Discussion: ‘music Is An Alternate Language In Hitchcock, Sounding His Characters’ Unconscious Thoughts As It Engages Our Own’ (jack Sullivan, Hitchcock’s Music).

Music does more than simply communicate the emotions of characters. I will consider how Hitchcock uses music in Rope,[1] Rear Window,[2] and the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much,[3] to create parallel, independent narratives that allow for readings of the films that would not otherwise be possible.

Hitchcock s Rope is centred on the complicated relationships of its three main characters, Phillip (Farley Granger), Brandon (John Dall), and their college professor Rupert (James Stewart). In Rope, music is symbolic of homosexuality. While the sexuality of the film s characters is never explicitly stated in the film, screenwriter Arthur Laurents claims that Rope was obviously about homosexuals , and found the translation process from Patrick Hamilton s play challenging, stating [the dialogue] became very homosexual, unintentionally .[4] There are numerous examples of double entendre in Rope, but the music manages to convey the characters homosexuality where the dialogue could not.

The film opens with a fully orchestrated version of Francis Poulenc s Mouvement Perp tuel No. 1 as the overture. As noted by Jack Sullivan, the music in Rope is exceptionally spare and incisive ,[5] and the absence of sound through most of the film no doubt makes the recurrence of Mouvement Perp tuel No. 1 all the more intense when returning in Phillip s renditions on piano. His awkward and clunky playing (quite realistic Hitchcock asked Farley Granger to learn the piece),[6] emphasises the implied meaning in the double entendres of Laurent s dialogue, particularly during interactions between Phillip and Rupert.

Poulenc s motif first reappears under Phillip s fingers as Rupert enters the apartment. This sequence gives us the first sign that they may have engaged in a homosexual relationship. Rupert addresses Philip at the piano, saying, your touch has improved . Evidently, Rupert has seen Phillip play piano before, and has noticed an improvement. However, the ambiguity of his compliment could also be interpreted as innuendo, perhaps even a flirtatious. Later in the film, we have the most emotionally charged interaction between Rupert and Phillip. Sullivan writes:

[Rupert] begins to suspect something is seriously awry, and Phillip s increasingly agitated and perpetual playing of the Mouvement Perp tuel melody helps plant his suspicion.[7]

It is clear, from the dialogue and his attitude, that Rupert suspects something out of the ordinary has happened. Phillip is also visible agitated and uncomfortable Rupert notices and offers him a drink. Sullivan is correct in noticing the increased tempo of Phillip s playing, and thus the mistakes made, making him seem uncomfortable. He writes, Rupert turns on a metronome to control Phillip s increasingly frantic fingers .[8] Rupert does turn on the metronome, however, Sullivan is incorrect in his assumption here. Firstly, Rupert asks Phillip if he regularly uses the metronome. Phillip claims to only use it occasionally. The fact that the metronome has been preset to the correct tempo for Mouvement Perp tuel No. 1 would suggest that he has used it recently (perhaps, even, by Farley Granger when practicing the piece). Phillip makes his first mistake when being quizzed by Rupert, answering, Stop playing crime and punishment, Rupert. If you want to know something, come out with it! It is at this point, after getting Phillip a drink, that Rupert starts the metronome. Phillip plays along to its tempo comfortably. However, we can see Rupert deliberately increase the tempo of the metronome. He repeats this motion a few minutes later. We must therefore accept that Phillip s increasingly agitated demeanor, and the increasing amount of mistakes made, are deliberately provoked by Rupert, rather than happening exclusively as a product of Rupert s interrogating. We can therefore disregard Sullivan s claim that Rupert uses the metronome to aid Phillip s playing. The performance stops abruptly as the other characters enter the room, with Phillip declaring, I hate playing with that thing.

We may also consider the back and forth rhythm of the metronome as a reflection of the undecidability that is consistently present in the film. As described by Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle, undecidability opens up a gap, a rift in the text that can never be fully sealed , and this is certainly the case when we consider the sexuality of Brandon, Phillip, and Rupert.[9] Similarly, in Poulenc s Mouvement Perp tuel No. 1 itself (see Appendix 1), we find an ostinato bass figure, it s repetitive up and down motion also reflective of the film s undecidability. Poulenc s composition creates an extension to the central cat and mouse narrative that occurs between Rupert and Phillip. The scene at the piano is ended abruptly Phillip ceases playing and stops the conversation as it becomes increasingly intense. Turning away from Rupert, he exclaims, I hate playing with that thing! The ambiguous reference here could also be considered a double entendre, and is perhaps indicative of a sexual tension that permeates their intense interactions.

