Film and Stage works

Benjamin Frankel became widely known as a serious composer after World War II; his concert music during this period combined a late-romantic quality with the twelve-tone (serial) principles laid down by Arnold Schoenberg and his score for the 1960 film “Curse of the Werewolf” is believed to be the first in Britain have been based on upon them. Reputedly, he was the highest paid British composer of film music, during the 1950s.

Feature films

1934

Radio Parade of 1935 (GB)
Directed by Arthur Woods
Starring: Will Hay, Helen Chandler, Clifford Mollison

1935

Music Hath Charms (GB) (as arranger)
Directed by Thomas Bentley (supervising director), Alexander Esway(uncredited), Walter Summers (uncredited)
Starring: Henry Hall and his Band, W.H. Berry, Carol Goodner

1936

Public Nuisance Number One (GB)
Directed by Marcel Varnel
Starring: Frances DayArthur RiscoeMuriel Aked

Love in Exile (GB)
Directed by Alfred L.Werker
Starring: Helen Vinson, Clive Brook, Mary Carlisle

1937

The Singing Cop (GB)
Arthur B. Woods
Starring: Keith Falkner, Marta Labarr, Chili Bouchier

No Monkey Business (GB)
Directed by Marcel Varnel
Starring: Gene Gerrard, June Clyde, Renee Houston

1938

Sailing Along (GB)
Directed by Sonnie Hale
Starring: Jessie Matthews, Roland Young, Alastair Sim
Benjamin Frankel contributed “Bargees Ballet” and possibly arrangements

1943

He Found a Star (GB)
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Starring: Vic Oliver, Sarah Churchill, Evelyn Dall

They Met in the Dark (GB)
Directed by Karel Lamac
Starring: James Mason, Joyce Howard, Tom Walls

1944

Fiddlers Three (as arranger) (GB)
Directed by Jules White
Starring: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard

I’ll Be Your Sweetheart (as arranger) (GB)
Directed by Val Guest
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Vic Oliver, Michael Rennie

Flight from Folly (GB)
Directed by Herbert Mason
Starring: Pat Kirkwood, Hugh Sinclair, Sydney Howard

1945

The Seventh Veil (GB)
Directed by Compton Bennett
Starring: James Mason, Ann Todd, Herbert Lom

29 Acacia Avenue (GB)
Directed by Henry Cass
Starring: Gordon Harker, Betty Balfour, Dinah Sheridan
Benjamin Frankel contributed 5’33” music – Main attribution by Clifton Parker

1946

Daybreak (GB)
Directed by Compton Bennett
Starring: Eric Portman, Ann Todd, Maxwell Reed

The Years Between (GB)
Directed by Compton Bennett
Starring: Michael Redgrave, Valerie Hobson, Flora Robson

A Girl in a Million (GB)
Directed by Francis Searle
Starring: Hugh Williams, Joan Greenwood, Basil Radford

1947

Dancing with Crime (GB)
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes, Sheila Sim

Dear Murderer (GB)
Directed by Arthur Crabtree
Starring: Eric Portman, Greta Gynt, Dennis Price

Night Beat (GB)
Directed by Harold Huth
Starring: Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, Ronald Howard

1948

Portrait from Life (aka “The Girl in the Painting”) (GB)
Directed by Terence Fisher
Starring: Mai Zetterling, Robert Beatty, Guy Rolfe

London Belongs to Me (aka “Dulcimer Street”) (GB)
Directed by Sidney Gilliat
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Alastair Sim, Wylie Watson

Mine Own Executioner (GB)
Directed by Anthony Kimmins
Starring: Burgess Meredith, Dulcie Gray, Michael Shepley

Bond Street (GB)
Directed by Gordon Parry
Starring: Jean Kent, Roland Young, Kathleen Harrison

Sleeping Car to Trieste (GB)
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Starring: Jean Kent, Albert Lieven, Derrick De Marney

1949

The Chiltern Hundreds (aka “The Amazing Mr Beecham”) (GB)
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Starring: Cecil Parker, A.E. Matthews, David Tomlinson

