# Am I the only one who's nuts about film scores? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336 "2000-05-23T23:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![trilobite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@trilobite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trilobite)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/1 "2000-05-23T23:13:18Z")
About half of my CDs are film music. By far, movie sountracks are my favourite ‘genre’. Among my friends (real and imaginary, mostly imaginary), I seem to be the only one with this musical penchant. Now, I don’t mean movie sountracks that are just a compilation of previously-released songs that are generic, and not intended for the movie itself, but actual film scores. Stuff from composers such as Danny Elfman, Ennio Morricone, Howard Shore, Carter Burwell, John Williams, etc… C’mon! Am I the only one who gets moved by the plaintive harmonica riff from Once Upon a Time in the West? Or busts a gut listening to Songs in the Key of Springfield? Just wanna know… Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![concrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@concrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/concrete)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/2 "2000-05-23T23:31:10Z")
you are certifiably nutzo…get some help ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/3 "2000-05-23T23:45:27Z")
Your not crazy. I have a few Soundtracks in my music collection (not many but there are a few I’d like to get… is it strange that I like the Disney ones?) I have stuff like Mulan, The Full monty, Men In Black and hope to get Cats soon. ---
**Author:** ![annalamerino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@annalamerino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annalamerino)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/4 "2000-05-24T00:16:55Z")
I just downloaded the James Bond Theme in five versions, for the various singers. (Also got the theme for Benny Hill. Hmm… not quite a film.) ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/5 "2000-05-24T00:27:34Z")
Bernard Herrmann’s “Vertigo” score is brilliant. I never get tired of listening to it. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/6 "2000-05-24T00:33:57Z")
The _Fifth Element_ soundtrack is really good. I’m not quite sure what it is about it that I like, but I could listen to it over and over… ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/7 "2000-05-24T12:45:58Z")
I have many of Bernard Herrmann’s scores (FAHRENHEIT 451, MARNIE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, and PSYCHO in addition to VERTIGO)…Sadly, some of these are not available in the US, but you can get them in Europe. Also: Henry Mancini (HATARI!, PINK PANTHER)… John Williams (STAR WARS, SUPERMAN, INDIANA JONES…) John Barry (James Bond) Dmitri Tiomkin (THE ALAMO) and Max Steiner and Kornbluth and Newman (damn, I’m blanking on first names)… But the best soundtrack of all time is, IMHO, Newman’s score for DeMille’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/8 "2000-05-24T12:58:30Z")
I don’t buy them very often to listen to at home, but I really do enjoy listening to them. A bad score can really kill an otherwise decent movie, and vice-versa. On a side note, our local classical station often plays the main title them from Elmer Bernstein’s score for “The Magnificent Seven.” I always get a kick out of that. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/9 "2000-05-24T14:13:28Z")
I don’t listen to film scores so much to recreate the experience of the movie (although I can’t help the scenes that run through me head whilst listening), but because I like the work of the individual composer. Like **CKDH,** I’m a big Bernard Herrman buff. In addition to VERTIGO, PSYCHO, and NORTH BY NORTHWEST, I also have his scores for THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (theremin!) and THE DEVIL AND DAN’L WEBSTER, which is _one_ funky piece of Americana. I’ve got recordings of his “serious” music, too…the Symphony, the String Quartet, and the Clarinet Quartet. Other soundtracks in my record collection are scattershot…Franz Waxman’s music for THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN…the scores of BLOW-UP and ZABRISKIE POINT (for the solo work by Herbie Hancock in the former and Jerry Garcia in the latter). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/10 "2000-05-24T14:54:22Z")
One of my two famous reletives was Alex North, who scored a lot of films in the Fifties (Giant and—I think—The Misfits among them). Any North fans here? ---
