THE OSCAR® FINALISTS PART THREE: ADAPTATION

In parts One and Two of this article, I covered the changes in the rules for the Best Score Oscar®, specifically the thirty year period when the nominees were chosen from a group of ten finalists.

During that period, the nominees for what is generally thought of as the Music Adaptation category were decided the same way, though there were not always ten finalists per year. What follows is the complete list of finalists during those thirty years.

As the finalists' ballots list only the movies and not the composers, the specific composers/adapters listed for the non-nominated finalists are just my guesses, based on the credits of each movie, and may not be the actual people chosen if the films had been nominated.

Films in bold italics are non-nominated finalists; underlined titles are the winners.

SCORING OF A MUSICAL PICTURE

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN - Adolph Deutsch, Roger Edens
CINDERELLA - Oliver Wallace, Paul J. Smith
DANCING IN THE DARK - Alfred Newman
I'LL GET BY - Lionel Newman
IL TROVATORE - Gabriele Santini
LET'S DANCE - Robert Emmett Dolan
MY BLUE HEAVEN - Alfred Newman
SUMMER STOCK - Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green
THREE LITTLE WORDS - Andre Previn
THE WEST POINT STORY - Ray Heindorf

ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Oliver Wallace
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS - Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin
THE GREAT CARUSO - Peter Herman Adler, Johnny Green
MEET ME AFTER THE SHOW - Lionel Newman
OF MEN AND MUSIC - (unknown)
ON MOONLIGHT BAY - Ray Heindorf
ON THE RIVIERA - Alfred Newman
RICH, YOUNG AND PRETTY - David Rose
SHOW BOAT - Adolph Deutsch, Conrad Salinger
TWO TICKETS TO BROADWAY - Walter Scharf

BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE - Johnny Green
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN - Walter Scharf
I'LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS - Ray Heindorf
THE JAZZ SINGER - Ray Heindorf, Max Steiner
LOVELY TO LOOK AT - Saul Chaplin, Carmen Dragon
THE MEDIUM - Gian-Carlo Menotti
MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID - Adolph Deutsch
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN - Lennie Hayton
STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER - Alfred Newman
WITH A SONG IN MY HEART - Alfred Newman

THE BAND WAGON - Adolph Deutsch
CALAMITY JANE - Ray Heindorf
CALL ME MADAM - Alfred Newman
DANGEROUS WHEN WET - George Stoll
5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T. - Frederick Hollander, Morris Stoloff
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES - Lionel Newman
HERE COME THE GIRLS - Lyn Murray
KISS ME, KATE - Andre Previn, Saul Chaplin
MELBA - Muir Mathieson
PETER PAN - Oliver Wallace

BRIGADOON - Johnny Green
CARMEN JONES - Herschel Burke Gilbert
DEEP IN MY HEART - Adolph Deutsch
THE GLENN MILLER STORY - Joseph Gershenson, Henry Mancini
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS - Adolph Deutsch, Saul Chaplin
A STAR IS BORN - Ray Heindorf
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS - Alfred Newman, Lionel Newman
WHITE CHRISTMAS - Joseph J. Lilley

ARTISTS AND MODELS - Walter Scharf
DADDY LONG LEGS - Alfred Newman
GUYS AND DOLLS - Jay Blackton, Cyril J. Mockridge
HOUSE OF RICORDI - Renzo Rossellini
IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER - Andre Previn
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME - Percy Faith, George Stoll
MY SISTER EILEEN - George Duning, Morris Stoloff
OKLAHOMA! - Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton, Adolph Deutsch
PETE KELLY'S BLUES - Ray Heindorf
THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS - Joseph J. Lilley

ANYTHING GOES - Joseph J. Lilley
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE - Lionel Newman
BUNDLE OF JOY - Walter Scharf
THE EDDY DUCHIN STORY - Morris Stoloff, George Duning
HIGH SOCIETY - Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin
THE KING AND I - Alfred Newman, Ken Darby
MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS - George Stoll, Johnny Green
PARDNERS - Frank DeVol
SERENADE - unknown

This year there were only five finalists, and the Academy opted not to give any award in this category, so no nominations were ever announced.

