Modesty Blaise

Music by John Dankworth

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the comics by Jim Holdaway, the film Modesty Blaise (1966), starring Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp and directed by Joseph Losey, was one of the great moments of cinema pop culture of the 60s.

Associating a little bit of everything of the period, the soundtrack of John Dankworth incorporated several elements in a fun (but not exactly consistent) mix. Opening with the Modesty Blaise song, in the best tradition of Britsh pop/rock of the time, the soundtrack displays different musical models like the frantic Modesty Chased (in Mack Sennett´s mood) and includes musical-numbers-like (sung by the protagonists) in Modesty and Willie Scape and The Sheik to the Rescue. The melodic unit is guaranteed by the constant use of main theme. The pop/comic approach justifies the diverse musical moods: satirical circus marches, pop-baroque vocals, many electric organ and the inevitable jamesbondian electric guitars. In general, the soundtrack (in mono) is a large and multifaceted panel of musical references (as a pop collage).