rainee Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Has TCM ever had a program about the composers of film scores from the classic films, such as Tiomkin, Steiner, Newman etc? Some of my favorite moments in movies are the wonderful scores. I did a search on the forum and didn't find anything that was what I had in mind. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineSage_jr Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 They've programmed a couple of day-long tributes to MGMs own great Mikl?s R?zsa (whose name Bob Osborne kept mispronouncing), and Bernard Herrmann, but they've never done a real documentary about film-scoring. It's a shame, because the art of film music is a very special and critical part of the filmmaking process, and the only discipline that can and does exist apart from the completed film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainee Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 Thanks. You said what I felt perfectly. Many a movie has been saved by a great score IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movieman1957 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I seem to recall about a year before he died Elmer Bernstein was on TCM as a guest for the night where they discussed his music and then showed several films that he scored. I don't recall any documentary type films. I am a music lover and would love to know more about the art of scoring a film. Writing music is hard enough but to write to a specific theme and time limit must be really difficult. Message was edited by: Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 There is an excellent documentary about Herrmann called Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann (1993) that has been shown on PBS in the past and is available on dvd. I'd also recommend the well written bio, The Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann by Steven Smith to anyone interested in that composer's tempestuous creative and personal life. What a terrific documentary series could be made about each of the great film score composers: starting with Prokofiev, Alfred Newman, Max Steiner, Korngold, Herrmann, Copland, Mancini, John Barry, John Williams, and even Duke Ellington and Phillip Glass! A dedicated soul such as Kevin Brownlow would probably be needed to create such a huge project. Even if it only took the form of a series of tributes as nightly themes on TCM I'd be delighted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidEnglish Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 > I don't recall any documentary type films. I saw an excellent documentary years ago on PBS's Great Performances. I've tracked it down, though it doesn't appear to be available at the moment. Perhaps TCM could purchase the rights (hint, hint). It could be a good tie-in to some of the films already in the TCM library. It's titled Music for the Movies: The Hollywood Sound (1995). Here are a few links: http://imdb.com/title/tt0113877/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6303908616/ http://www.timeout.com/film/73658.html DavidE http://www.classicfilmpreview.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidEnglish Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Thanks for the heads-up on Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann (1993). I'm a big Bernard Herrmann fan. I'll look for the DVD. Edit: A documentary series on the great composers is a wonderful idea. Maybe Ken Burns and Kevin Brownlow could work on it together with joint funding from PBS and the BBC. DavidE http://www.classicfilmpreview.com Message was edited by: DavidEnglish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts