Blog Post

An Interview with Herman Stein

Randall D. Larson

Interview with Herman Stein (1915-2007) by Randall D. Larson

Interviewed May 6 , 1983; Originally published in CinemaScore

The Film Music Journal Issue 13/14 (1985).

Born in Philadelphia in 1915, Herman Stein was a self-taught musician who became a noted arranger for jazz orchestras and radio programs in New York during the 1930s and 40s. In 1948 he moved to Los Angeles, where he studied formally with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, joining the music staff at Universal Pictures in 1951, where he remained until 1958. The Universal films of that period were scored by a team of composers working under music director Joseph Gershenson, who headed Universal’s music department throughout the 1950s and 60s. Interviewed in May of 1983, Stein explained the peculiarities of the Universal music factory and his experiences scoring many of the well-remembered B-movies of the period. Herman Stein died on March 15, 2007 – rdl.

You worked on many of the classic Universal science fiction films of the 50s, often in collaboration with many other composers…

Yes. There were a staff of composers in those days. There was me, Frank Skinner and Henry Mancini, and of course Hans Salter was frequently called in because he had been the director of the music department prior to my coming there. Heinz Roemheld and others would come in now and then when we needed more people, but I was on salary there with Frank Skinner and Hank Mancini, we were the main three, along with David Tamkin, the orchestrator, who was also on salary. The head of the music department was Joseph Gershenson. We’d grind pictures out like a factory in those days – of course it’s entirely different now. Sometimes two or three of us would work on a picture; one of us would come up with the main theme and the others would use that theme in the cues we’d do. Sometimes I would do a reel or Hank would do a reel, or Skinner would do a reel, that sort of thing. It was quite a collaborative effort.

Working with all those other composers, how was a musical consistency maintained throughout the film?
Sometimes somebody would inherit the "Main Title", and we would have a theme there. Whoever had to use that particular theme would compose it in his own particular way. For example, we did a picture called IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE that was a little different. I remember that I did the "Main Title" and some other cues, and we also used some library music. Everybody would do different things, but for continuity, somebody would come up with a certain theme for this character or that character. When the rest of us had to compose a cue that involved that particular character we based our writing on that theme. We actually used each other’s themes interchangeably but we would compose it in our own way.

When you take a theme and you compose something on it you are composing – the fact that you used another theme doesn’t mean that you are not a composer. I always think, as an example, of the beginning of Beethoven’s 5th. If somebody should say Ba-Ba-Ba-BOM and then you proceed to write the rest of the First Movement, you are a composer. But not according to ASCAP! That’s the strange thing about that whole system – whoever writes the melody is considered the composer, but that is not always meaningful. You could take a snatch of the melody and you can build all kinds of things on it, but you are a composer, that’s what you are doing.

Anyhow, for continuity that’s the way it would be. Somebody had a theme and whoever had a particular cue would use it. I would use Hank’s themes for something, or he would use something I wrote, or Frank Skinner wrote, or Hans would do it. We all would do it the same way. Sometimes we wouldn’t get credit for the music. We did an awful lot of pictures that way, where just the head of the department got credit for “music supervision”; there was no actual music credit, but that’s fair enough.

That’s why in many of those films only Joseph Gershenson is given music credit?
When his name appeared it would say “music supervision.” He was not a composer, he was a very excellent conductor and he had very excellent ideas. He assigned the music to us; he would say, “Hank, you do this reel” and “Frank, you do that.” He was an executive, actually, and a very splendid one, too, he had excellent taste, and I think we’re all very grateful to him. I am and I know that Hank Mancini is because he gave us both a job.

You scored a number of science fiction films for Universal, starting with IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE in 1953. Do you recall if you took any special approach on these kinds of films?
I should point out in the beginning that in 1953 films were different and the music would be different. Your approach would be different, you’d want a different sound, that’s why in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE I used the theremin. The theremin had been used before, and today of course I wouldn’t think of using a theremin, I’d use something else. But you approach a science fiction film like you do any other film. Music is music, and if you compose for a dramatic situation, which happens to be a film, you approach it fundamentally the same way. The fact that it’s an outer space plot, or a supernatural one, really doesn’t matter to the composer. You’re composing music for a film, and you’re fulfilling the function of a film composer which is to intensify what you see on the screen – not necessarily to describe it or to identify it, but to get an overall effect. When you see a film with music and everything, the photography, the story, it all becomes a homogeneous whole, and everything contributes to that total effect. So it’s really no different writing for a science fiction picture than any other, it is not a specialty. The fact that you do it today with the synthesizer doesn’t make it more outer space. You can write the most conventional and lousy music for a synthesizer as you can for a violin! And I hear plenty of it! And writing sound effects doesn’t make it necessarily more eerie.

You can get a cretin to write a thirty-two bar tune and play it on a guitar, but that does not necessarily make him a film scorer. They may use it in the picture, but that doesn’t mean that he scored a picture. I have little patience with that, really. For example, Randall, you write, and I’m sure you have no patience with any so-called writer who can not write a simple, declarative sentence, and likewise I have no patience with a so-called artist who can not draw (even Picasso, and the most far-out guys in the world, all know how to draw), and I have no patience with a so-called composer who doesn’t take the time and sweat to learn his craft, and to learn how to orchestrate. You can tap out a melody and yet it does not make you a composer. A film composer has to be able to write music. You can’t just be a cretin and learn six chords on a guitar and then become a film scorer.

The nature of music, specifically for science fiction films, will change through the years. It already has. They wouldn’t make these rather naive outer space pictures, they make them differently today, and therefore the music is different, just as the photography and the effects are different. I’m thinking of Bernard Herrmann, for example, in PSYCHO, which is an excellent score, where he used sixty-five strings, and that wouldn’t be any more exciting if he had ten synthesizers! Of course, if you were writing it today you might use a synthesizer, but you would write differently. Whenever you compose music, you write your music in terms of what the instruments are. In other words, you don’t write something and say, “I’ll give that to a flute.” You conceive it for flute, you conceive it for strings, and ultimately (which they’re not doing yet), you’ll conceive synthesizer music precisely for that instrument. You will think in terms of synthesizer.

How would you describe the music you did provide for IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and some of these others?
I don’t know how to describe it. I remember I did quite a bit of the film, including the Main Title. There were others, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, for example. I remember Joe Gershenson and I discussing it, that’s the one that goes Bom-ba-BOM, that three note figure with the dissonance at the end. I think that was my particular theme, and then we had some others. Frank had one, and I think Hank had a few. In those days you had a theme for this and a theme for that; that’s not necessarily always the best way to go, that came from Wagner, you know, the idea of the leitmotif. In those early days, we laughed at a guy who’d say, “well, Wagner used the leitmotif, and I used a leitmotif, too; so therefore I write like Wagner!” That’s pretentious, really. The idea of using a particular theme for a particular thing is not always the way to go, but that was the thing to do at that time, and sometimes it did help. It is very useful sometimes, like the JAWS theme, for example – which of course is the ALEXANDER NEVSKY theme, I’m sure you’re familiar with that. Anyhow, that’s the approach I used, I don’t know how to describe it any further.

