The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

The generation gap between contemporary and golden age film score fans is no more apparent than when discussing someone like Max Steiner. While often considered the godfather of the film score, Steiner wrote in a style that younger fans don't find all that appealing and even I have to work hard to enjoy his music much of the time. There is no doubt that he wrote some great music and compilations of his music have turned up some terrific selections, but the full length scores can be quite hard to take. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was an attempt towards a more realist style of film making, shying away from the theatricality of early films. It is perhaps unsurprising that some of leapt on Steiner's score as being too melodramatic for the film. I don't doubt Steiner's dramatic instincts for the films he scored were generally good, but imagine that his active, imposing style might not sit comfortably in a fairly intimate character study on greed and male bonding.

Anyone familiar with Marc Shaiman's score to City Slickers 2 will already know one of the themes from Steiner's score. So enjoyably catchy and memorable is the tune that I was surprised to find that it only takes a minor role and isn't particularly representative, the overall tone being dark and somewhat oppressive. Having said that, the texture of the score does alternate quite markedly from the threatening Main Title, featuring the crushing mountain motif (according to the notes) to the Spanish/Mexican stylings of El Desayuno (not by Steiner anyway) and Texas Memories to the occasional perkiness of the aforementioned jaunty trek theme. One of Steiner's more curious inventions is to use twinkling percussion and harps to produce what is meant to aurally represent shimmering gold and is first featured in the Main Title. An interesting idea, although the concept is just a little too twee to be fully convincing. Funeral Change takes a moment out for a gorgeous choral track, although it is far too quasi religious to really be deemed a chant.

The album is closed with three bonus cues, the marvellously condensed suite of the trailer, plus alternates for the main title - using the studio fanfare instead of the mountain theme - and a slightly amended version of the finale. Morgan and Stromberg are the golden age fans' current re-recorders of choice and again they don't disappoint. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform superbly and the sound has the right balance of natural ambiance and dryness. The liner notes are extensive, with information about the film, a track by track description and details of those involved in the score's restoration. Although a classic film, I can't quite bring myself to label this a classic score. It is undoubtedly a well written and dramatic work, but the frequent and somewhat abrupt changes in style, combined with the churning melodrama of certain sections - particularly towards the end - make the overall experience a little hard to enjoy, no matter how well written.