MovieChat Forums > The Sting (1973) Discussion > Great Movie ruined by Looney Tunes Music...

Great Movie ruined by Looney Tunes Music.

posted 11 years ago by Edwin_Phucker
22 replies | jump to latest

Was anyone else annoyed by the terrible circus music played throughout the film. It puts on circus music intended to be played at a fun festival thats not serious and very joyful and playful. The movie is the opposite of that. While its not exactly a "dark" film it is serious and requires u to pay attention to follow everything happening.

The looney tunes music is used for light-hearted comedy films or cartoons, not movies that require an adults understanding of the plot and narrative.

Any1 else turned off by this awful music? Is there something im missing?

1/10= Toxic
3= Disappointing
5= Ok
6= Recommended
8= Excellent!
10/10= Classic.

[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 10 years ago

Ignore the @$$hat OP.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae

[–] fugazzi49 9 years ago

The soundtrack became famous in its own right at the time, and was a big part of the movie's popularity. This was the high point of the Scott Joplin revival that had begun with Joshua Rifkin's Joplin recordings in the 60's. The movie, though serious, is also light and breezy in its general tone. The music fits that entirely, especially the way it turns into a clever put on at the end.

The one complaint the music received at the time was that it was wildly anachronistic. A Joplin scored movie should be taking place around 1900 but this is 1936.

[–] jon-31 9 years ago

Any complaint of film score music being "anachronistic" shows a misunderstanding of how movie music works. The characters don't hear the music (unless it's specifically shown to be "source" music), we the audience do. It's a comment on the action, and usually doesn't coincide with the onscreen period. For instance, any movie set in past centuries is scored with music that makes sense to our ears (think of Ben Hur, or any Robin Hood film). But I wouldn't call that anachronistic, any more than I do The Sting.

[–] fountaincap 8 years ago

Any complaint of film score music being "anachronistic" shows a misunderstanding of how movie music works. The characters don't hear the music (unless it's specifically shown to be "source" music), we the audience do. It's a comment on the action, and usually doesn't coincide with the onscreen period. For instance, any movie set in past centuries is scored with music that makes sense to our ears (think of Ben Hur, or any Robin Hood film). But I wouldn't call that anachronistic, any more than I do The Sting.

I get that, but I think the point is original score, usually orchestral, feels more "timeless". For example, John Williams' Star Wars music wouldn't sound out of place whether in a movie set in futuristic space or the ancient past.

For The Sting, set during the Depression, I think people were expecting some 1930s jazz instead of ragtime.

Not to say I didn't enjoy the music though and, unlike some others, I think it still fits the mood of the movie.

[–] gary_w_trott 8 years ago

Considering all of the classical music that appears in Looney Tunes I'd take that comparison to the music in The Sting as a compliment.

[–] DracTarashV 8 years ago

The music in Looney Tunes is usually loud, wacky, all over the place and... brilliant. The famous ragtime music in this film is nothing like that. Although I kinda see your point about it being a bit joyful for the film, in the end it fit perfectly.

You want something corny? You got it!

[–] janedoe3010 8 years ago

For real? That's Joplin re-arranged by Hamlisch. Score was perfect.

[–] liscarkat (18388) 2 years ago

I like Joplin, at least in short doses. Two hours of him in the movie, basically the same tune over and over, did get a bit irritating. Not only that, but the Joplin-based score was anachronistic for the time the movie was set, which was 1936. By then, Joplin's rags were three decades out of date. They weren't heard much anymore, and were regarded as corny and old-fashioned. Joplin was nearly forgotten after his lifetime, until "The Sting" revived his popularity in the early 1970s.