大象传媒

In the second of their conversations Donald Macleod talks to composer Peter Bernstein about his father film composer Elmer Bernstein's projects in the 1960s.

Born in 1922, Elmer Bernstein created the music for more than 150 films. His big break was one of Hollywood's biggest pictures, Cecil B DeMille's swan song, the 1955 biblical epic, "The Ten Commandments". At the same time as working on that enormous canvas for DeMille, Bernstein was composing the first in a series of groundbreaking jazz-infused scores, "The Man with the Golden Arm". He went on to write the music for the Hollywood adaptation of Harper Lee's classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird", westerns that include The Magnificent Seven, surely one of the best-known title themes in the history of cinema, before he became the go to composer for John Wayne. His scores for action adventures include "The Great Escape" and a moving depiction of the inner life of a prisoner in "Birdman of Alcatraz". Nominated on numerous occasions, he won an Oscar for "Thoroughly Modern Millie". In the 1980s he delighted younger generations of cinema goers with scores such as "National Lampoon's Animal House", "Ghostbusters" and "Airplane!鈥�, before deciding to make a return to more serious drama. Projects with Martin Scorsese included the film of Edith Wharton's novel "The Age of Innocence" and a remake of "Cape Fear". Among Bernstein's other projects was the music for "My Left Foot", the film about the artist Christy Brown. His last score, for which he received a final Oscar nomination, was for Todd Haynes's "Far from Heaven" in 2002. He died just two years later in 2004.

Donald Macleod marks the centenary of this gifted and versatile film composer in conversation with Peter and Emilie Bernstein, two of Elmer Bernstein's children. They offer a fascinating insider's view into the film music industry alongside a personal portrait of their father.

From the sleazy atmospheric jazz score for Walk on the Wild Side to the rolling vistas conjured up by The Magnificent Seven to a satirical show on Broadway, the 1960s were a period of creative success and diversification for Elmer Bernstein.

Walk on the Wild Side
Main title
Elmer Bernstein and his Orchestra

The Magnificent Seven
Ambush
Petra鈥檚 Declaration
Defeat
Crossroads
Elmer Bernstein, conductor

To Kill a Mockingbird
Tree Treasure
Lynch mob
Guilty Verdict
Ewell regret it
Royal National Scottish Orchestra
Elmer Bernstein, conductor

True Grit
Where there is smoke / the Dying Moon
Preparation / Dugout Stakeout / Shots Galore!
Ruffled Rooster
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
James Fitzpatrick, conductor

How Now Dow Jones
A Little Investigation
Hiram Sherman
How Now Dow Jones Ensemble