Tuesday 18 October 2016

Interview with Sully Composers Christian Jacob & Tierney Sutton

Varese Sarabande recently sat down with composer Christian Jacob and Tierney Sutton who worked on and wrote music for the Clint Eastwood directed film starring Tom Hanks about the airline captain who landed a commercial plane on the Hudson River.

1. Describe the SULLY soundtrack on Varese Sarabande.

Christian Jacob: The Tierney Sutton Band (TSB) has been together for over 20 years and has been known for its collaborative process of arranging music. The scoring began with an improvisational approach over several themes written by both the director (Clint Eastwood) and myself. Every member of the band was watching scenes on the screen and improvising their own parts by following a basic lead sheet. We know each other so well, that our musical ideas fell beautifully in place. We each brought something special to the various moments of the music. Director Clint Eastwood was present during the entire recording process and guided us while still allowing us complete freedom. I later added orchestral parts on some of the cues to give them more depth.
2. Which scene did you score first and why?
Tierney Sutton: We scored the film from the first scene to the last. Then spent a few weeks perfecting the cues. We spotted the film again with Clint and decided which cues could be "sweetened" with orchestra and then Christian orchestrated those and wrote the end title suite. While he did that, I worked on lyrics for Clint's theme and one of Christian's.
3. Did the director give you any interesting instructions or feedback to help you create the tonal palate?
Christian Jacob: Being a fan of Tierney's beautiful voice and of the band for the last 10 years, Clint was very familiar with our "sound", and he believed we could bring something interesting to his film. Because Clint had used some of our recordings in the temp music for the film, we had a good idea of what he was looking for. He guided us with a soft touch and was interested to see where we would put a music cue, even when he felt nothing was needed there. He would also give directions by mentioning his preferences like:  "only piano there"; "let’s try one with more space", "have just the bass and voice there", etc.
4. What does it mean to you to have your music released by the pre-eminent soundtrack label?  What is your favorite Varese Sarabande title in your collection?
Tierney Sutton: Having Varese Sarabande release the soundtrack is a singular honor. I am a fan of so many of the composers whose work has appeared in Varese releases -- the modern masters like Michael Giacchino, Alan Silvestri and John Debney as well as the classic film composers like Alex North. This is truly the icing on the cake of the experience of creating the score for "Sully".
5. What kind of ensemble did you use to record the score?  Did you use any interesting or unusual instrumentation or soloists who deserve a shout-out?


Christian Jacob: While some moments in the film were colored by single instruments such as piano, drums or voice, the central nucleus of the soundtrack was the sound of our band: piano, bass, drums and voice. The natural way to expand on the band's personal sound was orchestral.

The first track of the Sully soundtrack is an orchestral Suite with the band being featured. It recapitulates all four themes of the movie and features every member of the band. It was intended for the end credits of the film but we ended up only using part of it. Besides the irreplaceable Tierney Sutton, Trey Henry, Kevin Axt and Ray Brinker, we had the very best musicians in the orchestra and the wonderful Conrad Pope conducting.

(Photo Credit: Dave Alloca) (Christian Jacob & Tierney Sutton at the NY premiere of Sully)
Read here

CITY HEAT to receive world premiere release on CD

CITY HEAT is to receive its world premiere release on CD 
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Lennie Niehaus.
The soundtrack to the 1984 action comedy starring Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. The score was composed by Lennie Niehaus (Million Dollar Baby, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Bridges of Madison County).  The soundtrack also features songs performed by Al Jarreau, Joe Williams, Irene Cara, and Clint Eastwood.
1. Sweets For My Sweet
2. Sugar And Spice
3. Listen To Me
4. Needles & Pins
5. Ain't That Just Like Me
6. Don't Throw Your Love Away
7. Someday We're Gonna Love Again
8. When You Walk In The Room
9. Love Potion Number Nine
10. What Have They Done To The Rain
11. Bumble Bee
12. Goodbye My Love
13. Each Time
14. He's Got No Love
15. Take Me For What I'm Worth
16. When I Get Home
17. Take It Or Leave It
18. Have You Ever Loved Somebody


Release date: 18th November 2016 from Varèse Sarabande Records

Sully Soundtrack and Blu Ray

Sully Soundtrack - Press Release from Varese Sarabande Records
Tom Hanks plays pilot Chesly Sullinger in the critically acclaimed film, "Sully." The album features the original music composed by Clint Eastwood, (Grace is Gone, Million Dollar Baby), Christian Jacob and the Tierney Sutton Band. A seven-time Grammy nominee, Sutton has received nominations for every project she has released in the last decade. Her new album, The Sting Variations, was released last September.
01 Sully Suite
02 Sully Wakes Up
03 Flying Home (Sully's Theme)
04 Boarding
05 Hospital
06 F4 Malfunction
07 Hudson View
08 Sully Reflects
09 I Could Have Lost You
10 The Arrow
11 Sully Running
12 Times Square Run
13 Simulation
14 Sully Doubts
15 Vindication
16 Grey Goose With A Splash Of Water
17 Sauna
18 Rescue
19 Flying Home


Varese Sarabande 302 067 452 8 – Release Date: 28th October 2016
Below: The Warner Bros Blu ray release includes a few featurettes, the DVD release dropped the main making of featurette, the reason is not clear why?