In the films closing scene, we see Rupert pacing the apartment, describing how he would carry out a murder if he were living there. The tension increases as Rupert gets closer to finding the truth. Like much of the film, the dialogue is punctuated by silence there is no music. However, the piano is almost always visible, and Rupert even directly references it, Phillip would probably play his piano. When Rupert questions Brandon about the gun in his pocket, Brandon throws it onto the piano. Moments later, we see Phillip point the gun at Rupert. They wrestle, until a bullet is fired at the floor, and Rupert and Phillip fall almost into embrace on the piano stool. While there is no music at this point, the piano s presence functions in a similar way to Mouvement Perp tuel No. 1 it functions as a symbol for the implicit homosexual relationship between Rupert and Phillip. Poulenc s music and the piano both serve to create the narrative that cannot be explicitly disclosed.

After finally opening the chest to find David s corpse, Rupert fires gunshots out of the window, summoning the police to the apartment. Awaiting their arrival, Rupert, Brandon, and Phillip are positioned at three points of a triangle across the room. For the last time, Phillip begins to play Mouvement Perp tuel No. 1 , signifying again the undecidability of the film, which is ultimately left inconclusive.

The opening prelude of Rear Window seems typical in its invisible, non-diegetic nature as it establishes the tone of the film. However, Franz Waxman s score indicates that the music s source is a radio in the songwriter s apartment.[10]

In fact, almost all of the music heard in Rear Window is diegetic, and has a direct influence on the film s characters. In the case of Miss Lonely Hearts and the songwriter, Waxman s songs are solely responsible for conveying the parallel, independent narrative of their love story.

Where in Rope, the main musical motif requires its hidden themes dissecting, the independent narrative of Lisa , the songwriter s composition, is more easily comprehendible. Lisa serves to carry the narrative in places where Hitchcock felt music, as he told Sullivan when discussing Vertigo, will do better than words .[11] We first notice the depressed Miss Lonely Hearts, as Jeff (James Stewart) watches her sit to dinner with an imaginary guest. Dean Martin s To See You Is To Love You can be heard, presumably from the songwriter s radio. The specifics of Miss Lonely Hearts backstory are not important, and the music encourages viewers to draw their own conclusions. Her depression and longing for companionship is important, and one of the less prominent lyrics, Someday let me show you how happy endings start, creates a subtle link between Miss Lonely Hearts and the songwriter at an early stage in the film.

At the film s midway point, we hear the opening orchestral arrangement of Franz Waxman s Many Dreams Ago . The camera hones in on the songwriter s apartment, who is hosting a party, perhaps in order to celebrate finishing Lisa . At this point we have a moment of diegetic polyphony, by which I mean two pieces of music heard in simultaneous harmony. The camera cuts to Miss Lonely Hearts apartment, and we see her getting ready to go out for the evening. The camera follows her as she leaves the apartment, heading to a restaurant across the street, and we hear the lyrics of a verse:

Though each night it seems,

Someone filled my dreams,

Still the face that I kissed wasn t clear.

Waxman s lyrics act as an extension to the narrative created by To See You Is To Love You earlier in the film. However, this time Miss Lonely Hearts is actively seeking a resolution to her loneliness, rather than fantasising in her apartment. We then hear, but now just one song and one dream remains. This is perhaps a reference to Lisa , foreshadowing the one song that ultimately saves Miss Lonely Hearts later in the film. The lyrical parallels we can draw between Waxman s compositions work similarly to the function of diegetic polyphony Miss Lonely Hearts longing for companionship is mirrored by the songwriter s need for fulfillment.

After a brief break in the music, we hear Lisa return on the songwriter s piano, as Lisa (Grace Kelly) and Jeff discuss her overnight stay at his apartment. As the piece is drawn to a close, to applause from his party guests, Lisa begins to hum the melody in Jeff s kitchen. This is the last we hear of Lisa for a prolonged period, with the rockabilly and blues coming from the songwriter s piano being the first break from the motif we hear since the overture at the start. We could take this to mean he has finally found fulfillment, and yet, in the next cut the songwriter can be seen standing at the window of his apartment drinking coffee, with the party behind him. He stands alone, isolated despite being in a room of people. Despite the completion of Lisa , he does not seem truly content.

