THE OSCAR® FINALISTS, PART ONE
OR, HOW VERTIGO AND DESTINATION MOON JUST MISSED A NOMINATION
By Scott Bettencourt
Long before every Oscar® winner received the gold statuette that
has become the symbol of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
many of the winners in the technical categories received a plaque instead,
including those winners in the music branch.
For the first few years of the music Oscar®, it was the head of
the studio's music branch who received the award, not the actual composer
of the score. Here is how the nominees for "Best Scoring" in 1936 were
decided:
The executive in charge of each of the studio music departments
shall be asked to submit the title of the two pictures which he considers
represent the best work done in such department during the year in scoring,
together with the titles of three pictures which he considers represent
the best work from other studios. From the list so compiled, a committee
composed of such executives shall name the five productions.
Beginning in 1938, the composer received the score award, and in 1939 the
category was divided into two: "Best Original Score" (with primary emphasis
on original scoring) and "Best Scoring" (without regard to source of music).
The vague delineation between the two categories led to such oddities as
Aaron Copland's Of Mice and Men score being nominated in both categories
in 1939. (This, though, isn't quite as strange as when Barry Fitzgerald
was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in 1944 for
his work in Going My Way -- and no, it wasn't a double role).
In 1941, the category was renamed "Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture",
and these were the rules:
Each music department shall be invited to nominate its
best scoring achievement in a picture in which the essential use of music
is as a background for action and dialog.
A vote shall be taken among the professional members of each music
department to determine the above nominations, which shall apply to feature-length
productions only.
Before the above nominations are accepted, the membership of the
Music Branch, acting as a special committee, shall decide the proper classifications
for the scores nominated. The same rules shall apply to feature-length
cartoons as to other feature-length productions.
Final ballots for the two scoring Awards shall be sent only to members
of the Academy Music Branch. Each member shall be asked to vote for first,
second and third choices among the nominations for each award, but no member
may vote for a production from any studio at which he has been employed
during the Awards year. A preferential ballot shall be used with first
choice counting 5 points, second choice 3 points, and third choice 1 point.
It shall be noted on the ballot also that the Awards are not intended to
be limited to musical technicalities but to measure the effectiveness with
which the musical score is used to enhance the product.
In 1943, the music awards were the only ones still given out as plaques.
Winners in every other category, including special effects, editing and
sound, received statuettes.
In 1944, the final ballots specified that "No member may vote for a
nomination from any Music Department of which he is a member, recognized
as such by the head of that department."
In the awards for 1945, the music branch was finally allowed to sit
at the grown-up table and given Oscar® statuettes for their achievements.
In 1946, the nomination and award procedure was as follows:
Nomination ballots for the [three categories] shall be
sent to all members of the Academy Music Branch in good standing. Each
ballot shall be accompanied by the proper eligibility list and each ballot
shall have spaces numbered from one to ten for write-in votes in order
of voter's preference. This shall constitute the nominations voting on
the Music Awards. Ballots shall be accompanied by return envelopes addressed
to Price, Waterhouse, where vote will be tabulated.
Price, Waterhouse will then certify to the Academy the five top
achievements in each of the three categories and these will become the
official final ballots for the Music Awards.
The Academy membership as a whole shall vote for final selection
in each category.
Members of the music branch received a seven page list of all the eligible
pictures, each entry listing the title and the studio but not the composer.
In 1950, the nomination procedure received its most radical change.
Members of the music branch were sent the list of all the eligible scores,
and then asked to vote for ten possible nominees in order of preference.
Ten finalists were selected and that list mailed to the branch members,
who whittled it down to a list of five and resubmitted their choices, resulting
in the final five nominations.
Here are the ten finalists in each year. The underlined titles are the
winners; the titles in bold italics are those which did not receive the
nomination.