**Author:** ![Geenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Geenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geenius)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/11 "2000-05-24T17:41:22Z")
Not a fan of scores in general, but a _big_ fan of Thomas Newman. I have scores to _American Beauty, The Player_ and _The Shawshank Redemption._ Next on my to-buy list are probably _Unstrung Heroes_ and _The Linguini Incident._ I do so wish the score for _The Man With One Red Shoe_ were available – it’s the one that got me hooked on Newman in the first place. The entire voting membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should be lined up and shot for not giving this year’s Best Score Oscar to _American Beauty_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/12 "2000-12-14T12:19:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Trilobite_ > Am I the only one who gets moved by the plaintive harmonica riff from Once Upon a Time in the West? Or busts a gut listening to Songs in the Key of Springfield? Not at all. At last count, my soundtrack CDs (either original scores or musical song scores, but NO compilation/_Big Chill_-type stuff) numbered 277. And it keeps growing and growing… My favorites? Herrmann, Waxman, Goldsmith, and Morricone–though I do have quite a bit of Steiner, Barry, Mancini, Rozsa, North, Williams, Rota, Elfman, Delerue, and Elmer Bernstein (to mention just a few). All-time best score? Prokofiev’s _Alexander Nevsky_ > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven_ > But the best soundtrack of all time is, IMHO, Newman’s score for DeMille’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Sorry, CKDH, but that was written by Elmer Bernstein, not Alfred Newman (who, IIRC, was never even contracted with Paramount) > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Eve_ > One of my two famous reletives was Alex North, who scored a lot of films in the Fifties (Giant and—I think—The Misfits among them). Any North fans here? Absolutely. My favorite probably is _A Streetcar Named Desire_, though _Viva Zapata!, Dragonslayer,_ and _Spartacus_ are some other great ones. Though the Academy is a collective bunch of lamebrains, they **did** do something right in giving North a Special Achievement Oscar, the only one given to a composer for his body of work. Btw, though North did score _The Misfits_, Dmitri Tiomkin scored _Giant_. ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/13 "2000-12-14T12:31:28Z")
There’s no accounting for taste… ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/14 "2000-12-14T14:03:46Z")
Film score buff checking in. _The Last of The Mohicans_ _Henry V_ _The Mission_ _Jurassic Park_ _Conan the Barbarian_ have a permanent residence in my car (their counterparts on CD live with the rest of the film scores in the house). At last count, I had about 65 film scores and soundtracks, second to classical (302) in sheer numbers in my collection. (Hoping to purchase a convertible, but right now I’m content with rolling down the window and driving a wee bit above the speed limit on the turnpike with the music blaring.) Pick up “Cinema Choral Classics” - some great choral music from the scores of _The Omen_, _1492_, _The Abyss_, and _The Lion in Winter_. I have a choral fixation. [Honestly, CCC2 is not as exciting as CCC1 (like _Jurassic Park 1_ vs. _Jurassic Park 2_), but I’ll give it another listen.] ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/15 "2000-12-14T14:25:32Z")
Well, I certainly can’t claim the knowledge and depth of experience of many of the posters in this thread, but I do like film scores. The two that rank near the top of my personal list are _Glory_ and _The Blues Brothers_. I also enjoy the theme music from the original _Halloween_. I know, I’m trashy. It’s a curse. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@Sasquatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/16 "2000-12-14T14:30:17Z")
Tehre’s an option on the Matrix DVD that I thought was pretty slick: it’s a music-only version. No dialog, no sound effects, just the music. Very cool. ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/17 "2000-12-14T14:50:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Geenius \* > \*\*The entire voting membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should be lined up and shot for not giving this year’s Best Score Oscar to _American Beauty_. \*\* I have to disagree, having seen _The Red Violin_ as well. It also had a beautiful score. That was, I"m certain, a very close vote. I do love the _American Beauty_ score though. LL ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/18 "2000-12-14T19:44:05Z")
Sort of off-topic, but does anyone know where to find sheet music for classic film scores? Especially Bernard Herrmann’s stuff? I don’t even know if printed sheet music even exists for some of the older stuff, but if anyone has any ideas where I might start looking, I’d very much appreciate it. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/19 "2000-12-15T01:49:25Z")
ArchiveGuy, you are absolutely right about Alexander Nevsky having the best film score! There are many scores I like, but it is superb. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2000, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336/20 "2000-12-15T02:54:59Z")
If you like Bernard Herrmann’s music, check out the score for **Taxi Driver** (although there is narratives by DeNiro inserted, including the famous “you talkin’ to _me_” scene)…this music is hauntingly beautiful. Which reminds me: Williams’ score for **Schindler’s List**. Incredible. …and, like my brother, I wish more film soundtracks were released without the annoying gratuitous top forty hit included. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-whos-nuts-about-film-scores/20336.md?page=2)