A Degree Of Murder

Mord Und Totschlag {aka. A Degree Of Murder}

Directed by: Volker Schlöndorff  Producer: Rob Houwer  Music: Brian Jones

Running Time: 87 min   Color   Date: 1967

When a young woman accidentally kills her ex-lover during a fight, she decides to conceal the body. Then she becomes involved with not one but both of the men she finds to help her dispose his body at a construction site. And this is just one of her many problems!

Brian Jones scored the soundtrack and shows up in a scene

Despite its film noir trappings, director Volker Schlondorff's dispassionate thriller transcends its sub genre to become a more broad-based study of alienation and angst in West Germany during the 1960's. Clearly a product of its times, the film stars Anita Pallenberg as Marie, who shoots her ex-lover (Werner Enke) when he comes to her apartment and attempts to rape her. Brian Jones, who was dating Pallenberg at the time, makes a brief appearance in the film as well as writing and performing the bouncy score.

A Degree Of Murder was Germany's entry for the Cannes Film Festival of 1967, held April 24-May 11, 1967. Although he attended the festival, any pride in his soundtrack work was crushed by Anita's presence at the festival. Brian left the day before the festival ended, only to return to his London flat to be busted by Scotland Yard within hours for drug charges. With the loss of Anita and his impending drug trial, Brian never really got a chance to celebrate his success.

Unfortunately, an official soundtrack has never been released. Several bootlegs claiming to be the 'soundtrack' have appeared, but they are all straight dubs from the film, with dialogue present and often in terrible sound quality.

The soundtrack was recorded at IBC Studios between late 1966 and early 1967 with all music composed, arranged and produced by Brian (with Glyn Johns engineering). The soundtrack also featured session musicians Jimmy Page (guitar), Nicky Hopkins (piano), Peter Gosling (background vocals; rumoured to have played Mellotron), Kenny Jones (drums) and Mike Leander (Orchestra). Brian played all the other instruments including: sitar, organ, recorder, banjo, harpsichord, autoharp, dulcimer, clarinet, and harmonica.

KRLA Beat, April 8, 1967