A shark slowly advancing toward you. Studying magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A space opera where opposite forces battle each other with swords made of energy. An archaeologist who singlehandedly fights off a Nazi army. All these visuals wouldn’t be what they are without the musical bravado created by John Williams, a composer whose work has dominated the soundtrack of cinema for the past half century. For the next week the Brattle Theatre will be celebrating his contribution to film with some of his most iconic scores along with his lesser known ones, beginning with his most recent recent, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and ending with one of his first movies, The Killers. If you have an ear for music, consider yourself a cinephile or both, then you shouldn’t miss this one.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

dir. J.J. Abrams

2015

135 min

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/sGbxmsDFVnE” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Valley of the Dolls

dir. Mark Robson

1967

123 min

<iframe width=”420″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/u-TXJMKVa_g” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Raiders of the Lost Ark

dir. Steven Spielberg

1981

115 min

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ZOcoxjeUYo” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Family Plot

dir. Alfred Hitchcock

1976

120 min

<iframe width=”420″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/1ooRLrpD7oc” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

The Killers

dir. Don Siegel

1964

93 min

<iframe width=”420″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/HLcW_tHkaIU” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>