There were some others, I can’t remember all of them, but I know there were quite a few. THE MONOLITH MONSTERS – well, that doesn’t count so much – THIS ISLAND EARTH; that one I did the whole picture except the last reel. There was a lot of dialog in there and the idea was just to get a sustained mood, there was nothing particularly different about that. I remember I did a lot of cues on THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, some of them were just straight dramatic cues, that’s all. I don’t know what music you’d use for a person getting smaller, you can’t get too literal with that thing. We had things like TARANTULA, THE DEADLY MANTIS – we all worked on that, will Bill Lava and Hank Mancini.

The only thing I object to in science fiction pictures is when the music just becomes sound effects. That does not help. There’s one generality that I’d like to make, and it’s not only about science fiction pictures but about all film music, and I think it’s an important one, and that is this: music can be a good piece of music, played away from the film, and it may not help the picture because it may not be right, but if it is bad as music, it can never, never help a picture. I don’t know if anybody else ever made this observation but I make it twenty times a day! If it is bad music it is not going to help. A lot of pictures work not because of the music but in spite of it, and I’ve heard many pictures that would have been better if the music had been better.

I think of a picture like THE GREAT MAN, that’s one of the few that I got a credit on, we just wrote a main title theme, and that set a kind of mood. I think that’s a good illustration. The music has to set a mood for you, sometimes right from the main title. It will set a mood that will grab you right away, whether it’s a science fiction picture or a horror picture or a dramatic picture or, for that matter, a comedy. There was one picture I did and I guess it’s one of the best ones, called THE UNGUARDED MOMENT, an Esther Williams picture, and that had a lot of frantic stuff in it. Similar music could be written, I guess, for a science fiction picture, as well.

The Universal pictures used a lot of music library material over and over, didn’t they?
Some things we did just with library stock. Some bad ones, too, because they ground out a lot of junk in those days! It was a studio that needed an awful lot of music because they turned out so many pictures. I think Gershenson should get all the credit on that, because he ran the department, and he said “you have to pick the right people to do it and you have to look over them.” I know I did a lot of things like THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH, I worked on that, too. Hans did and everybody else did, and we did a lot of Abbott & Costello and Ma & Pa Kettle. I did many of those. I was looking at that Themes From Horror Movies album, [Coral CRL 57240/Varese VC 81077] where they used some of these things, but I didn’t like the way they were orchestrated. This was not the orchestration we used in the pictures.

Are there any of these films you’re especially proud of?
I did a complete picture for Roger Corman, called THE INTRUDER, and I’m happy that Roger Corman was pleased with that film because when he speaks of his pictures, and he’s done so many, he says that the one he always likes, his pet picture, was THE INTRUDER; but that’s one nobody’s ever heard of, I suppose. It was from a book written by Charles Beaumont. I had written the music to that, and I’m very proud of it, but it doesn’t play around very much anymore. William Shatner was the star, and he was superb. We were all proud of that picture, everybody who worked on it. It’ll never mean a thing to us, but everybody has a little pet picture, and THE INTRUDER, for Roger Corman, is my pet. I think that was a fine picture, for the time.

How would you describe the music you wrote for it?
It was dramatic, and I like it very much. The main title was something that they use a lot now, and we used a similar thing in THE UNGUARDED MOMENT, that pulsating kind of a thing. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s pulsating and exciting.

You worked in television in the mid 1960s…
Yes. After Universal, I just free-lanced for a while and did different television series at Fox. On these shows, whenever I would get a segment I would do the whole segment. On LOST IN SPACE, it wasn’t a collaborative effort, we each wrote a whole segment, and Johnny Williams wrote the theme. But I agree with Ernest Gold in CinemaScore [#10], I hate television! I don’t like the idea of the rush.

These horror and science fiction pictures we’ve discussed were, of course, only a portion of your overall output for films. Can you comment about some of the other types of films you’ve scored and any particular impressions that may stand out?
I can only say that there were all kinds. There were something like eighty-five different titles that I’ve worked on. When you worked on a studio staff, and they turned out so many pictures a year, like sixty pictures a year, you worked on a lot. I worked on MISTER CORY with Hank, MAN WITHOUT A STAR, that was with Hans Salter. I got a credit on SLIM CARTER, which was a western. There’s a whole bunch of pictures. THE TOY TIGER was one that I did with Hank – there was a picture called THE PRIVATE WAR OF MAJOR BENSON and Hank wrote the theme for the main title, and then I took Hank’s eight bars, wrote a middle, and I orchestrated a main title that became THE TOY TIGER. That, with me and Hank, was a purely collaborative effort.

What are your current musical activities? I note you’re no longer scoring films.
In the 60s, I just withdrew from the business altogether, and sort of dropped out. I got involved in mathematics and that drove me to financial commodities, and I spend a lot of my time with that, now. There are only two things, if I live long enough, that I want to finish. There’s a ballet, from a story by Ben Hecht, he wrote a novel called Count Ruga, and within that novel there was a little story about a magician, and it’s a magnificent story. In fact the one who called it to my attention was Chuck Beaumont (I knew some of the writers, I knew Chuck, and I know Dick Matheson, a very fine writer). I always wanted to do a ballet, and I remember speaking to Ben Hecht once, just over the telephone (I never met him), and I said “I love your beautiful little story and I would love to do a ballet on it” and asked if I could have his permission. He said, “Yes, all I want is fifty percent of the losses!”, and that was cute.

Another thing that I’m working on is an opera. Princess Pamela, based on a novel by Ray Russell, whose quite a good science fiction writer. If I can do that ballet and the opera I think I would die happy. I’m not involved in the business too much now – I’m still in the Academy, of course, and I get to hear what’s being done. Some of it is very good, and most of it is very bad, as always. But that’s with anything, the good stuff is about ten percent, the mediocre is about eighty, and the junk is a good portion too. But what is good is very good, and I’m sure this was true in the time of Mozart, Bach and Paleolithic Man!

Finally, would there be any other comments or recollections you’d care to share about your career as a film composer?
After I drifted away, I kept my interest in film music – I can’t lose it any more than I can lose interest in music in general; after all, I started very young. I played the piano at an embarrassingly early age, and I’ve always been involved in music until just recently. The only thing about film music in general, to repeat my earlier comments, I should just point out that thirty years from now, pictures will be different and the music will be different, too. Certain basic things will always be the same, they always were and they always are, and that is that the function of music in a film is to intensify what you’re seeing. That will always be the function no matter what tools are being used. And, again, as far as the synthesizers go, I think we have yet to hear them used properly. It hasn’t been done yet, it’s been used, but I’m sorry it’s just been, more or less, an effect. It’s a wonderful device. The only reason I’d like to live a thousand years is to hear what it’s going to be like! I’m very curious, aren’t you, Randall?

Yes, that would be very interesting!
Well, then, I’ll see you a thousand years from now and we’ll check it out!

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Nearly all of these Universal films, as was their practice during the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, were jointly scored by a team of composers supervised by music director Joseph Gershenson. Many of these scores included re-used library music, or “track,” in addition to or instead of original composition, often in the form of short cues re-used from previous films owned by the same studio (which is why composers such as Miklos Rozsa turn up, 20 or 30 seconds worth, in films like FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN!) Credit listings on the films themselves often credited only the music director or the composer who had the most music in the film in question; the other contributing composers receiving no credit.

