Search - John Williams :: Cinderella Liberty

Mark Rydell s Cinderella Liberty (20th Century Fox, 1973) is a quintessential film of the Seventies: low-key, character-driven, gritty and realistic, sometimes tragic, often moving. The story finds seaman John Baggs, Jr. (James Caan) adrift in Seattle and trolling the local bars when he encounters Maggie Paul (Marsha Mason), a pool hustler and hooker. Baggs in fact has skills of his own and winds up hustling Maggie by beating her at pool and winning an evening with her free of charge. Once he enters Maggie s squalid apartment, Baggs finds that she has a teenaged African American son, Doug (Kirk Calloway). Although Doug is openly hostile to Baggs, it s also clear that Maggie is barely providing for the young man. Baggs becomes very much involved romantically with Maggie over the course of the story, but what emerges is that the real bond is between Baggs and Doug. John Williams was Rydell's composer of choice for Cinderella Liberty, having previously worked on The Reivers and The Cowboys. Cinderella Liberty afforded Williams an opportunity to break away from the symphonic direction he was headed, in fact the style is not symphonic but lies somewhere between lounge and blues. Toots Thielemans harmonica adds a home-cooked vibe that reflects the honest, moral simplicity of James Caan s character, while Williams sophisticated string arrangements and rhythm sections add the lounge sensibility that speaks to Mason s background as a woman used to manipulating her male clients. Otherwise, Williams created a number of pseudo-source cues for the streets and bars of Seattle, and the mix of score, source and songs makes Cinderella Liberty one of the composer s most eclectic albums. That it works seamlessly with the film (both John and Paul Williams earned Oscar nominations) is yet another demonstration of Williams mastery of the form and a reminder that while his rich symphonic works may be the ones for which this legendary composer is best remembered, he has always been capable of delivering great film music in just about any style necessary. Previously available from 20th Century Fox Records, Intrada's premiere release on CD features the original contents of the LP program, completely remastered. This release is limited to 3000 copies.