does anyone know history of the record in movie?
The phonograph album played during the hypnosis phase of the movie is titled: Mystery Singer...is there such an instrumental or was this simply a movie prop record and title?
shareThis is late (by 2 years) but I had always wondered about that music, myself. I believe it was composed just for that scene, by Paul Dessau (German composer, 1894-1979), who is credited with original music for this movie. It may or may not have a title, and probably never released. Universal would have the score and the recording. This music has the exact length for the scene, and flows with the changes in shots, suggesting original scoring for this reason.
There was apparently a Filipino-American known as "The Mystery Singer" who was recording in the 1930's and 1940's. His real name was Cecil Lloyd (or Cecil Llyod). He established the first Filipino-owned record company and is considered the "Father of the Philippine Recording Industry."
I have no idea if this explains the record in the film, but it's possible that they just wanted an obscure record with a suggestive title to use as a prop and one of Lloyd's records fit the bill. It does not seem as though there is any connection between Lloyd's music and what is heard on the soundtrack."
You can find some of "The Mystery Singer's" recordings on youtube.
Perhaps it is consistent with some of the "Eastern" touches in the film, such as "Cannabis Japonica," and the sniper who I believe says he was a soldier "in the East."
I've tried stilling the movie to clearly read the title of the record numerous times, and I clearly see "The" and "singer", with "mystery" being the hardest to deciper....it appears they purposely fragmented the title of the record, making it difficult to discern...hence falling in with your theory of coming up with any title as a prop....but why label it the mystery singer and not something like mystic waters, etc?.....but then again, I'm probably just over thinking it...it is a haunting tune though....
shareI am totally convinced this piece was written especially for this scene -- the score exactly matches the action -- you are never going to find an existing piece that just 'happens' to match the action in the scene so perfectly.
shareI beg to differ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-1F-CokXNU
"I'm issuing a restraining order: Religion must stay 500 yards away from Science at all times!!"
Excellent! (And cute.)
share