Is there any information on who the choir was that did the haunting sound as the sand melted? And being as how the time period is the same, I was strangely wondering if it could possibly be the same choir that sung the theme music to the TV version of "The Amos 'n Andy Show"?????
shareHas anyone ever put out a musical soundtrack of this fascinating old near - masterwork?
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
"Holy Mackeral",as one army soldier states in this classic, It took me many years to overcome the fear of the sand opening up on me as I would go to the beach in So. Cal where I lived in the 50's. I swear I could hear the 'sand choir' as I approached the beach each time with my family. This was the scariest piece of film I had ever watched, no matter how hokey, surreal and all around nonsense this was. I must have been 8, in bed, with a fever and had the measles(yes we had to have the measles in the 50's)especially when I saw this the first time on TV, no color either. Never realized it was the boys dream til I got the nerve to see it as an adult. YES, it took me that long to get over this film. I remember seeing it and finally got to laugh at all the overblown scenery. What really touched me was the little girl who dies of a cerebral hemorrage, I am not sure I knew what that was at the time but I new it was happening to me as I lay there in bed with the measles. LOL!
shareI saw this in the early 60s as a sixth grader- and never forgot that sound! I would ask my friends about what I ignorantly called "twelve-tone" music (Lord knows where I picked that phrase up)as well as the big head in the glass bubble.
Then about 1997 I learned it was playing at the Film Forum and dragged one of my art school classmates to see it. It was so bad! But so good!
As the credits rolled, we got up to leave, then heard an announcement that the second half of the double feature would shortly begin-???So of course we sat right back down, and were treated to "The 5000 Fingers of Dr T"... Talk about camp!
3/4 through the movie, a man sitting in front of us turned to his companion and said "I don't think there was a single straight man in the film crew." We cracked up. Later we noticed the name Theodor Geisel in the credits as writer and art department. Suddenly everything made sense...
"I'm issuing a restraining order: Religion must stay 500 yards away from Science at all times!!"
Movie choirs are almost always either professional ensembles, like the Mitchell Boy Choir or the L.A. Master Chorale, or they're contracted for and assembled from hired singers specifically for that movie. I suspect the latter was done here. Normally a professional group would receive screen credit.
"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde
According to the excellent and informative liner notes from the Image Entertainment DVD the sand choir was done by a choral group of eight men and eight women.
I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars!
The "sand choir", as you put it, sure was a nice, creepy, touch, wasn't it?
What do you think this is, a signature? It's a way of life!
I was just going to start a thread on it.
"Sand Choir" = perfect!
It always made my skin crawl.
The night after seeing that, I always had awesome night terrors.
It makes a great email notification .wav clip.
People in the house hearing it go 'what the hell is that??' đ
The Sand Choir would also make a great ringtone!
sharemore info on said sound effect:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045917/board/thread/129451153?p=2&d=135657967#135657967
404 error for link.
shareThis choir music is right up there with what's heard during the monolith scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both are so haunting and alien that I've often wondered if this movie inspired Stanley Kubrick to seek out a similar score for his film.
shareMore info on the actual composer:
http://www.runmovies.eu/?p=10033
âconjuring up visions of a dying MarÂtian landÂscape or the wailing of frightÂened minds in hell,â as one reviewer wrote.