The following filmography lists all of the films in which Herman Stein’s music appeared. It was compiled from ASCAP cue sheets which list every musical cue in each film, and I have noted the other composers whose work also appears in the same films, though I have not listed source music and songs–only “background” scoring. Those films in which library or track music appeared are indicated as such after either the title or the composer’s name, all other work should be considered original composition for the film in question. Selected films of particular musical importance list the titles of the cues after their composer, in the interests of knowing precisely who wrote what. Author of the main title cue is also usually indicated, as this often reflects authorship of the score’s main theme. My thanks to Heran Stein for allowing me to meticulously investigate his file of cue sheets and thus providing this complete record of his feature film appearances. – R.D. Larson

1951

THE STRANGE DOOR (horror)

Stein (arranged Mozart cue for “March of the Priests” only); rest of score is all track by Paul Dessau, William Lava (incl. Main Title), Charles Previn, Miklos Rozsa, Hans Salter, Paul Sawtell, Frank Skinner, Edward Ward.

1952

BACK AT THE FRONT (aka WILLIE & JOE IN BACK AT THE FRONT) (comedy)

Stein (incl. Main & End Title); Henry Mancini.

BILLY MAY AND HIS ORCHESTRA (short)

Stein (5 seconds only), rest of score is songs/swing music.

CONNEE BOSWELL & ADA LEONARD (short)

Stein, Everett Carter & Milton Rosen.

THE DUEL AT SILVER CREEK (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title); plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Milton Rosen, Miklos Rozsa (short cues from BRUCE FORCE, etc), Leith Stevens, Everett Carter, Oliver DRake, Jimmy Wakely, Paul Sawtell, Walter Scharf.

FRANCIS GOES TO WEST POINT (comedy)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title, some track); Milton Rosen (some track); Nicholas Nuzzi; Charles Zimmerman; plus track by Leith Stevens, Walter Schumann, Paul Van Loan.

HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GAL? (musical)

Stein; Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); plus track by Frank Skinner, Milton Rosen, Hans Salter.

HERE COME THE NELSONS (drama)

Stein (most of score); Milton Rosen; plus track by Walter Scharf, Edgar Fairchild, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Walter Schumann, Gus Kahn & Charles Previn, Hans Salter, Leith Stevens, Frank Skinner, Lloyd Akridge, Paul Sawtell.

HORIZON’S WEST (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Milton Rosen, Henry Mancini; plus track by Arthur Lange, Walter Scharf, Hans Salter, Miklos Rozsa, Frank Skinner.

JUST ACROSS THE STREET (comedy)

Stein; Milton Rosen (some track); Inez James & Sidney Miller; plus track by Frank Skinner, Walter Schumann, Leith Stevens.

KNIGHTS OF THE HIGHWAY (newsreel)

Stein (5 second End Title only); rest is track by Milton Rosen, Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Miklos Rozsa, Everett Carter, Walter Scharf, Leith Stevens, Elizabeth Firestone.

THE LAWLESS BREED (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Milton Rosen; plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Everett Carter, Arthur Lange, Miklos Rozsa, Walter Scharf, William Lava.

LOST IN ALASKA (Abbott & Costello comedy)

Stein (track only); Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); Milton Rosen (some track); plus track by Hans Salter, Arthur Lange, Frank Skinner, Leith Stevens, Walter Schumann, Edgar Fairchild.

MEET ME AT THE FAIR (musical)

Stein; Milton Rosen (most of score); plus track by Hans Salter, Frank Skinner, Charles Maxwell, Charles Previn, Edward Ward.

THE RAIDERS (aka RIDERS OF VENGEANCE) (western)

Stein; Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen.

THE REDHEAD FROM WYOMING (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; plus track by Arthur Lange, Walter Scharf, Paul Sawtell, Henry Mancini, Frank Skinner, Miklos Rozsa, Leith Stevens (latter three in “Black Bart” cue only).

SON OF ALI BABA (fantasy)

Stein (incl. Main Title); plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Milton Rosen, Harry Lubin.

1953

ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS (comedy/science fiction)

Stein (Main Title incl. some track); Robert Stolz; plus track by Milton Rosen (incl. End Title); Henry Mancini, Frank Skinner, Alexandre Tansman, J.R. Shannon & Frederic Knight Logan.

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET DR.JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (comedy/horror)

Stein (mostly track); Paul Sawtell; rest all track by Frank Skinner (mostly cues from ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN), Miklos Rozsa (cues from KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS), Daniele Amfitheatrof, Walter Scharf, Henry Mancini, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes, Hans Salter, Leith Stevens, Johnny Green, Walter Schumann, Eric Zeisl (cues from THE INVISIBLE MAN’S REVENGE and FRANCIS GOES TO THE RACES).

ALL I DESIRE (period drama)

Stein; Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); David Lieberman (incl. End Title); Milton Rosen; Frank Skinner; Daniele Amfitheatrof; Henry Mancin; Hans Salter; Earl Lawrence; Edward Ward (some of these may be tracked); plus track by Miklos Rozsa (track, from A DOUBLE LIFE).

BOW RIVER VALLEY (short)

Stein; Frank Skinner; plus track by Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

BROOKLYN GOES TO CHICAGO (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Leith Stevens, Walter Scharf, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes, Johnny Green, Edgar Fairchild.

CITY BENEATH THE SEA (science fiction)

Stein; Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes; Milton Rosen; plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter.

COLUMN SOUTH (western)

Stein (incl. Main and End Titles); Henry Mancini; plus track by Frank Skinner, Walter Scharf, Hans Salter.

EAST OF SUMATRA (adventure)

Stein (most of score, incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini, Irving Gertz.

FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN (comedy)

Stein; Edgar Fairchild (incl. Main Title); Everett Carter; plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Walter Scharf, Miklos Rozsa.

GIRLS IN THE NIGHT (drama)

Stein (incl. some track); Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title; some track); Harold Adamson & Jimmy McHugh; Frederick Herbert; Laird Mason; plus track by Harry Lubin, Milton Rosen, Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Miklos Rozsa, Paul Sawtell.

THE GLASS WEB (crime thriller)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Frank Skinner; Milton Rosen; Arthur Freed & Nacio Herb Brown.

GO SOUTH AMIGO (short)

All track: Stein, Walter Scharf, Jack Brooks, Frank Skinner, Miklos Rozsa, Milton Rosen.

THE GOLDEN BLADE (swashbuckler)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Hans Salter; Milton Rosen; Henry Mancini; Frank Skinner; Arnold Hughes; Irving Gertz.

THE GREAT SIOUX UPRISING (western)

Stein (most of score, incl. Main Title); Milton Rosen (some track); Henry Mancini; plus track by Hans Salter, Frank Skinner.

GUNSMOKE (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title; some track); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen (some track); Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes; plus track by Hans Salter, Henry Mancini, Arthur Lange, Miklos Rozsa.

IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (science fiction)

Stein (incl. Main Title & End Cast, cues: Sand Rock, Visitors From Space, The Thing Follows, Globs Gives Instructions, Prospector Globbed, The Thing).

