Kraft Suspense Theater (John Williams)

[Thor 7,504]

[This was posted by myself on the FSM board, so I hope you don't mind the 'double dipping'. I know many of you don't frequent FSM, and I think you might find it interesting]

WARNING! This is an article-length post.

I made this for personal research, but thought it might be interesting to share here on the forum.

I'm on an eternal quest to see everything John Williams ever scored, but much of the TV material, in particular, is really hard to find. See this thread for more general musings on the quest:

http://www.filmscore...mID=1&archive=0

However, I was finally able to see all the episodes of KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER (1963-1965) that John Williams scored, and below follows a walkthrough of said episodes – 18 in total. Williams was not the only high-profile composer working on the show. Other luminaries included Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, Lalo Schifrin and Pete Rugolo. And of course a whole lot of musical tracking, as was customary at the time. Like most anthology shows, however, it was never released on VHS or DVD, and the music tracks seem to be lost.

In general, the quality of the episodes vary. I was surprised by how many of them focus on domestic settings, courtroom drama and crime investigation. There is rarely "action" and outdoors adventure. Most of it is psychological, relying on character interactions.

At some point, I will probably try to rip some of the Williams tracks that stand out, where there's very little sound effects and dialogue. That would be the closest I ever get in terms of a "soundtrack", I think. Zooba has actually done a few already, but I want to focus even more on the dialogue/sound-free sequences, making them as musically worthwhile as possible.

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Season 1

Episode 1 & 2: The Case Against Paul Ryker, Part 1 & 2

I haven't seen this 2-part pilot episode, but a few years later (1968) they used the material for the feature film presentation SERGEANT RYKER, and that I have seen. See this previous thread for more about film and score:

http://www.filmscore...mID=1&archive=0

Episode 3: The End of the World, Baby

Set in the Riviera, a love triangle drama occurs as both mother and daughter fall in love with the same man. Williams either tracks or uses the Ryker theme for much of this episode. Other noteworthy moments include some funky source music (for a pool and party sequence, respectively), as well as some very dramatic climax/murder music.

Episode 4: A Hero for Our Times

High-ranking bureaucrat Lloyd Bridges is witness to a murder in the adjacent building while visiting his mistress. The striking thing here is the sultry jazz sax, almost film noir-like theme. There's also a fair bit of jagged brass for the suspense scenes as well as some jazzy source music in a restaurant scene. For the most part, there's a lot of rather discrete dialogue music.

Episode 5: Are there any More Out There Like You?

After a hit-and-run accident, a high-ranking politician tries to find out if it was his daughter or her friends that drove the car. Love the opening tamtam music that reminded me a bit of the Leonard Bernstein-like opening of DADDY-O. There's also a cute jazz rendition of "Jingle Bells" used as source music in a hotel – hope this is Williams' arrangement. Music in this episode is rather sparse, and usually used for segues (intros and outros).

Episode 6: One Step Down

Wife of absent doctor Leslie Nielsen is about to have an affair at a motel when the guy keels over and dies, probably from alcoholism. She's torn between telling the truth or hiding it. The interesting thing here is that the score is written almost exclusively for strings – very Bernard Herrmann-style, whether used in a motif style or pizzicato.

Episode 7: The Machine that Played God

A girl accidentally gets her husband killed while driving up the wrong freeway ramp, and doubts her own innocence after taking a lie detector test. For the most part, it's mostly rather non-descript string writing for a few key moments – basically runs up and down the scale. Again rather sparse.

Episode 8: The Long, Lost Life of Edward Smalley

Soldier Edward Smalley (Richard Crenna) accidentally kills his commanding officer during WW2, and needs to stand court martial while he ponders his own guilt. Robert Altman wrote and directed. The main thing, musically, is a brass motif that sounds like a precursor to the suspenseful brass motif from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, in addition to a beautiful use of vibraphone in a dream sequence.

Episode 9: The Hunt

Unlucky traveller James Caan's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. He gets tangled up in the twisted ways of hillbilly sherriff Mickey Rooney and his gang, who like to hunt prisoners for sport. Finally some outdoors adventure in this show! Again there are some interesting and dramatic brass motifs, but the striking thing is the atonal piano plunkings for when Caan rummages through the sheriff's office. Very avantgarde!

