samedi 24 mars 2012

John Addison - Sleuth (1972)

EM/f.PC/LP 0006
SLEUTH (1972)
LE LIMIER
Real. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Mus. John Addison


LP Columbia S 32154 6 – Stereo (US) 
This album contains music and dialogue from the film




Side 1. 
1. Overture (2:48) 
2. Sleuth Theme (3:40) 
3. Milo’s Theme (1:18) 
4. Jewel Box (3:10) 
5. Count to Twenty (1:43) 
6. Marguerite’s Theme (1:54) 
7. Panic (1:37) 
8. The Bad Old Days (1:59) 
9. Milo the Clown (2:36)

Side 2. 
1. Break In (3:45) 
2. Inspector Doppler (1:32) 
3. Garden Grave (2:32) 
4. Andrew and Milo (1:48) 
5. Murder Clues (1:48) 
6. End Game (2:21) 
7. Epilogue (2:08)

Album produced by John Addison and Thomas Z. Shepard
Remix Engineer: Stan Weiss

Notes Back Cover
Forget it! If you've got even one small suspicion that you might find the hint of a clue to who-done-what-to-whom or even the who's-who of Sleuth here, better give up right now. We're going to play strictly according to the rules and let you find out for yourself-if you haven't seen the film or the play.
If you have caught the motion picture and caught on to the culprit, the word game is "shteigen" or "mum" or "fermez la bouche" or just plain "qui-i-i-i-e-e-et!".
This "magical mystery tour" is based on Anthony Shaffer's English play of a few seasons back, which won Broadway's Tony Award for Best Play of that year. Clive Barnes, in The New York Times, called the play "the best thriller I have ever seen". It is an intriguing combination of mystery, bizarre action, superb acting and surprise ending. It is a magnificent trip...and more than half the fun is getting there.
Laurence Olivier plays the part of a brilliantly eccentric Englishman and famous writer of detective novels. His is a world of red herrings in poisoned rose water, smudged fingerprints on frayed lace, Dusenberg tire marks in his manor house driveway and words (as described by Rolling Stones), "curling like spaghetti around a fork as he delightfully details his schemes or insults the lower classes".
Then, too, there is Michael Caine, who portrays a poor man on the rise. "A guttersnipe hairdresser who has used his wiles not only in bussiness but in bed. He has won the affections of Olivier's wife, the two men meet to discuss the matter, and from this situation arises the whole convoluted plot".
It is a tour de force for the two actors. Theatrical gestures to highlight moment after shining moment. The technique of using words to the outer limits of their inner meanings. The abilities to change character, mood. The byplay between them. It is non-stop metamorphosis. The author describes the two roles as "wham bam, hell-on-wheels". Fascinating. Sheer brilliance.
Sleuth is, to a large extent, a battle of words by characters bent on destroying one another. It is also filled with a wide assortment of indoor games for addicts. Not only cat-and-mouse to mystify but such oddities as Senat - a Cypriot blocking game that dates back to the ninth century. And Nard, a game originated in the Arab world in the eighth century. (It came to Europe via the Arab occupation of Sicily and we now call it Backgammon). And the ancient Palm Tree game which traces back to Thebes in 2,000 B.C. They boggle minds and decorate the atmosphere.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who is noted as a writer-director (All About Eve) with "a respect for language, a flair for suspense and a sense of humor", added his talents to the proceedings. Her described Shaffer's screenplay as "a gem, a dazzling fun-and-games arrangement in which words par and thrust with the grace of fencing masters. The words are wits as well as weapons".
And about Wyke, the writer played by Olivier, he added : "It is a particularly fascinating character - a man of infinite complexity who has somehow become stuck in the 1930's like someone doomed to a long adolescence".
This album includes music and dialogue from the film. Scenes by Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. And the way they orchestrate words. The music was composed and conducted by John Addison, who is noted for his  Academy-Award-winning score for the film Tom Jones. He adds a sense of mystery and humor to the shuffle of clown shoes, to mannequins with dirty laughs, to rinky-tink music boxes, to the voices, to the words.
Sleuth is a suspense story. A comedy. A classic detective plot with resounding wit. A literary creation. A game. A ceremonial set of performers. A chiller. A tangled surprise we hope we haven't begun to unravel.
As we warned above, the highly intricate plot of Sleuth is difficult to describe without giving away too much of the exciting outcome to audiences who have not yet seen it.
Play your own game. If you haven't learned to solve or keep a secret yet, Sleuth is worth the practice.


- Mort Goode

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