Listed are a total of sixty-three composers and ninety scores.
Two of the composers listed have a backup composer (Trevor Jones with Randy Edelman and Tyler Bates with Tim Williams, giving a total of sixty-five composers overall).
- 49 (51, if you count the two backup composers) are represented ONCE.
- 7 are represented x2
- 5 are represented x 3
- 2 are represented x 6
Of the 65 composers, 27 (42%) are/were Jewish and 38 (48%) are/were non-Jewish.
Of the 90 original scores listed, six are Oscar winners: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Jaws (1975) and Midnight Express (1978). 27 received an Oscar nomination. One received a nomination that was then rescinded: Nino Rota for The Godfather (1972). The other 56 of my 90 favorite movie scores (a whopping 62%) 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 Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947): Bernard Herrmann
The Third Man (1949): Anton Karas
Sunset Boulevard (1950): Franz Waxman
In a Lonely Place (1950): George Antheil
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
The Haunting (1963) Humphrey Searle
The Pink Panther (1964): Henry Mancini
Le Mépris (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 Fox (1968): Lalo Schifrin
Rosemary’s Baby (1968): Krzysztof Komeda
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): Ennio Morricone
Planet of the Apes (1968): Jerry Goldsmith
Romeo and Juliette (1968): Nino Rota
The Wild Bunch (1969): Jerry Fielding
Midnight Cowboy (1969): John Barry
Straw Dogs (1971): Jerry Fielding
The Godfather (1972): Nino Rota
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1977): Popol Vuh
Last Tango in Paris (1973): Gato Barbieri
Don’t Look Now (1973): Pino Donaggio
Chinatown (1974): Jerry Goldsmith.
The Parallax View (1974): Michael Small
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975): Bruce Smeaton
Jaws (1975): John Williams:
Farewell My Lovely (1975): David Shire
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
Suspiria (1977): Goblin
Midnight Express (1978): Giorgio Moroder
Days of Heaven (1978): Ennio Morricone
Halloween (1978): John Carpenter
Tess (1979): Philippe Sarde.
Alien (1979): Jerry Goldsmith
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 Hamlisch
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983): Ryuichi Sakamoto
Koyaanisqatsi (1983): Philip Glass
The Mission (1986): Ennio Morricone
The Fly (1986): Howard Shore
Dead Ringers (1988): Howard Shore
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
Requiem for a Dream (2000): Clint Mansell
The Others (2001): Alejandro Amenábar
3:10 to Yuma (2007): Marco Beltrami
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 (& Tim Williams)
Marty Supreme (2025): Daniel Lopatin
TABLE: My 90 All-Time Favorite Original Movie Scores
Jewish composers in red, non-Jewish composers in black.
| Bernard Herrmann (6) | Bill Conti (1) | Clint Mansell (1) |
| Ennio Morricone (6) | John Corigliano (1) | Toshiro Mayuzumi (1) |
| John Barry (3) | Vladimir Cosma (1) | Jerome Moross (1) |
| Pino Donaggio (3) | Frank De Vol (1) | Thomas Newman (1) |
| Jerry Goldsmith (3) | Georges Delerue (1) | Alex North (1) |
| Jonny Greenwood (3) | Hugo Friedhofer (1) | Michael Nyman (1) |
| Nino Rota (3) | Philip Glass (1) | Pupol Vu (1) |
| Elmer Bernstein (2) | Goblin (1) | David Raksin (1) |
| Jerry Fielding (2) | Alberto Iglesias (1) | Leonard Rosenman (1) |
| Henry Mancini (2) | Marvin Hamlisch (1) | Miklos Rozsa (1) |
| Giorgio Moroder (2) | Mark Isham (1) | Ryuichi Sakamoto (1) |
| Howard Shore (2) | Maurice Jarre (1) | Phillipe Sarde (1) |
| Franz Waxman (2) | Trevor Jones (& Randy Edelman) (1) | Lalo Schifrin (1) |
| John Williams (2) | Anton Karas (1) | Humphrey Searle (1) |
| Alejandro Amenabar (1) | Wojciech Kilar (1) | David Shire (1) |
| George Antheil (1) | Krzysztof Komeda (1) | Michael Small (1) |
| Marco Beltrami (1) | Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1) | Bruce Smeaton (1) |
| Gato Barbieri (1) | Francis Lai (1) | Max Steiner (1) |
| Tyler Bates (& Tim Williams) (1) | Michel Legrand (1) | Vangelis (1) |
| Nicholas Britell (1) | Mica Levi (1) | Roy Webb (1) |
| John Carpenter (1) | Daniel Lopatin (1) | Gabriel Yared (1) |
