A total of forty-nine composers and seventy scores. Thirty-eight composers are represented once. Five are represented twice. Four are represented thrice, and two have five of their scores honored. Of the forty-nine composers, forty-eight are male, and one is female. This used to be – and still is – a very manly profession, but female composers are finally making headway. One of John Barry’s scores is listed twice; it’s the same score but with an orchestral arrangement in “You Only Live Twice” and an arrangement for harmonica in “Midnight Cowboy” – Barry received no screen credit for his work on “Cowboy.” A colleague of the original composer completed the scores of two of the movies listed.
Of the seventy original scores listed, Five are Oscar winners: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Midnight Express (1978). Twenty-one received an Oscar nomination. One received a nomination that was then rescinded: Nino Rota for The Godfather (1972). The other forty-three of my favorite movie scores were NOT nominated by AMPAS – a reflection of that branch of the Academy’s questionable taste!

Gone with the Wind (1939): Max Steiner

Rebecca (1940): Franz Waxman

Citizen Kane (1941): Bernard Herrmann

King’s Row (1942): Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Laura (1944): David Raksin

Double Indemnity (1944): Miklós Rózsa

Notorious (1946): Roy Webb

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946): Hugo Friedhofer

The Third Man (1949): Anton Karas

Sunset Boulevard (1950): Franz Waxman

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951): Alex North

Rebel Without a Cause (1955): Leonard Rosenman

The Big Country (1958): Jerome Moross

Vertigo (1958): Bernard Herrmann

North by Northwest (1959): Bernard Herrmann

Psycho (1960): Bernard Herrmann.

The Magnificent Seven (1960): Elmer Bernstein

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): Henry Mancini

Lawrence of Arabia (1962): Maurice Jarre

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): Elmer Bernstein

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962): Frank De Vol

Eight and a Half (1963): Nino Rota

The Pink Panther (1964): Henry Mancini

Contempt (1964): Georges Delerue

Juliette of the Spirits (1965): Nino Rota

A Man and a Woman (1966): Francis Lai

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966): Ennio Morricone

Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967): Toshiro Mayuzumi

You Only Live Twice (1967): John Barry
(the same score as “Midnight Cowboy” arranged for the symphony)

The Fox (1968): Lalo Schifrin

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): Ennio Morricone

The Wild Bunch (1969): Jerry Fielding

Midnight Cowboy (1969): John Barry
(the same score as “You Only Live Twice” arranged for harmonica: Barry does not receive an on-screen credit)

The Godfather (1972): Nino Rota

Last Tango in Paris (1973): Gato Barbieri

Don’t Look Now (1973): Pino Donaggio

Chinatown (1974): Jerry Goldsmith.

Taxi Driver (1976): Bernard Herrmann.

Carrie (1976): Pino Donaggio

Rocky (1976): Bill Conti

1900 (1976): Ennio Morricone

The Other Side of Midnight (1977): Michel Legrand

Midnight Express (1978): Giorgio Moroder

Tess (1979): Philippe Sarde.

American Gigolo (1980): Giorgio Moroder

Altered States (1980): John Corigliano.

Dressed to Kill (1980): Pino Donaggio

Body Heat (1981): John Barry.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): John Williams.

Diva (1981): Vladimir Cosma.

Blade Runner (1982): Vangelis

Sophie’s Choice (1982): Marvin Hamlish

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983): Ryuichi Sakamoto

Koyaanisqatsi (1983): Philip Glass

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985): Philip Glass

The Mission (1986): Ennio Morricone

The Moderns (1988): Mark Isham

Cinema Paradiso (1989): Ennio Morricone

The Last of the Mohicans (1992): Trevor Jones with Randy Edelman

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992): Wojciech Kilar

The Piano (1993): Michael Nyman

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999): Gabriel Yared

There Will Be Blood (2007): Jonny Greenwood

Revolutionary Road (2008): Thomas Newman

Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy (2011): Alberto Iglesias

Under the Skin (2014): Mica Levi

Phantom Thread (2017): Jonny Greenwood

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018): Nicholas Britell

Spencer (2021): Jonny Greenwood

Pearl (2022): Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams
Bernard Herrmann (5) | Vladimir Cosma (1) | Alex North (1) |
Ennio Morricone (5) | Frank De Vol (1) | Michael Nyman (1) |
Georges Delerue (1) | David Raksin (1) | |
John Barry (3)* | Jerry Fielding (1) | Leonard Rosenman (1) |
Pino Donaggio (3) | Hugo Friedhofer (1) | Miklos Rozsa (1) |
Jonny Greenwood (3) | Jerry Goldsmith (1) | Ryuichi Sakamoto (1) |
Nino Rota (3) | Marvin Hamlish (1) | Phillipe Sarde (1) |
Mark Isham (1) | Lalo Schifrin (1) | |
Elmer Bernstein (2) | Maurice Jarre (1) | Max Steiner (1) |
Philip Glass (2) | Trevor Jones (1) *** | Vangelis (1) |
Henry Mancini (2) | Anton Karas (1) | Roy Webb (1) |
Giorgio Moroder (2) | Wojciech Kilar (1) | John Williams (1) |
Franz Waxman (2) | Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1) | Gabriel Yared (1) |
Francis Lai (1) | ||
Gato Barbieri (1) | Michel Legrand (1) | |
Tyler Bates (1)** | Mica Levi (1) | |
Nicholas Britell (1) | Toshiro Mayuzumi (1) | |
Bill Conti (1) | Jerome Moross (1) | |
John Corigliano (1) | Thomas Newman (1) |



Rebecca (1940) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Laura (1944) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Double Indemnity (1944) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Notorious (1946) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Film Review A – TheBrownees
Vertigo (1958) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
North by Northwest (1959) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Psycho (1960) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Whatever Happened Baby Jane? (1962) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Midnight Cowboy (1969) Film Review A – TheBrownees
Chinatown (1974) Polanski’s Noir Masterpiece A+ – TheBrownees
Carrie (1976) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Under The Skin (2014) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Spencer (2021) Film Review A – TheBrownees
Mia Goth Astonishes in X (2022) and Pearl (2022) A- TheBrownees