Trading Places (1983)
Music Composed And Conducted By Elmer Bernstein
Some Selections Contain "Le Nozzi di Figaro" (The
Marriage of Figaro) Composed by W.A. Mozart
Performed By The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra
Executive Album Producer: Dan Goldwasser
Executive Producers for LaLaLand Records:
MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys
LaLaLand Records LLLCD1194
26 Tracks - Running Time: 47:45
Limited Edition of 2000 Copies
Twenty-eight years after its' release the comedy Trading Places is still one of the most original and inventive comedies ever released. It's popularity has not waned since it was released in the Summer of 1983 and still proves to be one of Eddie Murphy's memorable films of his once memorable career which is about two steps closer to fading away if he continues to do lackluster material to use the term loosely in regards to Norbit, Meet Dave and Imagine That. The film was originally conceived as a comedy vehicle for the then hit pairing of Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, who starred in two memorable comedies up to that point, Silver Streak and Stir Crazy. Hanky Panky was another project around this time that was linked to them, but ultimately it was Wilder teaming up with his wife the late Gilda Radner who would star with Wilder in that film. So with Director John Landis pairing Dan Aykroyd (with whom he worked with on Blues Brothers) and Eddie Murphy, who was a breakout star on SNL and scored major success at 19 with the box-office blockbuster 48 Hours while this film was in production, the studio was confident that the film was going to be a hit, but not the blockbuster and comedy classic that it now is. The story is simple, an uptight wealthy manager of a Philadelphia Company named Louis Winthrope III (Aykroyd) who runs the company run by two greedy and unscrupulous set of siblings Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Don Amache and Ralph Bellamy) who divise a friendly wager amongst themselves in what would happen if Winthrope would be taken out of his cozy exsistence and switching places with a street con named Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) who they think could run their company while Winthorpe would be on the streets in hopes that their little experiment would work. Winthorpe in the process gains a loyal supporter in a hooker named Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) and when Valentine learns of the wager between the siblings, they team up to divise their own plan to put them in the poor house which involves a vital crop report that would would make the brothers millions or leave them dead broke.
With all the virtual elements set up for the film's eventually success in tact, what was missing was the key ingredient to drive the story. That's where the late Elmer Bernstein would come in and play a very key role in the end. Bernstein who started his career writing memorable scores for The Ten Commandments, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape to name a few, would be a composer of choice for Westerns, Action and Drama. Comedy would be the genre that he was never really offered work until Landis called Bernstein who he'd known through Bernstein's son Peter (who was the orchestrator on this score) who was his best friend to see if he was interested in scoring "National Lampoon's Animal House" which was a major hit and also gave another dimension to Bernstein's already illustrious career with his memorable and most wanted scores by soundtrack collectors. The film started a run for Bernstein of scoring successful comedies which include this film, Meatballs, Stripes, Airplane!!, Ghostbusters and Spies Like Us. Eventually, he would get sick of the genre before the end of the decade and returned to more serious work.
The genius of the score for Trading Places is that Bernstein didn't write a heck of a lot of music because the film really didn't need joking music to accentuate or drive home a punchline and memorable dialog for which there are plenty of in this film. The other nice touch was the use of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" theme to symbolize the two different worlds that Aykroyd and Murphy are in and how their positions change which in a way the same even after they've been switched. It is fun to hear how Bernstein incorporates it throughout the score along with the surprising amount of original material that he did write for the film which is very diverse which includes Bernstein's traditional style as well as the Mozart piece and some fun source material which includes caribbean music and of course, traditional Christmas music.
