Chamber Music

Jerry Goldsmith - The Invaders

(The Twilight Zone soundtrack, 1959 - 1964)

 

Chances are you've already heard an extract from Jerry Goldsmith's The Invaders suite without even knowing as it's cropped up in various television shows and films since its creation. Different sections of the track have been mined like it was the stock musical equivalent of Bob James' Nautilus for shows like Rawhide (1959 - 1965) and The Fugitive (1963 - 1967).

Named after The Invaders, from The Twilight Zone episode where a mute Agnes Moorehead is besieged by tiny alien invaders in her cabin, Jerry Goldsmith's composition would make a recurring musical appearance throughout the show. A favourite example of this being for the episode, To Serve Man, where it can be heard as the musical motif to the big twist:

The Twilight Zone (To Serve Man - "It's a cook book!" scene) 

(Richard L. Bare, 1962)

The first time I recall hearing it was on Lewis Teague's awesome Jaws rip-off, Alligator (1980), where baby Ramón, the pet alligator, is flushed down the toilet in the pre-credits. What are the chances the Farrelly brothers watched the film and made the same musical association with a toilet as I still do? The reason being, the tinkling of the ivories portion from The Invaders can also be heard during the unforgettable toilet scene twist from the nineties classic Dumb and Dumber (1994):

Dumb and Dumber (Toilet scene)

(Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly, 1994)

Guessing the Farrellys weren't content with having just one toilet escapade as The Invaders turned up in a deleted scene from the film. Kind of thankful it wasn't included in the theatrical cut of the film as it might have ruined the overall tone, in my opinion.