Death of Elmer Berstein

[cinemabon]

Elmer Bernstein died yesterday at the age of 82. Starting out as a prodigy of Aaron Copland, Berstein came to Hollywood in the 1950's and was "gray" listed for not fingering Communists. Oddly enough, it was right wing Cecil DeMille who relieved Victor Young on "The Ten Commandments" and gave Berstein his first big break, finishing the score and leading to his first of 14 Academy Award nominations.

Bernstein (not at all related to Leonard) is best remembered for the two march themes he composed for "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Great Escape". While he wrote scores for hundreds of films, he only won an Oscar for his score adaptation work in the obscure musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie". He died in his sleep at home.

Martin Scorsese is quoted as saying "some composers write a score that supports a film... Berstein's scores graced a film."

One by one, we will be seeing these giants of film music passing away within the next few years as many are now in their eighties. Berstein was one of the greats. As a perfect example, sit back and watch the opening of "The Magnificent Seven" with the sound turned down. A person cannot imagine that such a great and rousing symphonic score could underlie such a mundane picture. Berstein's scores made many mediocre pictures great... and that makes him memorable in any book.