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Review of Summer School (Danny Elfman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... only to complete your collection of early Danny Elfman music, this score a cheap shadow of the composer's other light orchestral comedies of the 1980's.

Avoid it... if you want anything genuinely unique from the composer, though the finale cue does offer a few minutes of nice orchestral redemption, albeit from an undersized ensemble.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Summer School: (Danny Elfman) At the height of totally senseless high school comedy films, Carl Reiner's Summer School was a travesty of hideous proportions, showing teachers engaged in behavior that would have them sacked and in jail if the film's plot took place in real life. Mark Harmon plays a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles beach area high school, and he is forced to teach a summer course of remedial English or lose his tenure at the school. His oddball collection of misfit, flunk-out students makes this task nearly impossible, and he twists the advice of another teacher handling remedial classes, played by Kirstie Alley, to teach in unconventional (and entirely illegal) ways. When the vindictive administration of the school presses the academics of the students, they pull their act together to do well enough on their exit exams to save both themselves and the teacher. There's a future romance on the side between the two teachers as well, of course. With its cheap humor, Summer School was met with critical indifference at best but still managed to make a decent amount of money, likely because of the various young actresses showing more than a necessary amount of flesh. Most of the music in the 1987 film was a collection of rock and dance songs of the era, and this group was led by a Danny Elfman performance of the song "Happy" with his band, Oingo Boingo, which wasn't allowed proper credit due to contractual issues. Elfman also composed the original score for Summer School, and the tone of "Happy" fits well with the score's more contemporary parts. The score is very short, its lone album padding some of its running time with extended fade-outs, near silence, and a prank ending. It's a hybrid orchestral and synthetic effort that combines the composer's mannerisms from the prior few years, blending obvious callbacks to Back to School with the modern solo styling of Wisdom and conveying a demeanor that would be expanded upon in Pure Luck four years later. Most of the contemporary, looped style is confined in the "Driving Test" and "Extra Credit" cues, the former adding breathy female vocal effects and while the latter are likely Elfman's trial demos. "Extra Credit A" is essentially an extended variant of "Driving Test" on synthesizer with James Horner influences, and both recordings preview the opening riff of Beetlejuice on marimba effects. Meanwhile, "Extra Credit B" is an early romance idea on synths with Giorgio Moroder tones in the bass.

The bulk of Elfman's score for Summer School uses his maturing orchestral comedy techniques with Steve Bartek's help, a sound that had defined Back to School and Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The ensemble isn't big enough to make it convincing, though. Faux-classical cues use harpsichord with somewhat sparse strings and brass, woodwinds arriving later. A variety of very short, one-off moments guide the work, the action stinger in "Killer Rabbits" a cheap tool of comedy, a slight preview of Batman action formations in "Shoop Wears Suit," and suspense stingers in "Denise's Big Moment" in "Broken Fender" flirting with harmonica in the latter for additional hints of laziness. The only really dark moment comes in the dissonant thuds late in "Chainsaw's Dream," Elfman's lone nod to the horror-oriented sub-story of the film. Earlier in that cue, cheery rhythms on wood blocks and thumping piano remind of his Pee-wee music. There are a few themes running throughout Summer School, and they represent the meat of the score. The main theme for Harmon's character is somewhat generic with repeated descending phrasing, hinted as a rhythmic device in 0:14 into "Driving Test" but a bit lost in the layers of action. It's developed on keyboards against strings in "Peanut Butter" and is conveyed by lighter piano over woodwinds at the start of "Class Goes Home," where it is interrupted by sleazy harmonica and saxophone humor for a personality that continues into "Sad Dog." This theme is provided a sad keyboarded moment in "I Failed" but expands in its largest form for the whole ensemble at 1:02 into "Tenure" with tolling chimes. Carried by strings in several performances throughout the rest of the cue, the idea's secondary lines are finally extended nicely for the highlight of the score. A pair of supporting themes contribute a few times in the work as well, including an uppity, formal school theme with stuffy demeanor in "Animal Farm." It's difficult for Elfman to carry the desired spirit with such a small orchestra, but the idea returns in "Study Montage" in a lesser stately form with Back to School-like piano. A harpsichord runs with tuba in the latter half of the cue for laughs. Silly, high school-appropriate marches occupy the remainder of the score, performed by marching band instruments in "Football Lesson" and adapted into a different set of progressions over the same instrumentation early in "Tenure." It's impossible for any consistency to result from this haphazard blend, and Elfman collectors will be best served seeking only the "Tenure" finale for compilations. A 16-minute album from 1984/Rusted Wave in 2023 with a hidden movie quote at the end is the only release of this small asterisk in Elfman's career.  **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 16:23

• 1. Driving Test (1:16) • 2. Animal Farm (0:43) • 3. Killer Rabbits (0:13) • 4. Shoop Wears Suit (0:11) • 5. Football Lesson (0:35) • 6. Peanut Butter (0:44) • 7. Denise's Big Moment (0:07) • 8. Broken Fender (0:16)

• 9. Study Montage (1:24) • 10. Class Goes Home/Sad Dog (0:41) • 11. Chainsaw's Dream (0:53) • 12. I Failed (0:25) • 13. Tenure (2:10) • 14. Extra Credit A* (3:47) • 15. Extra Credit B* (3:08)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Summer School are Copyright © 2023, 1984/Rusted Wave and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 12/15/24 (and not updated significantly since).