Give Us This Day (aka “Christ in Concrete”) (GB)
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Sam Wanamaker, Lea Padovani, Kathleen Ryan

Trottie True (aka “The Gay Lady” (GB)
Directed by Brian Desmond-Hurst
Starring: Jean Kent, James Donald, Hugh Sinclair

1950

The Clouded Yellow (GB)
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Starring: Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard, Sonia Dresdel

Double Confession (GB)
Directed by Ken Annakin
Starring: Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Peter Lorre

So Long at the Fair (GB)
Directed by Terence Fisher
Starring: Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, David Tomlinson

Night and the City (GB) (US print scored by Franz Waxman)
Directed by Jules Dassin
Starring: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers

1951

Hotel Sahara (GB)
Directed by Ken Annakin
Starring: Yvonne De Carlo, Peter Ustinov, David Tomlinson

The Long Dark Hall (GB)
Directed by Reginald Beck
Starring: Rex Harrison, Lilli Palmer, Tania Heald

Appointment with Venus (aka “Island Rescue”) (GB):
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Starring: David Niven, Glynis Johns, George Coulouris, Kenneth More

Mr. Denning Drives North (GB)
Directed by Anthony Kimmins
Starring: John Mills, Phyllis Calvert, Eileen Moore

The Man in the White Suit (GB)
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick
Starring: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker

1952

The Importance of Being Earnest (GB)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Michael Redgrave, Richard Wattis, Michael Denison

The Man who Watched Trains Go By (aka “Paris Express”) (GB)
Directed by Harold French
Starring: Claude Rains, Michael Nightingale, Felix Aylmer

1953

The Love Lottery (GB)
Directed by Charles Crichton
Starring: David Niven, Peggy Cummins, Anne Vernon, Herbert Lom, cameo by Humphrey Bogart

The Final Test (GB)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Jack Warner, Robert Morley, George Relph

The Net (aka “Project M7”)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Phyllis Calvert, James Donald, Robert Beatty, Herbert Lom

1954

Aunt Clara (GB)
Directed by Anthony Kimmins
Starring: Ronald Shiner, Margaret Rutherford, A.E. Matthews

Malaga (aka “Fire Over Africa”) (GB/US)
Directed by Richard Sale
Starring: Maureen O’Hara, Macdonald Carey, Binnie Barnes

Mad About Men (GB)
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Starring: Glynis Johns, Donald Sinden, Anne Crawford

Up to His Neck (GB)
Directed by John Paddy Carstairs
Starring: Ronald Shiner, Brian Rix, Laya Raki, Brian Forbes

The End of the Affair (GB/US)
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills

Always a Bride (GB)
Directed by Ralph Smart
Starring: Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, Ronald Squire

The Man who Loved Redheads (GB)
Directed by Harold French
Starring: Moira Shearer, John Justin, Roland Culver

The Young Lovers (GB)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Odile Versois, David Knight, Joseph Tomelty

1955

A Kid for Two Farthings (GB)
Directed by Carol Reed
Starring: Celia Johnson, Diana Dors, David Kossoff

Lost (aka “Tears for Simon”) (GB)
Directed by Guy Green
Starring: David Farrar, David Knight, Julia Arnall

Simon and Laura (GB)
Directed by Muriel Box
Starring: Peter Finch, Kay Kendall, Muriel Pavlow

Footsteps in the Fog (GB)
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Starring: Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers

The Prisoner (GB)
Directed by Peter Glenville
Starring: Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Wilfrid Lawson

On Such a Night (GB) (music consultant)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Josephine Griffin, Marie Lohr, David Knight

Storm Over the Nile (GB)
Directed by Terence Young
Starring: Anthony Steel, Laurence Harvey, James Robertson Justice

1956

The Iron Petticoat (GB)
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Starring: Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Noelle Middleton

Brothers-in-Law (GB)
Directed by Roy Boulting
Starring: Henry B. Longhurst, Edith Sharpe, Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough

1957

Happy is the Bride (GB)
Directed by Roy Boulting
Starring: Ian Carmichael, Janette Scott, Cecil Parker, Terry Thomas

