When I compile the multi-volume series "Films with peculiar titles", there's a more-than-fair chance that Amazing Grace and Chuck shall figure.  Mike Newell's movie, starring the late, great Gregory Peck, was about a young "little league" baseball player (the titular Chuck) in small-town America who decided he wouldn't play any more until there was complete nuclear disarmament, prompting leading sportsmen from around the country to follow suit - an everyday tale, in other words.

One word could be used to describe Elmer Bernstein's score - "magical".  It glints and gleams, it shimmers and shines, it pulls at your heartstrings.  Half of the score is of the touching drama variety - and is there any film composer who has ever scored such movies so well? - and the other half is one of those uplifting sports movie-style scores like The Natural and Bernstein's own The Babe.  There is a truly infectious main theme heard in a variety of guises, from a heartfelt oboe solo to a chamber-orchestrated version with ondes martenot to a fully orchestral tour-de-force.  It's a great theme, one you'll be humming for hours after the score ends, and shows yet again what a great tunesmith Elmer Bernstein has been over the years.  There are plenty of other highlights besides, not least the beautiful "Remembering Amazing", which tugs at the heartstrings in a lovely, subtle way.

Amazing Grace and Chuck is barely remembered today, only 15 years after its release, but it will surely forever live on in Elmer Bernstein's beautiful music.  Few composers have so consistently offered such dignified, graceful, classy music as his and hearing a score like Amazing Grace and Chuck is such a joyous experience.  Varese Sarabande's album is a perfect 43-minute length, though unfortunately it has been out of print for many years.  If you can find a copy - don't hesitate to try it out.

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