sky symphony of enduring beauty.
This is the world premiere release of Strategic Air Command. The music masters were mono (the film was also mono, but its original engagements used the Perspecta soundtrack, a kind of fake stereo) and mostly in very good condition, housed in the Paramount vaults. A couple of tracks only existed on acetates (which we cleaned up as best we could), and a handful were too damaged to use at all. There have not been nearly enough Victor Young scores released on CD, and we’re especially thrilled to bring out this particular example, as it presents all of Young’s strengths as a film composer and a brilliant melodist. They don’t come much better.
Strategic Air Command is limited to 1000 copies only. --レーベルより
トラックリスト
1. Prelude 2. Sally’s Surprise 3. S.A.C. Security 4. Air Force Luxury 5. The First Flight (parts 1 and 3) 6. The First Flight (part 4) 7. Who’s on Third 8. Ill Fated Flight (parts 1 and 2)/An Arctic Rescue 9. Babies and B-47s 10. Radar Bombing Run (parts 1 and 2) 11. Signs of Trouble 12. Dutch’s Decision/Marital Rift 13. Destination Japan/In Flight Refueling 14. A Paralyzed Pilot (part 1) 15. A Paralyzed Pilot (part 2) 16. End Title
BONUS TRACKS 17. Prelude (without vocal) 18. Housewarming Piano 19. Air Force March 20. Sky Symphony 21. End Title (without vocal)
「グレン・ミラー物語」同様、主演ジェームズ・スチュワート「ララミーから来た男」＝ジューン・アリソン「もず」、監督アンソニー・マン「ララミーから来た男」、脚本ヴァレンタイン・デイヴィース「トコリの橋」、テクニカラー色彩撮影ウィリアム・ダニエルス「もず」のチームによる色彩航空軍事映画（1955年）のオリジナル・サウンドトラック。ヴィクター・ヤングの傑作のひとつと言われる。パラマウントの倉庫で見つかった、ほぼ状態の良かったモノラル音源から収録。２曲のみアセテートでのみ存在しいた音源から可能な限り修復して収録、5曲のみ状態が悪すぎて収録不可能だったが、ＣＤリリースとしては十分な内容。世界初リリース！限定1000枚。
トラックリストセント・ルイス“カーディナルス”の名三塁手ロバート・ホーランド（ジェームズ・スチュワート）は、フロリダ州タンパでシーズン前のトレイニング中、米国空軍のラルフ・キャスル少将の訪問をうけ、新しく出来たＳＡＣ（空軍戦略部隊）に参加をすすめられた。第二次大戦中、名飛行士として活躍したホーランドは、野球に未練を感じていったんは断わろうとしたが原爆を運ぶＳＡＣは平和を守る部隊だと説得され、入隊を決意した。ＳＡＣはテキサスのフォート・ワースにあり、召集期間は21カ月。21カ月の長い軍隊生活はその後の野球生活を断念することを意味したが、彼は新婚の妻サリー（ジューン・アリソン）とともにテキサスへ行った。フォート・ワースのカースウェル飛行場で、ホーランドはサムフォード中佐（バリー・サリヴァン）の指導をうけてＢ36を操縦することになった。アラスカまでの無着陸往復飛行など、烈しい訓練ののち、彼は機長に昇進し、サリーに赤ん坊が生れるというとき、グリーンランドのシェリーに耐寒試験飛行をすることになった。もう少しでシェリー到着というとき、Ｂ36は突如火を発し、部下を落下傘で避難させたのち、彼とノーランド大尉（アレックス・ニコル）は吹雪の中に不時着した。2日後、2人はヘリコプターに救出され、ホーランドはシェリーの基地で自分が女の子の父になったことを知らされた。フォート・ワースに戻って来た彼はタンパ転任を命ぜられ、大佐に昇進した。召集期間も終わりに近づいていたが、ホーランドは新型機Ｂ47の副機長に任命された。召集解除間近いころ、彼は日本まで7400マイルの試験飛行を行うことになったが、これは彼を現役に止めておきたいと思うＳＡＣ部隊長ホークス将軍の発案であった。しかし、ホーランドはグリーンランド不時着の際にうけた首の傷が悪化し、飛行機の操縦が不可能となった。ホーランドは除隊したが、首の負傷のため野球に戻ることもできなかった。彼の新生活の第一歩は、愛するカーディナルスの監督になる日を夢に見て、マイナー・リーグ“コマハ”の監督になることであった。1955年米。
Kritzerland is pleased to present a world premiere limited edition soundtrack release:
STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND
Music Composed and Conducted by Victor Young
In 1955, Paramount Pictures released the second film in their new VistaVision format -Strategic Air Command. With its extraordinary aerial footage and location shooting, VistaVision would really come into its own. The film was, in a word, breathtaking. Add to that a great cast headed by James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Lovejoy, Barry Sullivan and Harry Morgan, the great cameraman William H. Daniels, a terrific screenplay by Valentine Davies (book and film of Miracle on 34th