Before doing that, I listened to the pairing on the Paul Paray Mercury Rachmaninov second CD - Cesar Franck's Symphony in d minor. I tend not to like all that much written before 1900, even though I try. And the first third of this, firmly in that mode almost made me shut it off, although it was nicely done - then suddenly the big tune of the first movement hit and I sat up - it seemed instantly familiar to me and I loved it and the rest of that movement. As I listened to the rest (and the third movement has another great tune in it that was at least familiar enough to think I've heard it before) but all the while that tune from the first movement kept running through my head - and I kept thinking I had to have heard it in some movie and I could almost see a scene in my head someone running toward something. It was driving me a little nuts so I Googled and found a list on the imdb of films that have used this and other Franck music - but the only one that used that particular theme was The Wolverine, which I didn't see (and don't know how it was used). So, I kept humming it and thinking about it and it finally hit me - 55 Days at Peking, the theme that plays at the beginning when the little Chinese girl is running through the American troops - so I found that and listened - it's not note for note but almost note for note and clearly Mr. Tiomkin was referencing it consciously, at least the shape of it and the harmony of it and the first few notes of it. Whew.