Episode 10: The Name of the Game

A brilliant 'architect' knows the name of the game while playing the dice in Las Vegas, and enters into a collaboration with millionaire Pat Hingle, not knowing that his love interest is in to hussle him. In this Sidney Pollack-directed episode, the music is very sparse. Mostly jazzy source cues in the casino, plus a brief "love" theme for the architect and his deceitful mistress.

Episode 11: The Deep End

A bit confusing storyline, but a private investigator tries to find out if the drowning of a woman working at a construction company was accidental or a murder. He's hired by the woman's sister, played by a young and gorgeous Ellen Burstyn. There's some source music again, and a reappearance of the Ryker theme (during a meeting at the elevator), but the really cool thing is an almost JAWS-like ostinato for when the murderer attacks and drowns the victims, rising from below – 11 years before he wrote JAWS!

Episode 14: Leviathan Five

A group of scientists get trapped in an underground facility and make an arrangement of who's going to live and who's going to die. They face their moral dilemmas in a court of law. David Giler of ALIEN fame wrote the episode, and it seems to have some of the 'isolated people' aspects that the famous sci fi film had. Very cleverly and smart written. There seems to be a lot of tracked music here – the Ryker theme as well as the brass motif from "The Hunt", plus some original suspense writing.

Episode 16: The Action of the Tiger

An American POW escapes from a German Stalag camp to deliver vital information to the French resistance. While on a train, he encounters the "help" from an undercover German officer (Telly Savalas). There is more action in this episode and some really intense suspense. Again, the Ryker theme appears (could this be Williams' recurring 'leitmotif' for the series?), some brass motifs and flourishes and a pretty cool percussion-only segment in the opening.

Episode 18: The Threatening Eye

A psycho woman with a hilarious French-Canadian accent tries to hussle a man out of money, killing his wife in the process. There are some wild string harmonies a la "One Step Down" here, with some occasional dramatic brass.

Episode 20: Knight's Gambit

A man named Knight is hired to investigate the corruption charges of a retired (and alchoholic) politician vacationing in Mallorca, falls in love with his wife and needs to choose sides as the mafia people who payed the politician off arrive on the island. The storyline is a bit confusing at times, and also a bit boring. There are some swingin' cocktail/pop source music for the festivities at the steamboat, a super-sweet soap opera-type love theme and some wild suspense/action music, relying on a descending riff.

Episode 21: Once Upon a Savage Night

I haven't seen this episode either, but I've seen the film version which was made (similar to SERGEANT RYKER) called NIGHTMARE IN CHICAGO (1964), directed by Robert Altman. You can read more about the film and score in this thread:

http://www.filmscore...mID=1&archive=0

Episode 27: The Robrioz Ring

Set in some pittoresque coastal village at the west coast, Mario Robrioz (Robert Loggia) tries to get back the ring his mother pawned, wooing the vacationing woman who bought it. This episode feels very dated in terms of sex stereotypes, especially the woman who constantly apologizes to Robrioz, even though he is the transgressor. There is some wonderful pastoral writing for woodwinds, a few highpitched soap opera strings, a little bit of source music (piano), and lots of music with little dialogue. Should be possible to rip some really good tracks from this one.

Season 2

Episode 1: The World I Want

An elderly man wants to change his will and give everything to his niece, since his own wife is a psycho. The wife, in turn, resorts to some pretty drastic measures. The title of the episode is the voiceover story the niece is writing. This is a very bad episode, with lots of overacting and a ridiculous "German" accent. The best thing about it is Leonard Nimoy as the lawyer who changes the will. However, there's some really nice flute writing for the niece, a reappearance of the CE3K string motif for the chase sequences as well as some "standard" TV suspense music.

Episode 15: Four Into Zero

Four guys plan to heist a train, steal some money plates and forge a million dollars while on board the train. Their wives become suspicious. Williams' score is quite monothematic; there's the main theme (which I've heard somewhere before, I can't place it....sounds a bit CE3Kish) is arranged according to setting -- a western/"train"-like arrangement, one for the city and a love theme version of sorts. There's also some very dramatic, staccato writing for the climax sequence. Pretty cool music.

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I tried to see if there were any other episodes scored by Williams, but I couldn't find any. Whenever the credit reads "Kraft theme by John Williams", he didn't score it (it was either tracked or scored by other composers), and that was the credit for the others throughout the two seasons of this show. If anyone knows something I don't (Jeff Eldridge?), I'd love some info, though.

