This collaboration between Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann belongs in the collection of anyone who cares about classic film music. The original picture needed considerable musical help; it concerns a guy who wanders around looking for the meaning of life, and the exotic setting provided much of the interest in what was in reality a pretty tame, uneventful plot. To their credit, both Herrmann and Newman avoid many of the cliché-ridden exoticisms that often make film scores of this type so tacky–that is, once they get past the opening cue with its (in this case not very voluptuous-sounding) wordless women’s choir. In fact, Herrmann’s rougher-edged, wind-based cues contrast very effectively with Newman’s typically Romantic writing for strings, and the lack of stylistic incongruity throughout the whole 70-minute-plus score is a tribute to the professionalism of both men. They clearly did everything they could for this curious picture, and if the movie no longer merits much attention, the music certainly does. As usual in this series, William Stromberg’s direction is highly competent and effective. A welcome curiosity, formerly on Marco Polo, and a better deal than ever on Naxos.