Irving Gertz (cues: Star Gazing, Mysterious Desert, Dr. Snell Disappears, Kidnapping Ellen, Killing Glob Ellen, Glob Frank Killed).

Henry Mancini (cues: John’s Discovery, Talking Wires, The Thing Strikes, Zombie George, George’s Double, Telephone Message, Desert Rendezvous, Visitors, Rescued, End Title).

IT HAPPENS EVERY THURSDAY (comedy)

Stein (track only); Milton Rosen; Harold Adamson & Jimmy McHugh; Henry Mancini (incl. End Title); Frank Skinner (track, incl. Main Title and most of score).

LAW AND ORDER (western)

Stein (track only); Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

THE LONE HAND (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title; some track); Elizabeth Firestone; Henry Mancini (some track); plus track by Frank Skinner, Paul Sawtell, Miklos Rozsa, Leith Stevens, Hans Salter.

MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION (comedy)

Stein (track only, incl. End Title); Frank Skinner; plus track by Milton Rosen, Walter Schumann, Walter Scharf, Hans Salter, Danielle Amfitheatrof (source music only).

NAT “KING” COLE AND RUSS MORGAN’S ORCHESTRA (short (mostly source music))

Stein (incl. Finale, source music); Henry Mancini; plus track by Leith Stevens (incl. Main Title).

PERILS OF THE FOREST (short)

All track: Stein, Robert Emmett Dolan (incl. Main Title), Walter Scharf, Frank Skinner, Leith Stevens, Miklos Rozsa.

RIP VAN WINKLE RETURNS (short)

All track: Stein, Arthur Lange (Main Title), Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Robert Emmett Dolan, Henry Mancini.

SEMINOLE (western)

Stein (all track); Milton Rosen; plus track by Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); Walter Scharf, Frank Skinner.

THE STAND AT APACHE RIVER (western)

Stein (2 tracked cues only); Frank Skinner (some track); plus track by Hans Salter, Henry Mancini.

TAKE ME TO TOWN (western)

Stein; Henry Mancini; Milton Rosen.

THREE YEARS TO VICTORY (short)

All track: Stein (End Title only), Robert Emmett Dolan, Charles Previn.

TUMBLEWEED (western)

Stein (Incl. Main Title, some track); Henry Mancini (some track); Milton Rosen; plus track by Hans Salter, Frank Skinner.

THE VEILS OF BAGDAD (swashbuckler)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Milton Rosen (some track); Henry Mancini; plus track by Frank Skinner, Hans Salter.

WAR ARROW (western)

Stein, Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); William Lava; plus track by Henry Mancini, Oliver Drake & Jimmy Wakely & Milton Rosen.

1954

BENGAL BRIGADE (period adventure)

Some track: Stein; Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); Stanley Wilson; Danielle Amfitheatrof; Milton Rosen; Frank Skinner.

BLACK HORSE CANYON (western)

Stein; William Lava (incl. Main Title); Frank Skinner; Hans Salter; Everett Carter & Milton Rosen.

THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH (swashbuckler)

Stein (about 15 mins worth); Frank Skinner (incl. Main & End Titles); Hans Salter.

BORDER RIVER (western)

Stein (incl. Main & End Titles); William Lava; plus track by Frank Skinner, Milton Rosen, Henry Mancini.

BROOKLYN GOES TO PHILADELPHIA (short)

All track: Stein, Henry Manini (incl. Main Title), Frank Skinner, Charles Previn, Walter Scharf, Hans Salter & classical (Donizetti).

THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (horror)

Stein (cues: Main Title, Prologue, The Webbed Hand, That Hand Again, Kay and the Monster (tracked from CITY BENEATH THE SEA), End Cast (16 seconds tracked from THE REDHEAD FROM WYOMING), plus track from IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE.)

Henry Mancini (cues: The Diver, Marine Life, Digger’s Failure, Unknown River (tracked from EAST OF SUMATRA), Monster Speared, Monster Gets Mark, Monster Caught.)

Hans Salter (cues: Almost Caught, The Monster Strikes Back, Monster Attacks, Monster Aboard, Doping the Monster (tracked from GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN), Kay’s Last Peril, End Title.)

Robert Emmett Dolan (1 cue tracked from MR. PEABODY AND THE MERMAID).

Milton Rosen (3 cues tracked from CITY BENEATH THE SEA, THE GLASS WEB and RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO).

DAWN AT SOCORRO (western)

Mostly track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Everett Carter, Milton Rosen, Oliver Drake, Jimmy Wakely, Jack Brooks, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

DEAR MYRTLE (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Frank Skinner, Walter Scharf, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Miklos Rozsa (from A DOUBLE LIFE), Alexandre Tansman.

DESTRY (western)

Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini.

DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER (western)

Stein (most of score, incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; Milton Rosen; Hans Salter; Frank Skinner, Walter Scharf.

FIREMAN SAVE MY CHILD (comedy)

Stein (2 mins. only); Henry Mancini (most of score, incl. Main Title); William Lava (much of score).

FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (western)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Hans Salter; Henry Mancini.

THE GLENN MILLER STORY (biography)

Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini.

JOHNNY DARK (racecar drama)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Hans Salter; Henry Mancini; William Lava (incl. some track); plus track by Frank Skinner, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME (comedy)

Stein (incl. some track); Milton Rosen; Henry Mancini; William Lava; plus track by Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title from MA AND PA KETTLE ON VACATION).

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (drama)

Stein (2:30 mins only); Frank Skinner (rest of score, incl. Main Title).

NAKED ALIBI (crime drama)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Hans Salter; plus track by Henry Mancini, Blake Reynolds.

PLAYGIRL (crime drama)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; (Main theme by Milton Rosen, Laird Mason & Frederick Herbert); plus track by Henry Mancini, E. Firestone.

RAILS INTO LARAMIE (western)

Stein; Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes (incl. Main Title song, “Laramie”); Henry Mancini; Milton Rosen; plus track by Oliver Drake & Jimmy Wakely & Milton Rosen.

RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO (western)

Stein (some track, incl. Main Title); Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes (song: “Wanted”); Milton Rosen; plus track by Hans Salter, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini, Edward Ward.

SASKATCHEWAN (western)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); William Lava; Henry Mancini; Hans Salter.

SIGN OF THE PAGAN (historical adventure)

Stein (3 cues); Frank Skinner (most of score, incl. Main Title); Hans Salter.

SO THIS IS PARIS (musical)

Stein; Henry Mancini; songs by Pony Sherrell & Phil Moody

TANGANYIKA (adventure)

Stein; Hans Salter; Henry Mancini; William Lava.

TROUBLE BRUIN’ (sort)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini, William Lava.

YELLOW MOUNTAIN (adventure drama)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; Stanley Wilson; Everett Carter & Milton Rosen.

1955

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KEYSTONE KOPS (comedy)

Stein; Henry Mancini; William Lava; plus track by Miklos Rozsa (4 seconds from THE KILLERS), Franz Waxman (7 seconds from FURY).

AGAINST THE STREAM (short)

All track: Stein; Frank Skinner; et al.

BLUE COAST (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Alexandre Tansman.

CAPTAIN LIGHTFOOT (swashbuckler)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Hans Salter; Heinz Roemheld.

