This new Harry Potter score -- any thoughts?

[Paul MacLean]

My own pet choice is George Fenton. I think both Hollywood (and FSM messageboard know-alls) mischaracterize him as a dull composer for dull Masterpiece Theatre-style period movies.

But Fenton's scores for Company of Wolves and High Spirits are great, rife with lush orchestrations and supernatual thrills. The High Spirits style in particular would lend itself perfectly to Harry Potter.

[romanD]

yeah, Broughton... I mean, he was supposed to do HOME ALONE and had a scheduling conflict. If he had done it he may have been Columbus composer for all the other projects and ended up with HP... too bad that didnt happen... but I guess you could paste his YSH easily over all the HP movies and it would work great.

Well, I guess we have to stick with British Composers, I would call Debbie Wiseman for them! Fantastic composer! You go girl!

In regards to HP5: Well, the movie was very uninvolving and boring and I guess I lost interest in the sequels by now. At least the kids were all good and had all big parts (in 4 all were just minor side characters to harry), but the story goes nowhere and is redundant, many things I just dont understand, including why for God's sake Harry doesnt tell anybody that Malfoy works for Voldemort... never get that.

And the score... my... what a horrible, boring thing... no themes at all! Ok, the movie didnt offer much for a composer, still, did it have to be this boring? And of the 2 action scenes one of them had no score at all? Great...

phew, and Hooper comes back for more? Only proves, the makers never cared for the music in all HP movies, I always though that already of Williams' scores, but after the ridiculous music editing in part 4 and now this really bad score this is more than obvious.

[AndyDursin]

DEBBIE WISEMAN...I love Debbie Wiseman...good call Roman! Her score for the Kate Beckinsale-Aidan Quinn HAUNTING was one of my favorites of the '90s.

I haven't heard much by her recently but I'd have loved to hear what she could do. Nice Roman!

As far as Williams goes, let's face it...if he wanted to do all of these films he would have...but he probably had enough, and let's also be honest, Nicholas Hooper doesn't COST nearly as much as Williams.

It would be nice if they brought him back to score the final film. But something tells me they'll just keeping down the same road.

[John Johnson]

My own pet choice is George Fenton. I think both Hollywood (and FSM messageboard know-alls) mischaracterize him as a dull composer for dull Masterpiece Theatre-style period movies.

Most of the know-alls at FSM tend not to experiment with composers who work outside of the Hollywood system. I for one, would love to hear Fenton's style in a Harry Potter film.

[Eric W.]

My own pet choice is George Fenton. I think both Hollywood (and FSM messageboard know-alls) mischaracterize him as a dull composer for dull Masterpiece Theatre-style period movies.

Most of the know-alls at FSM tend not to experiment with composers who work outside of the Hollywood system. I for one, would love to hear Fenton's style in a Harry Potter film.

Same here. I really think he could do something special. Woefully underrated, overlooked, and underappreciated!

[Paul MacLean]

yeah, Broughton... I mean, he was supposed to do HOME ALONE and had a scheduling conflict.

Actually, Broughton turned it down.

but the story goes nowhere and is redundant, many things I just dont understand, including why for God's sake Harry doesnt tell anybody that Malfoy works for Voldemort... never get that.

That's odd, 'cause in the book, Harry does a tell-all interview with Rita Skeeter, in which he exposes Lucious Malfoy, as well as Crabbe and Goyle's fathers as death-eaters (but no one believes him).

Gilderoy Lockhart makes a brief appearence in the book as well, but I assume neither he nor Skeeter appear in the the film? And not to get off-topic, but I miss John Cleese's cameos as Nearly-Headless Nick. He was supposed to be in Goblet of Fire; don't know what happened.

Anyway, Debbie Wiseman would be another good choice. There are really so many wonderful composers in Britain. And if they wanted to recruit a composer from television, there have been some brilliant British TV scores by people like Patrick Gowers (Sherlock Holmes), Richard Harvey and Nigel Hess. Why couldn't they hire one of them?

[AndyDursin]

Actually, Broughton turned it down.

I've seen that thrown around here and there, and it's possible my memory is totally off here, but I clearly recall that not being the case in an interview that he did.

What I thought happened was that they essentially shuffled Broughton off the project once Williams saw the movie, professed his love for it, and offered to do the music.

