What The Two Best Films Have In Common
Critic Todd McCarthy points out something about Sight & Sound’s new Best Films of All Time poll, in which “Vertigo” displaced “Citizen Kane” as Number One: ‘The two films share one critical participant: composer Bernard Herrmann. I daresay ‘Vertigo’ would not be anywhere near the film it is, nor would it enjoy its new eminence, without Herrmann’s indispensable contribution to it.’ Very true. Though the composer is certainly better known for the buzzing violins on his “Psycho” score (very Stravinsky!) than for any music in the supposedly superior “Vertigo” and “Kane.”
