A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Jerry Goldsmith's scored a few strange films in his time, but this one must really take the cake.  (Mmmmmm, cake.)  It follows someone who is, literally, a traveling executioner, going around the good old US of A in 1918 with his electric chair, executing people.   Half meditative statement on the human condition, half riotous farce, it created a mixture of bemused admiration and downright rage on its release.  Goldsmith scored it due to his past relationship with director Jack Smight (The Illustrated Man, a few tv shows) - but let's face it, he never turned away a challenge like this one.  

At first sight, Goldsmith's score may seem to be a confused mess.  From bluegrass to jazz to big band to folk to orchestral Americana, the score has it all.  But I don't think it's confused - indeed, it is very focused.  Goldsmith is taking account of the movie's wild shifts in tone but at the same time trying to give a level of emotion to the main character.  The main title cue goes through an enormous range of styles during its two-minute length, with Goldsmith first introducing his main theme on harmonica (there are certainly shades of the later Magic), but later adding bass, electronic organ and Dixieland-style percussion.  It's odd, but it works.  The following track, "The Fields of Ambrosia", is a sharp about-turn - a truly gorgeous piece of sparsely-orchestrated, pastoral beauty, a six-minute portrayal of the afterlife.

The rest of the score features plenty of these about-turns.  "A New Client" is plain old circus music - "The Lawyer / Short Circuited" is pure farce - and so it goes on.  Yes, there are wild shifts of tone - but it's all done with great enthusiasm from the composer, it is at times difficult to resist.  It must have been a great challenge to know what tone to adopt for a movie like The Traveling Executioner, but no doubt Goldsmith made the right decision.  This was a surprise release from Film Score Monthly back in 2002 and copies are still available.  It features excellent, crisp stereo sound and detailed liner notes, as usual.  Apart from a few moments that are a bit like Magic, this is a pretty unique entry in Goldsmith's canon and so is recommended to his fans.

Tracks

1. Main Title (2:39)
2. The Fields of Ambrosia (6:11)
3. He Ain't Dead / The Fee (2:12)
4. The Paint Job (2:13)
5. A New Client (1:05)
6. Missing Chair (:51)
7. The Lawyer / Short Circuited (2:01)
8. A Sight to Behold (2:06)
9. Past History (1:30)
10. A Special Treat (1:01)
11. Instructions (4:18)
12. The Experiment / Late Work / The Loser (1:55)
13. Unwelcome Visitor (2:09)
14. The Getaway (2:08)
15. The Fields Revisited (4:51)
16. End Title (1:57)