Listen to an extract from the 'An Electronic Odyssey' - Clara Rockmore discusses the use of the theremin in film

Leon Theremin was the secret link between sci-fi films, the Beach Boys, and Carnegie Hall. His self-named electronic musical instrument--the first of its kind--took the world by storm in the 1920s and '30s. Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, winner of Sundance's Filmmakers Trophy, explores the inventor's strange life and times, including his mysterious 50-year disappearance beginning in the 1940s. Interviews with theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog, and Theremin's contemporaries, as well as clips from movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, featuring the unworldly sounds of his creation, show an eccentric genius working toward success until his sudden vanishing in the Soviet Union. Footage of Theremin at 94 years old, finally rediscovered and rewarded for his achievements, brings a celebratory ending to what could be a grim or at least uncertain story, but instead is a fascinating documentary.
Rob Lightner
From Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide

If you have ever had any interest in the theremin, you need to get this film. There is extensive footage of Clara Rockmore playing the instrument, and her technique is amazing. She has developed a way to play scales by moving her fingers. You have to see it to believe it. I play the theremin and this film helped me out tremendously.
B Murgatroyd

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Listen to an extract from the 'Spellbound Concerto' Miklos Rosza, 1945

The head of the Green Manors mental asylum Dr. Murchison is retiring to be replaced by Dr. Edwards, a famous psychiatrist. Edwards arrives and is immediately attracted to the beautiful but cold Dr. Constance Petersen. However, it soon becomes apparent that Dr. Edwards is in fact a paranoid amnesiac imposter. He goes on the run with Constance who tries to help his condition and solve the mystery of what happened to the real Dr. Edwards...

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Listen to an extract from The Day the Earth Stood Still 'Prelude' from the Day the Earth Stood Still, by Bernard Herrman. More Sound Clips...

The pinnacle of the use of the theremin in film, this is the Ultimate Sci-Fi movie soundtrack. Recorded in Multi-Channel Stereo Surround High Fidelity in 1951, it is a recorded masterpiece in Sci-Fi music featuring the classic Theremin, the first electronic musical instrument of the 1930's, and TRUE Stereo Multichannel Surround Sound with a magnificent score and excellent musical interest of the highest level. Recording quality is stunning in BOTH its Stereophonics and in its very High Fidelity, especially for 1951, which was considerably ahead of its time.

Who didn't love "The Day the Earth Stood Still"? It's old, yet it can still stir you. Part of the reason has to be the mysterious, haunting score by Bernard Herrmann, who did similar work for Alfred Hitchcock. By mixing uplifting, inspirational sequences of notes with ominous bass lines he helped reinforce the movie's message about the dangerous path into the future. It's as though Herrmann is saying, "There's something worth seeing at the end of the trip, but you better watch your step along the way."

Today, it may seem a bit cliche'd, but Herrman fearlessly embraced the Theremin's musical potential, producing the weird, liquid, electronic glissandos that have become science fiction cinema's signature music, ever since.

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Click to hear: An extract from 'It Came from Outer Space'.

When a huge object streaks across the sky and smashes into the Arizona desert, amateur astronomer John Putnam initially believes he has witnessed nothing more than a monstrous meteor crashing to Earth. However, when he, his fiancee Ellen Fields (Rush) and a helicopter pilot investigate the site, Putnam unexpectedly discovers a huge spherical spaceship. Unfortunately, before he can alert his companions, a rock slide buries the vessel at the bottom of the impact crater.

Of course, no one in the local community believes Putnam's story, but it soon becomes clear that strange creatures are roaming the area. A couple of telephone linemen (Joe Sawyer and Russell Johnson) inexplicably disappear, only to turn up later under the apparent control of the aliens. When Putnam confronts them, the two ask for his trust and emphasize that the otherworldly visitors will only be on Earth for a short time. He reluctantly agrees to go along with them and attempts to convince the local sheriff of their peaceful intentions.

Released in 1953 and based on a story by Ray Bradbury, It Came from Outer Space is a surprisingly entertaining motion picture. Capitalizing on post-World War II fears of Communist infiltration and the remarkable scientific advances of the time, the movie effectively mixes elements from horror films of the 1930s and 1940s with the intensely xenophobic American mindset of the early Cold War era.

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Watch the trailer: Lo-Fi Hi-Fi

A cowardly young janitor, constantly taunted by the youth gangs in his neighborhood, ends up getting mistaken for one of them and is hauled to the police station. Darren McGavin co-stars as one of New York's finest in this terrific blend of zaniness and social comment that's one of Jerry Lewis' finest.' The theremin makes a small cameo appearance in this movie, as Gerry Lewis finds it in the office of his Professor. Any thereminist worth his salt will realise that the actions on screen, and the sound of the instrument don't quite match up... the theremin was 'dubbed - in' later by Samuel Hoffman, and it is his theremin that appears in the movie.

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