CD Review:
Jasmine JASMCD 2663
42 tracks
Timing = 78:37
Rating: ***1/2
The first thing that may come to mind is why purchase this collection of film noir themes? If you are a fan like me the answer would be -- why not purchase it to hear these memorable themes on one CD?
It contains most of the best-known themes from film noir (meaning "black film" for the dark stories of corruption and mayhem in these films) in the 1940s and 1950s.
Just have a look at the list of the tracks below and you'll probably find at least one or maybe many favorite themes. Here are a few of the themes from film noir classics on this CD:
THE MALTESE FALCON (track 1 - Adolph Deutsch)
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (track 3 - Miklos Rozsa)
THE BIG SLEEP (track 7 - Max Steiner)
THE THIRD MAN (track 20 - Anton Karas)
D.O.A. (track 22 - Dimitri Tiomkin)
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (track 36 - Walter Schumann)
THE WRONG MAN
(track 38 - Bernard Herrmann)
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (track 40 - Elmer Bernstein)
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (track 41 - Miles Davis)
TOUCH OF EVIL (track 42 - Henry Mancini)
Many of these themes are short usually from the opening Main Title credits.
They were apparently taken right off the soundtracks so the sound might not have digitial brilliance but they are the real thing from these 42 films.
But for me being a big film noir fan, these are a joy to listen to and recall each of these memorable black & white films.
The booklet notes by Roger Depson are informative and worth a read.
This CD is worth purchasing if you want to hear a choice selection of the best film noir themes from its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s.
-- review by Roger Hall
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