A Salute to Heroes: Elmer Bernstein's "Men in War" Rediscovered On CD

When he was 35, it was a very good year.

The “he” is Elmer Bernstein, the year is 1957. The prolific composer managed to create five unique scores for five motion pictures that year – Sweet Smell of Success, Men in War, Fear Strikes Out, The Tin Star, and Drango. The Kritzerland label has already brought the last three of those titles to CD over the past months, and now Men in War is on the docket, too! (Not that Mr. Bernstein has been ignored elsewhere. A film of a later vintage, 1979’s The Great Santini, received a first-ever soundtrack release this year from Film Score Monthly.)

The Anthony Mann-directed film starred Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray and told a story that was then very recent. Taking place on September 6, 1950 during the Korean War, Men in War was an unflinching look at a platoon of foot soldiers separated from their division. Bosley Crowther in The New York Times opined, “It appears that the underlying purpose of [producer] Sidney Harmon's new film, Men in War, is to show that the famous observation of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman was justified. War, in this low-budget picture, which came to the Capitol yesterday, is brutal and agonizing. It is unequivocal hell.” Although he was ultimately unfavorable towards the film, he gets across the black-and-white film’s stark depiction of the horrors of war.

Men in War was originally released on the Imperial Records label in mono, although a simulated stereo release also appeared. The Kritzerland edition restores Bernstein’s score to its original mono, remastered from the original album master from Capitol/EMI. Men in War is limited to 1,000 copies, and is scheduled to ship the second week of October, but pre-orders from the label usually arrive an average of four weeks early. Men in War is available for $19.98 plus shipping and handling. After the jump, you’ll find the press release as well as the track listing and pre-order link!

“Tell me the story of the foot soldier and I will tell you the story of all wars.”

Men in War is a terrific movie directed by Anthony Mann (El Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Winchester ’73, The Naked Spur), and starring Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray. It takes place in one day, September 6, 1950 during the Korean war, as we follow a platoon of bone-weary foot soldiers who’ve been cut off from their division. Without radio contact, and with nerves frayed, their leader, Lieutenant Benson tries to get them to a hill where he believes their division is. The film is beautifully written (credited to Philip Yordan and based on the novel Day Without End by Van Van Praag), and beautifully shot in black-and-white by Ernest Haller (all filmed in Hollywood’s Bronson Canyon). Robert Ryan turns in his usual great performance as Benson, and Aldo Ray as “Montana” is also excellent. But every performance in the film is wonderful – Robert Keith is a lesson in great film acting as the Colonel – he speaks exactly one word in the film and that’s in the last five minutes, but there’s an entire screenplay going on in his eyes. The rest of the supporting cast makes the most of their screen time – Nehemiah Persoff, Phillip Pine, Vic Morrow, James Edwards, L.Q. Jones, and Scott Marlowe all get their moments to shine.

Tying all of its elements together is the fantastic score of Elmer Bernstein. Bernstein did three films for Mann – Men in War, The Tin Star, and God’s Little Acre (all three of which have been released on Kritzerland – in fact, with this release Kritzerland has issued the entirety of Bernstein’s 1957 output with the exception of Sweet Smell Of Success – his four other films that year were Fear Strikes Out, Men in War, The Tin Star, and Drango – all currently available as limited edition CDs), and all three scores are great and all three are completely different. Men in War begins with drums and jagged orchestral stabs, and then it is by turns pensive, intense, propulsive, brooding, and suspenseful as it captures the moods of the soldiers as they trudge on through dangerous terrain, with their tensions at the breaking point.

Men in War was originally released on Imperial Records in mono. There was a release in “stereo” but it was a weird fake “stereo” with some sort of spread and trying to shift things into different channels arbitrarily and not very well. Obviously, we are issuing the recording in mono, as it was recorded. The tapes, housed in the Capitol/EMI vaults, were in great condition and the mono sound is full-bodied and crisp, clean, and clear.

This is Kritzerland’s seventh Elmer Bernstein release, and we would be happy to just keep releasing all of his never before on CD scores. Elmer Bernstein was one-of-a-kind and his music is part of the landscape of cinema.

This release is limited to 1,000 copies only. The price is $19.98, plus shipping. Go to the item page and click on the link to find out about it. The CD will ship the second week of October – however, never fear, preorders placed directly through Kritzerland usually ship one to five weeks earlier (we’ve been averaging four weeks early). To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.

Elmer Bernstein, Men in War: Original Soundtrack Recording (Imperial Records LP 9032, 1957 – reissued Kritzerland, 2011)