For Want of a Better Estimate, Let’s Call It the Year 2000: <i>The Twilight Zone</i> and the Aural Conception of a Dystopian Future

Wissner, Reba A.

doi:10.5406/musimoviimag.8.3.0052

Cited by 2 publications

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References 5 publications

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“…The case of 'Moat Farm Murder', therefore, is not unique. The re-use of cues from radio dramas has also occurred in other television series and, more specifically, other episodes of The Twilight Zone such as those from both parts of 'Brave New World ' (CBS Radio Workshop, 1956) (Wissner, 2015). Although many viewers of The Twilight Zone may not have remembered 'Moat Farm Murder' or its music, the musical style that depicts things like danger and moments of high drama make the music seem right at home in their re-use.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Music for Murder, Machines, and Monsters

Wissner¹

2017

Music, Sound, and the Moving Image

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On 18 July 1944, Columbia Broadcasting System aired a notorious murder confession created for the public's entertainment. This confession came in the form of a radio drama called 'Moat Farm Murder' that aired on the Columbia Presents Corwin radio series with music composed by Bernard Herrmann. This was not simply a radio drama but a verbatim confession of a real-life 1903 London murder by Samuel Herbert Dougal, played by Charles Laughton. Elsa Lanchester played his victim, Camille 'Cecile' Holland. The play re-aired two years later on The Mercury Summer Theatre on the Air on 26 July 1946. In this re-airing, Orson Welles played the role of Dougal and Mercedes McCambridge played the role of Cecile. Fifteen years after the second airing, The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1959-1964) aired The re-use of storylines from radio plays on early television was not uncommon; indeed, much of the television programming of the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of repurposed radio scripts. Columbia Presents Corwin 'Moat Farm Murder' (Bernard Herrmann, 18 July 1944) was among the many radio programmes from the 1940s that had music featured in The Twilight Zone. Of the radio plays to feature music in the series, 'Moat Farm Murder' provided more cues than any other CBS radio score. Cues from 'Moat Farm Murder' are found in eleven episodes of The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1959-1964). The use of music from radio dramas and their re-uses in television has thus far not been examined. This essay looks at the composition of the 'Moat Farm Murder' radio score and Corwin's collaboration with Herrmann in it, as well as the re-use of radio music in The Twilight Zone. Through this case study of 'Moat Farm Murder', better knowledge of how the CBS Stock music library was used, in tandem with the way in which other similar network and production company cue libraries worked.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Music for Murder, Machines, and Monsters

Wissner¹

2017

Music, Sound, and the Moving Image

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Library Music in Digital Media

DEAVILLE,

DURAND,

HUELIN

et al. 2024

Music, Sound, and the Moving Image

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The Introduction falls into three sections. The first presents the historical context for the collection and the themes that unite the articles, and provides summaries for each of the articles. The second section deals with the complex web of terminology surrounding ‘library music’, in its historical, theoretical, and practical aspects, with an emphasis on the implications of digital technology. The final section reviews the academic literature about library music, considered from the perspectives of categorisation and tagging, industry and labour, television studies, and historical approaches.

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For Want of a Better Estimate, Let’s Call It the Year 2000: The Twilight Zone and the Aural Conception of a Dystopian Future

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

Music for Murder, Machines, and Monsters

Music for Murder, Machines, and Monsters

Library Music in Digital Media

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