It may have been in concert with Broughton doing duty on another film (RESCUERS DOWN UNDER was coming out that November), or wasn't available for a time and Williams stepped in when the opportunity came about...either way I believe that scenario far more than Broughton simply "turning down" a big-time holiday comedy from John Hughes that was as high profile as any film he'd basically ever scored.

Either way, I clearly recall reading Broughton discussing his disappointment over not doing the movie, saying he didn't blame them for hiring Williams, etc. And then there's also the major fact that Hughes later hired him on BABY'S DAY OUT and MIRACLE ON 34th STREET, possibly as a kind of make-up (wasn't Goldsmith supposed to do BABY'S DAY OUT at one point?).

I just doubt Hughes would've done that if Broughton had just flat-out decided not to do HOME ALONE without a reason...I always thought it was because Williams wanted to do the movie and they basically cast Broughton off the film once he was available.

Can anyone track down a definitive interview?

I noticed that Scott Bettencourt wrote that Broughton had a "scheduling conflict" in his article from a few weeks ago at FSM. I can't imagine Broughton turning it down, if he did it's no wonder his career ended up where it did.

[Paul MacLean]

I always thought it was because Williams wanted to do the movie and they basically cast Broughton off the film once he was available.

Can anyone track down a definitive interview?

I don't have the tape, but Darren Cavanagh and I interviewed Broughton and I do believe he told us he turned-down Home Alone (as well as Accidental Tourist). I recall he said he didn't particularly like the film, and when Darren asked him how he felt in the wake of the film's success, he said he did not have any regrets, as he still did not really like the film.

I suspect, like a number of other gifted -- and trained -- composers, Broughton withdrew from films because he grew tired of dealing with ignorant filmmakers. I know he was very much against musical illiterates getting hired. When he was head composer on Tiny Tunes, Broughton refused to hire a composer unless they were fully capable of orchestrating their own music. So I'm sure he finds the current state of Hollywood film music is untenable.

He said he liked doing television, because the tight schedules meant there was no time for producers to alter his scores, demand re-writes, replacement scores, etc.

[AndyDursin]

I don't have the tape, but Darren Cavanagh and I interviewed Broughton and I do believe he told us he turned-down Home Alone (as well as Accidental Tourist). I recall he said he didn't particularly like the film, and when Darren asked him how he felt in the wake of the film's success, he said he did not have any regrets, as he still did not really like the film.

Fascinating Paul -- I certainly believe YOU, but part of me feels that he wasn't saying the whole truth...especially not when his name was already on some of the early posters for the film! (How would that have even been possible if he just declined to score the film?)

I'm pretty sure now that I had read that Williams' involvement pushed someone off the movie in the Boston Globe around the time of the movie's release. To be fair, I don't blame Fox and Hughes for doing so if they did -- I recall the article saying "another composer was assigned to Home Alone" but that Williams' interest moved him along. And Broughton isn't Williams, I think we'd all agree to that, so it's certainly believable that happened.

And I remember it expressly because I never knew who the composer was until years later -- the article never named who Williams replaced.

Seriously, if he really turned down HOME ALONE and ACCIDENTAL TOURIST as he claimed he did...number one, what for? To work on another Peter Hyams film?

I just seriously can't believe he didn't "like" HOME ALONE and THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST and could afford to be so selective that he passed on them. When you consider he DIDN'T turn down...

-THE ICE PIRATES
-THE BOY WHO COULD FLY
-SQUARE DANCE
-HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS
-THE MONSTER SQUAD
-SWEET LIBERTY
-THE PRESIDIO
-NARROW MARGIN
-LAST RITES
-THE RESCUE
-BETSY'S WEDDING

Given the evidence (those were movies he agreed to score around that time, none of which are anywhere near the level of HOME ALONE), it's pretty hard for me to believe he just flat out said "no" to HOME ALONE.

I'm more inclined to believe that when Williams came calling, Broughton was let go, and Hughes made it up to him (as much as he could've) by hiring him to do a couple of other projects.

Makes more sense than what Broughton claimed...you don't pass on a filmmaker who turned out the amount of box-office hits that Hughes had at the time, especially given how poorly most of the movies Broughton had scored around that time fared.

Frankly, you would've thought he would've killed to work on that high-profile a film at that stage in his career. Low-budget comedy? Yes, but a major studio film that John Hughes and Chris Columbus were making...pretty unfathomable he flat out would've rejected it to me.