DREAM ISLAND (short)

All track: Stein, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes, Leith Stevens, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Henry Mancini.

DUST EATERS (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Frank Skinner, Charles Previnm, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Henry Mancini.

THE FAR COUNTRY (western)

Stein (incl. some track); Frank Skinner (most of score, incl. Main Title); Milton Rosen; Henry Mancini.

FEMALE ON THE BEACH (mystery)

Some track: Stein; Sonny Burke (incl. Main Title); Heinz Roemheld.

KISS OF FIRE (period drama)

Stein; Hans Salter (incl.Main Title); Heinz Roemheld (Main Theme by Lester Allen & Robert Hill, adapted from A.G. Villoldo).

LITTLE LOST SCENT (aka BABY SKUNKS) (short)

All track: Stein, Arthur Lange (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, William Lava, Milton Rosen, Frank Skinner.

MA AND PA KETTLE AT WAIKIKI (comedy)

Stein; Milton Rosen; plus track by Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, Walter Scharf, Hans Salter.

MAN WITHOUT A STAR (western)

Stein; Hans Salter; Theme song by Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes; plus track by Henry Mancini.

MODERN MINUTE MEN (short)

All track: Stein, Hans Salter, William Lava, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes, Frank Skinner.

MOOSE COUNTRY (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), William Lava, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

THE PRIVATE WAR OF MAJOR BENSON (drama)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; William Lava; Stanley Wilson; Nicholas Nuzzi.

THE PURPLE MASK (swashbuckler)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Heinz Roemheld; Eric Zeisl; Hans Salter (2 cues only).

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (horror)

Stein (original Main Title, rest all tracked from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON); William Lava (4 cues); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; plus track by Henry Mancini (from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON), Milton Rosen (from CITY BENEATH THE SEA and RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO), Frank Skinner (from FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS), Hans Salter (from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON), Nicholas Nuzzi.

RUNNING WILD (crime thriller)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, Frank Skinner, Milton Rosen.

SIX BRIDGES TO CROSS (crime thriller)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Title song by Jeff Chandler & Henry Mancini.

THE SPOILERS (western)

Stein (some track); Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; Henry Mancini; plus track by Oliver Drake & Jimmy Wakely & Milton Rosen.

SWING HI, SWING LO (aka PAUL HAHN GOLF) (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Charles Previn, Henry Mancini, William Lava.

TARANTULA (horror)

Stein (most of first 4 reels, incl. Main Title, most track); plus track by Henry Mancini (most of last 4 reels).

WHATEVER GOES UP (short)

All track: Stein, Frederick Herbert & Milton Rosen, Jeff Chandler & Henry Mancini, Frank Skinner.

WHITE MAGIC (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Eric Zeisl, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

1956

BACKLASH (western)

Stein (complete score)

BROOKLYN GOES TO DAVIS (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Milton Rosen, Henry Mancini, Walter Scharf, Walter Schumann, William Lava, Irving Gertz.

BROOKLYN GOES TO LAS VEGAS (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Everett Carter, Milton Rosen, Henry Mancini, Jeff Chandler.

THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (horror)

Stein (incl. first part of Main Title which is tracked from REVENGE OF THE CREATURE); Heinz Roemheld (incl. rest of Main Title); Henry Mancini (most of score); Hans Salter; Irving Gertz.

A DAY OF FURY (western)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Irving Gertz (scored last reel); Henry Mancini; plus track by Everett Carter, Oliver Drake, Milton Rosen, Jimmy Wakely.

EVERYTHING BUT THE TRUTH (comedy)

Stein; Henry Mancini (most of score, incl. Main Title); Irving Gertz.

FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN (drama)

Stein; Alex North (most of score, incl. Main Title); Frank Skinner; Lenny Adelson; Jeff Chandler; Sammy Fain; Irving Gertz; Milton Rosen; Frederick Herbert; Laird Mason.

FRANCIS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE (comedy)

Stein; Frank Skinner (most of score, incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; Everett Carter & Milton Rosen.

THE GREAT MAN (drama)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; Don Raye.

I’VE LIVED BEFORE (fantasy)

Stein (most of score); main theme by Don Roseland & Ray Cormier.

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS (comedy)

Stein (incl. Main Title, some track); Henry Mancini (some track); plus track by Frank Skinner.

THE MOLE PEOPLE (horror)

Stein (incl. partial Main Title); Heinz Roemheld (incl. rest of Main Title); Hans Salter.

OUTSIDE THE LAW (crime thriller)

Stein (all tracked); Henry Mancini (mostly track); Stanley Wilson; plus track by Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Hans Salter.

ROCK, PRETTY BABY (pop musical)

Stein (1 min. of track); Sonny Burke (main title song); Henry Mancini (most of score; plus songs.

SHOWDOWN AT ABILENE (western)

Stein (mostly track: incl. Main Title, Henry Mancini (mostly track); plus track by Frank Skinner (1 cue), Hans Salter.

SMALL WONDERS (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini (most of score), Lou Maury, Frank Skinner.

THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW (drama)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Heinz Roemheld; Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; plus track by Frank Skinner.

THIS ISLAND EARTH (science fiction)

Stein (incl. Main Title, all of reels 1-7, most of reel 8); Henry Mancini (2 cues in reels 8 and 9); Hans Salter (rest of reel 9).

THE TOY TIGER (comedy)

Stein & Henry Mancini (most, incl. Main Title); Frank Skinner; Heinz Roemheld; Stanley Wilson.

THE UNGUARDED MOMENT (drama)

Stein (most, incl. all of reels 8,9,10); Frank Skinner; Henry Mancini.

VOLUNTEER FIREMAN (short)

All track: Stein, Irving Gertz, Frank Skinner, William Lava, Henry Mancini, Hans Salter.

WALK THE PROUD LAND (western)

Stein; Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); plus track by Henry Mancini, Oliver Drake & Jimmy Wakely & Milton Rosen, William Lava.

1957

ARCTIC GEESE (short)

All track: Stein, Leith Stevens, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini.

BATTLE OF FLOWERS (short)

All track: Stein, Henry Mancini, Walter Scharf, Frank Skinner, Alex North, Daniele Amfitheatrof, Hans Salter.

BEAR CUBS GO RURAL (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini.

BEHIND THE TICKER TAPE (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), William Lava, Henry Mancini, Alexandre Tansman, Irving Gertz.

BRIEF CASE (short)

All track: Stein, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes, Henry Mancini, Milton Rosen.

BROOKLYN GOES TO DETROIT (short)

All track: Stein, William Lava, Henry Mancini, Alexandre Tansman, Frank Skinner.

THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN (espionage thriller)

All track: Stein, Hans Salter (incl. Main Title), Heinz Roemheld, Irving Gertz, Daniele Amfitheatrof, William Lava, Henry Mancini.

HOT REELS (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, Hans Salter, Frank Skinner.

HURRAY ALL BOATS (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), William Lava, Stanley Wilson, Irving Gertz, Hans Salter.

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (science fiction)

Stein (2 cues, some tracked: Life or Death, End Title)

Hans Salter (cues: Main Title intro, Ray of Hope, Wee Two, Cat & Spouse, Vittles, His Prison, Decision, Challenge).

