This is the legedary unused score which was originally written for Hitchcock's film by Bernard Herrmann. The lasting significance of TORN CURTAIN rests in its being the ninth and final collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and composer Bernard Herrmann. Their work together on The Trouble With Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, The Birds (for which the composer worked as a sound consultant), and Marnie epitomizes the heights which director-composer relationships can reach. Unfortunately, their association came to a crashing end during the post-production phase of this picture.

The studio decided that it wanted a commercially exploitable score. Hitchcock ultimately accepted the studio's philosophy, but he must have known that this approach would be met with derision by Herrmann. After a tense moment in the studio and a heated conversation over the phone, the composer was removed from the project. Hitchcock and Herrmann never spoke again.