[Paul MacLean]

Fascinating Paul -- I certainly believe YOU, but part of me feels that he wasn't saying the whole truth...especially not when his name was already on some of the early posters for the film! (How would that have even been possible if he just declined to score the film?)

Its possible I remember wrong. He might have meant he was glad he did not score it. I was unaware his name was on the poster credits -- which would seem to indicate he was officially attached to it.

I'm pretty sure now that I had read that Williams' involvement pushed someone off the movie in the Boston Globe around the time of the movie's release.

Actually, I've often wondered if this was the case with The Patriot as well -- that David Arnold was fired simply because John Williams expressed an interest after Arnold started scoring.

I just seriously can't believe he didn't "like" HOME ALONE and THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST and could afford to be so selective that he passed on them. When you consider he DIDN'T turn down...

I think in the case of Accidental Tourist, it was more that he didn't agree with Lawrence Kasdan's approach to the score, rather than the material itself.

[AndyDursin]

I was unaware his name was on the poster credits -- which would seem to indicate he was officially attached to it.

Apparently his name popped up on some of the early teaser trailers. I'll hunt around and see if I can find one.

He might have meant he was glad he did not score it.

Possibly. But given that it was one of the highest grossing films of all-time, and probably could've given his career the biggest boost it could have ever gotten -- especially since Williams parlayed the music into a perennial classic (not to mention Oscar nominations) -- that would be pretty tough to believe too.

And given all the disappointing projects he had been attached with, what possibly could he not have liked about HOME ALONE? There's a movie that allowed Williams the chance at writing some gorgeous Christmas music -- where the music had a real opportunity to carry the film in every way. Which, of course, Williams did brilliantly.

Given how many mickey-mousing action scores Broughton had written for Peter Hyams movies (PRESIDIO, NARROW MARGIN, etc.) around that point, that's really hard to believe he wouldn't have wanted the opportunity to write music in a movie where the score could have made a difference (and did, as it turned out).

Actually, I've often wondered if this was the case with The Patriot as well -- that David Arnold was fired simply because John Williams expressed an interest after Arnold started scoring.

Perhaps, but I do recall Arnold being let go from the movie prior to Williams' involvement. There did seem to be a rift on that film between he and Emmerich before even Williams was on board.

I think in the case of Accidental Tourist, it was more that he didn't agree with Lawrence Kasdan's approach to the score, rather than the material itself.

I mean no disrespect to Broughton but, again, the window of opportunity for some composers comes and goes in a flash. In hindsight I don't think burning bridges with a filmmaker like Kasdan -- especially back then when his films were "important" -- was a wise move, whether he agreed with the direction to the score or not.

It's like this -- he never had another opportunity to work with Kasdan, or on an Oscar-"worthy" project like ACCIDENTAL TOURIST ever again, after that.

And what's worse for him, Williams wrote a great score for the film -- it may not be my favorite Williams score, but it was what Kasdan wanted, worked fine in the film (again, not my favorite), and showed he could write music that function within the parameters of what the filmmaker desired.

Turning down scores like THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST does make you think Broughton did damage to his own career, quite frankly, in hindsight. As much as I love many of his scores, decisions like that are just head-scratching in retrospect, especially since he had a good thing with Kasdan going after SILVERADO.

Anyway enough on Broughton: did you see HARRY POTTER? I'm going to go this week.

[AndyDursin]

Its possible I remember wrong. He might have meant he was glad he did not score it. I was unaware his name was on the poster credits -- which would seem to indicate he was officially attached to it.

Just to follow up, Trailer #1 on the HOME ALONE DVD says

"MUSIC BY BRUCE BROUGHTON"

Can't get more official than that -- but I can't figure out how to make the screen caps work!! lol.

[Eric W.]

I'm disappointed to see this composer is listed on IMDB as slated to return for the next HP film.

[AndyDursin]

I'm disappointed to see this composer is listed on IMDB as slated to return for the next HP film.

They're bringing the same director back also, so this was a "done deal" from the get go.

[Paul MacLean]

They're bringing the same director back also, so this was a "done deal" from the get go.

I'm amazed that David Heyman, or someone Warner Bros. didn't reject this score outright, especially after the high-quality of Williams' scores.

I'd like to think Warner's are playing cheap by hiring an unknown to direct parts 5 and 6, and saving their money so they can splurge to get Columbus back for part 7.

Heck, I'd even be happy to see Cuarron return, as long as he brought back Williams (and Michael Seresin).