I watched Dodsworth from 1936 with Walter Huston, David Niven, and Mary Astor last evening on TCM. Alfred Newman is credited as the musical director for this classic MGM film directed by William Wyler (Ben Hur). It was a very good movie that I recommend for viewing.
Alfred uses very interesting Gershwinesque music as the Paris scene starts, and this is in the scope of the "Golden Age New York" thread that I created a few months ago -- he's using minor chords to differentiate NYC (e.g., HTMAM New York xylophone uses major chords) & Paris (e.g., Dodsworth Paris xylophone uses minor chords).
There's also 2 great ballroom dance arrangements: one is for a scene on a cruise liner; the other is later in the movie, and takes place in a restaurant with Dodsworth's wife and her lover, Kurt. Al uses his typically soulful violin melodies for emotional interaction between characters throughout the movie.
I believe Al is using Debussy's Prelude Book I #8 "The Girl With The Flaxen Hair" for the scene between Dodsworth and his wife as they discuss the "summer lease." It's very interesting in that it's performed with violin and piano - I am just about sure the piano only plays about three or four chords to complete some key phrases. Very nice.
