Elmer Bernstein scored films in just about every genre – from “The Man with the Golden Arm” (1955) to “The Ten Commandments” (1956) to “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) to “The Great Escape” (1963) to “Animal House” (1978) to “The Age of Innocence” (1993) to his final project, the Oscar-nominated “Far from Heaven” (2002) – but he had a particular knack for the western.
His swaggering theme for “The Magnificent Seven” (1960) is just about synonymous with most people’s idea of western adventure. (It also sold a heck of a lot of cigarettes when it was licensed by Marlboro.)
Not surprisingly, “The Magnificent Seven” put Bernstein much in demand as a western composer, and he wrote scores for many, including most of the films of John Wayne’s final decade. What’s striking is just how much he was able to vary them. His work for “The Comancheros” (1961) is very different from that for “True Grit” (1969), for instance, and “The Shootist” (1976), Wayne’s final film, is different still.
You’ll be able to sample some of them, when we saddle up for western scores of Elmer Bernstein, on “Picture Perfect” – music for the movies – this Friday evening at 6 ET, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or listen to them later on the webcast at wwfm.org.
