Outstanding Musical Score (soundtrack)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Broken Arrow
bastasch8647 — 17 years ago(April 20, 2008 11:50 PM)
The film was greatly enhanced by the musical score. At times a little "over the top," still, the score is epic and magnificent - a successful interpretation of Native American music blended with "Hollywood" orchestration. The composer, Hugo Friedhofer, also wrote great epic scores for the Marlon Brando Western, "One-Eyed Jacks," as well as a spiritual-epic soundtrack for Ingrid Bergman's "Joan of Arc." In "Arrow," there is a surprising, almost startling, use of strings - surprising in the context of the Old West - the unexpected lushness of the strings serves to underscore the tenderness of the romance between Tom Jeffords (James Stewart) and Sonseearay (Debra Paget), as well as the brotherhood and hope-for-the-future motif between Jeffords and Cochise (Jeff Chandler). On the other hand, perhaps the use of strings is not surprising in view of the fact that the musical director was Alfred Newman, head of 20th Century Fox music department, famous for his use of strings and for his partnership with the orchestrator of "Arrow" and many other Fox films, Edward Powell. They just don't make soundtracks - or movies - like this any more.
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malcolmjames — 13 years ago(May 06, 2012 10:17 AM)
Its also right to note that this same score was used for "White Feather" also Hugo Friedhoffer credit and again starring the beautiful Debra Paget as Herring Day to Robert Wagner's Josh Tanner.
I have never forgot this score and now have the dvd to wear out my dvd. I first saw this picture in the 50s at a right old flea pit picture house we had in Southal, but it had the most excellent stereophonic sound in any London picture house.
I just love this score and agree that we will never hear scores like this again.
Long live the golden era.
