Search - Various Artists :: To Kill a Mockingbird

"...and he would be there when Jem woke up in the morning.."

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 01/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I do not think that any other motion picture score has been "appropriated" for the trailers of other films than Elmer Bernstein's classic score for "To Kill a Mockingbird" (the only other serious contenders would be "The Natural" and "The Last of the Mohicans"). This is not surprising, because this is certainly one of the most beloved film scores in American cinematic history. The music that underscores the finale ("...and he would be there when Jem woke up in the morning") is wonderfully evocative, one of those perfect marriages between images and music that stays with you forever. Just thinking about it gets to me. Bernstein had enjoyed notable successes with his scores for "The Man With the Golden Arm" and "The Ten Commandments," but this one has to be still be considered the pinnacle of his career. A soundtrack album of Bernstein's score was released when the film came out, but it was incomplete. Bernstein re-recorded the score as part of his "Film Music Collection" series in the 1970s, but that album is, of course, out of print. So in 1996 Bernstein re-recorded the score, including tracks that were not in the final film, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The result is that the main title theme, which is abridged in the film, is played out in its entirety. The accompanying notes explain something about the dynamics of each track, especially drawing out attention to how the various themes for the children, Boo, etc., are incorporated into key sequences. For those of us who have always cherished the movie, listening to the soundtrack by itself is a treat."