Miklos Rozsa – Sodom and Gomorrah (Overture)
Director Robert Aldrich has 37 credits to his name and some impressive titles among them; Vera Cruz, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (which made my favourite ten list for 1964), The Dirty Dozen and an intriguing looking title I just learned about recently via My Kind of Story; The Killing of Sister George. Why do I bring up Mr. Aldrich you ask? He directed the 1962 biblical epic Sodom and Gomorrah for which I have put together a slideshow. But a biblical epic Goregirl? What the hell? The hell is I own the compiliation The Epic Film Music of Miklos Rozsa! It is epic alright! Every song on that thing is 5 minutes or longer! You need a lot of pictures to fill a five minute slideshow! You will be getting no screaming, adjective-filled endorsement of Sodom and Gomorrah from I. I did however enjoy the costumes and sets. I also liked Stanley Baker and Anouk Aimée lots and of course the grand music of Mr. Rozsa.
Music and images from Robert Aldrich’s 1962 film Sodom and Gomorrah. Music by Miklos Rozsa – Overture.
GOREGIRL'S DUNGEON 
August 6, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Rozsa is one of my favorite composers, hands down. He worked on classics as well as clunkers, but always did some amazing soundtracks.
As for Aldrich, he’s also got a pretty varied career as well as a distinctive directorial style in certain genres. I’ll recommend two films I think you’d like (not horror, but some excellent flicks nonetheless): 1956’s Attack! and 1973’s Emperor of the North (sometimes listed as Emperor of the North Pole). Look them up some time – I think you’ll appreciate them quite a bit.
August 7, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Rozsa is a solid composer. This particular compilation features some great music for some pretty grand productions; El Cid, King of Kings and the like…not really my cup of tea though. I’ve enjoyed Adrich’s films, but I can’t say anything has knocked my socks off. Might just have to check out Attack! and Sister George at some point.
August 7, 2013 at 11:05 pm
Old (well, not too old) quick reviews of Attack! and Emperor of the North from the site:
http://fanboydestroy.com/2012/08/24/random-film-of-the-week-attack/
http://fanboydestroy.com/2013/02/02/random-film-of-the-weekend-emperor-of-the-north-pole/
August 6, 2013 at 8:04 pm
I didn’t know Aldrich made a biblical epic. It’s pretty admirable that he tried out different genres and types of stories. My two favorites are “The Killing of Sister George” and “Ulzana’s Raid”. (Thanks for sharing my gallery on the former!) “Kiss Me Deadly” and “What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?” are both excellent too but “Attack” is another one of my favorites, as it’s a very good war drama with Jack Palance and Eddie Albert. I like “Emperor of the North” also. Not a fan of “The Dirty Dozen” though.
August 7, 2013 at 9:15 pm
I like Charles Bronson…actually there is a lot of actors I like in The Dirty Dozen. It’s been a long while since I seen it but I recall thinking it was okay, not something I’d be likely to watch again though. I’m not in a big hurray to see more Aldrich, but I will likely seek out Sister George and Attack at some point.
August 6, 2013 at 9:55 pm
I like the pics of Scilla Gabel! I enjoyed the film’s many cast of familiar faces and the score. Granger is said to have hated working in Europe,yet he is good in all the films he made there. I love all the Robert Aldrich films mentioned above with the exception of The Dirty Dozen(I was pissed as a kid when I saw it that they killed off Clint Walker!)which was kind of a disappointment. Ulzana’s Raid(“Sure don’t look like Wednesday”) I saw on the big screen. Great post as always,Goregirl!
August 7, 2013 at 9:36 pm
Thanks Conrad – S&G had some moments but I just can’t get very excited about the biblical epics; it was the most interesting of the choices I had on the Rozsa compilation. Actually, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was the best choice but I already made a slideshow for that one. John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker…can’t beat that trio! I really enjoyed re-watching that one! Not much love for Dirty Dozen…well your comment and David’s has convinced me I don’t need to revisit that one…not that it was on the agenda,
August 8, 2013 at 12:01 am
Rosza! Good old “Ben Hur” was just on TCM this week.
If Aldrich hasn’t knocked your socks off, you need to see “Kiss Me Deadly” as soon as possible. “Ulzana’s Raid” is an incredibly harsh, tough piece of work with a brilliantly downbeat and low-key ending (Burt Lancaster is amazing in it).
There’s a lot of good in “The Dirty Dozen”…see for example the scene where Lee Marvin demonstrates to Clint Walker how his bad temper will always be turned against him and defeat him, if he can’t learn to control it. It certainly was a daring film in its day, for suggesting that warfare is at its essence the work of murderous thugs.
The scene in “Sodom and Gomorrah” where Granger (as Lot) is negotiating with God over how many just men he needs to find to spare the cities from God’s wrath inspired me to burst out with an incredibly politically incorrect joke.
August 8, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Ben Hur…ugh! Well, You all think pretty highly of Ulzana’s Raid…I guess I might have to check that out also then. And I guess Kiss Me Deadly too. A lot of people get squashed to death in Sodom and Gomorrah.
August 8, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Oooh… you’ve NEVER seen Kiss Me Deadly? Make that a MUST and soon. It’s SO nuts that turns from film noir’s last gasp into a crazy near sci-fi flick by the ending (which is awesome in a “WTF just happened?!” manner). That and it’s got a few interesting women in the cast (you’ll see)…
August 10, 2013 at 8:02 am
It always amuses me how many people spell Rózsa’s name wrong but its not often they spell it both right and wrong in the same article. The score of course was a wonderful bit of composing which the film just did not deserve.
August 10, 2013 at 10:19 am
Oh my…well I better correct that!