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THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY Possible influences in the designs and concepts of The Prisoner |
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Attempts are often made to "explain" The Prisoner and over the last 30-odd years, many people have chosen to see "hidden meanings" and mysterious things lurking deep below the surface. Whether you subscribe to all of this or not, the series certainly presented an complex mixture of surreal images and ideas. Despite the widespread belief that Patrick McGoohan was virtually the sole creator of all these strange and wonderful things, the series was really the sum of all the people working on it. Many of them brought their own ideas, imagery and fantastical thoughts to the table, and one can see all sorts of influences from the world of literature, television, film and theatre.  Art director, Jack Shampan, admitted that early German expressionistic films had a direct influence in his designs when he created the 'look' of the underground complex beneath the facade of The Village. Some of the films which have the same sort of "painted pointy arch" designs include "The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari" (1919) and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1926). These early films were to influence much of German cinema in the next decade and effectively create the 'film noir' blueprint: the dramatic play of light and darkness, distorted and exaggerated settings and stylised performances seeking to express the inner psyches of the characters. The style spread, and the French almost adopted it as their own. Hollywood likewise turned out dozens of "Private Eye" films in film noir style. "The Prisoner", "Blade Runner", "Dark City", and many other more modern films still use this formula almost without change. We just add a splash of colour today, that's all. |
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Rhapsodies on a theme by
Rachmaninov |
So . . . who wrote the "Prisoner Theme" then? Why, Ron Grainer of course, everyone knows that! Hmmmm, yes, I thought so as well until Jonathan Felton from Houston made this rather interesting discovery."One night I was listening to the local classical music station and I heard a composition which I thought anyway sounded an awful lot like the title theme in places. The work I'm referring to is 'Vocalise' by Sergei Rachmaninov.  Could it be possible that Ron Grainer was influenced by or borrowing from that
work? Or could McGoohan have maybe played a recording of it for him
and said "I want the theme to sound something like this," While not in
the main melody itself some of the repeated notes sound similar. The
mood is melancholy and though I dont know much about music it sounded
uncanny to me."
So, when it comes to the Prisoner theme, was old Sergei Number One and Ron Grainer just a Number Two? Coincidence? Or blatant plagiarism?Judge for yourself, play the midi-file of 'Vocalise' below and see what you think. I've also provided a pseudo-classical version of the Prisoner Theme itself for comparison purposes.
Thanks go to Jonathan for the inspiration for this article and for the classical music 'in-joke' in the header. |
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