What's your favorite sneaking around music (e.g., Pink Panther theme, Mission: Impossible theme)?
Great question!
I'd say Mission: Impossible is not sneaking around music, it's heist music, and mmmaybe taking itself a bit too seriously. Too much competence implied for my tastes, too much action and epicness, and way too much (and fully underserved, since this is some Cold War bullshit) self-righteousness. A great and iconic theme, just not for our purposes.
Meanwhile, The Pink Panther Theme is 100% trickster music. I don't think there's even been another melody that captures so perfectly the concept of sneaking, but who's doing the sneaking? A trickster, for sure! So the music is all sleight, playful and light-footed and irreverent, and at no point is it remotely tempted to take itself seriously. And if you hear it and expect the graceful and precise balancing act of the most elegant jewel thief in the world to be immediately followed by a fucking piano falling on the hapless Inspector Clouseau's head like some Looney Tunes shit, well the theme did its job, because that's what it's supposed to evoke. 10/10, insurpassable.
I've always said that Henry Mancini was a genius (also notable for the Peter Gunn theme and Victor/Victoria). That said, Lalo Schifrin is also brilliant (he scored Cook Hand Luke! and Bullitt! and Enter the Dragon!), so yay for both of them.
Finally, I think we should give an honourable mention to The Pirates of Penzance where WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD UPON OUR PREY WE STEAL *keeps singing at the top of her lungs*
With cat-like tread upon our prey we steal
In silence dread our cautious way we feel
No sound at all, we never speak a word
A fly's foot-fall would be distinctly heard
So stealthily the pirate creeps
While all the household soundly sleeps
Come friends who plough the sea
Truce to navigation, take another station
Let's vary piracy with a little burglary
Here's your crowbar and your centre bit
Your life preserver, you may want to hit
Your silent matches, your dark lantern seize
Take your file and your skeletonic keys
With cat-like tread upon our prey we steal
In silence dread our cautious way we feel
No sound at all, we never speak a word
A fly's foot-fall would be distinctly heard
Come friends who plough the sea
Truce to navigation, take another station
Let's vary piracy with a little burglary
WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD UPON OUR PREY WE STEAL
IN SILENCE DREAD OUR CAUTIOUS WAY WE FEEL
COME FRIENDS WHO PLOUGH THE SEA
TRUCE TO NAVIGATION, TAKE ANOTHER STATION
LET'S VARY PIRACY WITH A LITTLE BURGLARY
WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD
UPON OUR PREY WE STEAL
IN SILENCE DREAD
OUR CAUTIOUS WAY WE FEEL
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Mission: Impossible (1996)
Living in a post Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1 world, it is absolutely wild how even with a helicopter chase through the Chunnel just how quaint this film is by comparison to where the franchise catapulted itself. Even by several films later Ethan Hunt was climbing the Burj Khalifa or clinging to the side of an airplane to appease Tom Cruise’s ever stronger death wish. To that end, it’s amusing just how far this has diverged in comparison to a fellow franchise that has managed to put out even more films in a relatively shorter period of time, The Fast and the Furious. Both have exploded in terms of budgets and scope of action. They both trot the globe more, exploring exotic locales because it makes for interesting variety. Both feature a growing cast of lovable repertory players and plenty of Ladies Getting It Done. And the stakes of what is at hand should our heroes fail have become nothing short of apocalyptic: IMF must stop a devastating AI in Dead Reckoning, and in X Dom must… well, I don’t really remember, but it’s about family and Jason Momoa being crazy. But while they’ve been on a similar trajectory in terms of scale, Mission: Impossible has elevated itself to the pinnacle of prestige blockbuster territory whereas The Fast and the Furious is pure action schlock. Both franchises serve to fuel the egos of their respective frontmen, showing that they’re the Coolest Dude Ever. But Tom Cruise simply runs circles around Vin Diesel in terms of the overall impact of the film.
Here at the beginning of it all (aside of course from the TV series which inspired it), Brian De Palma takes an elegant approach to his set pieces. Everything for the plan is laid out immaculately in brief beforehand, informing the viewer of the stakes and planting seeds as to what could go wrong. What are the weak points, the things left to chance? While the opening embassy job is fraught with tense beats and allows for perhaps the most graphic moment in the franchise—Jack Harmon’s elevator death is quite shocking—it’s obviously the Langley NOC list heist which is the film’s pièce de résistance. Conducted in more or less perfect silence, each moment layers on a new moment for everything to fail. Will the rat cause Franz to drop Ethan? What about that sweat droplet clinging to Ethan’s glasses? Will the CIA technician overcome his nausea too quickly? Hell, will the technician even look up when Ethan is dangling just feet over his head, or notice him in the reflective surface of the floor? It’s all a house of cards balancing on the edge of a knife, and all the more satisfying to see it pulled off (even if they leave that knife behind). Sure, the final Chunnel chase is pretty cheesy and shows its age. But it lays track for higher highs to come.
THE RULES
SIP
Someone says 'NOC List' or 'operation'.
Cut to surveillance camera.
Tom Cruise starts RUNNING.
Max is name-dropped.
BIG DRINK
Someone pulls off a disguise mask.
We travel to a new location.
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1961 - John Coltrane & Dizzy Gillespie - JATP German tour
John Coltrane (ts,ss), Eric Dolphy (as,fl), McCoy Tyner (p), Reggie Workman (b), Elvin Jones (dr)
Dizzy Gillespie (tp,voc), Leo Wright (as,fl), Lalo Schifrin (p), Bob Cunningham (b), Mel Lewis (dr)
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"Hitchhike" by Gerald Fried
from ODDS ON EVIL, s1 e6 of
Mission: Impossible (1966-73)
contains "Theme from Mission: Impossible"
composed by Lalo Schifrin
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THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) [FULL CD X2]
Spooktober Movie Score 🎥 of the day: The Amityville Horror by Lalo Schifrin (1979) #TheAmityvilleHorror #laloschifrin #70s #spooktober #Halloween #October
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The music from Rollercoaster (1979)
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Watch ""Mission: Impossible" (Intro, 1967)" on YouTube
Big Bamd Jazz TV Theme Music
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