| movie title |
related
list |
average rating |
MPAA rating |
watch |
rent |
buy |
| King Kong (1933)
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| music by max steiner. "it all starts here" |
| The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
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Not Rated
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| franz waxman, soothing the brute with sex. "horrific and hilarious." |
| The Informer (1935)
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Not Rated
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| max steiner. "really gets into the minds of the characters." |
| Things to Come (1936)
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Not Rated
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arthur bliss. "musically [conveys] the war between ... ruling despots and utopian rebels"
the prince and the pauper (1937)
erich korngold. "rollicking, warmhearted score"
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| The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
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| erich korngold. "the film was designed like an operetta, and korngold's score was constructed like a series of staged setpieces ... harmonically intriguing and full of panache." |
| Gone with the Wind (Disc 1 of 2) (1939)
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| max steiner. "sure, the score for this big-budget soap opera is bloated ... but it's compelling stuff." |
| Ghost of Frankenstein/Son of Frankenstein (1942)
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Not Rated
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| frank skinner. "[son of frankenstein's] creepy, impulsive, gothic sounds (shivering strings, screaming brass) became the standard clichés for horror films..." |
| Of Mice and Men (1939)
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Not Rated
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| aaron copland. "a fresh [distinctive] tone ... [this musical americana] only occasionally comments on the story, but it's vividly descriptive..." |
| The Sea Hawk (1940)
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Not Rated
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erich korngold. "his grandest score ... a tone poem"
all that money can buy (1942)
bernard herrmann.
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| Rebecca (Criterion Collection) (1940)
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| franz waxman. "glossy and melodramatic to be sure, [but] affirms [the composer's ability] to get inside the main idea of a movie and haunt it." |
| How Green Was My Valley (1941)
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Not Rated
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alfred newman. "[creates] a general atmosphere ... effective and deeply emotional ... sentimental in the best sense."
first of the few (1942)
william walton. "[makes] the blood pound."
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| The Jungle Book (1942)
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| miklós rózsa. "exotic work ... a motif for each creature ... as well as a sumptuous theme for the jungle itself ... terribly moving." (first score ever released as a soundtrack album) |
| The Devil and Daniel Webster (Criterion Collection) (1941)
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bernard herrmann. "accompanies this tale in discrete sections, like an orchestral suite ... the [musical] stuff of local legend"
the song of bernadette (1943)
alfred newman. "the music [is] a great storyteller"
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| Laura (1944)
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Not Rated
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david raksin. "adventurous harmonic language ... pop-style melody [used] to dazzling effect."
the adventures of mark twain (1944)
max steiner. "the gratifying sound of folklore, hollywood-style."
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| Double Indemnity (1944)
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| miklós rózsa. "thick, unsettled, indulgent music [furnishing] a psychological climate ... helped set a precedent for later sonic dissonance and introspection." |
| Henry V (Criterion Collection) (1944)
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william walton. "[walton wanted] a sense of the historical period [with] a fairly contemporary sound ... framed the film perfectly..."
captain from castile (1947)
alfred newman. "constantly intense ... full of vigor"
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| The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
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Not Rated
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hugo friedhofer. "properly heard, it can help us understand what [returning war veterans] went through."
forever amber (1947)
david raksin. "a [handelian] dramatic sense that surpasses the film's."
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| Odd Man Out (1947)
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Not Rated
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william alwyn. "formal, all of one strong color ... sustains [this] suspenseful, elegaic film"
green dolphin street (1947)
bronislau kaper. "lush and old-fashioned [but the main theme] became a favorite of jazz musicians"
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| Johnny Belinda (1948)
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Not Rated
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| max steiner. "as sheer visceral drama, the overall work has piecemeal power" |
| The Louisiana Story (1948)
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Not Rated
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| virgil thomson. "quiet and contemplative ... [exposed] the serious potential of docudramas" |
| Oliver Twist (Criterion Collection) (1948)
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Not Rated
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arnold bax. "caught the spirit and momentum [of the film] ... makes [the photography] look even richer."
