Max Steiner

Composer

About

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Also Known As

Maximilian Raoul Steiner, Max R. Steiner

Birth Place

Austria

Born

May 10, 1888

Died

December 28, 1971

Biography

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Child prodigy and former student of Gustav Mahler who began working professionally as a conductor at the age of 16 and became Hollywood's most prolific film composer, allegedly scoring over 250 films. In the US from 1914, Steiner moved to Hollywood at the beginning of the sound era, working first as a musical director and then a composer, becoming a key innovator in the development of fi...

Filmography

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Doctor Sleep (2019)

Isn't It Romantic (2019)

The Irishman (2018)

Papillon (Remake) (2018)

Ready Player One (2018)

The Shape of Water (2017)

Photos & Videos

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Summer Place, A (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Waiting To Be Kissed

Letter, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) Opening, Leslie

Notes

Steiner was one of six motion picture composers who were honored in 1999 with a postage stamp.

Biography

Child prodigy and former student of Gustav Mahler who began working professionally as a conductor at the age of 16 and became Hollywood's most prolific film composer, allegedly scoring over 250 films. In the US from 1914, Steiner moved to Hollywood at the beginning of the sound era, working first as a musical director and then a composer, becoming a key innovator in the development of film scoring. His richly orchestrated scores provided the appropriate emotional resonance for films such as "King Kong" (1933), "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Now Voyager," "Casablanca" (both 1942), "The Big Sleep" (1946) and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1947). Steiner worked on nearly 20 Bette Davis films and was with RKO and Warner Bros. for most of his career.

Filmography

Music (Feature Film)

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Isn't It Romantic (2019)

The Irishman (2018)

Papillon (Remake) (2018)

Ready Player One (2018)

The Shape of Water (2017)

A Monster Calls (2016)

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Hope Springs (2012)

Dark Shadows (2012)

Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009)

P.S. I Love You (2007)

Mr. Woodcock (2007)

Surf's Up (2007)

Lust, Caution (2007)

Blind Dating (2007)

The History Boys (2006)

For Your Consideration (2006)

The Departed (2006)

The Astronaut Farmer (2006)

King Kong (2005)

Rumor Has It... (2005)

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005)

Blade: Trinity (2004)

Music ("Theme From A Summer Place")

Bad Boys II (2003)

An Education (2000)

Angela's Ashes (1999)

Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)

The Cider House Rules (1999)

Black Cat, White Cat (1998)

Song ("Casablanca")

A Civil Action (1998)

Hollywood Sound (1995)

One Hundred and One Nights (1995)

The Neon Bible (1995)

Song Composer ("Tara'S Theme")

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)

Song ("A Summer Place")

Lost in Yonkers (1993)

When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Great Balls Of Fire (1989)

Song ("The Charge Of The Light Brigade")

Mr. Love (1986)

Music Extract ("Tara Theme")

My American Cousin (1986)

Song ("A Summer Place")

The Flamingo Kid (1984)

Running Brave (1983)

The Letter (1982)

Real Life (1979)

Angel Number 9 (1974)

Theme Music ("Now Voyager")

Play It Again, Sam (1972)

^ICasablanca^R incidental Music by

Two on a Guillotine (1965)

Those Calloways (1965)

Those Calloways (1965)

A Distant Trumpet (1964)

FBI Code 98 (1964)

Youngblood Hawke (1964)

Spencer's Mountain (1963)

Rome Adventure (1962)

A Majority of One (1962)

Rome Adventure (1962)

Portrait of a Mobster (1961)

The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961)

Susan Slade (1961)

Ice Palace (1960)

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)

Cash McCall (1960)

The Hanging Tree (1959)

John Paul Jones (1959)

A Summer Place (1959)

The FBI Story (1959)

All Mine to Give (1958)

Darby's Rangers (1958)

Fort Dobbs (1958)

Marjorie Morningstar (1958)

Music Composition

Escapade in Japan (1957)

Band of Angels (1957)

China Gate (1957)

[Music] extended by His Old Friend

The Searchers (1956)

Hell on Frisco Bay (1956)

Helen of Troy (1956)

Come Next Spring (1956)

The Girl He Left Behind (1956)

Come Next Spring (1956)

The Violent Men (1955)

Battle Cry (1955)

Original Music by

The McConnell Story (1955)

The Last Command (1955)

Battle Cry (1955)

The Last Command (1955)

King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)

The Boy from Oklahoma (1954)

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)

The Charge at Feather River (1953)