SCORING OF A DRAMATIC OR COMEDY PICTURE
1950
ALL
ABOUT EVE - Alfred Newman
CYRANO DE BERGERAC - Dimitri Tiomkin
DESTINATION MOON - Leith Stevens
THE FLAME AND THE ARROW - Max Steiner
HARVEY - Frank Skinner
THE MAGNIFICENT YANKEE - David Raksin
THE MEN - Dimitri Tiomkin
NO SAD SONGS FOR ME - George Duning
SAMSON AND DELILAH - Victor Young
SUNSET BOULEVARD - Franz Waxman
1951
ACE IN THE HOLE - Hugo Friedhofer
THE BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY - Victor Young
CAPTAIN HORATIO HORNBLOWER - Robert Farnon
DAVID AND BATHSHEBA - Alfred Newman
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL - Bernard Herrmann
DEATH OF A SALESMAN - Alex North
DISTANT DRUMS - Max Steiner
A PLACE IN THE SUN - Franz Waxman
QUO VADIS - Miklos Rozsa
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE - Alex North
1952
COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA - Franz Waxman
HIGH NOON - Dimitri Tiomkin
IVANHOE - Miklos Rozsa
THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA - Max Steiner
MY COUSIN RACHEL - Franz Waxman
PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE - Miklos Rozsa
THE QUIET MAN - Victor Young
THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO - Bernard Herrmann
THE THIEF - Hershel Burke Gilbert
VIVA ZAPATA! - Alex North
1953
ABOVE AND BEYOND - Hugo Friedhofer
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY - Morris Stoloff, George Duning
JULIUS CAESAR - Miklos Rozsa
KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE - Miklos Rozsa
LILI - Bronislau Kaper
THE ROBE - Alfred Newman
SHANE - Victor Young
SO BIG - Max Steiner
THIS IS CINERAMA - Louis Forbes
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS - Leith Stevens
1954
Beginning this year the rules were changed so that each composer could
submit one of his own scores for consideration, and/or one by another composer,
"if you wish," and from this eligible list the ten finalists were chosen.
The ten finalists:
THE CAINE MUTINY - Max Steiner
DAY OF TRIUMPH - Daniele Amfitheatrof
DESIREE - Alex North
THE
EGYPTIAN - Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann
GENEVIEVE - Muir Matheson
THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY - Dimitri Tiomkin
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION - Frank Skinner
ON THE WATERFRONT - Leonard Bernstein
THE SILVER CHALICE - Franz Waxman
THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN - Victor Young
The rest of the eligible list:
ABOUT MRS. LESLIE - Victor Young
BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS - Alessandro Cicognini
CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA - Louis Forbes
GARDEN OF EVIL - Bernard Herrmann
GATE OF HELL - Yasushi Akutagawa
HOBSON'S CHOICE - Malcolm Arnold
THE LONG WAIT - Mario Castenuovo-Tedesco
MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY - Miklos Rozsa
RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 - Herschel Burke Gilbert
ROMEO AND JULIET - Roman Vlad
SECRET OF THE INCAS - David Buttolph
TWO CENTS WORTH OF HOPE - Alessandro Cicognini
1955
The ten finalists:
THE AFRICAN LION - Paul J. Smith
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK - Andre Previn
BATTLE CRY - Max Steiner
EAST OF EDEN - Leonard Rosenman
I'LL CRY TOMORROW - Alex North
LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING - Alfred Newman
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM - Elmer Bernstein
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER - Walter Schumann
PICNIC - George Duning
THE ROSE TATTOO - Alex North
The rest of the eligible list:
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS - Frank Skinner
THE BIG KNIFE - Frank DeVol
BLACKBOARD JUNGLE - Charles Wolcott
COURT-MARTIAL - unknown
DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER - George Bruns
THE GLASS SLIPPER - Bronislau Kaper
HOUSE OF BAMBOO - Lionel Newman
I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES - David Buttolph
LADY AND THE TRAMP - Oliver Wallace
LAND OF THE PHAROAHS - Dimitri Tiomkin
THE LITTLEST OUTLAW - William Lava
LONG JOHN SILVER - David Buttolph
MR. HULOT'S HOLIDAY - Alain Romans
QUENTIN DURWARD - Bronislau Kaper
THE SEA CHASE - Roy Webb
SOLDIER
OF FORTUNE - Hugo Friedhofer
THE TENDER TRAP - Jeff Alexander
THE TREASURE OF PANCHO VILLA - Leith Stevens
WICHITA - Hans J. Salter
In all my research, I have yet to find a composer listed for the film
Court-Martial, known in its native England as Carrington, V.C.