scott of the antarctic (1948)
ralph vaughan williams. "a simultaneous sense [of] the mystical and the bleakly real"
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| Sunset Boulevard (1950)
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Not Rated
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franz waxman. "here is film music actually participating in character study and social commentary."
madame bovary (1949)
miklós rózsa. "a last gasp of traditionalism ... full of purely musical ideas"
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| Night and the City (Criterion Collection) (1950)
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| franz waxman. "[in this startling score] waxman's message is clear: night wins" |
| A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
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alex north. "here is the true debut of raw soloist jazz in the dramatic context of a film."
the red pony (1949)
aaron copland. "folklike ... its sense of [a horse's] rhythm really moves it"
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| The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
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| bernard herrmann. "the first major electronic score ... can earthlings [and hollywood] welcome something new?" |
| On Dangerous Ground (1951)
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Not Rated
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| bernard herrmann. "hyper-romance ... brooding, meandering suspense ... [near animalistic] action" |
| High Noon (1952)
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dimitri tiomkin. trendsetting song-led score: the title song tells the story, then comments on the action.
death of a salesman (1951)
alex north. "refined despair, which gains in weariness, heaviness, and urgency"
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| On the Waterfront (1954)
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Not Rated
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leonard bernstein. "as stark, stoic, and imposing as a city skyline silhouette."
viva zapata (1952)
alex north. "[an] excitable percussion score [with] an unpredictable wildness"
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| The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
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Not Rated
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| elmer bernstein. "this was hot urban music, whose vitality [helped associate jazz with crime]." |
| Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
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leonard rosenman. "a more scholarly, bitonal jazz [that] also explores other moods."
the cobweb (1955)
rosenman. "[the avant-garde compositions] captured all the story's anxieties and neuroses"
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| Around the World in 80 Days (Disc 1 of 2) (1956)
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| victor young. "[a travelogue of] lush melodies [in an] american popular style." |
| Auntie Mame (1958)
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Not Rated
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| bronislau kaper. "[nostalgic and] glamorous ... a certain teasing tone but with a fondness, too..." |
| Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
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Not Rated
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| george duning. "clean pop-romanticism ... laced with milder jazz effects ... the approach is light and ingratiating, like a rich sitcom score ... but the music itself is cleverly self-reflexive and [incantational]" |
| The Big Country (1958)
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Not Rated
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| jerome moross. "direct, authentic [with] its own muscular movement and the feeling of wide-open spaces ... timed precisely ... probably the best score ever written for a western" |
| Vertigo (Special Edition) (1958)
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| bernard herrmann. "musical geometry, made of patterns and shapes rather than themes, betraying a contained tension and deeply imbedded despair ... the careful listener actually felt vertigo coming on" |
| Ben-Hur (Collector's Edition) (Disc 1 of 2) (1959)
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| miklós rózsa. "[the music fully matches] the passion and earnestness of the story ... blunt and gushy [but] so fervent and sincere that it can win over the most resistant filmgoer ... [it] carries the film" |
| The Magnificent Seven (1960)
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| elmer bernstein. "the other great western score ... punchy tempos and stirring themes helped a slow film build momentum and find its purpose" |
| Psycho (Special Edition) (1960)
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| bernard herrmann. "the antithesis of sixties optimism ... full of original touches ... [as the story unfolds] the film seems to be at the mercy of its composer" |
| Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
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| maurice jarre. "a memorable motif ... some crass marches [and] a series of otherworldly sounds ... are [what distinguish] this minimal score ... awkward ... bombastic ... [but] you cannot discount the final combination" |
