# The Last Chord: Elmer Bernstein Dead At 82 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502 "2004-08-19T03:20:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/1 "2004-08-19T03:20:28Z")
[www.imdb.com/news/flash](http://www.imdb.com/news/flash) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/2 "2004-08-19T03:28:00Z")
Wow, first Jerry Goldsmith and now Elmer Bernstein, both in the span of a month. Very sad. _The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, True Grit, Walk on the Wild Side, The Man with the Golden Arm, Far from Heaven, The Great Escape_ and especially _Sweet Smell of Success_–all timeless compositions. And like Goldsmith, only one Oscar. RIP. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/3 "2004-08-19T03:31:31Z")
No. **NO**. I can’t take Goldsmith and Bernstein in a mere month. I can’t do it. When Goldsmith died (that broke my heart—I was a big fan since I was 11), I thought, “Well, at least there’s Bernstein.” Crap. Who next? Morricone? Williams? Zimmer? This sucks, man. I mean, I know that Goldsmith and Bernstein were both no longer spring chickens, but that doesn’t matter. It’s not right. Nope. > [@Archive Guy](#): > > And like Goldsmith, only one Oscar. RIP. ☹ What is it with the Oscars? They mete out the awards so sparingly to these guys. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/4 "2004-08-19T03:34:01Z")
I’ve got tickets for John Williams conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra on August 28, so I hope he holds on longer. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/5 "2004-08-19T04:14:32Z")
Well, dang. He’ll be missed. Just yesterday I was thinking about his score for “Airplane!” and how I wished it was available on cd. I have the soundtrack on vinyl, but it’s overlaid with dialog from the movie. No respect for genius, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/6 "2004-08-19T15:17:39Z")
Another report can be found at [www.yahoo.com](http://www.yahoo.com) . ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/7 "2004-08-19T15:54:45Z")
He certainly will be missed! While I really didn’t care for the 1991 remake of “Cape Fear,” I saw it in a theater just to hear the score. Bernard Herrmann’s 1962 score adapted and arranged by Elmer Bernstein! And the opening notes before the credits rolled made my hearing it through a good theater sound system all worthwhile. RIP Maestro! I can imagine the score to “The Magnificient Seven” playing as you approach the Pearly Gates! ---
**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:** [August 19, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/8 "2004-08-19T19:54:22Z")
Sigh. His score for the Cecil DeMille _The Ten Commandments_ is one of the great movie scores of all time. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/9 "2004-08-19T22:14:16Z")
And he got an Oscar nomination for his score for the 2002 filme [Far From Heaven](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0297884/). He must have been 79-80 years old when he scored that, and it was a lush and beautiful score. And it was fitting that he score that film, which was trying to emulate the '50s era. He started scoring films in the '50s. This is so sad. Well, like Goldsmith, he had a long and prolific career. Too bad that both these guys couldn’t have received more Oscars. They certainly deserved them. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/10 "2004-08-19T22:32:43Z")
> [@yosemite](#): > > Too bad that both these guys couldn’t have received more Oscars. Well, they could have if the Academy weren’t such numbskulls. Certainly, the nominated scores for _The Man with the Golden Arm_ (Bernstein), _Patton, Under Fire, Mulan_ and _L.A. Confidential_ (Goldsmith) were all better than the score that actually won those years. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-chord-elmer-bernstein-dead-at-82/260502/11 "2004-08-24T23:20:44Z")
> [@plankter](#): > > Just yesterday I was thinking about his score for “Airplane!” and how I wished it was available on cd. I have the soundtrack on vinyl, but it’s overlaid with dialog from the movie. No respect for genius, I tell you. His score during the “George Zipp said that?!” scene gets me every time.