Dimitri Tiomkin’s original music sketches and a one-sheet poster for D.O.A. (1950) formed part of a recent exhibit “Film Noir: The Music That Sets the Tone” at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum (www.hollywoodmuseum.com). The main title for this quintessential film noir suspense drama could be heard on portable MP3 players while viewing the D.O.A. material. Tiomkin’s music sketches along with conductor scores for Strangers on a Train and Angel Face were also on display. The exhibit, on view from April 8 to June 7, included music sketches and scores, photographs, sheet music, cue sheets, posters, lobby cards, production-related materials, and MP3s of representative works. Co-presented by The Film Music Society, which provided a selection of artifacts, it was co-curated by archivist and FMS board member Warren M. Sherk. The retrospective evoked the often haunting sounds of the atmospheric orchestrations of film noir and spotlights the composers who scored a broad range of memorable films–from German Expressionist works and the American gangster genre to classic Hollywood noir and modern-day interpretations. “While most Hollywood films from the 1930s offered an optimistic view of American life and mores, World War II and the ensuing Cold War brought a darker tome to Hollywood,” said Jan-Christopher Horak, curator of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. “It was French critics in 1945, viewing the many American films they had missed because of the Nazi occupation, who coined the term film noir–literally ‘black film’–to describe the new attitude and style.” Composers represented included Elmer Bernstein (The Grifters), Don Davis (Bound), Herschel Burke Gilbert (The Thief), Jerry Goldsmith (L.A. Confidential), Bernard Herrmann (Taxi Driver), Henry Mancini (Touch of Evil), John Ottman (The Usual Suspects), David Raksin (Laura), Miklos Rozsa (Double Indemnity), Max Steiner (Mildred Pierce). Franz Waxman (Sunset Boulevard ), Christopher Young (Rounders), and Victor Young (The Glass Key).