APRIL LOVE - Alfred Newman
FUNNY FACE - Adolph Deutsch
INVITATION TO THE DANCE - Johnny Green, John Hollingsworth, Andre Previn
LES GIRLS - Adolph Deutsch
PAL JOEY - Nelson Riddle, Morris Stoloff, George Duning

THE BOLSHOI BALLET - Yuri Faier, G. Rozhdestvensky
DAMN YANKEES - Ray Heindorf
EIGHTEEN AND ANXIOUS - Leith Stevens
GIGI - Andre Previn
MARDI GRAS - Lionel Newman
MERRY ANDREW - Saul Chaplin, Nelson Riddle
ROCK-A-BYE BABY - Walter Scharf
ST. LOUIS BLUES - Nelson Riddle
SOUTH PACIFIC - Alfred Newman, Ken Darby
TOM THUMB - Douglas Gamley, Muir Mathieson

THE FIVE PENNIES - Leith Stevens
GIDGET - Morris Stoloff
GO, JOHNNY, GO! - Leo Klatzkin
LIL' ABNER - Nelson Riddle, Joseph J. Lilley
1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS - George Duning
PORGY AND BESS - Andre Previn, Ken Darby
SAY ONE FOR ME - Lionel Newman
SLEEPING BEAUTY - George Bruns

BELLS ARE RINGING - Andre Previn
BLACK ORPHEUS - Luis Bonfa, Antonio Carlos Jobim
CAN-CAN - Nelson Riddle
CINDERFELLA - Walter Scharf
THE CROWNING EXPERIENCE - Paul Dunlap
EUGENE ONEGIN - B. Khajkin
G.I. BLUES - Joseph J. Lilley
LET'S MAKE LOVE - Lionel Newman, Earle Hagen
PEPE - Johnny Green
SONG WITHOUT END - Morris Stoloff

BABES IN TOYLAND - George Bruns
BLUE HAWAII - Joseph J. Lilley
EVERYTHING'S DUCKY - Bernard Green
FLOWER DRUM SONG - Alfred Newman, Ken Darby
KHOVANSCHINA - Dimitri Shostakovich
PARIS BLUES - Duke Ellington
WEST SIDE STORY - Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal

This year, the category's name was changed to:

SCORING OF MUSIC - ADAPTATION OR TREATMENT

BILLY ROSE'S JUMBO - George Stoll
DAVID AND LISA - Mark Lawrence
GAY PURR-EE - Joseph J. Lilley, Mort Lindsey
GIGOT - Michel Magne
GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! - Joseph J. Lilley
GYPSY - Frank Perkins
THE MUSIC MAN - Ray Heindorf
THE NOTOROIUS LANDLADY - George Duning
STATE FAIR - Alfred Newman
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM - Leigh Harline

BYE BYE BIRDIE - John Green
FOLLOW THE BOYS - Alexander Courage, Ron Goodwin
FUN IN ACAPULCO - Joseph J. Lilley
IRMA LA DOUCE - Andre Previn
MOVE OVER DARLING - Lionel Newman
A NEW KIND OF LOVE - Leith Stevens
SUNDAYS AND CYBELE - Maurice Jarre
THE SWORD IN THE STONE - George Bruns

DR. STRANGELOVE - Laurie Johnson
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - George Martin
THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET - Frank Perkins
KISS ME, STUPID - Andre Previn
MARY POPPINS - Irwin Kostal
MY FAIR LADY - Andre Previn
ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS - Nelson Riddle
ROUSTABOUT - Joseph J. Lilley
SUMMER HOLIDAY - Stanley Black
THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN - Robert Armbruster, Leo Arnaud, Jack Elliott, Jack Hayes, Calvin Jackson, Leo Shuken

CAT BALLOU - Frank DeVol
DO NOT DISTURB - Lionel Newman
THE PLEASURE SEEKERS - Lionel Newman, Alexander Courage
THE SOUND OF MUSIC - Irwin Kostal
A THOUSAND CLOWNS - Don Walker
TICKLE ME - Walter Scharf
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG - Michel Legrand

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY - Fred Karger
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM - Ken Thorne
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW - Luis Bacalov
HOLD ON! - Fred Karger
PARADISE, HAWAIIAN STYLE - Joseph J. Lilley
RETURN OF THE SEVEN - Elmer Bernstein
THE SINGING NUN - Harry Sukman
SPINOUT - George Stoll
STOP THE WORLD - I WANT TO GET OFF - Al Ham

CAMELOT - Alfred Newman, Ken Darby
A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG - Charles Chaplin
DOCTOR DOLITTLE - Lionel Newman, Alexander Courage
THE FAMILY WAY - Paul McCartney
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER - Frank DeVol
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE - Jack Elliott
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING - Nelson Riddle
THE JUNGLE BOOK - George Bruns
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - Andre Previn, Joseph Gershenson
VALLEY OF THE DOLLS - John Williams

