Customer Reviews

Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911-1970

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a wealth of information! If you love lists, you'll love this book, as it comprehensively details the composers (and orchestrators) who wrote the background scores, often anonymously, in the golden age of American motion pictures. It ends at 1970, which may seem arbitrary, but you can't complain about the author's resourcefulness in researching the extant archives of the major Hollywood studios. Invaluable for libraries and fact-collectors who want to know "who really wrote that score".

I have personal knowledge of the extent to which Cliff went to give proper credit for each composer within this book. It was literally the result of a lifetime's worth of work. The author spent countless hours tracking down films to see who was credited, sure, but he also spent even more time at libraries and studios looking at documents to see who did the actual work. IMDB.com may have much of this information, but this book is the definitive work in the field and is extremely solid in its sourcing and research.