Overview

"Through the rise and fall of the Hollywood studio system, David O. Selznick reigned as Hollywood's preeminent producer. His reputation depended in large part on music. The orchestral cacophony of King Kong, the pulsing electronic sonorities of Spellbound, and the Tara theme from Gone with the Wind made music a distinguishing feature of the Selznick experience. By flaunting music's role in film and overseeing its distribution through sheet music, concerts, radio broadcasts, and soundtrack albums, Selznick cultivated a fascination with film scores. But he did not do it alone. In Making Music in Selznick's Hollywood, Nathan Platte brings to light the men and women whose work sounds throughout Selznick's many films. The cast includes familiar composers like Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, and Dimitri Tiomkin, but extends to overlooked contributors, including music editor Audray Granville, orchestrator Hugo Friedhofer, harpist Louise Klos, choral director Jester Hairston, publicist Ted Wick, and many others. Novelists, studio writers, and directors like Alfred Hitchcock also influenced the soundscapes of Selznick's films. Whether working with the producer directly or managing his presence from a distance, all had to reckon with Selznick's musical preoccupations. Rarely was it easy. Rewritten scores, fired personnel, and other skirmishes reflect the troubles-and uneven compromises-that shaped music for films like Gone with the Wind, Duel in the Sun, and Rebecca. Even Selznick anticipated that such problems would ""go down in the history of Hollywood as the last wild fling of people who really fiddled-and how!-while Hollywood burned."" Drawing on extensive archival research, Platte recounts those stories here, tracing Selznick's musical labors during the silent era through his work at the major studios and his culminating efforts at Selznick International Pictures. Taken together, Selznick's films provide a sweeping vista of the relationships among musicians and filmmakers that defined the Hollywood sound."

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9780199371136

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Reviews

Nathan Platte has written a meticulously researched but accessible book that demonstrates the important role that Selznick played in shaping the music for his films. Platte shows how Selznick managed his composers--some of the best-known in Hollywood--to get the musical treatment that he wanted, and his account of music in Selznick's films brings much light to the evolving process of scoring films in the studio era. -James Buhler, Professor of Music Theory, The University of Texas at Austin and co-author of Hearing the Movies Nathan Platte compellingly demonstrates what he calls 'the glorious fuzziness of authorship' in Selznick's Hollywood film music. His book is anything but fuzzy--original, brilliantly researched, witty and wise. -Claudia Gorbman, Professor Emerita of Film Studies, University of Washington Tacoma, and author of Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. Platte's achievement is in showing us Selznick's, forcing us to recalibrate the model of Hollywood film scoring to accommodate the reality of production practices, the nature of collaboration, and the sheer force of Selznick. Mining the archives, thoroughly conversant with scholarship, and with access to production records, music notes, and the scores themselves, Platte produces a masterwork. -Kathryn Kalinak, author of Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood Film Platte engages the reader by bringing together the historical context, the creative and production processes, music expectations, and more for Selznick's films by following the producer's career through sweeping collaborations with composers such as Herbert Stothart, Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa, and Dimitri Tiomkin...Making Music in Selznick's Hollywood is not only a pleasure to read, it is a significant and compelling addition to film music literature. The back of the book jacket contains critical praise from three leading scholars with varied backgrounds in music theory, English/Romance Languages and Literature, and film studies: James Buhler ( meticulously researched but accessible ), Claudia Gorbman ( original, brilliantly researched, witty and wise ), and Kathryn Kalinak ( Platte produces a masterwork ). --Warren Sherk of DimitriTiomkin.com In this meticulous study, which entailed archival research, Platte (music history, Univ. of Iowa) introduces readers to the overlooked others who were responsible for creating Selznick's scores, for example, music editor Audray Granville, who worked on Spellbound. Emphasis is on films that were produced by Selznick himself; therefore, for example, I'll Be Seeing You (1944), produced by Selznick International, is not included. The first in-depth, book-length study to explore Selznick's own role in film scoring, this volume offers early history on Selznick's musical experiments while at Paramount in the 1920s, music examples, transcriptions of Selznick's memos to rewrite music, film stills, premiere programs, and pictures of family members and those who, like Granville, worked behind the scenes...Essential. --Choice

"""Nathan Platte has written a meticulously researched but accessible book that demonstrates the important role that Selznick played in shaping the music for his films. Platte shows how Selznick managed his composers--some of the best-known in Hollywood--to get the musical treatment that he wanted, and his account of music in Selznick's films brings much light to the evolving process of scoring films in the studio era.""-James Buhler, Professor of Music Theory, The University of Texas at Austin and co-author of Hearing the Movies ""Nathan Platte compellingly demonstrates what he calls 'the glorious fuzziness of authorship' in Selznick's Hollywood film music. His book is anything but fuzzy--original, brilliantly researched, witty and wise.""-Claudia Gorbman, Professor Emerita of Film Studies, University of Washington Tacoma, and author of Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. ""Platte's achievement is in showing us Selznick's, forcing us to recalibrate the model of Hollywood film scoring to accommodate the reality of production practices, the nature of collaboration, and the sheer force of Selznick. Mining the archives, thoroughly conversant with scholarship, and with access to production records, music notes, and the scores themselves, Platte produces a masterwork.""-Kathryn Kalinak, author of Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood Film ""Platte engages the reader by bringing together the historical context, the creative and production processes, music expectations, and more for Selznick's films by following the producer's career through sweeping collaborations with composers such as Herbert Stothart, Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa, and Dimitri Tiomkin...Making Music in Selznick's Hollywood is not only a pleasure to read, it is a significant and compelling addition to film music literature. The back of the book jacket contains critical praise from three leading scholars with varied backgrounds in music theory, English/Romance Languages and Literature, and film studies: James Buhler (""meticulously researched but accessible""), Claudia Gorbman (""original, brilliantly researched, witty and wise""), and Kathryn Kalinak (""Platte produces a masterwork"")."" --Warren Sherk of DimitriTiomkin.com ""In this meticulous study, which entailed archival research, Platte (music history, Univ. of Iowa) introduces readers to the overlooked others who were responsible for creating Selznick's scores, for example, music editor Audray Granville, who worked on Spellbound. Emphasis is on films that were produced by Selznick himself; therefore, for example, I'll Be Seeing You (1944), produced by Selznick International, is not included. The first in-depth, book-length study to explore Selznick's own role in film scoring, this volume offers early history on Selznick's musical experiments while at Paramount in the 1920s, music examples, transcriptions of Selznick's memos to rewrite music, film stills, premiere programs, and pictures of family members and those who, like Granville, worked behind the scenes...Essential."" --Choice"

Author Information

Nathan Platte teaches music history at the University of Iowa.

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