Foster Carling & Earl E. Lawrence: (main theme, “The Girl in A Lonely Room)

Earl E. Lawrence (various cues)

Irving Gertz (cues: Mist-I-Fied, He’ll Be Mist, Spouse Trap, The Hairy Monster, Arms & The Man, Fearful Foe, After the Deluge, To The Death, Death of Fear.

ISTANBUL (adventure drama)

Stein; Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); John Neel; Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; Heinz Roemheld; Irving Gertz; Frederick Herbert (source music); Henry Mancini (source music); plus track by Edward Heyman & Victor Young.

IT’S A TOUGH LIFE (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Leith Stevens, William Lava, Henry Mancini, Lloyd Akridge, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

JOE DAKOTA (western)

Stein; Henry Mancini; Hans Salter; Irving Gertz; Main Title Theme by Mack Davis & Ray Joseph.

JUNIOR JAMBOREE (short)

All track: Stein (incl. End Title), Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Daniele Amfitheatrof, Charles Previn.

THE KETTLES ON OLD MACDONALD’S FARM (comedy)

Stein (some track); Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title); Irving Gertz; plus track by Frank Skinner, Miklos Rozsa.

KING WINTER (aka WINTER CARNIVAL) (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, William Lava, Frank Skinner.

THE LAND UNKNOWN (fantasy)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Heinz Roemheld; Hans Salter; Henry Mancini (1 cue).

LOVE SLAVES OF THE AMAZON (fantasy)

Stein; Stanley Wilson; Andre S. Brummer; Henry Vars; Irving Gertz. Main Title song, “Song of the Amazons”, by Radames Gnattali.

MAN IN THE SHADOW (western)

Stein; Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); plus track by Henry Mancini.

MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES (biography)

Stein (organ music from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA scene only); full score by Frank Skinner.

THE MIDNIGHT STORY (aka APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW) (mystery thriller)

Stein (track only); Hans Salter (incl. Main Title); Frank Skinner; plus track by Irving Gertz, Henry Mancini.

MISTER CORY (drama)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; Frederick Herbert & Milton Rosen; Laird Mason.

THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (science fiction)

Stein (all of reel 6, partial reel 7); Irving Gertz (incl. Main Title and all of firat 5 reels, partial reel 7, all reel 9, End Title); Henry Mancini (reel 8); plus track by William Lava (from THE DEADLY MANTIS).

THE NIGHT RUNNER (crime thriller)

Stein (incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini; Frank Skinner; Heinz Roemheld; Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

OLD WORLD SPORTS (short)

All track except Mancini, most from BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini (original fanfare), Hans Salter, Daniele Amfitheatrof.

PARROTT JUNGLE (short)

All track: Stein, Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title), Heinz Roemheld, William Lava, Gus Kahn & Robert Stolz, Frank Skinner.

QUANTEZ (western)

Stein (entire score). Songs by Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes & Joseph Gershensen.

SKI TOWN U.S.A. (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, William Lava, Heinz Roemheld, Stanley Wilson.

SLIM CARTER (drama)

Stein (entire score).

WEST POINT OF THE SOUTH (short)

All track: Stein. Frank Skinner, Irving Gertz, Everett Carter & Milton Rosen.

WHAT A SAFARI (short)

All track: Stein, Hans Salter, Irving Gertz, William Lava.

YOUR ZOO (short)

All track: Stein, William Lava, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini.

1958

BARNYARD FROLICS (short)

All track: Stein, Henry Mancini, Irving Gertz, Frank Skinner.

BETWEEN THE CONTINENTS (short)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini, Terry Gilkyson, Hans Salter.

BROOKLYN GOES TO NEW ORLEANS (short)

All track: Stein, Hans Salter, Frank Skiner, Milton Rosen, Heinz Roemheld, Henry Mancini.

CYCLOMANIA (short)

All track: Stein, Hans Salter, Henry Mancini, Charles Previn, Frank Skinner, Irving Gertz.

DAMN CITIZEN (crime thriller)

Stein (10 seconds only); Henry Mancini (most of score, incl. Main Title); Everett Carter & Milton Rosen; polus track by Frank Skinner.

DOWN THE MAGDALENA (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Frank Skinner, Hans Salter, Eric Zeisl, Irving Gertz.

THE FEMALE ANIMAL (drama)

Stein (track only); Hans Salter (most of score, incl. Main Title); William Loose; Ralph Freed & Frank Skinner; plus track by Henry Mancini.

THE LADY TAKES A FLYER (aka A GAME CALLED LOVE) (drama)

Stein (most of score, incl. Main Title); Heinz Roemheld; plus track by Henry Mancini.

LAND OF THE MAYA (short)

All track: Stein, Heinz Roemheld, Hans Salter, Henry Mancini, Henry Vars.

LAST OF THE FAST GUNS (aka THE WESTERN STORY) (western)

Stein; Hans Salter (incl. Main Title).

MONEY, WOMEN & GUNS (western)

Stein (most of score, some tracked); Irving Gertz; Henry Vars; Eric Zeisl; Main Theme, “Lonely Is The Hunter” by Jimmy Wakely & Howie Horwitz; plus track by Henry Mancini.

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (science fiction/horror)

All track: Stein, Frank Carling & Earl Lawrence (from INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, incl. Main Title), William Lava, Irving Gertz, Heinz Roemheld, Henry Mancini, Hans Salter, Frank Skinner, Paul Dessau.

RIDE A CROOKED TRAIL (western)

Stein (track only); Stanley Wilson; plus track by Hans Salter, Irving Gertz.

ROUNDUP LAND (western)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Irving Gertz, Henry Mancini, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

THE SAGA OF HEMP BROWN (western)

Stein (entire score, some tracked)

STEP DOWN TO TERROR (mystery thriller)

Stein (all track); Henry Mancini (some track); plus track by Hans Salter, William Lava, Heinz Roemheld.

THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE (horror)

Stein (all track, incl. Main Title); Henry Mancini (mostly track); plus track by Irving Gertz, Hans Salter.

THIS IS RUSSIA (documentary)

Stein (incl. Main Title); William Loose; Heinz Roemheld.

VENEZUELA HOLIDAY (short)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, Hans Salter, Eric Zeisl, Frank Skinner.

WILD HERITAGE (western)

Stein (all track, incl Main Title); Henry Vars; Henry Russell; Maurice Goldman; Hans Salter; Irving Gertz.

1959

NO NAME ON THE BULLET (western)

Stein (first 6 reels); Irving Gertz (last 2 reels).

A STRANGER IN MY ARMS (drama)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, William Lava, Henry Mancini, Frank Carling & Earl Lawrence, Irving Gertz, Hans Salter, Henry Vars, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes (main theme).

1960

MIDNIGHT LACE (murder mystery)

Stein (track only); Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title); Joe Lubin & Jerome Howard (title theme); Maxwell Anderson & Allie Wrubelo; plus track by Heinz Roemheld, Irving Gertz.

SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN (western)

Stein (track only); William Lava (most of score, incl. Main Title); Irving Gertz; plus track by Henry Mancini.

