Ethan - George Grosz's Interregnum

Ethan is a mystery. It’s not only a lost film, it’s a film that most people have never heard of, let alone seen. The 1964 low-budget film, shot in Techniscope and color, stars Robert Sampson as a priest working in a little village in the Philippines. His faith is tested by a Muslim woman, he has a fall from grace, finds himself and his faith again, only to have a tragic end. It had a very brief release and disappeared completely, having only one release in the early days of VHS. It’s certainly not a great film, but it’s an interesting one that deals with interesting subjects and was especially bold for a 1964 film.

The one area in which Ethan soars is its score by composer Paul Glass. Glass composed his first film score in 1957. But his first mainstream film score for a major studio was in 1964 with the Paramount film Lady In a Cage, the same year as his score for Ethan. He had two distinct styles for his film scores – avant-garde (Lady In a Cage) and a more accessible harmonic style (Ethan, and subsequently, Bunny Lake is Missing in 1965). Ethan almost seems like a dry run for the Bunny Lake is Missing score, with which it definitely has things in common. Ethan is a beautiful score, with haunting themes that are developed with wonderful variety throughout its playing time.

As a companion piece, we also include Paul Glass’s score for the short film George Grosz’s Interregnum. Made in 1960, Interregnum was narrated by the legendary Lotte Lenya. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. A portrait of Nazi brutality as told through the images of artist George Grosz, the film is powerful and memorable. Glass’s score for Interregnum falls firmly into his avant-garde style and fits perfectly with the imagery of the film.

Both scores are presented complete and in stereo from Mr. Glass’s personal tapes. We are thrilled to have two more Paul Glass scores on CD. Lady In a Cage and Overlord and Hustle are also available on Kritzerland.

Paul Glass had a completely unique musical voice in film music back then and hearing his work today, his musical voice remains completely unique.