Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004)
Jerry Goldsmith was both prolific and innovative composing for television shows as diverse as Perry Mason and The Waltons and films from Breakheart Pass to Logan’s Run. His career spanned 40 years beginning in 1957 as conductor and musical director on a number of Climax TV episodes. He worked on many Television shows in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s including the prestigious Playhouse 90, Thriller, The Twilight Zone, both The Man and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. among others. Although he continued scoring for television into the 70’s, in 1968 his score for Planet of the Apes was a major step forward and Goldsmith was nominated for an academy award which went to John Barry for The Lion in Winter. At this stage of his career, the nod was as good as a win. It should also be noted that Planet of the Apes was not nominated in any of the other categories.
His next film was a Jim Brown/Raquel Welch/Burt Reynolds vehicle, 100 Rifles (1969). The score is so much better than the movie–I recommend the sound track CD because the music is that good and yes the movie is that bad.
1974’s Chinatown garnered Goldsmith another Oscar nomination, but this time the trophy went to The Godfather Part II Nino Roto and Carmine Coppola. It is a shame because Goldsmith’s score is both elegant and accompanies the best neo-noir film ever made. I am a fan of Roto, but Chinatown and its score are unsurpassed.
This film has everything, an incredible Robert Towne script, Roman Polanski directing and the trump card of Jerry Goldsmith’s score. The music takes you back to the time and place that J. J. Gittes inhabits. The music sets up one scene after another. If you’ve never watched Chinatown, the music alone is worth the viewing.
Goldsmith was nominated for another Oscar for 1976’s The Wind and the Lion, but the award went to John Williams for Jaws.
It was for the score for 1976’s The Omen that Goldsmith won his first Academy Award. The film won a total of four Academy Awards out of eight nominations. It remains one of the composer’s most powerful scores which combined with an excellent cast and script couldn’t be ignored by the generally genre phobic Academy.
In 1979 Goldsmith would score the first of a film franchise that he would be associated with for the rest of his career, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It may well be the scores for these films that he is best remembered. Directed by Robert Wise, Star Trek: The Motion Picture revitalized the 1960’s series and returned it to the fandom that it deserved.
Considered by many to be his most beautiful score, it was nominated for an academy award but lost to A Little Romance, a George Roy Hill film with a score by Georges Delerue.
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