MEMORABLE SCORES - Paramount Pictures 90th Anniversary

MEMORABLE SCORES - Paramount Pictures 90th Anniversary

Granddaddy of the Hollywood studios, Paramount Pictures is rightfully proud of its century of contributions to both American cinema and the art of film scoring. But the first disc of this 43-track double-CD anthology merely hints at the studio's musical peaks, blithely skipping through its first seven decades in just 17 tracks. Indeed, the package as a whole seems more interested in marketing its post-'70s catalog of hits and blockbusters than it does in paying real homage to history and roots. Even rarities like <I>Double Indemnity</I> and <I>The Lost Weekend</I> are served up via modern budget-line rerecordings, as is Ennio Morricone's epochal <I>Once upon a Time in the West</I>). Contemporary recordings of Aaron Copland's rare score to <I>The Heiress</I> and Franz Waxman's great <I>Sunset Blvd.</I> fare better, but soundtrack fans may miss the originals. The studio's rich pop-crossover successes in the '60s are documented via <I>Breakfast at Tiffany</I>'s "Moon River" and excerpts from <I>Romeo and Juliet</I> and <I>Love Story</I>, while successful franchises like <I>Star Trek</I> and <I>Raiders</I> also get their due. Too often the '90s-focused second disc only underscores some uncomfortable trends in contemporary scoring--orchestral nervous tics punctuated by booming crescendos, treacly piano Muzak--and makes one wonder if the music of <I>The Rugrats Movie</I> and <I>Lara Croft: Tomb Raider</I> are <I>really</I> film music milestones. <I>--Jerry McCulley</I>