There are two cars involved in that scene, and the audience really has to focus on the sounds of the two cars without the distraction of music. They need to know who's coming around the corner. The movies are all different due to their time periods and their stories. The French method of suspense was psychological, like Rene Clement. In the British, like Hitchcock, the suspense is gradually built up.
American thrillers tend to be action, though there are elements of psychology and suspense.
One of the masterpieces is The Naked City , and in that sense I think Clint Eastwood's character was a lot like Barry Fitzgerald's in that film. I didn't really have a theme for Clint Eastwood, but there were a few little motifs. Then I had a very scary theme for Scorpio, the villain. Toward the end there's another little one, the pathos theme, for the tragedy. He's dealing with the garbage of society, and that's a very 'down' theme.