1961

THE INTRUDER (aka THE STRANGER in U.K.) (drama)

Stein (entire score)

POSSE FROM HELL (western)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), William Lava, Irving Gertz, Hans Salter, Henry Mancini, Frank Carling & Earl Lawrence, Henry Russell.

SIX BLACK HORSES (western)

Stein (all track); William Lava (some track); plus track by Hans Salter (incl. Main Title), Irving Gertz, Henry Vars, Henry Mancini.

1964

BULLET FOR A BADMAN (western)

All track: Stein (incl. Main Title), Hans Salter, Frank Skinner, Irving Gertz, William Lava, Henry Mancini.

KITTEN WITH A WHIP (crime drama)

Stein (all track); Carl Stalling; William Loose; plus track by Henry Mancini (incl. Main Title), Hans Salter, Frank Skinner.

TAGGART (western)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Hans Salter, Henry Mancini, William Lava.

1965

THE SWORD OF ALI BABA (fantasy)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Hans Salter, William Lava, Henry Mancini, Milton Rosen.

THE WORLD OF ABBOTT & COSTELLO (comedy compilation)

All track: Stein, Vic Mizzy (incl. Main Title), William Lava & Henry Mancini, Milton Rosen, Lou Maury, Edgar Fairchild, Frank Skinner, Charles Previn & Hans Salter.

1966

GUNPOINT (western)

Stein (all track); Arnold Schwarzwald & Frederick Herbert (incl. Main Title; some track); plus track by Henry Mancini, William Lava, Hans Salter, Irving Gertz, Eric Zeisl, Heinz Roemheld, Frank Skinner.

INCIDENT AT PHANTOM HILL (western)

All track: Stein, Hans Salter, Frank Skinner, Henry Mancini, Paul Sawtell.

LET’S KILL UNCLE (black comedy)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner, Milton Rosen, Heinz Roemheld, Henry Mancini, Hans Salter, Irving Gertz, William Lava, Stanley Wilson, Hugo Friedhofer.

1967

GUNFIGHT IN ABILENE (western)

Stein (42 seconds of track only); Shorty Rogers (incl. Main Title); Bobby Darin.

RIDE TO HANGMAN’S TREE (western)

All track: Stein, Frank Skinner (incl. Main Title), Henry Mancini, Hans Salter, Irving Gertz, Frederick Herbert & Arnold Hughes.

Television

DANIEL BOONE – tv series, 1965-1970

Stein (various episodes), & others.

LEGEND OF JESSE JAMES – tv series, 1965-1966

Stein (various episodes), & others

LOST IN SPACE – tv series, 1965-1968

Stein (various episodes), & others.

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA – tv series, 1965-1968

Stein (various episodes), & others.

