What Music Does For The Actors

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 93, 13 January 1939, Page 14

What Music Does For The Actors

'T'HE man who composes the music for the films can make clumsy actresses look graceful, pudgy men look slim, and ugly performers of both sexes almost handsome At any rale that is the opinion of George Antheil. a composer who achieved fame in Paris with a symphony.

“Sometimes.” admitted Antheil. •’film musicians reverse the process and make stars they don’t like look like clodhoppers

“It is a scientific fact.” he explained, “that the senses of sight and hearing are closely allied Music sounds better when you hear it in the proper setting And the setting seems better if the music is good “Say we tiave a girl who is awkward and jerky in her movements We simply accompany her movements with specially graceful melody and she appears grace herself “If we have a tall, ungainly leading man and we want to make him appear a little shorter, we give him some choppy music, ami he immediately loses a couple of Inches If he happons to be too short, or too fat. we turn on the bassoons, and their low. long-drawn-out notes give him an aura of slimness.”