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Musical Aesthetics in Alex North's Score for the Bad

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Musical Aesthetics in Alex North's Score for the Bad MUSICAL AESTHETICS IN ALEX NORTH’S SCORE FOR THE BAD SEED A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC DECEMBER 2020 By Johnette Makamaeakahaioʻkahoʻoponoponookapunahelekupuʻokaaina Martin Thesis Committee: Kate McQuiston, Chairperson Elina Hamilton, Committee Member Maya Hoover, Committee Member Takuma Itoh, Committee Member Keywords: Alex North, film score, Bad Seed, musical aesthetics Acknowledgments Throughout the research and writing of this thesis I have received a great deal of support and assistance. I would first like to thank the expert on this thesis, my mentor and advisor, Dr. Kate McQuiston, whose expertise was invaluable in formulating the research questions and methodology. Your insightful feedback pushed me to sharpen my skills and thinking and brought my work to higher level to best prepare me for the future. Your patience and understanding was always appreciated. I would like to thank my current defense committee, Dr. Elina Hamilton, Dr. Maya Hoover, and Dr. Takuma Itoh and former member, Dr. Thomas Osborne for their patience and understanding. This project was quite a lengthy process and I am grateful for any and all feedback and support. ii Abstract The Bad Seed is an American, female-centered psychological thriller that aestheticizes attitudes toward 1950s gender roles. Director, Meryn Leroy, and composer, Alex North, tap into a fear of the young character, Rhoda as a threat, but more so, a fear for the character, Christine as a person and a mother. My work demonstrates how North contributes to female-centered film aesthetics by offering sympathetic consideration for female characters through his original music. Through critical analysis of genre-specific film and its music in the example of Mervyn Leroy’s The Bad Seed, I demonstrate aesthetic connections between Alex North’s The Bad Seed score and the psychological thriller genre. iii CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………. ii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….. iii Table of Illustrations…………………………………………………………………………... vi Introduction………………….…………………………………...………………………………1 1.1 Statement of the Thesis….………………………………...……...………….………..1 1.2 Significance of the Study………………...……………………………………………2 1.3 Genre.…………………………………….......………..………………………………6 1.4 Aesthetics……………………..…………………………………………………….…7 1.5 The Classical Hollywood model and film score………………………………………8 1.6 Music and Cultural Codes………………..….……………………………………….11 1.7 Juxtaposition…………………………………………………..……………………..13 1.8 Literature Review………………………………………......………….……………..14 1.9 Overview of Chapters………………………………………………………………..24 Chapter 1: Film Music in the Psychological Thriller and Antecedent Genres………….….26 2.1 Film Music…………………………………………………………………..……….26 2.2 Horror in Music………………………………………………………...……………27 2.3 The Organ……………...…………………………………………………………….29 2.4 Horror as Film……………………………………………………...……………..….31 2.5 1930s and 1940s Horror and the Classical Hollywood Score………….……….…....33 2.6 Woman’s Film and Film Noir………………………………………………….….…36 2.7 The Psychological Thriller…………………………………………………..……....40 iv 2.8 1950s Horror……………………….……………………………………………..…43 2.9 Woman and the Horror Film…………………………….……………...…....…...…45 2.10 Film Music of the Psychological Thriller and Antecedent Genres……..…....…...…47 2.11 1960s Feminism and Film……………….……………………………………….…55 Chapter 2: Anempathetic Music and Musical Characterization in The Bad Seed……..…..58 Chapter 3: Conclusion…………………………………………….………………..……..……88 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………..…….…94 Bibliography…………………..……………………………………………………..…..…...…95 v TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS Example 2.1 “Basket of Kisses” embodies Christine’s hopes and desires……………………....75 Figure 2.1 Christine protects Rhoda as well as herself by giving her a dangerous amount of sleeping pills. The Bad Seed, Warner Bros. Pictures……………………………..……….……..78 Example 2.2 “Au Clair de la Lune” represents Rhoda’s mask of deception….…..…….…….…80 Example 2.3 “Confession” represents the circular games Rhoda plays in attempt to avoid the truth……………………………………………………………………………………………....81 Figure 2.2 Christine still hears “the man screaming” and asks Monica to make Rhoda stop playing that tune, while Monica dismissively talks over her. The Bad Seed, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1956……………………………………….……………………………..………….…82 Figure 2.3 The truth about Rhoda comes to a head when Christine witnesses the aftermath of Rhoda’s nature during Leroy’s fiery death. The Bad Seed, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1956….....