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Atlantis: The Lost Continent/ | ||||||||||||||||
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o fan of science-fiction films can be unfamiliar with the name of writer-producer-director George Pal, whose influential work brought SF and fantasy cinema to new heights in the 1950s and '60s. His adaptations of When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine have dated but still stand up well. His original scripts, including Destination Moon and tom thumb, are no less inventive. Pal, born in Hungary, was fortunate for most of his career to be able to get well-known stars for his films.
These two movies are lesser-known works but still worthy of consideration. Atlantis, directed by Pal, was made in something of a hurry once MGM gave him the green light after his work on tom thumb and The Time Machine. Pal wanted to take more time to develop his screenplay, but MGM ordered him to proceed. Budgetary restrictions forced Pal to rely on two inexperienced leads—Anthony Hall and Joyce Taylor—whose work here is overshadowed by the effects and by more seasoned co-stars. The film chronicles the adventures of a Greek fisherman who returns a native Atlantean woman to her homeland and runs afoul of its rulers. The music is by Russell Garcia.
The score for Atlantis is typical of the period, with broad themes helping evoke the film's ambitious scope and dramatic elements. Many of the cues have crashing thematic elements—lots of percussion and fanfares, and string triplets underscoring the dramatic passages. "Main Title" opens strongly and develops its melody with brass and percussion accents. Following this is "Mermaids," for the scene in which the Greek fisherman finds the princess adrift at sea. It's scored with harps and woodwinds. The theme developed here returns, executed by an oboe, in "Exit/Antilla/Market Place," which contains an up-tempo percussive cue with the flavor of a Middle Eastern dance—rattling tambourines and all.
The remaining cues all serve the film well—perhaps better than it deserves. The two main themes are both expertly explored and deployed, particularly in "Fight With Giant" and "Work Montage/Manimal." Garcia's score closes with strong orchestral majesty in "Stabs/Rumbles/Madness" and "Prayer/Justice/Miracle." In the closing moments the main theme is recapitulated in horns, woodwinds and strings and ends in a swelling, major-key crescendo.
Rhythms from another world
After having to work with less-than-excellent actors on Atlantis, Pal had better luck with the cast for 1968's The Power, which boasted the talents of Michael Rennie, Earl Holliman, Suzanne Pleshette, Nehemiah Persoff and a pre-tan George Hamilton. The Power is the story of two telekinetic men, one of whom is hunting the other. The film is scored by the noted film composer Miklos Rozsa. Without having to spend a huge chunk of his budget on exotic sets and costumes, Pal was able to concentrate on getting the best out of his actors and on interesting effects. This film was his penultimate, his last one being 1975's disastrous Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze.
Rozsa's score for The Power makes use of some of the instruments of his native Hungary, such as the cimbalom, a sort of large zither played with hammers, to add some color. (Interestingly, Rosza didn't like the sound of the instrument but felt that it was appropriate for the mysterious Adam Hart, the lead character.) The rather hysterical opening cue states the score's basic ideas of a rising brass fanfare and the cimbalom-based "Gypsy Theme," which ends on a series of rising fifths.
After the dissonant waltz tempo of "The Merry-Go-Round," in which the George Hamilton character tries to compose himself after he witnesses the death of a scientist (actually caused by Hart), the mood phases down in "Viva L'Amour," written for a solo Spanish guitar. Low-register clarinets and bassoons help establish a dark atmosphere for the rest of the film. The opening fanfare treatments are reprised in "The Killer Killed/The End/End Cast," which brings the score to a satisfying major-key close.
As with the previous disk I reviewed from Film Score Monthly—The Thing from Another World/Take the High Ground!, the accompanying booklet is jam-packed with tidbits about the productions, actors, etc., as well as lots of pictures. These scores are very much "of their time" and might be considered rather overwrought in places according to modern standards. But that shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying them, especially as a part of SF film history in general and of George Pal's films in particular. — Al
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