One subject people seem to agree on about Penelope Spheeris' new "Little Rascals" movie is that the main-title music hits them right where they live.
That is because the tune is the only touch of authenticity in a film that - whatever its affected nostalgic charm - might as well be called "The Little
Ras-Clones."But as long as the opening titles are playing, that's the genuine article you're hearing. Most people refer to the melody as "the Little Rascals theme," because it originated as a "leitmotif" for the original "Rascals" series, also known as the "Our Gang" comedies.
Its actual title is "The Good Old Days." Composer Leroy Shield premiered it 64 years ago this month as accompaniment for an "Our Gang" episode called "Teacher's Pet."
Shield and fellow composer Marvin Hatley, working separately but in compatible styles, scored numerous films for producer Hal Roach, most prominently the "Our Gang" and "Laurel and Hardy" series. The music was intended as background, but as television and video have made these Depression-era films ever more familiar, the tunes have taken on a life apart.
And so, finally, Shield (1893-1962), a forgotten man to a society that knows his music intimately, stands to become a composer of recognized stature. His billing on the new "Rascals" film is prominent enough, but thanks to a Netherlands-based jazz outfit called the Beau Hunks, Shield now has an entire album devoted to his rediscovery.
Newly issued in America as "The Beau Hunks Play the Original Little Rascals Music" (on the Koch Screen label), the CD is crammed to near-bursting with more than 50 themes from the Rascals and Laurel & Hardy pictures, among other Roach series.
No master recordings or original scores having survived, so the project required new orchestrations, which Piet Schreuders accomplished by listening to the films themselves and writing out the performances, instrument by instrument, just as Shields' ensembles had played for the screen.
The Beau Hunks, a 14-member orchestra using authentic period horns with warmer, bulkier tones than modern-day instruments, recorded these reconstructions much as Shields must have; modern-day recording techniques were passed over in favor of simpler methods, without overdubbing or even elaborate engineering.
The result of this labor is the most enjoyable film-score album the market has seen in many years - one that registers as both film history and a remarkable form of ensemble jazz.
The Depression-era short subjects hold up most sturdily - and the music has plenty to do with the quality of endurance. This Shield collection is one soundtrack album that won't sit around unplayed.