…84 vi Musical Aesthetics in Alex North’s Score for The Bad Seed Music as part of the classical Hollywood film characterization reinforces in aesthetic form the gender assumptions and expectations of female characters in 1950s American films. Composer Alex North relies on classical Hollywood conventions such as emphasizing narrative or dramatic elements through coordination of music and image. North departs from classical Hollywood conventions by connecting the listener to the cinematic universe through the appeal to emotion in his work. North also deviates from the classical Hollywood score with unexpected placement and style choices of music for scenes of emotional importance. North’s choice of musical style demonstrates his compassion and understanding of the female character, in contrast to approaches that use music to direct interpretations by establishing mood, atmosphere, time, and location according to conventions in the classical Hollywood score. North invites the listener to expand their interpretive possibilities. The unexpected gentleness of his musical style in the context of the protagonist’s revelation and the threat’s exposure helps thematize a moral dilemma of the main character, and contributes to an aesthetic tension, both of which are defining characteristics of the psychological thriller. North’s The Bad Seed score is particularly significant because his music initially presents classical Hollywood score conventions, but these gradually transform over time and variations, conveying Christine’s gradual realizations and Rhoda’s increased capacity for evil. The themes change as character experiences change, signaling a shift in the character’s perception. The audience experiences their own gradual changes as they observe and question the changes of the characters over time. The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the aesthetics of music in the female-centered psychological thriller genre in the 1950s, and Alex North’s contribution to a particular approach in the example of The Bad Seed. I focus on American films in this category because of their 1 production context under the patriarchal cultural mores of the 1950s.1 My analysis of Mervyn Leroy’s The Bad Seed (1956) will show how historical context influences the female-centered psychological thriller film. Leroy’s social commentary of 1950s American societal expectations of women is a large factor in female character vulnerability and victimhood. The female-centered The Bad Seed and its score fit within the classical Hollywood style overall, however, this very style and the familiarity of its principles allows for the contrasting with Michel Chion’s anempathetic effect as aesthetic. There are several scenes featuring horrific drama accompanied by gentle music. The anempathetic effect is a distinguishing characteristic of the psychological thriller soundtrack in contrast to the horror soundtrack. My analysis demonstrates how North’s score addresses contemporary gender expectations with respect to female characters in American psychological thriller films in this decade. I demonstrate how musical thematic material and style serve aural representations of female character’s emotions and experiences in psychological thriller films. I apply 1950s American social gender expectations of women as mothers to the character of Christine Penmark from the work of feminist, Betty Friedan, and feminist film theorists, Laura Mulvey and Mary Ann Doane. In 1950s American culture, women were expected to assume roles as satisfied and contented wives and mothers. Alex North maximizes his skill for music placements and characterization by musically questioning these societal expectations in a narrative in which the domestic is deadly. The main questions that drive this thesis are: What are the predominant qualities and techniques of psychological thriller film music? How do film characters elicit music qualities? How did societal issues effect instrumentation and style choices? Chapter one presents historical 1 1950s American female centered psychological thriller films include David Miller’s Sudden Fear (1952), Roy Ward Baker’s Don’t Bother Knocking (1952), Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), and Vertigo (1958). 2 background on music in film and music in the psychological thriller and its antecedent genres. Chapter two presents an analytical case study of The Bad Seed to qualify female representation in psychological thriller films. The result will be a finer understanding of psychological thriller film music, especially its effects and importance in capturing attitudes and experiences of mid- century American women, even in light of the patriarchal framework. It is important to note that The Bad Seed exemplifies male contributions that were sympathetic to women, including those of Alex North. Alex North’s projects, especially after 1948, demonstrate film choices, favoring the outsider characters. This thesis contributes to the growing vibrant field
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