Street, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, The Benny Goodman Story, The Glenn Miller Story) and Beirne Lay Jr., and great direction by Anthony Mann (many great noirs, an incredible run of western films starring James Stewart, and the magnificent El Cid), and you had a recipe for success. Strategic Air Command was the sixth-highest grossing picture of 1955. The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther raved, “Never, in many years of looking at Air Force and aviation films, have we seen the familiar wide blue yonder so wide or so magnificently displayed as it is in the VistaVision process used to project Strategic Air Command. But above all, there are those airplanes, the roaring engines, the cluttered cockpits, the clouds and sky. These are the things that make your eyes bug out and your heart leap with wonder and pride.”
And one of the primary reasons the heart leaps with wonder and pride is the film’s stunning musical score by Victor Young. Young’s body of work is astonishing, and includes such great scores as Golden Boy, Reap the Wild Wind, The Glass Key, The Palm Beach Story, The Uninvited, The Great Moment, Ministry of Fear, Love Letters, To Each His Own, Golden Earrings, The Big Clock, State of the Union, The Paleface, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Samson and Delilah, Gun Crazy, Bright Leaf, Rio Grande, Scaramouche, The Quiet Man, Shane, Three Coins in the Fountain, Johnny Guitar, The Country Girl, Around the World in Eighty Days, and that is only the very tip of the Victor Young iceberg.
Young’s score for Strategic Air Command is one of his greats. It has everything you’d want in a score - a rousing main title march, beautiful and emotional music for the drama, and, above all, some of the greatest “flying” music ever written for the screen. Young’s scoring of the flying scenes virtually turns those sequences into ballets of flight, a sky symphony of enduring beauty.
This is the world premiere release of Strategic Air Command. The music masters were mono (the film was also mono, but its original engagements used the Perspecta soundtrack, a kind of fake stereo) and mostly in very good condition, housed in the Paramount vaults. A couple of tracks only existed on acetates (which we cleaned up as best we could), and a handful were too damaged to use at all. There have not been nearly enough Victor Young scores released on CD, and we’re especially thrilled to bring out this particular example, as it presents all of Young’s strengths as a film composer and a brilliant melodist. They don’t come much better.
Strategic Air Command is limited to 1000 copies only. --レーベルより
1. Prelude
2. Sally’s Surprise
3. S.A.C. Security
4. Air Force Luxury
5. The First Flight (parts 1 and 3)
6. The First Flight (part 4)
7. Who’s on Third
8. Ill Fated Flight (parts 1 and 2)/An Arctic Rescue
9. Babies and B-47s
10. Radar Bombing Run (parts 1 and 2)
11. Signs of Trouble
12. Dutch’s Decision/Marital Rift
13. Destination Japan/In Flight Refueling
14. A Paralyzed Pilot (part 1)
15. A Paralyzed Pilot (part 2)
16. End Title
BONUS TRACKS
17. Prelude (without vocal)
18. Housewarming Piano
19. Air Force March
20. Sky Symphony
21. End Title (without vocal)