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City of fear Score

by Quentin Billard • 30 May 2024

INTRADA RECORDS Time: 29/40 - Tracks: 15 _____________________________________________________________________________ Polar mineur à petit budget datant de 1959 et réalisé par Irving Lerner, « City of Fear » met en scène Vince Edwards dans le rôle de Vince Ryker, un détenu qui s’est évadé de prison avec un complice en emportant avec lui un conteneur cylindrique, croyant contenir de l’héroïne. Mais ce que Vince ignore, c’est que le conteneur contient en réalité du cobalt-60, un matériau radioactif extrêmement dangereux, capable de raser une ville entière. Ryker se réfugie alors dans une chambre d’hôtel à Los Angeles et retrouve à l’occasion sa fiancée, tandis que le détenu est traqué par la police, qui va tout faire pour retrouver Ryker et intercepter le produit radioactif avant qu’il ne soit trop tard. Le scénario du film reste donc très convenu et rappelle certains polars de l’époque (on pense par exemple à « Panic in the Streets » d’Elia Kazan en 1950, sur un scénario assez similaire), mais l’arrivée d’une intrigue en rapport avec la menace de la radioactivité est assez nouvelle pour l’époque et inspirera d’autres polars par la suite (cf. « The Satan Bug » de John Sturges en 1965). Le film repose sur un montage sobre et un rythme assez lent, chose curieuse pour une histoire de course contre la montre et de traque policière. A vrai dire, le manque de rythme et l’allure modérée des péripéties empêchent le film de décoller vraiment : Vince Edwards se voit confier ici un rôle solide, avec un personnage principal dont la santé ne cessera de se dégrader tout au long du film, subissant la radioactivité mortelle de son conteneur qu’il croit contenir de l’héroïne. Autour de lui, quelques personnages secondaires sans grand relief et toute une armada de policiers sérieux et stressés, bien déterminés à retrouver l’évadé et à récupérer le cobalt-60. Malgré l’interprétation convaincante de Vince Edwards (connu pour son rôle dans « Murder by Contract ») et quelques décors urbains réussis – le tout servi par une atmosphère de paranoïa typique du cinéma américain en pleine guerre froide - « City of Fear » déçoit par son manque de moyen et d’ambition, et échoue finalement à susciter le moindre suspense ou la moindre tension : la faute à une mise en scène réaliste, ultra sobre mais sans grande conviction, impersonnelle et peu convaincante, un comble pour un polar de ce genre qui tente de suivre la mode des films noirs américains de l’époque, mais sans réelle passion. Voilà donc une série-B poussiéreuse qui semble être très rapidement tombée dans l’oubli, si l’on excepte une récente réédition dans un coffret DVD consacré aux films noirs des années 50 produits par Columbia Pictures. Le jeune Jerry Goldsmith signa avec « City of Fear » sa deuxième partition musicale pour un long-métrage hollywoodien en 1959, après le western « Black Patch » en 1957. Le jeune musicien, alors âgé de 30 ans, avait à son actif toute une série de partitions écrites pour la télévision, et plus particulièrement pour la CBS, avec laquelle il travailla pendant plusieurs années. Si « City of Fear » fait indiscutablement partie des oeuvres de jeunesse oubliées du maestro, cela n’en demeure pas moins une étape importante dans la jeune carrière du compositeur à la fin des années 50 : le film d’Irving Lerner lui permit de s’attaquer pour la première fois au genre du thriller/polar au cinéma, genre dans lequel il deviendra une référence incontournable pour les décennies à venir. Pour Jerry Goldsmith, le challenge était double sur « City of Fear » : il fallait à la fois évoquer le suspense haletant du film sous la forme d’un compte à rebours, tout en évoquant la menace constante du cobalt-60, véritable anti-héros du film qui devient quasiment une sorte de personnage à part entière – tout en étant associé à Vince Edwards tout au long du récit. Pour Goldsmith, un premier choix s’imposa : celui de l’orchestration. Habitué à travailler pour la CBS avec des formations réduites, le maestro fit appel à un orchestre sans violons ni altos, mais avec tout un pupitre de percussions assez éclectique : xylophone, piano, marimba, harpe, cloches, vibraphone, timbales, caisse claire, glockenspiel, bongos, etc. Le pupitre des cuivres reste aussi très présent et assez imposant, tout comme celui des bois. Les cordes se résument finalement aux registres les plus graves, à travers l’utilisation quasi exclusive des violoncelles et des contrebasses. Dès les premières notes de la musique (« Get Away/Main Title »), Goldsmith établit sans équivoque une sombre atmosphère de poursuite et de danger, à travers une musique agitée, tendue et mouvementée. Alors que l’on aperçoit Ryker et son complice en train de s’échapper à toute vitesse en voiture, Goldsmith introduit une figure rythmique ascendante des cuivres, sur fond de rythmes complexes évoquant tout aussi bien Stravinsky que Bartok – deux influences majeures chez le maestro américain. On notera ici l’utilisation caractéristique du xylophone et des bongos, deux instruments qui seront très présents tout au long du score de « City of Fear », tandis que le piano renforce la tension par ses ponctuations de notes graves sur fond d’harmonies menaçantes des bois et des cuivres : une mélodie se dessine alors lentement au piccolo et au glockenspiel, et qui deviendra très rapidement le thème principal du score, thème empreint d’un certain mystère, tout en annonçant la menace à venir. C’est à partir de « Road Block » que Goldsmith introduit les sonorités associées dans le film à Ryker : on retrouve ici le jeu particulier des percussions (notes rapides de xylophone, ponctuation de piano/timbales) tandis qu’une trompette soliste fait ici son apparition, instrument rattaché dans le film à Ryker. La trompette revient dans « Motel », dans lequel les bongos créent ici un sentiment d’urgence sur fond de ponctuations de trombones et de timbales. Le morceau reflète parfaitement l’ambiance de paranoïa et de tension psychologique du film, tandis que les harmonies sombres du début sont reprises dans « The Facts », pour évoquer la menace du cobalt-60. Ce morceau permet alors à Jerry Goldsmith de développer les sonorités associées à la substance toxique dans le film (un peu comme il le fera quelques années plus tard dans le film « The Satan Bug » en 1965), par le biais de ponctuations de trompettes en sourdine, de percussion métallique et d’un raclement de guiro, évoquant judicieusement le contenant métallique du cobalt-60, que transporte Ryker tout au long du film (croyant à tort qu’il contient de la drogue). « Montage #1 » est quand à lui un premier morceau-clé de la partition de « City of Fear », car le morceau introduit les sonorités associées aux policiers qui traquent le fugitif tout au long du film. Goldsmith met ici l’accent sur un ostinato quasi guerrier de timbales agressives sur fond de cuivres en sourdine, de bois aigus et de caisse claire quasi martial : le morceau possède d’ailleurs un côté militaire assez impressionnant, évoquant les forces policières et l’urgence de la situation : stopper le fugitif à tout prix. Le réalisateur offre même une séquence de montage illustrant les préparatifs de la police pour le début de la course poursuite dans toute la ville, ce qui permet au maestro de s’exprimer pleinement en musique avec « Montage #1 ». Plus particulier, « Tennis Shoes » introduit du jazz traditionnel pour le côté « polar » du film (à noter que le pianiste du score n’est autre que le jeune John Williams !). Le morceau est associé dans le film au personnage de Pete Hallon (Sherwood Price), le gangster complice de Ryker que ce dernier finira par assassiner à la suite de plusieurs maladresses. Le motif jazzy d’Hallon revient ensuite dans « The Shoes » et « Montage #2 », qui reprend le même sentiment d’urgence que la première séquence de montage policier, avec le retour ici du motif descendant rapide de 7 notes qui introduisait le film au tout début de « Get Away/Main Title ». La mélodie principale de piccolo sur fond d’harmonies sombres de bois reviennent enfin dans « You Can’t Stay », rappelant encore une fois la menace du cobalt-60, avec une opposition étonnante ici entre le registre très aigu de la mélodie et l’extrême grave des harmonies, un élément qui renforce davantage la tension dans la musique du film. Le morceau développe ensuite le thème principal pour les dernières secondes du morceau, reprenant une bonne partie du « Main Title ». La tension monte ensuite d’un cran dans le sombre et agité « Taxicab », reprenant les ponctuations métalliques et agressives associées au cobalt-60 (avec son effet particulier du raclement de guiro cubain), tout comme le sombre « Waiting » ou l’oppressant « Search » et son écriture torturée de cordes évoquant la dégradation physique et mentale de Ryker, contaminé par le cobalt-60. « Search » permet au compositeur de mélanger les sonorités métalliques de la substance toxique, la trompette « polar » de Ryker et les harmonies sombres et torturées du « Main Title », aboutissant aux rythmes de bongos/xylophone syncopés complexes de « Track Down » et au climax brutal de « End of the Road » avec sa série de notes staccatos complexes de trompettes et contrebasses. La tension orchestrale de « End of the Road » aboutit finalement à la coda agressive de « Finale », dans lequel Goldsmith résume ses principales idées sonores/thématiques/instrumentales de sa partition en moins de 2 minutes pour la conclusion du film – on retrouve ainsi le motif descendant du « Main Title », le thème principal, le motif métallique et le raclement de guiro du cobalt-60 – un final somme toute assez sombre et élégiaque, typique de Goldsmith. Vous l’aurez certainement compris, « City of Fear » possède déjà les principaux atouts du style Jerry Goldsmith, bien plus reconnaissable ici que dans son premier essai de 1957, « Black Patch ». La musique de « City of Fear » reste d'ailleurs le meilleur élément du long-métrage un peu pauvre d'Irving Lerner : aux images sèches et peu inspirantes du film, Goldsmith répond par une musique sombre, complexe, virile, nerveuse et oppressante. Le musicien met en avant tout au long du film d’Irving Lerner une instrumentation personnelle, mélangeant les influences du XXe siècle (Stravinsky, Bartok, etc.) avec une inventivité et une modernité déconcertante - on est déjà en plein dans le style suspense du Goldsmith des années 60/70. Goldsmith fit partie à cette époque d’une nouvelle génération de musiciens qui apportèrent un point de vue différent et rafraîchissant à la musique de film hollywoodienne (Bernard Herrmann ayant déjà ouvert la voie à cette nouvelle conception) : là où un Steiner ou un Newman aurait proposé une musique purement jazzy ou même inspirée du Romantisme allemand, Goldsmith ira davantage vers la musique extra européenne tout en bousculant l’orchestre hollywoodien traditionnel et en s’affranchissant des figures rythmiques classiques, mélodiques et harmoniques du Golden Age hollywoodien. Sans être un chef-d’oeuvre dans son genre, « City of Fear » reste malgré tout un premier score majeur dans les musiques de jeunesse de Jerry Goldsmith : cette partition, pas si anecdotique qu’elle en a l’air au premier abord, servira de pont vers de futures partitions telles que « The Prize » et surtout « The Satan Bug ». « City of Fear » permit ainsi à Goldsmith de concrétiser ses idées qu’il développa tout au long de ses années à la CBS, et les amplifia sur le film d’Iriving Lerner à l’échelle cinématographique, annonçant déjà certaines de ses futures grandes musiques d’action/suspense pour les décennies à venir – les recettes du style Goldsmith sont déjà là : rythmes syncopés complexes, orchestrations inventives, développements thématiques riches, travail passionné sur la relation image/musique, etc. Voilà donc une musique rare et un peu oubliée du maestro californien, à redécouvrir rapidement grâce à l’excellente édition CD publiée par Intrada, qui contient l’intégralité des 29 minutes écrites par Goldsmith pour « City of Fear », le tout servi par un son tout à fait honorable pour un enregistrement de 1959 !