One last thing – did Williams write anything (new) for the spin-off/replacement(?) show KRAFT MYSTERY THEATER?

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

Wonderful post, Thor!

[Thor 7,504]

Thank you, Miguel. You are the only one to respond so far -- both here and at FSM. But I kinda expected this was for the specially interested, i.e. those of us who are currently more interested in exploring Williams' "hidden past" than the big blockbusters time and again.

[chuck 154]

This is highly informative. I would like to add that Jerry Goldsmith scored an unsold pilot, "Shadow of A Man". It's in YT if anyone's curious, both the episode and the score.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Nice job Thor. From your comments it looks like it was "workman Williams" who wrote these scores, rather than the brilliant artist who would emerge a few years later; a genius in the making, still learning his trade. I'd be interested in hearing whatever decent rips you are able to make.

[indy4 155]

Interesting. I too would be interesting in hearing whatever of this music is rip-able. I would also point out that not everything JW wrote post-1960s is a "big blockbuster."

[Incanus 5,714]

Excellent post Thor!

It would be fantastic to be able to hear more of Williams early TV-scoring as your commentary shows how much the roots of his larger works are already in these early apprentice years.

[Thor 7,504]

Nice job Thor. From your comments it looks like it was "workman Williams" who wrote these scores, rather than the brilliant artist who would emerge a few years later; a genius in the making, still learning his trade. I'd be interested in hearing whatever decent rips you are able to make.

Yes, for the most part it's "workman Williams", but every now and then there's some really interesting stuff. Like the avantgarde piano playing in "The Hunt" or the string-only score of "One Step Down". Stuff where you can really hear him stretch his wings a bit, in that sort of jazz-meets-contemporary-classical vein that was so popular at the time.

[filmmusic 1,829]

I have them all too, but i didn't want to read your post before I see them..

[Thor 7,504]

I'm missing ONE episode -- "Four Into Zero".

I'll see this and add it to the list.

[filmmusic 1,829]

I'm missing ONE episode -- "Four Into Zero".

I'll see this and add it to the list.

Do you remember which season, episode is this? I'll check if I have it..

edit: Ok, found it. It's season 2 episode 15.

[Augie 1]

Thanks for bringing this topic up, Thor. Last year, I watched all of the Williams composed episodes on youtube, just for the scores. You can find them all lined up here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9E9DF90F1288EAA3

I must say, you are in for a surprise! Years ago when I first listened to all the Irwin Allen tv show music, in order to find the composers roots, it came apparent that Williams sounded more or less like a completely different, 60s composer on stuff like Lost in Space. Don't get me wrong, interesting music in its own right, but not unlike Goldsmith on the U.N.C.L.E. series, he doesn't sound like the same composer we are all familiar with at all.

The big surprise with the Kraft Suspense Theatre scores - apart from tracking issues and who did which sequence - is that you can really make out the composer's voice, and it's fun to discover some prototypes of Williams' technique, melody and sound. It's all there, and of course, it is all unreleased!

The KST scores are pretty short. There are at most 16 minutes of music in each episodes, sometimes even less. I tried to extract the best and most striking passages, process them and turn them into suites, but couldn't find the time to do it. There's a lot to discover.

[filmmusic 1,829]

are you the one who has this youtube channel Augie?

[Thor 7,504]

Thanks for bringing this topic up, Thor. Last year, I watched all of the Williams composed episodes on youtube, just for the scores. You can find them all lined up here:

http://www.youtube.c...E9DF90F1288EAA3

I must say, you are in for a surprise! Years ago when I first listened to all the Irwin Allen tv show music, in order to find the composers roots, it came apparent that Williams sounded more or less like a completely different, 60s composer on stuff like Lost in Space. Don't get me wrong, interesting music in its own right, but not unlike Goldsmith on the U.N.C.L.E. series, he doesn't sound like the same composer we are all familiar with at all.

The big surprise with the Kraft Suspense Theatre scores - apart from tracking issues and who did which sequence - is that you can really make out the composer's voice, and it's fun to discover some prototypes of Williams' technique, melody and sound. It's all there, and of course, it is all unreleased!