Monday 17 October 2016

Clint and Maggie shop for scuba diving equipment

Here are a couple of great shots for today. Clint and his then wife Maggie are caught out shopping for scuba diving equipment, circa 1960. By the look on his face, it appears that Clint has time to play around. Superb pictures courtesy of Getty Images and taken by Darlene Hammond.  

Thursday 13 October 2016

Clint and Jayne Mansfield

A lot of fans are probably very familiar of the Clint Eastwood photo (left) taken with Jayne Mansfield.  
It has appeared in numerous books over the decades and like me, there are probably plenty of collectors who have a 10x8 still of them, on what appears to be an aeroplane - it's a famous enough photo. But have you ever wondered where both Clint and Mansfield were? 


Was it just a coincidence that they were travelling on the same plane? Perhaps it was just a one off photo opportunity? Well actually no... 


The photo taken in 1962 was of them arriving at San Francisco’s Barbary Coast Fandango. Below is the original story as published in the San Francisco Chronicle – and features a couple of much rarer photos AND the original advertising poster featuring both Clint and Mansfield as the star guests.





Come one, come all, to the Barbary Coast Fandango

When long-entrenched Chronicle departments move from one part of 901 Mission St. to another, reporters, editors and photographers often discover old photos and newspapers. These treasures get sent to the librarians.
A recent file of photos caught my eye when I recognized a young Clint Eastwood, but the shot’s setting seemed odd and I didn’t recognize anyone else. No written information was included on the back of the photos, but one of the subjects turned out to be actress Jayne Mansfield, the Hollywood actress and performer who was one of the best-known blonde bombshells of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

She and Eastwood were going to appear at San Francisco’s Barbary Coast Fandango, an Old West-themed festival sponsored by The San Francisco Chronicle and California Historical Society.
Eastwood and Mansfield were to join San Francisco Supervisors Peter Tamaras and Charles Ertola and artist Lorrie Bunker to judge the costume contest. Attendees could ride a Wells Fargo stage coach that was robbed 15 times by Black Bart, pan for gold or try to win a new sewing machine by finding a needle in a haystack. On the final day of the Fandango, Mansfield would present a trophy to the winners of the fast draw competition, one of the highlights for the lucky few who attended the Fandango alongside the celebrities.

Photos taken by Bob Campbell, The San Francisco Chronicle
Below: The original 1962 poster

Clint to direct new film about kidnapped aid worker Jessica Buchanan

Stories have been circulating over the last few days that Clint already has his next project lined up. The Hollywood Reporter and Variety led with the story on the 10th October:
Clint Eastwood to Tackle True-Life Story of Kidnapped Aid Worker Jessica Buchanan
The drama will be based on the memoir 'Impossible Odds,' written by Buchanan, husband Erik Landemalm, and Anthony Flacco.
After tackling a true-life story with Sully, Clint Eastwood is setting his sights on another: that of kidnapped American aid worker Jessica Buchanan. Warner Bros, Eastwood's long time home studio, has optioned Impossible Odds, the memoir written by Buchanan, her husband Erik Landemalm, and Anthony Flacco. While it's a beat early in the development stages, Eastwood is looking at it as his next project. Brian Helgeland, who worked with Eastwood on the Oscar-winning 2003 film Mystic River, as well as 2002's Blood Work, is writing the script. Buchanan was working in Somalia when, in October 2011, she and a colleague found themselves caught by land pirates, sold out by their escort and protector. For the next 93 days, she and her co-worker lived in the desert while Buchanan’s husband, Landemalm, tried to work various agencies to have his wife rescued. In the end, President Barack Obama approved the engagement of SEAL Team 6, which parachuted into the area, killed all the pirates and extracted the pair. The story had already been eyed for the big screen in 2013 when the book was optioned by Clear Pictures Entertainment and Silver Reel Partners, which also secured Buchanan and Landemalm’s life rights. Greg Silverman and Julia Spiro will oversee the project for Warners.
Sully stars Tom Hanks as Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the US Airlines pilot who became a hero after landing his passenger plane on the Hudson River. The movie, which cost $60 million to make, has soared to over $107 million domestically and follows Eastwood’s 2014 hit, American Sniper, which starred Bradley Cooper in the telling of the heroic true-life story of sniper Chris Kyle.
The one-two punch of those movies show that Eastwood, at 86 years old, is settling into a groove focusing on American-bred stories that clearly resonate with domestic audiences.
Buchanan, Landemalm and Flacco are repped by Paradigm.

