Movie soundtracks used in old-school KF films

[jethro]

Awesome job Jimbo. Somebody needs to make a website about this so it is all catalogued and alphabetized. It would be an amazing resource! Once again awesome job!

BTW are you ever going to come back to Kung fu fandom? It's on shaolinchamber36.com now.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo,

I managed to save this from last week when I saw something strange going on at the forum. I may have been the last person to try to post last Friday(correction: Saturday AM). Here it goes:

For some reason, I picked up on your call for assistance.

Listening to "Suzuki's theme" gave me images of horror films. What popped up in my consciousness was "Hammer films". I did a search and found no Hammer references. But it did lead me to a horror film that was double featured with a Japanese-American horror film. The Japanese-American film was called "The Manster"(1959). This film featured a scientist by the name of Dr Suzuki. I found it on youtube. I remember the movie to be pretty decent for it's time

Compare the section from :50 to 1:02 of what you posted with the theme playing from 11:24 to 12:07 in the movie. There is a slight difference. The original has groupings of three notes while the one in your posting FOF uses groupings of four. The timbre is different suggesting the use of a different orchestra for FOF. For them to add a fourth note is a major faux pas in my opinion; i.e., if this is the source for this piece. The score was done by Hirooki Ogawa. Maybe he recorded it again and added the note.

The comparison is way too close for it to be from anywhere/anyone else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4BrwSSAj2M


mickey

[Jimbo]

Jethro:

Nice to hear from you again! And thank you, my friend. I checked out the Kung fu fandom site, and it appears to be the same format as the old kungfucinema forums. I may join again, IF the registration isn't the same as kungfucinema. I was one of (apparently) several people who, for no reason whatsoever, were permanently banned from KFC by Mark Pollard(?) many years back when they upgraded, and it left a sour taste in my mouth. Oddly enough, I have bought 36 chambers T-shirts in the past, but hadn't really noticed the forums at that site before.

mickey:

Thanks a lot for the link. I remembered this movie as a kid, but hadn't remembered its soundtrack. The part you pointed out does have some remarkable similarities to "Suzuki's Theme", but I'm not sure that it's the same composer. "Suzuki's Theme" could very well be a Japanese movie track, as Japanese tracks were used a LOT during the 'borrowed tracks era' of HK and Taiwan KF films. Most people with a cursory familiarity with the KF movie 'borrowed tracks' era tend to think they were all borrowed from American or Italian westerns, when in reality, a high percentage were from Japanese movies...and far more than just Godzilla movies.

Also, some composers' instrumentals share some similarities in terms of sound. An example would be part of the main theme of an Italian movie, Hercules Unchained (1959) by Enzo Masetti, as well as the soundtrack of The Four Days of Naples (1961) by Carlo Rustichelli, have orchestral similarities to some tracks in Akai Koya (1961) by Taichiro Kosugi. Akai Koya's main theme is entry #336, but there are several other tracks from the movie that were borrowed by KF films and are not on YouTube.

So while it is possible that "Suzuki's Theme" is by Hirooki Ogawa, it is not necessarily a given. But I appreciate your work, and you have given me another direction to look into. I do agree that "Suzuki's Theme" sounds like it's from a horror (or at least a suspense) film.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo,

I bet you Gene's trunk with the triple lock on it that it is the same composer. I knew I got the right person from the first violent scene at the beginning. And I do understand what you mean by similarities in orchestral style. This piece had me checking to see if Hirooshi Ogawa had anything to do with Sonny Chiba's Streetfighter movies.


mickey

[Jimbo]

Greetings Jimbo,

I bet you Gene's trunk with the triple lock on it that it is the same composer. I knew I got the right person from the first violent scene at the beginning. And I do understand what you mean by similarities in orchestral style. This piece had me checking to see if Hirooshi Ogawa had anything to do with Sonny Chiba's Streetfighter movies.


mickey

mickey,

It's too bad there's not much of Ogawa's work on YouTube. In fact, it's amazing how much stuff is NOT available online.

[Jimbo]

358 - Born Invincible soundtrack

Another example of a rare, difficult-to-find track whose original source I've been unable to identify. IMO, it sounds like it's from a 1950s-era war movie or western.

This track is heard in:
Born Invincible
18 Fatal Strikes

[Jimbo]

359 - Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967)

Asagorou (by Sei Ikeno)

Heard in:
The Shaolin Avengers