Does anyone know who scored this film? Did it even have a score? Could
it have been submitted by a composer who didn't notice the lack of original
music, or who was just pranking the Academy?
1956
The ten finalists:
ANASTASIA - Alfred Newman
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS - Victor Young
BETWEEN
HEAVEN AND HELL - Hugo Friedhofer
THE BRAVE ONE - Victor Young
GIANT - Dimitri Tiomkin
LUST
FOR LIFE - Miklos Rozsa
THE RAINMAKER - Alex North
SECRETS OF LIFE - Paul J. Smith
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - Elmer Bernstein
WRITTEN ON THE WIND - Frank Skinner
The rest of the eligible list:
ATTACK! - Frank DeVol
AUTUMN LEAVES - Hans J. Salter
BABY DOLL - Kenyon Hopkins
THE BAD SEED - Alex North
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES - Walter Scharf
THE BOLD AND THE BRAVE - Herschel Burke Gilbert
BUS STOP - Alfred Newman, Cyril J. Mockridge
A CATERED AFFAIR - Andre Previn
DAY THE WORLD ENDED - Ronald Stein
DIABOLIQUE - Georges Van Parys
THE FASTEST GUN ALIVE - Andre Previn
FRIENDLY PERSUASION - Dimitri Tiomkin
FULL OF LIFE - George Duning
GABY - Conrad Salinger
THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE - Paul J. Smith
HUK! - Albert Glasser
THE LAST WAGON - Lionel Newman
THE MOUNTAIN - Daniele Amfitheatrof
RICHARD III - William Walton
THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON - Saul Chaplin
THESE WILDER YEARS - Jeff Alexander
WESTWARD HO THE WAGONS - George Bruns
1957
The procedure was changed back to the pre-1954 format, wherein the members
were sent a list of all eligible films and ten finalists chosen from that
list:
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER - Hugo Friedhofer
BOY ON A DOLPHIN - Hugo Friedhofer
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI - Malcolm Arnold
MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES - Frank Skinner
OLD YELLER - Oliver Wallace
PERRI - Paul J. Smith
PEYTON PLACE - Franz Waxman
RAINTREE COUNTY - Johnny Green
SAYONARA - Franz Waxman
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD - Emil Newman, Jerome Moross, David
Raksin
1958
THE BIG COUNTRY - Jerome Moross
A CERTAIN SMILE - Alfred Newman
HOUSEBOAT - George Duning
THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS - Malcolm Arnold
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Dimitri Tiomkin
SEPARATE TABLES - David Raksin
SOME CAME RUNNING - Elmer Bernstein
VERTIGO - Bernard Herrmann
WHITE WILDERNESS - Oliver Wallace
THE YOUNG LIONS - Hugo Friedhofer
1959
AL CAPONE - David Raksin
BEN-HUR - Miklos Rozsa
DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE - Oliver Wallace
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK - Alfred Newman
THE HANGING TREE - Max Steiner
THE LAST ANGRY MAN - George Duning
THE NUN'S STORY - Franz Waxman
ON
THE BEACH - Ernest Gold
PILLOW TALK - Frank DeVol
SOME LIKE IT HOT - Adolph Deutsch
NEXT: The Best Score Finalists Part Two: the Sixties
and Seventies.
The author would like to thank Libby Wertin and the rest of the staff
of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences for their invaluable help, without which this article would not
have been possible.
"Oscar" and "Academy Awards" are registered trademarks of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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