With the success of THOR, Kenneth Branagh has seemingly gained some support again after a series of mildly successful films.  As the 1990s began, Branagh was riding very high after a monumental, and successful, production of HENRY V (1989) that actually led to the opportunity to explore film noir and a sort of migration of souls murder mystery in Scott Frank’s (Get Shorty, The Wolverine) first screenplay.  Having brought his Shakespeare composer into the limelight with a stunning score for his first film, Branagh continued his collaboration with Patrick Doyle for this second outing.  The result was one of Doyle’s equally wonderful film scores further bringing him critical attention, and even a Golden Globe nomination.  Doyle had to navigate the two parallel stories involving a famous composer of mid-century fame and murder, and the seeming coming together of these older “souls” to pull them toward a resolution.  It allowed Branagh, and Emma Thompson, to play duel roles in an often fascinating Hitchcock-ian film.

Patrick Doyle’s score found that perfect spot of Herrmann-esque swirl and dark film noir romanticism in this score and it hits the listener from the very beginning of “The Headlines.”  The sense of heartbeat is part of the ostinato pattern that underlines the sudden orchestral bursts and which will be echoed later in significant dramatic moments (especially in the superb “Margaret Sees Mike”, and the tense “Take the Gun, Grace”).  The result is one of the better montage scoring moments in Doyle’s career.  Some of the big brass climaxes are similar to dramatic punches he used in Henry V, but they are soon transformed into something more as the score progresses.  The great romantic work that the character Roman is developing also informs some of the earlier flashback pieces and this thematic thread will help provide musical continuity for those moments of the film.   “Winter 1948” is one of the great tracks that allows for the music to make the shift from lighter romance to darker and more poignant underscore.

One of the bigger pluses of this expanded release is that we get to hear more music related to the contemporary sequences involving the detective Mike.  The music tends to take on a more contemporary open harmonic approach in these sections (heard well in “Mike’s Flat/Mike Says Goodnight”) that is a great contrast to the more period romanticism in the scenes with Roman.  “Grace Hears the Music” is part of an edited track that opens with some fascinating clusters as thematic ideas begin to assert themselves (this is one of the new-to-disc tracks).  Doyle is able to provide some distance for these parallel storylines while also finding thematic ways to begin connecting them as the film progresses towards its big “reveal”.  The previously unreleased tracks manage to fill in the gaps of the original release a bit more making this a fascinating score to hear now on its own again.  Some of the ticking clock music will be among the ideas fans will find striking as well.

La-La Land’s presentation is stellar.  While the original album managed to present a fair amount of Doyle’s score for the time, the additional tracks and briefer cues are great indicators of how he was very good at moving quickly to set up a scene and to provide some emotional punch as needed.  The score is presented in film order over its first hour and then is followed with a series of alternate cues, source cues, an early sketch and a mockup (which some will recognize would appear as a great tune—but in a different film!).  Tracks are marked to indicate which are from the original Varese Sarabande release and which are new.  There are even tracks which went unused in the film and are included here within the narrative sequence.  For Doyle fans, this is a must have, and for others who enjoy great film noir and orchestral scores, Dead Again is simply one of the best from its period.  The new-to-disc tracks are interesting for what they show of Doyle’s talent and how the original disc was intended to present more of one side of his musical approach here.  So many of the unreleased cues present interesting dramatic punches and orchestral moments that they will make those familiar with the score return to listen with great scrutiny.  Producer Dan Goldwasser admits that this was the first Doyle score he heard and which caused him to further look for other Doyle projects.  Most likely, many 1990s film music fans found themselves doing the same thing at the time and led to adding another of the great film composers from this period to their own personal libraries.

Carol Thompson made her directorial debut in 1994 with her adaptation of Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel, Black Beauty.  Her intent was to remain faithful to Sewell’s approach of telling the story from the perspective of the horses through narration.  The film received good reviews and has since gained respect and a devoted following as one of the best films about horses ever made.  To craft the emotional musical core, Thompson chose Danny Elfman.  Elfman  had built a steady string of memorable scores for Tim Burton by this point in his career from quirky (Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice) to the darker Batman.  It was his work on Edward Scissorhands where he had met Thompson and the two were dating when she suggested he tackle this project.

In Elfman’s oeuvre, Black Beauty certainly stands out.  The score perhaps has its roots in the equally romantic score from 1993’s Sommersby.  That score, along with Dolores Claiborne and Black Beauty marked a decided shift in Elfman’s music and demonstrated he was on his way to the A-list of Hollywood composers.  The striking thing about Black Beauty is that it has a sound that one might more associate with Rachel Portman’s Emma (still two years away).  The opening “Main Titles” and “Birth” have a somewhat minimalist arpeggio that gives way to a gorgeous, romantic theme.  The waltz-like thematic material soon gains a bit of melancholy that is one of the first personal stamps in the score and functions as a sort of love theme.  For fans of more contemporary scores, the most striking aspect about Black Beauty is that these primary thematic ideas are in practically every cue providing a host of variation and orchestral color to explore.  The second thematic idea, often heard with pennywhistle, lends the music an almost Celtic feel at times to the score.  The music may also feel reminiscent of Williams’ scoring style, but with Elfman’s own orchestral color that expands his own scoring approaches.  The more action-based and intense cues, like ‘The Rescue”, provide an opportunity for the movie to turn a bit darker and better balances the later “Wild Ride/Dream”.

La-La Land has crafted another excellent expanded score that will allow Elfman fans the chance to appreciate this music far better.  There are about 17+ minutes here of previously unreleased material including a host of bonus tracks of alternate and album tracks.    The accompanying booklet is equally beautiful with great photos, overview of each track, and discussion of the film.  Those who have the original release may still wish to hold on to it as it has its own general flow and the new release combines some of these shorter tracks in different ways to present the score in film order.  The limited release is certain to gain further respect for this beautiful score.