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The depth of the recording for Devil in a Blue Dress is somewhat shallow and almost always conveyed at a slow, a plodding pace. Bernstein's demeanor is definitely dark, and the romance is unconvincing, which is likely on purpose given the lack of trust between the characters. You can't be sure who the lead can rely upon in his various relationships, so the various themes range from tepid to slightly mysterious. The main one for Easy Rawlins himself is the most prevalent, uneasy and difficult to anchor at times and intentionally wayward, making it unsatisfying as a whole. The main melody debuts on high clarinets at 1:08 into "Theme From Devil in a Blue Dress" after a long intro, and the character's slightly swaggering travel motif factors about a minute into that cue. The use of trumpet in the various incarnations of the idea is for both a perfunctory connection to the jazz of the songs and the character's military service. A piano introduces the flutes to the idea in "Easy at Home," and that mode continues after the Daphne material in the middle of "Coretta." The Rawlins theme takes an urgent turn on woodwinds in "Albright" before guiding the suspense thereafter. Bernstein's more upbeat traveling motif thumps on piano in "To Carter's" against the melody, persisting along those lines in the latter half of "Drive to Dupree's" with timpani depth. Bass strings meander with more flair under winds in "Leaving Carter's," and the idea is stunned on low woodwinds in the disturbed ambience for the discovery in "Finding the Pictures." The associated travel motif variation gains more urgency in the pulsing "Malibu Chase," and similar material explodes for a moment in "Drive to Cabin." (Some of these action cues were unused in the film, which is unfortunate given that they provide far more life than the rest of the recording.) The main theme for Rawlins experiences its expected catharsis in the final scenes. After the melody's grim statements at the outset of "Albright is Killed" and pensive in "Joppy Dead," the travel motif figures in the middle of "Daphne and Carter" before the primary melody assumes the main role at the cue's end. By far the warmest rendition comes from the ensemble in "Taking Daphne Home," and the bluesy opening suite rendition is reprised on trumpet in "The End." It immediately flows out of the Daphne material early in the unused "End Credits," the rest of the fairly long cue revisiting the embrace of "Taking Daphne Home."

Often mingling with the Rawlins theme in Devil in a Blue Dress is that for the lead female, Daphne, who receives an elusive piano and flute identity of slight noir sadness that also serves the Coretta character. Opening "Theme From Devil in a Blue Dress" on its base instrumentation, this theme starts hinting on saxophone about a minute into "Coretta" in anxious shades, becomes fragmented badly in the quiet torment of "Dreaming of Coretta," and shifts to a variant of Rawlins' theme for low woodwinds in "Ambassador Hotel." It's then starkly tenuous early in "Drive to Dupree's," stews on flutes over prickly plucked strings in "Easy Confronts Daphne," and returns to its original, slightly mysterious piano personality in "Daphne and Carter," where it factors significantly in the latter half of the cue against the Rawlins theme. The composer opens "End Credits" with the trumpet emphasizing the theme more strongly. Less obvious is the material for the de facto villain, Albright, an elusive melody on piano not too much unlike Daphne's theme in hesitant personality. Very delicate on piano at the outset of "Albright," this idea opens "Easy Leaves Jail" on piano, slightly taunts in "Dead McGee," reduces to solo piano and low woodwind horror in "Cabin Window," and suffers for a moment early in "Albright is Killed." Among other, singular ideas is a theme for the Mouse character, which is heard with percussive alarm and rising figures of fear in "Mouse," xylophone in the lead. A suspense motif consists of light rhythmic pulses of nerves for minor thirds and questioning phrases in "The Letter" as well. All of it remains tonal, for the most part, the few action cues slightly upbeat and almost comedic in the methods of the composer's 1980's works. Nothing offensive awaits in the score for Devil in a Blue Dress, but it's also inert for most of its running time. An extremely dry and constrained recording is a detriment but matches the period of the songs. Only seven minutes from the score appeared on the original album, covering the top highlights but otherwise overshadowed by the songs. The narrative is nicely restored on a belated, 2025 La-La Land Records album finally featuring the score alone, though the alternate cues included at the product's end are more interesting in some ways. The fuller action in "Malibu Chase" is particularly engaging though perhaps misplaced in this work. Although that album is a nicely faithful presentation, seek Bernstein's score for Hoodlum instead, as it offers far more personality along the same style.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Elmer Bernstein reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.5 (in 25 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.2 (in 12,253 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 52:17