1958

Orders to Kill (GB)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish

I Only Arsked! (GB)
Directed by Montgomery Tully
Starring: Bernard Bresslaw, Michael Medwin, Alfie Bass

1959

Summer of the 17th Doll (aka “Season of Passion”)(GB/AUS)
Directed by Leslie Norman
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Anne Baxter, John Mills

Libel (British MGM)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, Paul Massie

1960

Surprise Package (GB)
Directed by Stanley Donen
Starring: Yul Brynner, Mitzi Gaynor, Noël Coward

Curse of the Werewolf (GB)
Directed by Terence Fisher
Starring: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain

1962

Guns of Darkness (GB)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
Starring: Leslie Caron, David Niven, James Robertson Justice

1963

The Old Dark House (GB)
Directed by William Castle
Starring: Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott

1964

Night of the Iguana (US)
Directed by John Huston
Starring: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

1965

Battle of the Bulge (US)
Directed by Ken Annakin
Starring: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan
Nominated for a Golden Globe Award 1966 – Best Score category

Short features and Documentaries

1944

The ‘Gen’ (RAF Film Unit) (possibly several editions)

The Great Circle (Shell Film Unit)
Directed by J.B. Napier-Bell

Progress Parade (British Movietone News)
Directed by Gordon Sparling
Featuring: Corey Thomson (voice)

Bon Voyage (M.O.I. propoganda film; 26m)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: John Blythe, Janique Joelle

Aventure Malgache (M.O.I. propoganda film; 32m)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Paul Bonifas, Paul Clarus, Jean Dattas

1945

The Fire of London (M.O.I.; 16 mins)
Written by Roland Loewe
Featuring: Edward R. Murrow (voice)

Twilight of the Gods (M.O.I.)

The New School (Crown Film Unit)
Directed by Rodney Ackland
Starring: Patric Curwen, Peter Cushing, Gwladys Evan Morriss

Macbeth – Act II. Scene 2; Act V. Scene 1 (British Council; 16m)
Directed by Henry Cass
Starring: Wilfrid Lawson, Cathleen Nesbitt, Felix Aylmer

Julius Caesar – The Forum Scene – Act III. Scene 2
Directed by Henry Cass
Starring: Felix Aylmer, Leo Genn, John Slater

This Was Japan (Crown Film Unit; 11m).
Directed by Basil Wright
Featuring: Esmond Knight (voice)

The Broad Fourteens (Crown Film Unit; 35m)
Directed by Richard Q. McNaughton
Featuring: Light Coastal Forces Officers and Men [as themselves]

1946

Machines and Men (British Movietone News)

English Criminal Justice (Greenpark)
Directed by Ken Annakin
Featuring: Harold Warrender(voice), John Adams(uncredited), Frank Atkinson(uncredited)

1947

Globe Trotters (Verity Films)

1948

Irish Symphony (Verity Films)

Call Up (Verity Films)

1950

Moving House (British Transport Films, 16m)
Directed by Richard Massingham
Starring: James Crabbe, Patsy Ann Hedges, Maureen Hurley

Silks and Sulkies (10 min)
Directed by Pierre Petel
Script by John K. Rooke
This short documentary from 1950 captures the thrill of harness racing on Prince Edward Island
(shows up on a few royalty statements in mid-‘60s)

Industrial and cartoon features

1951

The Moving Spirit (Halas and Batchelor)
Directed by Bob Privett
Venice, (1st Prize 1953)
Edinburgh Film Festival (1953)
A stylish cartoon summary of the History and Development of the Horseless Carriage

1953

The Power to Fly (Halas and Batchelor)
Directed by Bob Privett
Featuring: Maurice Denham (voice)
Venice, (1st Prize 1954)
Edinburgh Film Festival, (1954)
An animated documentary on the development of aero-engines and the fuel they needed, up to and including the early jet age.

