The Invisible Art of Film Music by MacDonald Laurence E.;

Author:MacDonald, Laurence E.; [MacDonald, Laurence E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2013-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

*John Caps, “An Interview with Richard Rodney Bennett,” High Fidelity, vol. 27, no. 6 (June 1977), p. 58.

To evoke the period of Murder on the Orient Express, which is set for the most part in 1935, Bennett created a nostalgia-flavored main theme with the sound of a high-society orchestra playing a tuneful, dance-like theme. This idea is first heard during the opening credits; a dramatic fanfare for full orchestra leads directly into the theme, which features a solo piano accompanied by strings. This tuneful piece recurs several times during the course of the film.

A second prominent theme represents the train itself. Cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth brilliantly captures the moment when the Orient Express, with all passengers aboard, is being readied for its departure from the Istanbul station. As the camera closes in on the front of the engine, a headlight is suddenly turned on, and the engine is bathed in light, accompanied by a brilliantly orchestrated chord that is filled with sounds of bells and tremolo strings. This leads directly to the train theme, which begins slowly when the train begins to move; as the train accelerates, so does the music. The theme itself is a charming waltz; its lilting idea for strings is heard in counterpoint against a contrasting melodic pattern featuring a solo French horn. At the film’s conclusion these two principal themes appear simultaneously, with one juxtaposed over the other.

Following the opening credits, a montage sequence is presented, in which we learn of the kidnapping and killing of a small girl in the year 1930. The facts of the case are presented in a series of newspaper headlines, with Bennett’s music providing a sinister and foreboding sound in the background. Although it is not clear until the conclusion of the film how this murder ties in with the killing of the American businessman Mr. Ratchett (Richard Widmark), which occurs while the train is en route, there are musical parallels between the opening montage and later scenes that involve the discovery of Ratchett’s body and Poirot’s subsequent investigation. The eeriness of Bennett’s murder music is in stark contrast with the romanticism of his two principal themes.

This is an utterly charming score, one that holds the viewer’s attention during some stretches where the film has little or no dialogue. Bennett received his third Oscar nomination for this score.

Francis Ford Coppola Films

In 1974, Francis Ford Coppola directed two of the five Oscar-nominated films. The Conversation, which won that year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, is an intriguing film concerning a surveillance expert (Gene Hackman) who gets too involved in a case. The periodic saxophone playing by this character features a catchy jazz tune by David Shire (b. 1937).

Coppola’s other 1974 effort is the Oscar-winning film The Godfather Part II. With sequel fever running rampant during the 1970s, almost every popular film begat some sort of follow-up. However, The Godfather Part II is that rarest of rarities: a film that is even better than its predecessor.

Split between scenes of the

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