1. Alfred Hitchcock, before he shoots a film has worked out what music underscore(s) he will be using and to what specific action on the screen. That doesn't mean that he won't change things or improvise ... it means there is a plan. Thus, the music is part and parcel with the development of the shooting script and music is a key element and inspiration for each film scene.
2. A music underscore is NOT just there to help create the film, it is part of the art form. The music syncs (i.e. matches) the specific actions on the screen as a final product of the film. Certainly, anyone that has studied Hitchcock films notice the duality (for lack of a better word) of his films. That extends to the film's music with an official score and an underscore.
3. Hitchcock loves to use the same music over and over within a film and from film to film as he sees fit much like thematic elements are repeated in a film. For example, in Vertigo, how many times does Hitch put Scottie at close approximation to Madeleine with her seemingly unaware of his presence?
4. Hitch may use many different songs within a specific scene. Artists look for and are interested in many different ideas and points of inspiration. Rarely is inspiration singled-tracked.
5. Hitch doesn't just use music he likes. He uses music he likes AND that were themselves created to film. Thus he pays homage to these artists. It is also a bit of a snowball effect. A film inspires a song. That song inspires another film. That film inspires another song ... etc. etc. That doesn't mean that he might not sync his films to classical music or opera as well, just that there is a HUGE pattern of syncing his films to music inspired by movies.
But, talk is cheap so let's go through a full example.
Hitchcock used the song "Till There Was You" in his film Vertigo. I'm using the Original Broadway Cast Album version from the musical The Music Man for all but one sync. This doesn't mean that that version necessarily was used by the filmmakers but helps to show common elements and patterns. Key sync points are Scottie oblivious to what's around him as he follows Madeleine around San Francisco. Note the yellow roses in the cemetery even when it is only the non-vocal (instrumental portion) where they would be singing "And there were wonderful roses, they tell me" if there were vocals.
So, other than the music working fairly well, how does this become more than a coincidence? Well, other filmmakers use the same music to sync to their films WHILE doing an hommage to Vertigo. One of those films is Perfume: Portrait of a Murderer. In it, we have the rather obvious reference to the yellow roses in the cemetery along with a gravestone with a Spanish woman's name on it. The other major connection is the protagonist and the stunningly beautiful woman being so close to each other by the gravestone, with the woman seemingly being unaware of his presence a la Madeleine in Vertigo.
So, if that's the case, what film inspired Meredith Willson when he was writing "Till There Was You?"
There may have been other films, but one of them was Hitchcock's Rear Window.
Not much is needed other than to watch the video. I particularly like how the lyrics:
There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
has birds NOT 'winging' but just sitting on the roof of Miss Torso's apartment as most red-blooded males concentrate on her considerable talents. Note: Meredith Willson sampled multiple scenes in Rear Window, taking advantage of the red roses around the courtyard.
So, what's to help prove that Meredith Willson wrote this song to Rear Window beyond a decent sync? Well, other filmmakers reference the song sync and Rear Window in their films. An example is Stanley Kubrick's film: Lolita.
Kubrick has Lolita (when we first meet her) wearing a two-piece suit sunning herself in the back yard of her house. Naturally, the two piece outfit references Miss Torso, the sunbathing referencing the woman sunbathing on the roof in Rear Window and the loud radio the bit of business of the loud radio that bothers the composer as he works on his song. Note how Charlotte Haze mentions her prize winning yellow roses, a reference to Vertigo, with Humbert only having eyes for Lolita.
For this song, I used The Beatles cover version. What I'm stating is that they were 'in the know' about what Kubrick was up to. It wasn't by some random chance that they used that song, The Beatles wrote other (original) music to the film, Lolita. What songs? Did I mention that I'm writing a book? Another small clue comes from Kubrick who has Charlotte Haze give out her phone number as 1776. Note how, Humbert (James Mason) separates the number into two accentuating the '76' portion. The 76, a small clue to 76 Trombones, the big number in the musical, The Music Man.
Another film that references the song and Rear Window is Roger Vadim's film, ... and God Created Woman. In it, Vadim has Brigitte Bardot sunbathing in the nude with red flowers around with much older men interested in her, one of them being a guy watching her through (you guessed it) the rear window while confined to his wheelchair a la Rear Window. For the part:
There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
I soften the music and boasted the sound effects so you can hear the really heavy bird chirping. Overall, this sync isn't that good but hopefully helps to show intent.
So, if you're open to the idea that artists (both filmmakers and musicians) share and are cognizant of what each is up to ... you're well on the way to finding syncs of your own!
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