Clint Eastwood Eyeing Film about Kidnapped American Aid Worker Jessica Buchanan – Justin Kroll – Variety OCTOBER 10, 2016

In typical Clint Eastwood fashion, the seemingly ageless auteur is already setting up his next directing gig even as his latest pic “Sully” is playing in theaters.
Sources tell Variety that Warner Bros. has optioned “Impossible Odds,” an autobiography by Jessica Buchanan and Anthony Flacco. The American humanitarian aid worker was kidnapped by Somali militants and later rescued by a Navy SEAL team in 2012. Eastwood is considering the pic as his next project. Brian Helgeland is writing the script. Greg Silverman and Julia Spiro are overseeing production. Flacco and Sharlene Martin of Martin Literary Management are attached as Associate Producers. The story tells the tale of Buchanan, who traveled to Somalia to help children only to be kidnapped by militants and held for ransom for 93 days. Her captors were killed by SEALs in a dramatic rescue mission.
Eastwood has become increasingly interested in films about ordinary people who are thrown into extraordinary situations and rise to the challenge, such as box office hit “American Sniper” and “Sully.” Since opening last month, Eastwood’s “Sully” has become a hit, grossing $167 million worldwide including $113 million domestically. The biopic has received rave reviews for both Eastwood’s directing and Tom Hanks performance as Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a commuter jet in the Hudson River in 2009. Flacco and and life rights are repped by Paradigm and Del Shaw.

Pale Rider Rare Candid Location Photos

I thought I would share these rather nice candid photos of Clint along with actress co-star Sydney Penny. Pale Rider was primarily filmed in the Boulder Mountains and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho, just north of Sun Valley in late 1984.The opening credits scene featured the jagged Sawtooth Mountains south of Stanley. Train-station scenes were filmed in Tuolumne County, California, near Jamestown. Scenes of a more established Gold Rush town (in which Eastwood's character picks up his pistol at a Wells Fargo office) were filmed in the real Gold Rush town of Columbia, also in Tuolumne County, California. It’s hard to believe Pale Rider was shot over 30 years ago. I remember vividly the huge amount of publicity Pale Rider gathered at the time, and the general consensus that this was a key element of the mid 80s rival – the return of the western. Great times they were too. Watching Pale Rider on the big screen was a real feast on the eyes and Clint made fantastic use of those stunning locations. Pale Rider was released in the United States in June, 1985, and became the highest grossing western of the 1980s.

My thanks to Dave Turner for sending me these lovely photos. 

Monday 10 October 2016

Tobias Hohmann’s Two Volume Collection of Books on Clint Eastwood

2016 has so far proven to be a good year for books, especially of the Eastwood variety. Earlier this year we were finally treated to Peter Hanley’s long anticipated book on the  making of The Good, the bad and the ugly – a mammoth undertaking that had our bookshelves creaking under its sheer weight and size. Of course, books of such stature do not tend to arrive that often, so I felt fairly safe in the knowledge that my bookshelves would at least have sufficient time to draw breath and recover under the strain before any other similar size slabs were due to be released on Mr Eastwood. It appears I misjudged that ever so slightly - as waiting in the wings was Tobias Hohmann’s second volume on Clint Eastwood. Before we look at his new book, I felt it was a good time to catch up on the story so far and to catch up with the man himself…

Tobias Hohmann’s enormous two volume set of books on Eastwood is truly an impressive piece of work. It’s perhaps all too easy to collate a career overview or a ‘films of’ type book on Eastwood, there’s certainly enough of a career there. Setting aside 3 or 4 pages for each of the man’s films would soon result in a pretty decent size book – but in all honesty, it’s already been done a fair amount of times before. So, what makes Hohmann’s books any different from the rest? Well, straight away it should be pointed out that these two books are written in German, they are after all, German books. Now, if a book that isn’t in English is enough to put you off, please do not waste your time in reading any further. But quite frankly, you’ll be missing out on all the riches that these books actually have to offer.
Long term fans and collectors will of course remember that books printed in foreign text have never really put us off before. One immediately thinks back to those glorious Japanese cine books of the 1980s. We might not have been able to read of word of them, but they are still visually stunning. I think I ended up with four Japanese books in total. Then of course there was Francois Guerif’s book, a French text only book which worked so well on many levels and ended up being a must in any serious Eastwood collection. The point being, I still couldn’t image my collection without the inclusion of these books, they are now essential. The Japanese cine album books are also so collectable these days – and in any part of the world!
Tobias Hohmann’s books work in much the same way, they are firstly a visual splendour, and they are simply beautiful in their presentation. Hohmann’s original book, part one of this amazing set, was originally released in 2015, and unfortunately did tend to slip under the radar among a great deal of Eastwood fans, myself included. Fortunately, I was later able to catch up with part one which covers the period 1930-1979. 