This year a major change took place in the category: song scores were now counted in the adaptation category instead of in Original Score, and the songwriters were nominated alongside the arrangers/musical directors. The category title was changed to:

SCORING OF A MUSICAL PICTURE - ORIGINAL OR ADAPTATION

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Irwin Kostal
C'MON, LET'S LIVE A LITTLE - Don Crawford, Don Ralke
FINIAN'S RAINBOW - Ray Heindorf
FUNNY GIRL - Walter Scharf
OLIVER! - John Green
THE ONE AND ONLY, GENUINE, ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
STAR! - Lennie Hayton
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT - Michel Legrand, Jacques Demy

CAN HIERONYMOUS MERKIN EVER FORGET MERCY HUMPPE AND FIND TRUE HAPPINESS? - Anthony Newley, Herbert Kretzmer
GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS - Leslie Bricusse, John Williams
HELLO, DOLLY! - Lennie Hayton, Lionel Newman
MARRY ME! MARRY ME! - Emil Stern
OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR - Alfred Ralston
PAINT YOUR WAGON - Nelson Riddle
SWEET CHARITY - Cy Coleman
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? - John Green, Albert Woodbury

Another name change:

ORIGINAL SONG SCORE

THE BABY MAKER - Fred Karlin, Tylwith Kymry
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS - Stu Phillips, Bob Stone
A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN - Rod McKuen, John Scott Trotter, Bill Melendez, Al Shean, Vince Guaraldi
COTTON COMES TO HARLEM - Galt MacDermot
DARLING LILI - Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer
LET IT BE - The Beatles
NORWOOD - Al DeLory
R.P.M. - Perry Botkin Jr., Barry DeVorzon, Melanie
SCROOGE - Leslie Bricusse, Ian Fraser, Herbert W. Spencer
WHERE'S POPPA? - Jack Elliott, Norman Gimbel

And yet another:

SCORING: ADAPTATION AND ORIGINAL SONG SCORE

BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Irwin Kostal
THE BOY FRIEND - Peter Maxwell Davies, Peter Greenwell
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF - John Williams
HONKY - Quincy Jones
JUD - Stu Phillips
TCHAIKOVSKY - Dimitri Tiomkin
WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY - Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley, Walter Scharf
ZACHARIAH - Jimmie Haskell

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND - John Barry, Don Black
CABARET - Ralph Burns
LADY SINGS THE BLUES - Gil Askey
MAN OF LA MAHCNA - Laurence Rosenthal
1776 - Ray Heindorf
SNOOPY COME HOME - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
YOUNG WINSTON - Alfred Ralston

Still another name change:

SCORING: ORIGINAL SONG SCORE AND/OR ADAPTATION

BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY - Stephen Lawrence
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - Andre Previn, Herbert Spencer, Andrew Lloyd Webber
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL - Neil Diamond, Lee Holdridge
LOST HORIZON - Burt Bacharach, Hal David
O LUCKY MAN - Alan Price
THE STING - Marvin Hamlisch
TOM SAWYER - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, John Williams

CLAUDINE - Curtis Mayfield
THE GREAT GATSBY - Nelson Riddle
HUCKLEBERRY FINN - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Fred Werner
LENNY - Ralph Burns
THE LITTLE PRINCE - Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, Angela Morley, Douglas Gamley
MAME - Ralph Burns, Billy Byers
PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE - Paul Williams, George Aliceson Tipton

BARRY LYNDON - Leonard Rosenman
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST - John Barry
FUNNY LADY - Peter Matz
LUCKY LADY - Ralph Burns
THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER - Henry Mancini
TOMMY - Peter Townsend
W.W. AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS - Dave Grusin

Another name change:

ORIGINAL SONG SCORE AND ITS ADAPTATION OR ADAPTATION SCORE

THE BAD NEWS BEARS - Jerry Fielding
BOUND FOR GLORY - Leonard Rosenman
BUGSY MALONE - Paul Williams
CAR WASH - Norman Whitfield
THE DUCHESS AND THE DIRTWATER FOX - Charles Fox, Sammy Cahn
LEADBELLY - Fred Karlin
A STAR IS BORN - Roger Kellaway

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - Jonathan Tunick
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Ralph Burns
PETE'S DRAGON - Al Kasha, Joel Hirschhorn, Irwin Kostal
THE SLIPPER AND THE ROSE - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Angela Morley

THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY - Joe Renzetti
THE CHEAP DETECTIVE - Patrick Williams
DAMIEN OMEN II - Jerry Goldsmith
THE DEER HUNTER - Stanley Myers
THE MAGIC OF LASSIE - Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman
PRETTY BABY - Jerry Wexler
THE WIZ - Quincy Jones

ALL THAT JAZZ - Ralph Burns
BREAKING AWAY - Patrick Williams
THE EUROPEANS - Richard Robbins
HAIR - Galt MacDermot
MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN - Laurence Rosenthal
THE MUPPET MOVIE - Paul Williams, Kenny Ascher
WISE BLOOD - Alex North

As with the Original Score category, the Adaptation category stopped using the finalists system in 1980.  This year, the category was changed to simply BEST ADAPTATION SCORE, and the rules were as follows.

