Let’s start with a song: “Laura.” David Raksin composed the music for the film of the same name (released in Italy as Vertigine), and it came about in a unique way. It was 1944. Director Otto Preminger considered using Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” as a leitmotif and asked Raksin, a renowned film composer, for his opinion. Raksin was categorical. In his opinion, the song had nothing to do with the plot of the film, which was a romantic noir about a detective investigating the death of a woman who ends up under a spell. Preminger replied that if Raksin had a better idea, he should bring it to him the next morning. The composer rolled up his sleeves and quickly wrote the theme, infusing it with the melancholy of his recent marital separation. Johnny Mercer later added lyrics that captured the film’s mysterious atmosphere: the feeling of recognizing a woman […]