I spoke with Tobias Hohmann recently and first asked him why? Why another book on Clint Eastwood?
Thomas Pollmer (L) and Tobias Hohmann (R)
‘To be honest, I wasn't the one who started this project – it was Thomas Pollmer, a man who probably has one of the greatest Eastwood collections in the world. He has collected nearly everything about Clint over many decades - it´s incredible what he has in his Cellar! Thomas had really enjoyed one of my previous books, the focus of which was Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, and it was Thomas who thought that a book about Eastwood, presented in a similar style, and with the same degree of passion behind the project would be great. But I agree with you, my initial thoughts were the same - why another book on Eastwood? There are several other books on the market already, and it was very unlikely that Eastwood or the people around him would help us. But then I thought a little more about it, and I finally came to the conclusion that a great deal of these books and their approach were often very one sided. The books often reflect a genuine like for Eastwood or the complete opposite, or they focussed solely on his movies or about his private life – but I wanted to achieve something which perhaps reflected a healthy balance between the two. I also believed that you couldn´t entirely separate his private life and his career or for that matter perhaps his career choices and how his private life may have influenced those choices. There was also the fact that Eastwood remains a total legend, his career is just incredible and for me, he´s the last of the classic Hollywood icons. You only have to look at Eastwood’s career over the last 50 years – I mean which other actor or director has achieved so much? So overall, I thought there were enough reasons there to put something together with a fresh feel to it, a slightly different perspective, but overall, I wanted it to also look exceptionally good. When I met with Thomas again, we discussed the format and how we would like to take it, and from there on he placed his trust in me.’

I asked Hohmann, if he always intended his project to be an enormous two volume set?

‘For me personally, yes always. Firstly, you just have to look at how many films he made, look at the kind of fulfilling life he’s had and continues to live – it just can´t work within one book with maybe 500 pages? My publisher on the other hand, he didn´t like this idea at first, but I knew that they would agree. I said to them, “What’s the point if we have 300 pages and we were still in the year 1970?”  So I’m glad they finally came around and agreed or we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now (laughs). But seriously, you have to do it correct if you’re doing something on Eastwood, he deserves that degree of respect. Now, with his career and life over the two books and over 1.000 pages in total, I think we can at least say we really tried to do it justice. If this was the wrong approach - all of the blame is on me.’
 

I have to say, I don’t really believe Mr Hohmann has too much to worry about. The sheer size of these books is really overwhelming and weighty beasts they are too. The lay out here is very impressive and has each particular chapter opening with a full page reproduction of the relevant German cinema poster, but it all gets even better… Throughout book one there are several very nice fold-out format pages that show off posters really beautifully. However, instead of the double page posters presented in the usual centre spread style (where the centre of the poster is often lost in the centre of the book’s binding), it is instead presented here in a rather unique way, with the right side page folding out (to the right) to reveal a nice flat, full on presentation of the film’s artwork. It’s a concept that I’ve certainly never seen before and it all works wonderfully well.  
It is in the books overall concept, its design and presentation in particular, which really help tip the balance and eclipse the limitations of its German only text. The large majority of pages are packed with an array of memorabilia; lobby cards, advertisements and varying poster designs, all of which are put to incredible use and flawlessly presented. It’s a wonderful way of utilising a great deal of rare items and should prove particularly appealing to Eastwood collectors.
Book 1 Cover Design B


Book one is also available in a choice of two cover designs. Design A is known as the montage cover (see top), a beautifully conceived design which utilises some fabulous original artwork from a various selection of classic Eastwood movie posters. I’m reliably informed by Tobias that stocks of the Design A cover are now running a little short, but more information on that further on. The design B for book one is the regular ‘Enforcer’ style cover.
Hohmann’s books have certainly attracted a great deal of attention. His book on the career of Chuck Norris (here) opened the door to James Fargo. Impressed with his book on Norris, the director of The Enforcer and Every which way but loose was happy to talk with Hohmann at length about the career of Eastwood. But perhaps even more impressively, Hohmann was actually able to persuade Eastwood’s Fistful of Dollars co-star Marianne Koch into talking exclusively for the book. I asked Hohmann, how he managed to get Marianne Koch on board?