Trouble Along the Way (1953)

The Desert Song (1953)

Music Arrangement

So This Is Love (1953)

The Jazz Singer (1953)

Trouble Along the Way (1953)

Room for One More (1952)

The Lion and the Horse (1952)

Springfield Rifle (1952)

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)

The Iron Mistress (1952)

Mara Maru (1952)

Jim Thorpe--All-American (1951)

Distant Drums (1951)

Close to My Heart (1951)

Sugarfoot (1951)

Lightning Strikes Twice (1951)

Raton Pass (1951)

On Moonlight Bay (1951)

Force of Arms (1951)

Operation Pacific (1951)

The Glass Menagerie (1950)

Rocky Mountain (1950)

The Flame and the Arrow (1950)

Without Honor (1949)

The Fountainhead (1949)

Adventures of Don Juan (1949)

South of St. Louis (1949)

Flamingo Road (1949)

Mrs. Mike (1949)

Music Supervisor

White Heat (1949)

A Kiss in the Dark (1949)

Original Music comp and Arrangements

The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)

Beyond the Forest (1949)

Mrs. Mike (1949)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The Woman in White (1948)

One for the Book (1948)

Johnny Belinda (1948)

Winter Meeting (1948)

The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948)

Silver River (1948)

My Girl Tisa (1948)

Fighter Squadron (1948)

Key Largo (1948)

Cheyenne (1947)

Life with Father (1947)

The Unfaithful (1947)

The Beast with Five Fingers (1947)

Love and Learn (1947)

Music score comp and Adapted by

My Wild Irish Rose (1947)

Addl Music comp and Adapted by

Deep Valley (1947)

The Man I Love (1947)

Cheyenne (1947)

My Reputation (1946)

The Big Sleep (1946)

Saratoga Trunk (1946)

Cloak and Dagger (1946)

Night and Day (1946)

Addl Music comp and Adapted

A Stolen Life (1946)

One More Tomorrow (1946)

Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)

Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

San Antonio (1945)

The Corn Is Green (1945)

Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

Roughly Speaking (1945)

Music comp and Adapted by

Passage to Marseille (1944)

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

The Conspirators (1944)

Swing Out the Blues (1944)

Passage to Marseille (1944)

Since You Went Away (1944)

Watch on the Rhine (1943)

Mission to Moscow (1943)

Divide and Conquer (1943)

Original Music compositions by

The Gay Sisters (1942)

Desperate Journey (1942)

In This Our Life (1942)

Now, Voyager (1942)

Captains of the Clouds (1942)

Casablanca (1942)

They Died with Their Boots On (1942)

Sergeant York (1941)

One Foot in Heaven (1941)

Shining Victory (1941)

Dive Bomber (1941)

The Great Lie (1941)

The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)

Virginia City (1940)

Santa Fe Trail (1940)

Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)

A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)

The Letter (1940)

City for Conquest (1940)

All This, and Heaven Too (1940)

The Oklahoma Kid (1939)

Each Dawn I Die (1939)

The Old Maid (1939)

Dark Victory (1939)

Dodge City (1939)

Four Wives (1939)

Daughters Courageous (1939)

They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

Dust Be My Destiny (1939)

Gone With the Wind (1939)

Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)

White Banners (1938)

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

The Sisters (1938)

Music Composition

Valley of the Giants (1938)

Crime School (1938)

Four Daughters (1938)

A Star Is Born (1937)

Green Light (1937)

God's Country and the Woman (1937)

Submarine D-1 (1937)

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Tovarich (1937)

First Lady (1937)

That Certain Woman (1937)

Lost Horizon (1937)

Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

The Garden of Allah (1936)

Follow the Fleet (1936)

I Dream Too Much (1935)

Star of Midnight (1935)

The Informer (1935)

The Three Musketeers (1935)

Star of Midnight (1935)

Alice Adams (1935)

Break of Hearts (1935)

Hat, Coat, and Glove (1934)

Murder on the Blackboard (1934)

Their Big Moment (1934)

Finishing School (1934)

Dangerous Corner (1934)

The Lost Patrol (1934)

Where Sinners Meet (1934)

The Little Minister (1934)

His Greatest Gamble (1934)

The Age of Innocence (1934)

Stingaree (1934)

Sing and Like It (1934)

The Fountain (1934)

Man of Two Worlds (1934)

Strictly Dynamite (1934)

Gridiron Flash (1934)

Of Human Bondage (1934)

Keep 'Em Rolling (1934)