An adaptation score is a work consisting primarily of thematic and connective musical material based either on pre-existing musical material or on musical material specifically created for the eligible film (not original with the adapter). The Adaptation must be something other than a restatement of selected sections in their original form and must include creativity by expansion, contraction, reharmonization, or other alternatives in accommodating the material to the unique and specific demands of the motion picture. The mere selection, editing, and use of material in its already existing form shall not be considered a valid Adaptation -- nor shall the arrangement and orchestration of such musical material.

The following scores were submitted:

HOPSCOCH - Ian Fraser
IT'S MY TURN - Patrick Williams
NIJINSKY - John Lanchbery
ORDINARY PEOPLE - Marvin Hamlisch
ROUGH CUT - Nelson Riddle
XANADU - Barry DeVorzon

All of these scores were ultimately judged ineligible, except for Rough Cut which was reclassified as an Original Score, and there were no nominations for Best Adaptation Score that year.

As you may have noticed, the new category name dropped the words "Song Score." In 1980, scores that qualified for Best Original Score included those that consisted of "a substantial body of songs," which is why Fame was eligible and in fact won the Oscar®.

This year (possibly because of complaints over Fame's songs beating its instrumental fellow nominees), the category was renamed BEST ORIGINAL SONG SCORE AND ITS ADAPTATION OR BEST ADAPTATION SCORE, and the following adaptation scores were submitted:

AMERICAN POP - Lee Holdridge
EXCALIBUR - Trevor Jones
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN - Marvin Hamlisch, Billy May
S.O.B. - Henry Mancini
SUPERMAN II - Ken Thorne
THIS IS ELVIS - Walter Scharf
ZOOT SUIT - Daniel Valdez
ZORRO: THE GAY BLADE - Ian Fraser

along with one song score:

THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER - Joe Raposo

American Pop was subsequently "withdrawn by creator," and of the remaining candidates only Superman II and The Great Muppet Caper were deemed eligible, and thus no award was given.

Four films were submitted in this category (David Shire's adaptation score for The World According to Garp was, surprisingly, not submitted):

ANNIE - Ralph Burns
EVIL UNDER THE SUN - John Lanchbery
ONE FROM THE HEART - Tom Waits
VICTOR/VICTORIA - Henry Mancini, Leslie Bricusse

The four submitted:

THE STING II - Lalo Schifrin
TRADING PLACES - Elmer Bernstein
TWO OF A KIND - Patrick Williams
YENTL - Michel Legrand, Alan & Marilyn Bergman

The one submission that failed to get a nomination, Patrick Williams' Two of a Kind, was a last minute rescore replacing Bill Conti's first effort, so late in the game that the soundtrack album still listed Conti's name in the credit block. The filmmakers wanted the new score to be based on the film's Olivia Newton-John hit, "Twist of Fate," hence its presence in the adaptation category.

With the screen musical virtually dead, the category was retired. However, Little Shop of Horrors' songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken led a revival of the animated musical in the late eighties/early nineties, with animated films copping the Original Score Oscar® in 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1994.

To counteract this trend, wherein Disney's feature-length cartoons seemed to have the lock on the Score Oscar®, the Academy briefly created a new category. It was not quite a new incarnation of the Adaptation category, since actual Adaptation scores are few and far between these days (James Horner's controversial referencing of classical themes doesn't count), so the Academy joined musicals with "Comedy Scores" to create BEST ORIGINAL MUSICAL OR COMEDY SCORE in 1995.

Menken's Pocahontas won the first of these awards, but in the following three years the awards went to non-musicals: Rachel Portman's Emma, Anne Dudley's The Full Monty (which many film music fans feel won its award because of the pop songs and not for Dudley's contribution) and Stephen Warbeck's Shakespeare in Love.

In 1999, the category was retired, Dramatic and Comedy scores were once more considered in the same category, and the universe was at peace.

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