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1er novembre 2004
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 That Man In Istanbul was made in 1965 to capitalise on the wave of popularity for the spy film genre instigated by the James Bond series which started in 1962 with Dr. No. The spin-offs started to come thick and fast in the late 1960s with Hollywood countering with James Coburn and In Like Flint, and a whole industry was spawned in Italy. That Man In Istanbul starred a suave nightclub-owner, Horst Bucholz, and a sexy, beguiling FBI-agent, Sylva Koscina, trying to save a nuclear scientist kidnapped by a dastardly megalomaniac. The film is full of bikinis, action, guns, bikinis and a Jaguar E-type. As well as lots of bikinis ! The wonderfully varied music comes from Greek-born Georges Garvarentz, whose collaboration with his brother-in-law, Charles Aznavour, resulted in many of the singer’s international hits. However, Georges Garvarentz was also responsible for scores for more than eighty films that included They Came To Rob Las Vegas, Petain, Triple Cross and The Southern Star.
The album starts with the very 1960s sounding romantic ballad, ‘Love Was Right Here All The Time’, sung by Richard Anthony. The score starts with a suspenseful action cue packed with blaring trumpets and crashing percussion and then sashays straight into a wonderful, lively trad-jazz track. After two gentle but suspenseful cues the score takes on the guise of a more traditional 1960s spy film as it reaches ‘Picking Up The Check At The Mauteur’. A short, but catchy string motif offset by a piano echo adds excitement and becomes the basis for the following action cues. The composer weaves the score through a series of brilliant cues that alternate between beautiful romantic strings (like ‘That Man In Istanbul’), intense, compulsive jazz of a style championed by Si Zentner during the 1960s (‘The Bulldozer Leads The Chase’) and bold big band blockbusters (‘Fight At The Turkish Bath’). The score ends with two larger superb cues ; the magnificent soaring triumphal orchestral ‘Victory’, and an awesome jazz version of the main theme, ‘The March Of That Man In Istanbul’, incorporating trumpets, bongo drums and, inspirationally, a harpsichord.
While the complicated plot and erratic editing of That Man In Istanbul fail to make the film a classic, Georges Garvarentz’ music is one of the highlights (along with the E-Type and the bikinis) and Harkit Records should be congratulated for their efforts in preventing this superb film music from slipping into oblivion. (Harkit have also released They Came To Rob Las Vegas). For any fan of 1960s spy film music or jazz this is a must-have score, particularly as Georges Garvarentz creates his own mould, spurning the prevalent contemporary Barry and Goldsmith styles of the genre.
Reviewed by : Andrew Keech
Composer : Georges Garvarantz
Producer : Michael S Fishberg
Label / No. : Harkit Records HRKCD 8083
Year of release : 1965
CD release : 2004
Total duration : 33:09
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