The KST scores are pretty short. There are at most 16 minutes of music in each episodes, sometimes even less. I tried to extract the best and most striking passages, process them and turn them into suites, but couldn't find the time to do it. There's a lot to discover.

I doubt I'm in for surprise, as I've already SEEN them all. I thought that was pretty clear from the first post, he, he....

But I know what you mean. There are definitely hints of the later Williams here and there, but I would have to say that for the most part, it's closer to his 60's television scores -- lots of melodrama like the 'dramatic prairie dog' on youtube and many influences from Herrmann and jazz.

I will extract the worthwhile tracks at some point too, but it's quite a job so like you, I've postponed it.

[Augie 1]

@ filmmusic

No, I'm afraid it's Angela Morley's youtube channel.

@ Thor

When I said "you are in for a surprise", I naturally excluded you, Thor, as I believe we are the only two life forms on the planet who really checked out this horribly dated tv show - in order to discover some lost Johnny Williams nuggets.I know that filmmusic is pretty hardcore as well, but...

"The Robrioz Ring" contains, perhaps, the best stuff. Unfortunately, it's not on youtube. Or wasn't when I searched, the last time. There's just the version lavaman posted, but it's distorted, because he tends to record his treasures with a mono-mike - and his dishwasher in the background.

[filmmusic 1,829]

@ filmmusic

No, I'm afraid it's Angela Morley's youtube channel.

Sorry? I meant the youtube channel with Kraft Suspense episodes.

It's just that I see it's a fellow patriot from Greece, that's why I asked.

[Thor 7,504]

@ filmmusic

No, I'm afraid it's Angela Morley's youtube channel.

@ Thor

When I said "you are in for a surprise", I naturally excluded you, Thor, as I believe we are the only two life forms on the planet who really checked out this horribly dated tv show - in order to discover some lost Johnny Williams nuggets.I know that filmmusic is pretty hardcore as well, but...

"The Robrioz Ring" contains, perhaps, the best stuff. Unfortunately, it's not on youtube. Or wasn't when I searched, the last time. There's just the version lavaman posted, but it's distorted, because he tends to record his treasures with a mono-mike - and his dishwasher in the background.

Yeah, "lavaman" is zooba from FSM. He didn't seem to have the best sources, and included too many cues with sound effects. I hope to remedy some of that. As I said above, "The Robrioz Ring" is probably the episode with the most music without intruding sound effects -- even though I, personally, don't think it's the most interesting score in the series.

I think it's possible to assemble a 40-minute program with cues from the show that have very little sound effects.

[Augie 1]

Absolutely!

And we are lucky: Robrioz Ring is online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1duYrXC_JE4&list=PL9E9DF90F1288EAA3&index=37

The only other episode with an unusual amount of interesting music, The Hunt, is problematic, because there are too many dogs barking in the background to extract something listenable.

[Thor 7,504]

Yeah...guess I could say that I've seen all these episodes on youtube, now that you bring it up. Wasn't sure I was going to mention it with all the copyright issues, but now it's out there.

As I said in the first post, the most interesting cue from THE HUNT is the office sequence, where James Caan rummages through drawers and stuff. Not a lot of sound effects and some very interesting piano "plunkings".

[Thor 7,504]

OK, I've added "Four Into Zero".

The overview should now be complete.

[TownerFan 4,983]

Thanks for bringing this up, Thor. I too am VERY interested in Williams' early efforts for TV shows like this one. In a lot of them you can hear the Maestro stretching his muscles in many variety of genres and stylings that will come up in later and more popular works.

I very much hope too that one of the labels will be able to release a collection of sorts with a selection of his best works for TV that are still unreleased. It would be a wonderful release.

So, keep this coming and I'll follow!

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

The only other episode with an unusual amount of interesting music, The Hunt, is problematic, because there are too many dogs barking in the background to extract something listenable.

I did extract "The Hunt" a few years ago, when I got it on a DVD sent by a friend and great Williams fan -- there are a few more than just two people checking this stuff out...

I haven't went back to that in a while, but will try to check it out again tonight, when I'm back home.

[Augie 1]

I give you that, Miguel.

But not more than six people altogether.

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

Not sure... I only have five fingers on my hand, and have some dificult to count beyond that...

OK seriously, I'm counting at least 8 people who do care for this stuff.

[Augie 1]

8 people

+ Zooba (=Lavaman)

= 9 people