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Elmer Bernstein, Film Composer: An Authorized Biography
- Author: Bernstein, Peter
- Author: Burlingame, Jon
‘Daddy issues’ aside, this is a worthy account of a composer whose decades-spanning career saw him work with everyone from Cecil B. DeMille to Todd Haynes.
Elmer Bernstein, Film Composer: An Authorized Biography
- Author: Bernstein, Peter
- Author: Burlingame, Jon
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‘Daddy issues’ aside, this is a worthy account of a composer whose decades-spanning career saw him work with everyone from Cecil B. DeMille to Todd Haynes.
About
“Consider this new book the standard Bernstein biography.” — Booklist, Starred Review
A behind-the-scenes look at the life and music of legendary Hollywood composer Elmer Bernstein, the only person to be nominated for an Academy Award in every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s
Over a career spanning 54 years, he composed landmark scores in every available genre—epics, jazz, westerns, dramas, and comedies—and his credits read like list of the greatest films of his time: The Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man With the Golden Arm, The Great Escape, Ghostbusters, to name just a few. This biography, written by Elmer’s son Peter, interweaves exclusive interviews, oral histories not otherwise available, estate archival materials, and personal experiences.
Elmer Bernstein lived a colorful life: he was a first generation American; he was blacklisted; and he was a fearless advocate for film music not afraid to take on anyone in pages of trade papers. The book looks at many of his landmark scores in depth, collaborations with various producers and directors, and his success in navigating the rough and tumble of Hollywood. There is much to his story: a cycle of struggle, success, frustration, failure, and reinvention repeated many times over his career which connected the Old Hollywood with the modern era.
Contents
- CHAPTER 1 – BEGINNINGS
- CHAPTER 2 – GROWING UP
- CHAPTER 3 – FROM NEW YORK TO HOLLYWOOD
- CHAPTER 4 – HOLLYWOOD 1950-1952
- CHAPTER 5 – THE BLACKLIST
- CHAPTER 6 - DE MILLE and PREMINGER
- CHAPTER 7 – TESTIMONY and FINISHING
- CHAPTER 8 – SUCCESS
- CHAPTER 9 – TELEVISION and BOATS
- CHAPTER 10 – MAGNIFICENCE and THE PONIES
- CHAPTER 11 – EARLY 60’s: INCREDIBLE PACE
- CHAPTER 12 - CHANGES and TRAVELS – MID 60’s
- CHAPTER 13 – OSCAR and THE REST OF THE 60’s
- CHAPTER 14 – THEN 70’s Pt 1 - A BUMPY RIDE
- CHAPTER 15 – THE 70’s Pt 2 – PRESERVATIONIST and MENTOR
- CHAPTER 16 – CARREER RENEWAL WITH COMEDIES – WHO KNEW?
- CHAPTER 17 – THE OTHER 80’s – LOOKING FOR CHANGE, AGAIN
- CHAPTER 18 – THE 90’s Pt 1 - RESCURED FROM THE COMEDY WORLD
- CHAPTER 19 – THE 90’s Pt 2 - KEEPING IT GOING
- CHAPTER 20 – FINALE
- CHAPTER 21 – CODA
- APPENDIX 1 – FILMOGRAPHY
- APPENDIX 2 – TELEVISION
- APPENDIX 3 – OTHER WORKS
- APPENDIX 4 – DISCOGRAPHY
- APPENDIX 5 - BIBLIOGRAPHY
- About the Author
Awards and reviews
‘Daddy issues’ aside, this is a worthy account of a composer whose decades-spanning career saw him work with everyone from Cecil B. DeMille to Todd Haynes.
Elmer Bernstein composed the scores to awful movies (Robot Monster, 1953), expensive movies (The Ten Commandments, 1956), and classic movies (The Great Escape, 1963; Ghostbusters, 1984), but in this new biography we learn about Bernstein, the man. Written by his son Peter, using original interviews, oral histories, and personal ephemera, the book is neither tribute nor hagiography. Instead, it’s the story of a man’s life: its highs (though he won but one Oscar, he’s the only person to have been nominated in five straight decades), its lows (he was blacklisted in the 1950s), and the ordinary stuff in between. The author isn’t a professional biographer and this is a good thing. The book’s informal, conversational writing style makes it feel authentic and personal, as though it’s intended simply as a book about an interesting person, told by someone who knew him. The Magnificent Elmer (2014), cowritten by Bernstein’s second wife, Pearl, covers some of the same ground, but it’s very hard to find. Consider this new book the standard Bernstein biography
In a long and prolific career, Elmer Bernstein (1922–2004) composed the scores for more than 150 films and nearly 80 television productions. His work earned 14 Academy Award nominations (winning one for Thoroughly Modern Millie) and two Tony nominations. He arranged music for such classics as The Ten Commandments, Sweet Smell of Success, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, Stripes, Animal House, The Blues Brothers, and Far from Heaven. The author of this biography, Bernstein’s son, focuses more on his father’s career, including his blacklisting in the 1950s and his numerous successes, failures, and reinventions. This is not a memoir of growing up with Elmer Bernstein as a father; rather, it is a studiously detailed career overview and appreciation of his talent. As such, there is a reserve to this biography—when the author (rarely) writes about himself, it’s in the third person. Bernstein once said, “Music is the soul of life, yet each soul sings its own song,” and as this biography makes clear, he was a soul with many songs. Anyone who enjoys music, movies, or music in the movies will find much to sing about in this thoughtful and well-written biography
