The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 Vinyl LPs 123: Edward Hopper ~ The House by the Railroad in film

January 9, 2018

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The House by the Railroad - 1925

Art has always had a major influence on film; possibly the most famous example has been The House by the Railroad, by Edward Hopper. It is a fanciful portrait of the Second Empire Victorian home at 18 Conger Avenue in Haverstraw, New York.

The House by the Railroad has been cited as being an influence on the home in the Terrence Malick 1978 film Days of Heaven. It featured Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. The photograpy is stunning and the film won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

The score for Days of Heaven was written by Ennio Morricone who received his first Academy Award nomination in his soundtrack composing career for his work on this film. It astounds me that this is his first nomination (think Spaghetti Western or Dollars Trilogy) and that he has never received an award, period (link below).

Days of Heaven vinyl LP soundtrack album

In 1910, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer. It has been translated in many languages.

Days of Heaven film still

Days of Heaven poster

Days of Heaven has been translated into french and spanish . . .

Days of Heaven french & spanish posters

The look of the Bates house in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho was inspired by The House by the Railroad. The film starred Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh. There are two excellent analyses of the film and the film score, Understanding Psycho and How Music Tells The Story, on YouTube (links below).

Alfred Hitchcock & the Bates house set

photographer unknown

Psycho has been translated into almost every language on Earth and there is a soundtrack recording of the film (link below).

Psycho original movie poster

The House by the Railroad is now at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

Viewfinder links:

Bernard Herrmann ~ Psycho
Bernard Herrmann articles/mentions

Janet Leigh articles/mentions

Net links:

New York History ~ The House That Inspired Hitchcock

Geek.com ~ Psycho house on a New York City roof

MoMA ~ Edward Hopper, The House by the Railroad - 1925

Alfred Hitchcock Geek ~ Hitchcock's Most Hopperesque Film: "Psycho"

YouTube links:

Days Of Heaven - Trailer (1978)

Ennio Morricone - Days of Heaven

       Happiness ~ Days of Heaven soundtrack
       Harvest ~ Days of Heaven soundtrack
Understanding Psycho: The Uncanny (12 min, 17 sec.)
Psycho - How Music Tells The Story (7 min, 6 sec.)