Notablog

Song of the Day: King Kong (“Soundtrack Suite”) [YouTube link], composed by Max Steiner, is credited as the first score written in a way to parallel, enhance, and support the narrative to a film—and “movie music” has never been the same since. So singular was Steiner’s achievement for this 1933…

Song of the Day: Summer of ’42 (“Soundtrack Suite”) [YouTube link], composed by Michel Legrand, provides a glimpse of this deeply romantic Oscar-winning score for the 1971 tender coming-of-age film, starring Jennifer O’Neill and Gary Grimes. On this date, 90 years ago, in 1932, the Legendary Legrand was born.

Song of the Day: Lady Usher (“Suite”) [site link], composed by Michael Gordon Shapiro, is a lovely suite of selections from the soundtrack to this 2021 creepy thriller with a twist, based on Edgar Allan Poe‘s Gothic tale, “The Fall of the House of Usher.” My friend Mike outdoes himself…

Song of the Day: Far From Heaven (“Suite”) [YouTube link], composed by Elmer Bernstein, was the final film and the final Oscar-nominated soundtrack of Bernstein’s illustrious career. This 2002 film, written and directed by Todd Haynes, is an homage to the 1950s films of Douglas Sirk, exploring themes of race,…

Song of the Day: The Great Escape (“Soundtrack Suite”) [YouTube link], composed by Elmer Bernstein, is a terrific complement to the suspense and thrills of this 1963 epic POW film, directed by John Sturges. The all-star cast includes Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough. It is said that Bernstein…

Song of the Day: Lawrence of Arabia (“Soundtrack Suite”), composed by Maurice Jarre, highlights key themes from the 1962 Oscar-winning Best Picture, directed by David Lean, and starring Peter O’Toole as T. E. Lawrence, and a grand supporting cast featuring Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, and Omar Sharif. The…

Song of the Day: How the West Was Won (“Soundtrack Suite”) [YouTube link], composed by Alfred Newman, provides the musical backdrop for this 1962 all-star epic Western, narrated by Spencer Tracy, directed in five chapters, variously by Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall. Now that we are at the…