# Movies with little to no music

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 8, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761 "2009-03-08T20:44:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761/21 "2009-03-10T18:55:03Z")

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I think that, except at the end, **Paths of Glory** has no music. Odd for a Kubrick Flick – in his laster films, the music is incredibly important, and carefully chosen.

The 1931 **Dracula** has no music except for the opening theme\* and a bit of overheard opera, has no music in it at all. It made things easier when they rereleased it circa 2000 with a Philip Glass score.

\*(“Swan Lake”, which Universal thought was as eery as everyone seems to think Bach’s **Toccata and Fugue** is nowadays. God knows why.)

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761/22 "2009-03-10T19:38:31Z")

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_Frankenstein_ (1931) likewise has only title music.

Woody Allen’s _Interiors_ (1978) had no music.

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**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761/23 "2009-03-11T01:32:34Z")

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It’s weird how many of these movies I’ve seen and it just didn’t register that there was no music. I mean, I just saw _Paths of Glory_ a couple of months ago!

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**Author:** ![jay\_ray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@jay\_ray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jay_ray)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761/24 "2011-01-05T21:33:30Z")

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First time i noticed the absence of a musical score was in Executive Suite, 1950s film with Wm Holden, Barbara Stanwyck and a few other classic Hollywood notables. It was made specifically without a score and using ‘ambient’ sounds of the street or baseball field (kids’ game), etc. The silence of a background score hit me over the head, which makes the musical score seem even more manipulative of people’s emotions than it ever seems in a movie with music.

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**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-little-to-no-music/488761/25 "2011-01-05T21:43:42Z")

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IIRC “[Songs from the second floor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_from_the_Second_Floor)” ([trailer - with music, and some nudity](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW8J5LvzeZI)) has little to no “background” music, though there is [a scene in the subway](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so5M8Mgf50c) where the passengers start doing a full classical style wordless choir with orchestral accompaniment.

Highly recommend it if you like weird, unsettling and beautifully shot movies.

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