The Lady in Red

Intrada announces the premiere release of James Horner's first film score, the 1979 gangster drama The Lady in Red. The producers and directors had a very specific vision for what the music should sound like: they wanted it to reflect the 1930s setting with a score that adapted songs from the period. This is most prominent in Horner's adaptation of 42nd Street, composed by Harry Warren. James Horner was quite adept at scoring for jazz and big band ensembles throughout his prolific career. His adaptations and original jazz numbers are crisp and skillfully written. The dramatic music is scored for a modest orchestra of trumpets, trombones, acoustic guitars, woodwinds and percussion. There are no ensemble strings and there are no French horns or tuba. It makes Horner's first film score one of his more unique.

For this release, thanks to the generous cooperation of the James Horner estate and Shout! Studios, Intrada was able to access the 2″ 16-track 30 ips session masters, preserved in pristine condition and newly mixed down to vivid two-track stereo, quite possibly for the first time as the film itself was only mixed in mono sound. Every instrument was recorded onto its own track on the masters, with one exception: the trombone. Given the prominence of the instrument in certain cues, we have positioned the tenor trombone on the left and the second on the right. The resulting timbre is both vibrant and exciting.

The film follows the life of young Polly Franklin (Pamela Sue Martin) from her childhood with an abusive father, through prostitution, to her run-in with John Dillinger (Robert Conrad), a notorious American gangster of the Great Depression.The Lady In Red's originality lies in its feminist interpretation of the gangster film.