It is at this point we find the sequence of events that Sullivan describes as, the film s most moving musical drama .[12] First, we see Miss Lonely Hearts emptying a jar of pills, and Stella expresses her concerns that she might be about to overdose. The camera moves to the songwriter s apartment, who can be seen teaching Lisa to a group of musicians. We then see Miss Lonely Hearts from Jeff s perspective, writing what we assume to be a suicide note. Jeff is misguided in his assumption when he says, Stella was wrong about Miss Lonely Hearts . When Stella returns to Jeff s apartment, she orders him to call the police to save Miss Lonely Hearts. Instead, he sends them to protect Lisa from Thorwald. The tension is broken as we hear the melody of Lisa played on clarinet. Miss Lonely Hearts reacts to the music, ceasing to take the pills, instead moving to her window to listen. Sullivan argues, the musical life force proves stronger than the death wish , and he describes this moment as Hitchcock s most beautifully realised musical epiphany .[13] Despite his typically figurative style of criticism, I am inclined to agree with him the power of Lisa quite literally saves Miss Lonely Hearts life.

This brings us to the conclusion of Rear Window, and thus the conclusion of the Lisa narrative. Time has passed since Thorwald s arrest, and we return to the songwriter s apartment. He and Miss Lonely Hearts are discussing Lisa , where she exclaims, I d love to hear it I can t tell you what this music has meant to me . Miss Lonely Hearts didn t seem able to tell anyone only through Jeff s voyeurism and the lyrics of songs in the soundtrack could we infer her story. Sullivan claims, the songwriter needs Miss Lonely Hearts, his best audience, as much as she needs him ,[14] and we see the songwriter finally fulfilled as he shares the finished Lisa with her. We hear Waxman s lyric:

If this is dreaming,

I hope I ll never wake up,

But dream forever.

This is the final musical cross-reference in the film, drawing closure on the open ended Many Dreams Ago. Miss Lonely Hearts has found the companionship she dreamt of, through the completed Lisa . Lisa is the song that remains playing as the film ends.

Hitchcock s 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much follows the pattern of Rope and Rear Window in its exploration of recurring motifs. The majority of critical focus seems to be on Arthur Benjamin s Storm Clouds Cantata , the expansive symphony that Bernard Hermann decided could not be improved for the remake.[15] However, in terms of creating an independent narrative, I feel that Que Sera, Sera is far more significant. Commissioned by Hitchcock to be written especially for the film, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans song conveys Ben s (James Stewart) repression of Jo s (Doris Day) female intuition and singing career.

We are made aware of Jo s success in London s West End from early on in the film, her career being put on hold as Ben s medical responsibilities and stubbornness confine the family to a Samaritan s hospital in the American mid-west. The first appearance of Que Sera, Sera comes in the McKenna s Moroccan hotel, as Jo gets their son Hank ready for bed. They sing it as a duet, and despite its unprofessional context, Hank demonstrates his musical talent. Ben jokes, he ll make a fine doctor . While Jo smiles in reply, this comment is indicative of Ben s repressive attitude towards her, suggesting his work responsibilities will dictate even Hank s career ambitions.

There are multiple examples of Ben s sexist attitude towards Jo exhibited in the film. He consistently disregards Jo s intuition. For example, he claims her suspicions of Louis Bernard are derived from jealousy, and he feels the need to sedate her before disclosing the details of Hank s kidnapping, in order to calm her natural reaction. Above all, he will not change his career path even slightly to accommodate Jo s wish to work in the Theatre again. Jo is trapped in the confines of a repressive relationship with Ben, and her first real attempt to break free coincides with the most profound development in the musical narrative: the climactic scene in the Royal Albert Hall.

Searching for Inspector Buchanan, Jo bumps into Rien the assassin, who warns Hank s safety will depend on [her] . Despite this warning, the teary-eyed Jo walks straight into the concert hall. As the Storm Clouds Cantata begins, Jo is situated in the doorway directly opposite the orchestra. She watches Rien s eyes search for the Prime Minister, his target. At this point, she turns to face the exit, perhaps seeking help, Ben, or escape from the situation. Changing her mind, she turns back, this time to face the orchestra. Storm Clouds takes a melancholic tone, emphasising her isolation and sense of helplessness.

