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Pursuit / Crawlspace / People Next Door (Original Soundtrack) [Import] on CD

Intrada in association with Klassik Film Music announces the CD release of three Kickstarter-funded Jerry Goldsmith scores: Pursuit, Crawlspace and The People Next Door. This new collection of television scores from the late 1960s and early 1970s, reconstructed and re-recorded by Leigh Phillips, showcases the composer’s special touch with character-based dramas. The state-of-the-art recording is performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adam Klemens. The packaging is complemented by brilliant notes by renowned film music historian Jon Burlingame, with further in-depth cue notes by Yavar Moradi.

Pursuit (1972) takes place over the course of a single day, as government agent Steven Graves (Ben Gazzara) trails political extremist James Wright (E.G. Marshall), who has stolen a shipment of top-secret nerve gas and plans to release it in San Diego during the Republican National Convention, potentially killing millions. Goldsmith delivered an exciting, memorable score that propelled the action. He employed just 19 musicians: nine brass players, a flute, a harp and an extended rhythm section that included two keyboards, Fender bass, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, drums, vibes and a timpanist. It appears Goldsmith himself added the synthesizer parts in his studio.

Crawlspace (1972) is a 75-minute thriller for The New CBS Friday Night Movies. In the film, Arthur Kennedy and Teresa Wright play a childless, middle-aged couple who discover they’ve been adopted by a withdrawn drifter (Tom Happer) who arrives one day to fix their furnace. Learning that their young friend is homeless, the couple reach out and show him kindness even when they discover that he is occupying the crawlspace under their house and refuses to leave. Goldsmith composed 23 minutes of music, with a theme that effectively employs harpsichord, harp, woodwinds and a few strings to establish the pastoral New England setting and the quiet life of Albert and Alice. A growing sense of unease permeates the drama, as Goldsmith adds dark piano notes to the worried woodwinds and strings; yet the music remains sympathetic overall.

The People Next Door (1968) was the opening installment of the second season of CBS Playhouse, the network’s revival of the Playhouse 90 concept. The story portrays a typical middle-class American couple who discover that their 16-year-old daughter is experimenting with drugs; a bad trip sends her to the hospital and they eventually discover her supplier is the presumably nice teenage boy next door. Lloyd Bridges and Kim Hunter played the clueless parents; Fritz Weaver and Phyllis Newman were the neighbors. Deborah Winters made her TV debut with a remarkable performance as the wild child. Goldsmith composed around 15 minutes for the entire show, with a main theme reminiscent of his later score to Chinatown. The melancholy solo trumpet over keyboards and strings reflects the mood of both households, whose adults are sad, confused and perplexed about how to deal with this family crisis.

PURSUIT / CRAWLSPACE / THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR Jerry Goldsmith