Jay Lerner-Z said: "Why did he do it?
Scrapbooks full with him in the background.
He was friends with Warren Beatty. Warren was King of Hollywood and very persuasive. Perhaps it was an interesting challenge for him.
Why did he never do it again?
I don't know, but the answer below might have had something to do with it.
Why did it barely feature in the movie?
That movie was drastically changed during production and post-production. Elaine May actually had a big hand in the editing (and took an uncredited pass at the script too), which led Warren to tell her "whatever you want to do next I'll make it happen." So they made ISHTAR.
I don't know if Sondheim composed more material that ended up on the cutting room floor, but his primary contribution is the main love theme. Warren was a mercurial auteur and could have decided he preferred what Dave Grusin cooked up. A film composer has no control of what ends up in the final product.
Why was it not nominated for an Oscar?
Does this have anything to do with eligibility or credits? Sondheim is credited with "original music," Grusin is credited with "additional music" and I believe DG's contributions also include arranging some period piano tunes (correct me if wrong, I haven't seen it in a minute).
Is it considered good?"
The score, the film, or both? Watch it and come back to us.
I love the score, regardless of who composed what.
As for the movie itself, I think it is as good as any of David Lean's sprawling epics, and you can see its influence on everything from Spielberg to Oppenheimer. It won Oscars for Director, Cinematography, and Maureen Stapleton, but some people view it as bloated. At the Oscars, it was up against films like Chariots of Fire (a populist winner), Raiders of the Lost Ark (cool), On Golden Pond (ehhh), and Arthur. Jack Nicholson was brilliant in REDS as Eugene O'Neill and I think he deserved the Supp Actor Oscar over John Gielgud for Arthur. But Gielgud was an old legend who had never won, and Jack had less screentime.
Updated On: 11/1/23 at 02:49 PM
