{"id":122117,"date":"2020-11-28T17:16:26","date_gmt":"2020-11-28T14:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/scoring-billy-wilders-double-indemnity\/"},"modified":"2020-11-28T17:16:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T14:16:26","slug":"scoring-billy-wilders-double-indemnity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/scoring-billy-wilders-double-indemnity\/","title":{"rendered":"#Scoring Billy Wilder&#8217;s Double Indemnity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Scoring Billy Wilder&#8217;s Double Indemnity<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.8--><em>Welcome to\u00a0The Noirvember Files, a new <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> dropping the spotlight on essential film noir selections. The titles celebrated here exemplify the style and substance of cinema\u2019s grimiest, most-relatable underbelly. In this entry, we\u2019re listening to the music of film noir and specifically sticking our ears out for Mikl\u00f3s R\u00f3zsa\u2019s Double Indemnity score.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>For a Mount Rushmore of classic movie score composers, the film noir movement is one of the first places to look. Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, Mikl\u00f3s R\u00f3zsa, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Roy Webb, Leigh Harline, Adolph Deutsch, David Raksin \u2014 they all dipped their toes into the genre and produced incredible music that fashioned the distinctive sound of noir. Even famed jazz icon Miles Davis got in on the act, characterizing the \u201clonely trumpet\u201d that would inform neo-noir pictures for decades. <\/p>\n<p>But what is the film noir sound?<\/p>\n<p>Film noir is a retrospective term; these films were thought of at the time as crime pictures or melodramas, with the connective tissue coming from their sense of post-war cynicism, itself inspired by the crime fiction that arose from America\u2019s Great Depression. Matching the harsh and shadowy monochrome aesthetic of the genre are instruments that sound like weapons: the staccato gunfire of the brass, stabbing high strings, and a constant foreboding atmosphere that looms over every one of these pictures. The films are bleak, but the music is bleaker.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Max Steiner opens <em>The Big Sleep<\/em> (1946) with a juxtaposition of fierce brass and seductive high strings, instantly stating that Humphrey Bogart\u2019s Phillip Marlowe needs to have his wits about him or the next victim in his case will be him. Nicholas Ray\u2019s <em>They Live By Night<\/em> (1948) begins with a sensuous scene with the story\u2019s young lovers, which Leigh Harline scores with gorgeous romantic strings. But the cue turns on a knife-edge as the title card <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears, with a serrated fanfare that foretells their tragic end. Film noir\u2019s music is uncompromisingly brutal, no matter what the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps this is why the music of Billy Wilder\u2019s <em><strong>Double Indemnity<\/strong><\/em> (1944) is so unique. Right from the outset, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/3vgynMcacRocg4WDwortZF\"><strong>Mikl\u00f3s R\u00f3zsa<\/strong>\u2018s score<\/a> refuses to make everything neat and tidy for the audience; unsurprisingly, R\u00f3zsa became a noir icon, also scoring classics such as Wilder\u2019s <em>The Lost Weekend<\/em> (1945) and Robert Siodmak\u2019s <em>The Killers<\/em> (1946). The 1950s radio and television show <em>Dragnet <\/em>later stole R\u00f3zsa\u2019s music for its theme, fittingly as <em>Dragnet <\/em>itself was a byproduct of film noir. And R\u00f3zsa mentored Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote a masterful period score for Roman Polanski\u2019s 1974 neo-noir <em>Chinatown<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>R\u00f3zsa\u2019s theme for <em>Double Indemnity<\/em> accompanies <strong>Fred MacMurray<\/strong>\u2018s hobbling Walter Neff in the titles with an angular brass phrase that feels purposeful yet nevertheless murky, the truth of what the picture contains hidden in the fog and the audience further distracted by horns and trombones in the higher registers. What follows is chaos, with a crazed orchestral display for a bustling Los Angeles. However, R\u00f3zsa\u2019s furious tones are also scoring the turmoil in Neff\u2019s heart. The film begins in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>s res <\/em>as we see Neff enter his office to record his confession. What R\u00f3zsa does here is particularly brilliant, with the audience knowing they\u2019re going to hear something thrilling but the mysterious score underlining that they have no idea what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n<p>R\u00f3zsa subsequently adds a fast-paced motif for strings to represent Neff\u2019s flashbacks that additionally gives the narrative a sense of propulsion. A third romantic theme is introduced in a stunning flourish of strings as <strong>Barbara Stanwyck<\/strong>\u2018s Phyllis Dietrichson appears. There\u2019s a subversion here where R\u00f3zsa underplays the immediate attraction between the pair, mostly from Neff\u2019s naive point of view. Gazing at her like King Kong at Fay Wray, he\u2019s instantly in love, and while R\u00f3zsa and Wilder make Neff appear like he\u2019s in control with the return of the string motif, we know differently.<\/p>\n<p>The score plays with expectations again when the romantic phrases return while Walter and Phyllis talk about murdering her husband. There\u2019s a hint of the title theme as she leaves, just suggesting the potential consequences. R\u00f3zsa\u2019s strings get more and more heightened as their plot comes closer to fruition, with the score for Mr. Dietrichson\u2019s death spectacularly effective. The main theme again hangs over the pair as they enter their car with Neff hiding in the backseat, and the foreboding brass climbs in tempo and scale to a dramatic conclusion as Neff strangles him. As the camera focuses on Phyllis smiling, R\u00f3zsa\u2019s brass section roars over Neff\u2019s unseen violence. Chilling.<\/p>\n<p>The most devastating scene is the final meeting between Neff and Phyllis, which musically bookends their relationship. R\u00f3zsa digs into his romantic theme here, the sumptuous strings intensely blossoming as they embrace, and it\u2019s a real Hollywood ending \u2014 at least until it cuts off as he shoots her. A beautiful solo violin scores Neff\u2019s collapse, and the main title reappears as he lights a cigarette while waiting to die, the brass and strings providing a dark musical soliloquy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no surprise that experts and film buffs alike refer to <em>Double Indemnity<\/em> as the quintessential classic film noir. A great deal of that comes down to R\u00f3zsa\u2019s score. Like the film, it plays against type, supplying a thematic spine that underlines the characters\u2019 motivations and emotions without being obvious, subsequently having a great influence on Hollywood. It\u2019s also a great example of film music, with that lumbering theme an exemplar of the classic Hollywood age, making you think that if only Walter Neff listened to it, he might have lived \u2014 if only to face the consequences.\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/double-indemnity\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=double-indemnity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Scoring Billy Wilder&#8217;s Double Indemnity&#8221; Welcome to\u00a0The Noirvember Files, a new series dropping the spotlight on essential film noir selections. The titles celebrated here exemplify the style and substance of cinema\u2019s grimiest, most-relatable underbelly. In this entry, we\u2019re listening to the music of film noir and specifically sticking our ears out for Mikl\u00f3s R\u00f3zsa\u2019s Double&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Barbara-Stanwyck-in-Double-Indemnity.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[82082,79115,82083],"class_list":["post-122117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-billy-wilder","tag-film-noir","tag-film-scores"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}