Imagine being the first person at the turn of the 20th century to 
have the brilliant idea to couple those old nickelodeon pictures 
with music. Think back at how satisfying that moment of eureka 
must have been. Ever since that day, music has found a 
comfortable and exciting niche in the home of motion pictures 
which should really be referred to musical motion pictures or 
motion pictures with musical accompaniment.

Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton made the first popular silent 
films by utilizing music as if it were their dialogue. Music 
accelerated the rhythm of the film, accentuated the comedic 
beats, it lingered on the sadness and it wrapped every emotional 
scene in a nice little bow.

Through time, some movies have seen a tremendous amount of 
success more because of their music than the acting or directing 
or anything else for that matter. A great example is one of 
Steven Spielberg's earlier efforts Jaws. "It was the music that 
really made the movie... every time you heard the babam babam, 
you could imagine the shark biting off the swimmer's leg. It was 
ingenious." Another favorite horror film that used music in such 
a way was Alfred Hitchcock class "Psycho."

Ennio Morricone, is one of the most prolific musical composers 
for film. He has been nominated for the academy award over eleven 
times, but he has never received the gold. His films are 
characterized by a strong sense of music that fills in the gap 
wherever the writing lacks. In Once Upon a Time in the West, 
Sergio Leone recounts how Morricone composed a unique piece for 
each character and how that music would play in different 
variations every time the master character would enter the scene.

Morricone is also responsible for the music in Once Upon a time 
in America, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Malena.

John Williams is Morricone's American equivalent and while the 
previous concentrated on sweeping love themes, Williams had 
sensibilities leaning towards the action-adventure genres. He 
composed the well-remembered themes for Indiana Jones, Superman, 
and Star Wars.
 
In more contemporary times, films like American Beauty, Million 
Dollar Baby or Machiavelli Hangman have offered a new trend of 
musical flavors ranging from simple acoustics to just drums 
creating a strong new breath of originality. Whatever the case 
may as long as filmmakers understand and use the power of 
music, their films will only be better off because of it. 

Leila K. Burroughs is a movie reviewer. 
Machiavelli Hangman 
http://www.hangmanmovie.com