The film and album opens with "Main Title" which is basically a wonderful adaptation of the Mozart piece performed with energy and gusto while the film's credits roll on screen with different shots of classy Philadelphia and the rugged streets of the city are shown while Coleman (the late Denholm Elliot) WInthrope's butler/servant perpares his breakfast. "Good Morning Sir/Good Morning!/Dukes" features the start of Bernstein's original music giving a classy elegance to the Figro music and also introduces the rather sly and somewhat sinister theme for the Duke brothers with some brassy fanfare and a bit of a march reminiscent of classic "Faber College Theme" from Animal House. "The Club/Bump" starts out with a whistling version of the "Figaro" music leading into a full orchestrial rendition of it as Winthrope enters the club to meet with the two brothers and as he's leaving. is accidently bumped into by Billy Ray Valentine who he thinks is going to rob him and leads to a chase music rendition of the Mozart piece with a little bit of a Looney Tunes-Carl Stalling feel to it, but not entirely. "Discovery/Bed" is a brief and nice track where Bernstein provides a bit of a love theme for Ophelia and a sick Winthrope with lush stings and a clarinet solo for sweetner. "Revelation/The Goods/Train" starts out with a brassy sinister version of the Dukes theme which is played when Winthorpe and Valentine figure out (spolier alert) that the Dukes are planning to corner the Frozen Orange Juice stock market through insider information which leads into the brassy millitary style theme for the Dukes' dirty bagman, Clarence Beeks (Paul Gleason) who has the report in his posession and planning to delivering to the brothers as Winthorpe and Valentine get wind and board the "Train" he's on to intercept him on New Year's Eve. The music has an energetic feel to it and is given a longer and more eleborate treatment (Train "Promotional LP Version") later in the album. "Heroes" starts out with a full version of the love theme for Ophelia and Winthorpe as they kiss and say goodbye for the time being before it transitions to a brief and optimistic version of Beeks' theme as well a touch of the Mozart music as Winthorpe and Valentine arrive in New York where "Kicking Ass/Cards" gives a stately rendition of energy as the Stock Market is about to open with a touch of suspense and slyness as the Duke's scheme appears to be on course....but in the end not to be as they lose all their money and Winthorpe wins a wager between him and Valentine over a dollar! "Cards" is a brief and fun little piece that is played during the film's introduction of the End Credits with pictures of the actors and names flashed on screen before it segues to a song at the end of the film.
Bernstein wrote what you would call source music for the film but actually are part of the score itself. It also shows the versitility of the composer with the classy and romantically erotic "Dessert", the blues insipred "Louis Winthorpe III Blues" played in the scene where Winthorpe goes to a pawn shop run by blues guitarist Bo Diddley, and the awesome caribbean track "Jamaican Bye Bye" where the cool steel drums of jazz artist Andy Narell really play with alot of enthusasm and fun as we see our main characters on a beach in the Caribbean all in good spirits and in new found wealth. He also adapted some neat little renditions of Christmas music for the scenes at the Duke's company party where Winthorpe crashes the party as Santa. There are some interesting alternate versions of some tracks in the score that are somewhat different then their counterparts, but pretty close to the ones that ended up in the final cut of the film.
LaLaLaLand Records releases another fabulous album here and one that's been long in coming for this classy and elegant score by the late Elmer Bernstein. It's has been one of Bernstein's most indemand scores and for good reason, that it is just that good despite its brevity. That is a good sometimes and especially a film like this that had a great cast and a solid script that it really didn't need a heck of alot to slam home the point, punchlines or gags. It's simplistic and stately which makes it stand out more than alot of comedy scores do.
Trading Places is still one of the best comedies of all-time that has withstood the test of time in so many ways. One of the reasons is Elmer Bernstein who really understood that less is really a whole lot more. Not to mention, it put a lot of money in everyone's bank that's for sure. A terrific comedy score.
Trading Places is available to order from LaLaLand Records' website (www.lalalandrecords.com)
1. Main Title* (4:01)
2. Your Breakfast Sir / Good Morning! / Dukes (3:42)
3. The Club / Bump* (1:44)
4. Wager (1:05)
5. Moving Out / Plots* (1:59)
6. Philly** / Ploy (0:56)
7. Discovery / Bed (0:49)
8. Revelation* / The Goods / Train (1:46)
9. Heroes* (2:55)
10. Kicking Ass / Cards (2:11)
SOURCE CUES
11. Dessert (2:43)
12. Louis Winthorpe III Blues (1:39)
13. Jamaican Bye-Bye (1:32)
14. Andante Cantabile from String Quartet, K. 165 (1:25) W. A. Mozart, arr. Elmer Bernstein
15. Jingle Bells (2:53) James Pierpont, arr. Elmer Bernstein
16. Joy to the World (1:32) G. Handel/F. Watts, arr. Elmer Bernstein
17. Silent Night (2:01) Franz Gruber, arr. Elmer Bernstein
18. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (1:14) Traditional, arr. Elmer Bernstein
19. O Little Town of Bethlehem (2:36) Philip Brooks/Lewis H. Redner, arr. Elmer Bernstein
20. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (slower version) (1:49) Traditional, arr. Elmer Bernstein
BONUS CUES
21. Good Morning! (alternate) (1:55)
22. Bump* (alternate) (1:06)
23. Ploy* (alternate) (0:38)
24. Ploy* (alternate 2) (0:37)
25. Train (promotional LP version) (1:34)
26. Kicking Ass / Cards (alternate) (1:37)
TOTAL TIME: 48:00
* contains “Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)” (W. A. Mozart) arr. Elmer Bernstein
** contains “Yankee Doodle” (Traditional) arr. Elmer Bernstein
- Danny Gonzalez
Film Music Examiner NEW YORK-NYC