‘Marianne Koch´s participation was a big surprise. I didn´t believe for a minute that she would be interested in talking about this time in her life. She had finished her career as an actress many years before and has worked since as a doctor. She simply didn´t talk about her movie career, she hadn’t for a very long time. I thought I would give it a try anyway and in the beginning she was very reserved and reluctant. But I sent her some pictures from the book and eventually she said, “Okay, let's see what I can remember.” She was great, a very nice and highly intelligent woman. I adore her very much and she was also our guest of honour at the book presentation which was unbelievable. We presented the book in a very nice cinema in Munich, Starnberger. We arranged for a special showing of A Fistful of Dollars where Marianne watched alongside us with the press and our guests and friends. Marianne lives there also. She was so friendly and it was incredibly kind of her to spend so much time with us. It was really great to hear her stories and to meet her, she still looks wonderful.’  
 (Left to Right) Thomas Pollmer, Marianne Koch, 'Joe Kidd' and Tobias Hohmann
In August 2016, Hohmann’s second volume on Clint Eastwood became available to complete his epic book collection. Covering the years 1980-2016 (and includes Eastwood’s latest ‘Sully’), the book pretty much follows in the same style as Volume One, with each film chapter kicking off with a beautiful reproduction of the original poster. There are also those great little sidebars within each chapter – like the Pale Rider section, how refreshing it is to see that space is also given to the short lived Pale Rider beer which became a spin off product of the film! It is these great little details that make Hohmann’s books really stand out. Delightful touches such as when his children were born in relation to his films, the co-stars and of course, such brilliant use of the hundreds of lobby cards to illustrate along the way. For this second volume, Hohmann also managed to secure some interview time with David Worth, director of photography on both Bronco Billy and Any which way you can. ‘David Worth was great; he loved the layout and concept of the books too. He´s one of the great storytellers who loved to talk about his work with Eastwood.’ The author also managed to secure Wolfgang Petersen, the director behind one of Eastwood’s greatest film’s from the 90s - In the line of Fire.

            

‘Getting hold of Wolfgang Petersen was not an easy task because he´s such a busy man. It took us months to finally get an appointment. He was in Los Angeles at this time and was preparing his new movie when I called him. His assistant politely informed me that our time would be strictly limited to just thirty minutes. But I could tell Wolfgang had a great deal of respect and love for Clint. In the end we spoke for nearly two hours and it was a pleasure to hear his stories and memories of Eastwood.’
Hohmann’s second volume book is a real beauty and acts as the perfect companion piece to book one. There is just the one cover option available for volume two – another great poster montage which mirrors the excellent design A cover of volume one. As previously mentioned, each of these top quality books consist of over 500 pages, each of which are crammed with stunning illustrative material. The fact that these books are written in German almost becomes a secondary factor, they are simply that beautiful on the eye and fortunately we have yet to require the knowledge of a language - in order to appreciate genuine beauty.
Quite honestly, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.
Below I have provided two sets of links for each of the books. However, it is important to mention, in regards to book one – the Amazon link does not guarantee one of the two available cover designs – if ordering book one through Amazon it is entirely down to them which of the cover designs they dispatch. If you require a specific cover design for book one, please use the second link which is that of the publisher, there you will have the option / choice of which cover you require.
Any link can be used for book two as the artwork montage cover is the only option available.
My thanks to Tobias Hohmann for talking to The Clint Eastwood Archive


Book One Links:
AMAZON Here
MEDIEN Here

Book Two Links:
AMAZON Here
MEDIEN Here

Some additional images from these wonderful books

Sunday 9 October 2016

Clint visits Cardiff Wales 1967

It's fairly well known among UK based Eastwood fans that Clint first visited the UK in June 1967. The trip was in order to promote Fistful of Dollars. Most are familiar with the photos of Clint at Heathrow airport along with the U/A girls clad in cowboy hats and ponchos. Other well known photos include those taken in Birmingham and the short filmed interview with Clint conducted by a very young John Humphreys. However, a friend of mine who lives in south Wales contacted me this weekend with this wonderful photo of both Clint and Maggie Eastwood at Cardiff central railway station to attend a special press showing of Fistful of Dollars in June 1967. It's the first time I have ever seen a photo of Clint in Wales during this whirlwind tour of the UK, I'd love to know if Clint visited any other places during this UK trip, I'm continuously amazed at what turns up. A Big thank you to Jayne Smart.