Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores That Changed Cinema
3 days ago
- The author's first exposure to Alfred Hitchcock was through his Mystery Magazine and the 'Three Investigators' children's book series, not his films, leading to a childhood assumption that Hitchcock was an author.
- Hitchcock's later film career declined in the late 1960s, but he became a wealthy celebrity through TV shows like 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', boosted by TV writer James Allardice's monologues.
- The film 'The Trouble with Harry' (1955) is key to understanding Hitchcock's humor and his collaboration with composer Bernard Herrmann, whose score helped define the TV show's style.
- Herrmann's score for 'The Wrong Man' (1956) used a subtle, self-effacing approach with a repeated pizzicato bass line to express the protagonist's anxiety, contrasting with his later work on 'Vertigo'.
- The collaboration between Hitchcock and Herrmann peaked with the trilogy 'North by Northwest', 'Psycho', and 'Vertigo', where music and images synergized perfectly, though 'Vertigo' was rediscovered later.
- The partnership ended after Hitchcock rejected Herrmann's avant-garde score for 'Torn Curtain', wanting a more modern, beat-driven sound, leading to a bitter fallout and Herrmann's replacement.
- Herrmann's later scores for films like 'Endless Night' and his work with younger directors like Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese evoked nostalgia, capturing the romantic obsession and violence central to Hitchcock's themes.
- The director's obsession with actress Tippi Hedren during 'The Birds' and 'Marnie' is examined, with critics suggesting Herrmann's music captured the dangerous mutation of romantic feelings into violence, which may have caused their split.