Von Ryan's Express / The Detective

Up first on this sparkling release is one of Jerry Goldsmith's grittier scores—The Detective. Goldsmith attacks this lurid material with intelligence and restraint, beginning with a main title theme that displays superb muscularity: soaring trumpet, layered with a dirty, buzzing guitar line and crying strings.

For Von Ryan's Express, composer Goldsmith's sparse score adds striking color to the film, with suspense, comedy, and sheer drama. Goldsmith signatures are everywhere: the combination of racing piano and low strings, the electronic decorations melded with pizzicato strings, heartbeat percussion and insinuating vibes, the trumpet-led variation on a theme, the sprightly recurring march and its triumphant if wistful restatement at the end. All packed into a tight 26-minute score.

With a couple of exceptions in Von Ryan's Express, both scores are presented in stereo from the original elements stored at 20th Century Fox and debut in complete form.