| To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
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| elmer bernstein. "gentle evocation of small-town southern living ... [the score] was used to fill an essential gap in the film ... music was the one element that really took the children's point of view" |
| The Miracle Worker (1962)
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Not Rated
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| laurence rosenthal. "complex harmonies [resolve] into heartrending, almost maternal, reassurances" |
| Taras Bulba (1962)
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Not Rated
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| franz waxman. "all the energy, color, variety, and authenticity the story should have had" |
| The Cardinal (1963)
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Not Rated
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| jerome moross. "never tries to bind [the scenes, instead exploring] the unsettled inner life of the man" |
| Tom Jones (1963)
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Not Rated
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| john addison. "mercurial, mocking ... goes far on sheer audacity and ingenuous innocence" |
| A Shot in the Dark (1964)
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| henry mancini. "a sly, jazzy score that supports every aspect of the narrative ... [avoids] duplicating the comedy onscreen or telegraphing the laughs ... acting as a straight man, it enhances the farce with a wry twist" |
| It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
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| ernest gold. "symphonic slapstick ... [gold] approached the action with a light and self-satisfied touch ... good-naturedly [shrugging off] the craziness of it all ... more fun to hear than to watch" |
| Goldfinger (1964)
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| john barry. "this [score] set the tone for the [bond] series ... full of repeated figures ... big, unsubtle, and [deliberate] ... [it's] all about surface tension [and leaving the audience] shaken, not stirred" |
| The Sidney Poitier Collection: A Patch of Blue (1965)
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Not Rated
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| jerry goldsmith. "[goes] right to the heart of the situation and characters ... hesitant, frail phrases [imitating the shy heroine] ... [goldsmith's best scores are structured] in a very cohesive, classical manner" |
| Cool Hand Luke (Deluxe Edition) (1967)
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| lalo schifrin. "[serene] guitars ... backwoods banjo ... agile string writing and volatile rhythm changes ... jazz inflections ... [even] mocks [the] clichés of the redneck south ... [and in the end] a touch of the tragic" |
| The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
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| ennio morricone. "a suitably eccentric approach to this anti-americana score ... becomes the voice to leone's vision [of] greed [replacing] the myth of bravery ... from this point on, morricone was a cult figure" |
| In Cold Blood (1967)
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| quincy jones. "a gutsy and very personal approach [that] goes a long way not to explain but to expose these two lost souls." |
| Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)
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Not Rated
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| richard rodney bennett. "the finest pastoral symphony on film" |
| Two for the Road (1967)
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Not Rated
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| mancini. "mainly the single song ... holds the couple's entire history together [and lets us care for them]." |
| Wait Until Dark (1967)
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Not Rated
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| henry mancini. "unforgettable ... a deeply disturbing sense of vulnerability" |
| The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
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| dave grusin. "[focuses on the hero's] decency and stability [and his own private troubles]." |
| Planet of the Apes (1968)
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| jerry goldsmith. "the uniqueness ... was in the [tight] intellectual composition on paper" |
| The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
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| michel legrand. "part glam, part jazz, mixed with classical affectations ... [with] cool spirit and knowing grin" |
| The Reivers (1969)
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| john williams. "[williams's] breakout ... 'conducted with a fishing rod in country air'" |
| The Wild Bunch (1969)
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| jerry fielding. "[the] score has no themes, echoing the film's refusal to draw conclusions ... brooding, anxious, and frantic ... fielding [was] more interested in [rhythms] than melodies [or hollywood] ... the overall effect [is] powerful bitterness" |
| The Last Valley (1971)
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john barry. "it's simple music ... clearheaded, clings to your memory, makes you wish the valley were home."
