Great films where music is a central theme.

From the above posts it seems there aren't many true film music lovers here. So, maybe that's why no one mentioned something as obvious, profound, and influential as Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's "PSYCHO"

No one mentioned the score for Psycho because it does not fit the criteria I've set forth and repeated ad nauseum for the thread. This is not a thread about scores or soundtracks. There is absolutely NOTHING in the plot or story of Psycho that relates to music. Zero. Zilch. Nada. This parrot is bleeding deeemised! Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Nor do Lost in Translation nor Amelie have music as part of their stories that I recall. Nor does Mike's Murder. You all need to retake the class or come after school for a makeup session. Does anyone actually read the thread before posting? There's going to be a surprise quiz at some point here.

Hey Duke

you blew it man and are risking the rath of the OP, read carefully, NOT soundtracks BUT where music is a central theme. In Psycho the music is effect, not the central theme. I hear you concerning Bernard Herrmann though, among a small handful of the greatest composers ever for film. My favorite, "Taxi Driver", now I'm risking the rath for going off on a tangent as well!

OK, I'll have to take some responsibility for the errant ways of my pupils here. Obviously I've somehow given the some misleading guidance from the start, and neglected to consider that folks tend to read three words and think they understood everything there was to understand about a post on the Internet. In retrospect I should have called the thread "Movies about Music", but I didn't really want to eliminate films where music was a plot element, yet was not necessarily the central theme. So I titled the thread what I did, and tried to describe it as best I could. I hope folks realize my "wrath" is all tongue-in-cheek and, being a film lover, as well as a music lover, I always love hearing about new films I may not have seen or aspects of films I didn't know about. I will continue to endeavor to keep the thread on track because there ARE plenty of threads on soundtracks and scores already and I did NOT want this to be another one of those. I will continue to edit with a sense of humor - I hope no one takes it personally, and I hope Richard's visits to various members who violated my dictate here... well, I hope those scars heal quickly, and that the women and children of the households did not have to bear witness to those disciplinary actions.

08-06-11: Jax2
... I didn't really want to eliminate films where music was a plot element, yet was not necessarily the central theme.

While "Psycho" is clearly not within the thread's boundaries, it brings to mind another Hitchcock film scored by Bernard Herrmann that does fit, the 1956 version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much." The section entitled "Music" in this Wikipedia writeup on the film has some interesting information, including the fact that Mr. Herrmann was the orchestral conductor during the film's lengthy climactic (although not concluding) scene.

Best regards,
-- Al