Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For Wright's reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1984 and the presenter was Roy Plumlee. Our cast away this week is an Oscar- producer of British films, David Putnam.

David, is music important to you?

Well, it's been fundamental. I mean, I can think of a dozen times during my life where it's propped

me up emotionally and once a try to even financially I think.

Do you have a say in the music for films or do you appoint a music director who does it all for you?

No, I have a very fortunate one of the categories that falls within the kind of purview of the producer

and always has done.

So I have a substantial say, primarily in the choice of composer and style, in a stylistic

choice. Obviously at a certain point you hand over to the of a

stylistic choice. Obviously at a certain point you hand over to the composer.

In the old days when you really have to go into a studio,

when the composer had composed, you had no idea other than maybe a few tinkled notes on a piano

what you're going to hear.

And it was always terrifying to be faced with 60 or 100 musicians and hear it for the very first time.

Now, fortunately, with electronic music, you can get a very clear idea of what you let yourself in for.

How important to you as a producer is the music in a film?

It can't be overstated. I think there are three critical creative elements that go into a great movie.

One of course is the screenplay, the other is the visual

content, the responsibility of the director, within which I would catch up the

acting performances. And the third emotional content is the music. I saw Charrots

...