1954

Refinery at Work (Halas and Batchelor)
Sponsor: Esso
Producer: John Halas & Joy Batchelor

1955

The World that Nature Forgot (Halas and Batchelor)
Directed by Lewis Jacobs
Featuring: Westbrook Van Voorhis (voice)
The arrangement and composition of molecules in relation to the development of plastics. Exploring the role of plastics in modern life, “The World That Nature Forgot” uses animation to depict plastic molecules and includes scenes showing the use of plastics in kitchens, offices, and the “city of tomorrow.”

Commercial and Industrial

1954

The Electric Cooker (British Electrical Development Assoc.)

1955

Surf (Lintas)

Television features

1963

Espionage (ABC/NBC – GB/US)
8 episodes: Castles in Spain; Frantic Rebel; Free Agent; Liberators; Once a Spy; Snow on Mount Kama; Some Other Kind of World; We the Hunted
Starring: Victor Platt, Martin Lyder, Maxwell Shaw
An anthology series telling different and unrelated stories of espionage set in many countries and historical periods.

1965

The Siege of Manchester (BBC TV)
Directed by Herbert Wise
Starring: Sara Aimson, Reginald Barratt, Peter Bayliss

1967

The Magicians: The Incantation of Casanova (BBC TV)
Directed by Herbert Wise
Starring: Daphne Anderson, Geoffrey Bayldon, Jeremy Brett

The Magicians: Edmund Gurney and the Brighton Mesmerist (BBC TV)
Directed by Peter Hammond
Starring: Elsie Arnold, John Baker, John Barcroft

1970

The Suicide Club (Thames TV)
Directed by Mike Vardy
Starring: Alan Dobie, Bernard Archard, Hildegard Neil

Theatre scores - As arranger / Musical director

1930s

Charlot’s Char-a-bang! (Revue produced by Andre Charlot)
Vaudeville Theatre 10/4/35 – 6/7/35 (101 performances)
A play by Reginald Gardiner, Arthur Macrae, Robert Nesbitt, John Tilley, Dennis Van Thal, Geoffrey Wright
Players: Elsie Randolph, Reginald Gardiner, Iris March
Musical Director: John Borelli
Musical Arrangements: John Borelli, Ben Frankel, Bretton Byrd & Herman Levy

Floodlight (Revue)
Saville Theatre 23/6/37 – 14/8/37 (51 performances)
A revue written and composed by Beverley Nichols
Dances arranged by Buddy Bradley; ballets by Frederick Ashton
Players: Frances Day, John Mills, Hermione Baddeley
Musical Director & Orchestrations: Benjamin Frankel

Take it Easy (Musical)
Palace Theatre 23/9/37 – 2/10/37 (12 performances)
Music & Lyrics: Herman Timberg, Sammy Timberg and Barbara Blair
Players: Billy Hartnell, Patricia Burke & Judy Kelly
Musical Director: George Windeatt
Musical Arrangements: Benny Frankel

The Melody that Got Lost (European operetta)
Phoenix Theatre 19/1/38 – 12/2/38 (28 performances)
Music: Kjeld Abell
Cast: Esmond Knight, Glynis Johns, Dorothy Hyson, Margaret Rutherford
Musical Director & Musical Arrangements: Benjamin Frankel

Operette (Musical)
His Majesty’s Theatre 16/3/38 – 9/7/38 (133 performances)
Musical in 2 Acts by Noel Coward
Players: Phyllis Monkman, Edward Cooper, Pamela Randell, Peggy Wood
Musical Director: Benjamin Frankel
Recording: selection on HMV C2999, conducted Benjamin Frankel:
The Stately Homes of England*; Where are the Songs we Sang?*; Countess Mitzi*; Foolish Virgins; Operette*; Model Maid; Finale (Act 2); Dearest Love* (*Re-issued on CD for Coward centenary: EMI 7243 5 21808)

Happy Returns (Variety Show)
Adelphi Theatre 19/5/38 – 6/8/38 (78 performances)
Players: Flanagan & Allan, Beatrice Lille
Musical Director: Francis Collinson
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel

Under Your Hat (Musical)
Palace Theatre 24/11/38 – 13/4/40 (514 performances)
Director: Jack Hulbert
Music and Lyrics: Vivian Ellis
Cast: Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Hulbert, Jevan Brandon Thomas, John Byron, Maria Celeste
Musical Director: Lew Stone
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel
Adapted into a movie in 1940 – Musical Director: Stone (no mention of BF)

Let’s Pretend (Revue)
St. James’s Theatre 26/12/38 – 14/1/39 (28 performances)
Music: Nicholas Brodszky
Lyrics: Sonny Miller etc
Musical Director: Dennis Van Thal
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel

Sitting Pretty (Revue)
Prince’s Theatre 17/8/39 – 2/9/39 (20 performances)
Music: Manning Sherwin; Lyrics: Marty Symes & Douglas Furber
Players: Sydney Howard, Arthur Riscoe, Vera Pearce, Patricia Burke
Musical Director: John Borelli
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel

1940s

Come Out to Play! (Revue)
Phoenix Theatre 19/3/40 – 25/5/40 (77 performances)
Revue devised by Eddie Pola and Peter Watson.
Music and Lyrics: Roma Campbell Hunter, Ben Frankel, Freddy Grant, Harry Parr Davies, Eddie Pola
Players: George Carney, Eric Cole, Robert Doming, Sonnie Hale, Jessie Matthews, Peggy Rawlings, Hal Thompson
Musical Director & Orchestrations: Ben Frankel

Orchids and Onions (Revue)
Comedy Theatre 1/4/41 – 6/5/41 (49 performances)
A play by Ian Grant and Jayne Ogden
Players: Albert Whelen, Polly Ward & Norman Hackforth
Musical Director: Lew Stone / Musical arrangements: Ben Frankel & J.Marr-Mackie

Big Top (Revue)
His Majesty’s Theatre 8/5/42 – 29/8/42 (140 performances)
A play by Elsie April, Nicholas Brodzsky, Herbert Farjeon, Harry Parr Davies, and Geoffrey Wright (Music)
Cast: Fred Emney, Beatrice Lilley, Cyril Richard, Patricia Burke & ‘Mr.Cochrane’s Young Ladies’
Musical Director & Orchestrations: Ben Frankel

Something in the Air (Musical)
Palace Theatre 23/9/43 – 8/7/44 (335 performances)
Book: Arthur Macrae & Jack Hulbert
Music: Manning Sherwin
Lyrics: Harold Purcell & Max Kester
Cast: Jack Hulbert & Cicely Courtneidge
Musical Director: Robert Probst
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel

Sweet Yesterday (Musical)
Adelphi Theatre 21/6/45 – 8/12/45 (196 performances)
Music: Kenneth Leslie Smith
Lyrics: James Dyrenforth & Max Kester
Cast: Webster Booth & Anne Ziegler
Musical Director: Herbert Lodge
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel

Under the Counter (Musical-Comedy)
Phoenix Theatre 22/11/45 – 5/7/47 (665 performances !!)
Music: Manning Sherwin
Lyrics: Harold Purcell
Cast: Cicely Courtneidge, Cyril Raymond, Thorley Walters, Hartley Power
Producer: Jack Hulbert
Musical Director: Robert Probst
Musical Arrangements: Ben Frankel

Theatre scores - as composer

1946

Fatal Curiosity

A play by George Lillo
Arts Theatre 5/12/46 – 29/12/46 (29 performances)
Directed by Alec Clunes
Cast: Hugh Griffith

Music by Benjamin Frankel

1948

Adventure Story

A play by Terence Rattigan
St. James’s Theatre 17/3/49 – 18/6/49 (107 performances)
Cast: Paul Scofield; Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies; Terence Longden; Stanley Baker
Music by Benjamin Frankel

1949

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
A play by Stephen Lowe
Music by Benjamin Frankel

Query the following (Frances Day) shows ( as arranger)

I Can Take It (?)
Black and Blue (?)
Black Vanities (?)
Dubarry Was A Lady (?)
The Fleet’s Lit Up (?)
How D’You Do (?)
Jill Darling (?)
Latin Quarter (?)
Out Of The Bottle (?)
These Foolish Things (?)