lady caroline lamb (1972)
richard rodney bennett. "sumptuous, ravishing ... sweeps past the film's failings"
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| The Three Musketeers (1973)
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| michel legrand "was a dazzling orchestrator ... impatience is the key to this opulent tongue-in-cheek score ... leaps from one complex genre to another ... great, restless, impulsive fun" |
| Chinatown (1974)
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| jerry goldsmith. "the score is short ... but so well positioned and conceived, so soulful in its main theme, so clean in its details and clear in its intentions that [it is] indispensable" |
| The Conversation (1974)
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| david shire. "a shrewd score featuring a dark, obsessive piano loop [which is slowly, electronically broken apart] ... by the end, what once was all-night jazz now sounds like smothered cries for help" |
| Jaws (1975)
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| john williams. "made an entire generation suddenly aware of film music ... visceral ... manipulates the audience at will ... virtuoso symphonic writing, too, easily and thrillingly transplantable to the concert hall" |
| Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
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| laurence rosenthal. "at first [the music] seems a bit awkward [but soon takes off] ... polytonal prowess ... fluency with counterpoint ... vitality ... this is a huge orchestral work carrying its own glorious sense of panorama" |
| The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
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| john addison. "treads lightly, with the perfect combination of traditional mystery, exaggerated chivalrous romance, and burlesque ... highly entertaining ... with a sense of urgency and fun" |
| Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
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john williams. "cultures [meet] through music as broad and rapturous as a mahler symphony"
islands in the stream (1977)
jerry goldsmith. "[his] most personal ... the music deepens to its own poignant conclusion"
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| Tess (1979)
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| philippe sarde. "a surging main theme, [delightful] interludes, a robust carriage motif [and] fine dramatic music" |
| The Stunt Man (1980)
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| dominic frontière. "music for a trapeze act, coupled with an elusive song about illusions" |
| Altered States (1980)
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| john corigliano. "pyrotechnic ... it was the sound of a hallucination, sometimes tempered ... if it were ever played in a concert hall, it might well bring the place down" |
| Gloria (1980)
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| bill conti. "[the score hangs] on the growing relationship between [adult and child] ... music interacts with the action more than most latter-day scores, and conti keeps the film moving" |
| My Bodyguard (1980)
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| dave grusin. "unexpected [classical] fusion lends an easygoing charm to the characters ... ultimately showing ... empathy and respect ... in a warm and reflective way" |
| Wolfen (1981)
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| james horner. "combinations of instruments thrown together in interesting ways ... it helps the film tremendously, even if it doesn't quite make music" |
| Conan the Barbarian (1982)
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| basil poledouris. "the score is given the space to actually do the storytelling. it's in your face - a barbaric cantata - and really drives forward with boyish enthusiasm..." |
| E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
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| john williams. "illustrative but deeply empathetic, too, conveying the emotions of the story ... variety [said it] 'stands as a model of film composing'" |
| Return to Oz (1985)
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| david shire. "a symphonic sketch full of themes and allusions [that] ties everything together by the end ... this is a major accomplishment..." |
| The Mission (1986)
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| ennio morricone. "[the] amalgam approach helps suggest the mismatched forces at odds in the story ... the composer's personality is strongly felt and compelling" |
| Batman (1989)
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danny elfman [and orchestrator shirley walker] "came up with the perfect grandiose sound"
queen of hearts (1989)
michael convertino. "you try scoring for 3 generations of an immigrant family ... and a talking pig!"
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| The Grifters (1990)
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| elmer bernstein "mainly hoped to explore ... the film's 'teasing, illusive qualities' ... the score seems to be tempting these criminal characters back toward some kind of conscience." |
| Basic Instinct (1992)
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Not Rated
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jerry goldsmith. "seductive, diffuse, evasive, incisive ... [adds] depth and stature"
bed and breakfast (1992)
david shire. "hints at [hidden] romantic potential ... [leaps past the clumsy film, right] to the audience."
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| Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
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| patrick doyle. "dance-like and decorous, in the spirit of a great elizabethan entertainment ... orchestrator lawrence ashmore supercharged the instrumental sketches [into] a tasty, rousing musical picnic." |
| Angela's Ashes (1999)
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| john williams. "this score for piano and orchestra captures, more deeply than the movie, [the] anguished suspense, teetering on resignation, [of frank mccourt's memoir]." |
| The Horse Whisperer (1998)
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| thomas newman's "usual floating, textureless tonal language, capped by emotional hook phrases, works well here ... wise whispering." |
| Waking Life (2001)
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glover gill. "[this is] scoring as a parallel stream, running alongside the film but denying any direct interplay with it ... [reveals] even more of the film's lonely inner landscape."
(read more in the nov/dec '03 issue of film comment) |
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