Movie Title Sequences

BY: Matt Elisofon

Se7en (1995)
The fifth star of this iconic David Fincher horror flick, after Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Gwyneth Paltrow, has to be Kyle Cooper, the designer of the brutally dark and disturbing opening titles.

 

The Pink Panther (1963)
This lovable cartoon feline (co-designed by legendary Warner Bros. animator Friz Freleng) and the accompanying jazz tune (by Henry Mancini) might actually be better remembered than the movie itself, a Blake Edwards original with Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.

 

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Don’t let the unappetizing pre-fab food fool you—the title sequence of this oddball indie comedy is one of the finest visual confections ever cooked up. It was based on a suggestion by one of the actors, Aaron Ruell.

 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Propelled by Ennio Morricone’s famed musical theme (which became an AM radio hit) and Clint Eastwood’s mean mug, this title sequence, with its requisite names and faces rendered via paintbrush, splatter and smoke, is absolutely spectacular.

 

From Russia With Love (1963)
While the names behind this production are seductively warped and obfuscated as they’re projected on the gyrations, both fast and slow, of women’s legs, busts, bellies, and backsides, one name comes to mind with beautiful clarity: Bond, James Bond.

 

Goldfinger (1964)
Shirley Bassey gives Bond, in his third movie outing, a top-40 song that’s as etched in a generation’s unconscious as the (almost nude) woman covered in gold paint whose skin forms the backdrop for these haunting titles.

 

Casino Royale (2006)
It’s only right that the film responsible for revamping the Bond franchise and introducing Daniel Craig as 007 had an opener to match, employing card iconography, and the classic casino aesthetic, to great effect.

 

Skyfall (2012)
As an unconscious Bond is dragged underwater and a myriad of gloomy knives and guns begin to descend into the stunning and murky deep, Adele, the Patron Saint of Romantic Regret, sings her Oscar-winning song.

 

Vertigo (1958)
In this Hitchcock classic, title designer extraordinaire Saul Bass, with a simple spinning spiral, brilliantly visualizes the titular sensation without the displeasure that goes along with it. Not to worry though, Hitchcock has that latter part covered. The Bernard Herrmann score helps a bit, too.

 

North by Northwest (1959)
Another Hitchcock classic, this one about misinterpreted codes and multilayered spy chases, has a Saul Bass visual metaphor (and Bernard Herrmann score) for its titles that says it all: an all-green canvas criss-crossed by a series of parallel and intersecting lines create a grid that dissolves into the windows of a building, reflecting street traffic.

 

Seconds (1966)
Saul Bass’s funhouse-mirror distortions of eyes, ears, nose and mouth perfectly captures the mutable nature of identity in this innovative psychological thriller with a cult following, starring Rock Hudson and directed by John Frankenheimer.

 

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Graphic designer Saul Bass worked with Otto Preminger on many of the director’s greatest films, but the abstracted and deconstructed image of the corpse in the title sequence for this classic murder mystery is the most iconic of all.

 

Charade (1963)
For Stanley Donen’s spy romance pastiche (starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn), which one critic called “the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made,” the opening titles, a matrix of colorful spinning wheels, curves, and hard lines, are just so damn groovy it hurts.

 

Thank You for Smoking (2005)
You might hate Big Tobacco but you’ve got to admit they can package the hell out of a product. Even Jason Reitman, the director of this satire of sin-industry lobbyists’ amorality, opted to exploit cigarette label graphics for his opening credits to wonderful effect.

 

Foxy Brown (1974)
Pam Grier dancing in prismatic silhouette to classic ’70s Blaxploitation music is alone worth the price of admission.

 

Do the Right Thing (1989)
This greatest of Spike Lee Joints has opening titles with a riot of strengths: Rosie Perez dancing like a buxom boxer, Public Enemy performing “Fight the Power,” Ernest Dickerson’s street-lit imagery and neon-kente-cloth graphics. Lee claims it was inspired by Bye Bye Birdie!

 

Funny Face (1967)
Photographer Richard Avedon did the glamorous title backgrounds for this Stanley Donen romantic comedy (starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire), loosely based on his life in the fashion world, with the opening cleverly envisioned as a light-box for viewing photographs and negatives.

 

Catch Me if You Can (2002)
Thanks to computer imagery, this animated opening title sequence has a turbo-charged retro look that, like the DiCaprio-Spielberg collaboration itself, is a joy to watch. And the John Williams theme is one of his best.

 

Taxi Driver (1976)
A taxicab demonically cuts through steam in a dreamily distorted ’70s Times Square, seen through the aching eyes of a driver (Robert De Niro) going insane. As far as establishing the world and tone of a film goes, this opener is a Martin Scorsese master class. The lush score was Bernard Herrmann’s last.

 

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Spanish cinematic maestro Pedro Almodóvar aims for a cool, Pop-arty appropriation of fashion magazine spreads in the opening title of his high camp comedy-thriller, and stylishly hits the mark.

 

Auntie Mame (1958)
If you are dazzled by kaleidoscopes and glittering gems—and seriously, who isn’t?—you will go nuts for these titles and backgrounds, a perfect fit for a movie that celebrates bohemian values and lavish life-styles.

 

Ed Wood (1994)
The mock-macabre quality of this intro, replete with lightning bolts, tombstones, a theremin theme and a giant octopus, is Tim Burton’s sharp yet affectionate way of recalling low-budget ’60s horror flicks and the worst director of all time.

 

Artists and Models (1956)
Though the beautiful and leggy models in the intro for this Martin and Lewis comedy succeed in holding a classic pose, most fail delightfully at keeping a straight face.

 

Sin City (2005)
As to be expected, the graphics in the opener of this film, which was co-directed by Frank Miller himself, perfectly reproduces the seedy-sexy-noirish look and feel of his adapted comic book. Fanboys rejoice!

 

Bad Education (2012)
Almodóvar evokes his own version of Hollywood Babylon—filled with corrupt Christianity, power games and gay and transgender sexuality—in this title sequence of ripped layers of Ben-Day-dotted prints, inky graphics and drawings, all in red, white, black and gray.