Years before he became the leading star in horror movies, Vincent Price starred in this gothic thriller based on the best-selling novel by Anya Seton. Nicholas Van Ryn (Vincent Price) is a wealthy Dutch immigrant living in New York's Hudson Valley in the 1840s. Nicholas has come to hate his wife because she has been unable to give him a son; their only child is a daughter he doesn't care for. Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney), a distant relative of the Van Ryns, comes to live at their estate and work as an "au pair" girl; Nicholas becomes infatuated with her and eventually poisons his wife so they can marry. However, while Miranda gives birth to a son, the boy is sickly and does not live to adulthood. Nicholas begins to slip into insanity, moving to the attic of his mansion and drowning his sorrows in drugs. A distraught Miranda seeks the counsel of the local doctor, Dr. Jeff Turner (Jeff Langan); Dr. Turner falls in love with Miranda, and he eventually discovers that Nicholas killed his first wife to be with her, and that Miranda might be next on the madman's list. Dragonwyck was the directorial debut of screenwriter and producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Also stars Glenn Langan, Jessica Tandy, and Spring Byington. 1946

Since Dragonwyck was another passion project for studio director, Darryl F. Zanuck, Alfred Newman as Director of Music personally took on the project. Upon viewing the film, he understood that this was film noir Gothic romance melodrama full of mystery, and that he would need to speak to intense, yet subterranean emotional drivers of Nicholas van Ryn. Additionally, he also understood that given the film’s old-world Dutch patroon culture, that he would have to infuse the requisite classical pieces to establish cultural sensibilities and ambiance.

01. Main Title (1:21)
02. The Letter (1:04)
03. Miranda’s Yearnings/Table Grace (1:25)
04. A Sign From God (1:27)
05. New York (3:26)
06. After-Dinner Waltz/The Paddle Boat (7:27)
07. Azilde (1:26)
08. I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls (5:18)
09. The Count Arrives (:58)
10. Kermess (1:02)
11. Kermess Part Two (2:22)
12. Knife Attack (1:33)
13. Dragonwyck Ball (3:07)
14. Terrace Waltz (3:29)
15. Stormy Night (3:04)
16. Katrine Hears Azilde (2:03)
17. Joanna’s Death (2:49)
18. To Have No Son/Jeff Says Goodbye To Miranda (5:01)
19. Nicholas Asks For Miranda’s Hand (2:58)
20. Miranda Accepts Nicholas’ Proposal (1:01)
21. Mrs. Van Ryn (2:01)
22. Nicholas Returns From New York (6:12)
23. The Child Is Born - And Dies (3:02)
24. Nicholas’ Tower Room (5:05)
25. The Doctor’s Suspicions/Dementia (4:46)
26. Nicholas Attacks The Doctor (2:59)
27. Nicholas Is Shot (1:10)
28. Finale (2:06)