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 One received a nomination that was then rescinded: Nino Rota for The Godfather (1972).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