As Storm Clouds progresses, we hear a break between the first motif led by an operatic vocal, and the next, with the resurgence of the choir. During this break, we see Jo s expression move from anguish to intense agitation. The chorus continues, and the camera focuses on Jo s mouth, agape. It is almost as if Jo is singing the vocals we hear, despite her actual silence. This reflects her inability to sing, her talent and career repressed by Ben and the dogmatic expectations of a married woman in the Nineteen Fifties. Ben soon arrives at the Albert Hall. He finds Jo, and attempts to lead her away from her position. She resists him. Again, while we cannot her their conversation, it is easy to see Ben s apparent disregard for her intuitive desire to stay in the concert hall.

There is then a dramatic increase in tension. We see the camera focus on Hermann, and the Storm Clouds score, marked poco a poco cresc. , instructing a step by step increase in volume. We see Rien take his shooting position, awaiting the fateful crash of the cymbals. Once more, Jo looks to the exit, before turning back to face the orchestra. The music reaches its final climax, just before the cymbal crash, and Jo s scream finally arrives to break the tension. Accompanied by the vocals of the chorus, Jo is a singer finally using her voice again , aptly described by Sullivan. He continues, Benjamin s music replaces explanations and interior monologue , a point I agree with.[16] Not only does Jo s scream break the silence forced upon her by Rien, it actually functions as part of the Storm Clouds Cantata . Much like the examples of diegetic polyphony in Rear Window, multiple narratives occur here simultaneously. Jo s scream, if left alone, could be simply understood as a warning, or release of terror. David Greven makes the point, Jo opts for a role larger than mothering and the silent wife .[17] The scream conveys her conscious decision to break from Ben s imposed silence, and in unison with the choir, shows her as a singer once more.

In the closing scenes of the film, Jo performs Que Sera, Sera for the Prime Minister, and other guests at the party. The camera moves to a room upstairs, where a visibly uncomfortable Mrs. Drayton is supervising the kidnapped Hank. The door is locked they are, in essence, both confined there by Mr. Drayton. Her intuitive, almost motherly regard for Hank is repressed by the wishes of her husband. However, much like Jo s scream in the Albert Hall, the music here brings a dramatic change in Mrs. Drayton s character. Que Sera, Sera acts as a link between the female characters, acting as a symbol of female independence. It is successful in attracting Hank s attention, and we see Mrs. Drayton encourage Hank to whistle the melody in unison. As Ben breaks through the door, Mrs. Drayton orders him to take Hank and leave. Mr. Drayton stops them at gunpoint, and we see his wife defy him, exclaiming, You ve got to let the boy go! All the while, we hear Jo singing Que Sera, Sera.

We can be confident in describing Hitchcock s music as a secondary language , as argued by Sullivan. In the case of Rope, Hitchcock manages to implicitly convey the homosexuality of his characters, without the need to directly address it in the dialogue. Through Rear Window, Hitchcock s use of popular music is somewhat revolutionary, as he successfully manages to demonstrate its intense emotional power, its ability to convey subconscious thought and create background narrative, and its potential to heal. Similarly, in The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hitchcock pitches popular song against classical symphony, ultimately becoming responsible for articulating the most complex elements of Ben and Jo s relationship. Without music, I feel a large element of the magic of Hitchcock s films would disappear, leaving simple stories without the embellishment that has managed to capture the imagination of film goers for generations.

Word Count: 3215

[1] Rope, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (Universal Pictures, 1948)

[2] Rear Window, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (Universal Pictures, 1954)

[3] The Man Who Knew Too Much, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (Universal Pictures, 1956)

[4] Arthur Laurents, Rope Unleashed, DVD Extra in Rope (Universal Pictures, 2001 edition)

[5] Jack Sullivan, Hitchcock s Music (2006), p. 144

[6] Rope Unleashed (Universal: 2001)

[7] Sullivan, Hitchcock s Music, p. 145

[8] Sullivan, Hitchcock s Music, p. 146

[9] Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism, and Theory, 3^rd ed. (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2004) pp. 203-4