Two Alone (1934)

Success at Any Price (1934)

The Richest Girl in the World (1934)

Bachelor Bait (1934)

This Man Is Mine (1934)

Spitfire (1934)

Down to Their Last Yacht (1934)

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

The Life of Vergie Winters (1934)

Down to Their Last Yacht (1934)

Long Lost Father (1934)

Stingaree (1934)

Long Lost Father (1934)

Wednesday's Child (1934)

Anne of Green Gables (1934)

Let's Try Again (1934)

Crime Doctor (1934)

The Meanest Gal in Town (1934)

We're Rich Again (1934)

By Your Leave (1934)

Our Betters (1933)

Lucky Devils (1933)

Midshipman Jack (1933)

Diplomaniacs (1933)

No Other Woman (1933)

The Monkey's Paw (1933)

The Son of Kong (1933)

Chance at Heaven (1933)

After Tonight (1933)

Melody Cruise (1933)

Double Harness (1933)

King Kong (1933)

Headline Shooter (1933)

The Cheyenne Kid (1933)

Bed of Roses (1933)

Morning Glory (1933)

Before Dawn (1933)

Christopher Strong (1933)

The Great Jasper (1933)

Ann Vickers (1933)

Rafter Romance (1933)

Sweepings (1933)

If I Were Free (1933)

The Silver Cord (1933)

Blind Adventure (1933)

Flying Devils (1933)

One Man's Journey (1933)

No Marriage Ties (1933)

The Right to Romance (1933)

Ace of Aces (1933)

Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933)

Emergency Call (1933)

Little Women (1933)

Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Westward Passage (1932)

Renegades of the West (1932)

Penguin Pool Murder (1932)

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Roar of the Dragon (1932)

Hold 'Em Jail (1932)

Thirteen Women (1932)

Little Orphan Annie (1932)

Secrets of the French Police (1932)

The Half Naked Truth (1932)

Bird of Paradise (1932)

Girl Crazy (1932)

The Conquerors (1932)

Rockabye (1932)

Hell's Highway (1932)

The Sport Parade (1932)

Lady with a Past (1932)

The Animal Kingdom (1932)

Is My Face Red? (1932)

A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

Symphony of Six Million (1932)

What Price Hollywood? (1932)

The Phantom of Crestwood (1932)

The Saddle Buster (1932)

Carnival Boat (1932)

Ghost Valley (1932)

Consolation Marriage (1931)

Friends and Lovers (1931)

Traveling Husbands (1931)

Are These Our Children (1931)

Traveling Husbands (1931)

The Gay Diplomat (1931)

Orchestra Arrangement

Music (Special)

Music For the Movies: The Hollywood Sound (1995)

Music (Short)

Frontier Days (1945)

Law of the Badlands (1945)

Roaring Guns (1944)

Wells Fargo Days (1944)

Oklahoma Outlaws (1943)

Wagon Wheels West (1943)

Life Events

1904

Moved to England

1914

Emigrated to US; worked on Broadway as conductor and orchestrator for George White, Florenz Ziegfeld and Victor Herbert

1929

Became musical director for RKO

1929

First film score, "Rio Rita"

Photo Collections

Gone With the Wind - Behind-the-Scenes Stills - Production Staff

Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Gone With the Wind (1939). These stills hightlight some of the many staff memebers at Selznick International Pictures that worked on the film.

Videos

Summer Place, A (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Waiting To Be Kissed A version of the giant hit theme song by Max Steiner accompanies Johnny (Troy Donahue), son of the troubled couple that owns the resort, escorting Sandra Dee (as Molly), daughter of the VIP guests, with provocative talk and shots from writer-producer-director Delmer Daves in A Summer Place, 1959, from the novel by Sloan Wilson.

Letter, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) Opening, Leslie The famous opening scene starring Bette Davis and the handgun, at a rubber plantation in Malaysia, from William Wyler's The Letter, 1941, from the play by W. Somerset Maugham.

Informer, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Then Judas Repented Credits then the abstract and chilling opening sequence from The Informer, 1935, which won Academy Awards for Best Direction (John Ford), Best Actor (Victor McLaglen), screenplay (Dudley Nichols) and score (Max Steiner).

Informer, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Paddy's Not Out Tonight Wanted rebel Frankie McPhillip (Wallace Ford) finds his own "wanted" poster, evades a British patrol in Dublin, then surprises his friend, the not overly clever Gypo (Victor McLaglen), in John Ford's The Informer, 1935.

Lost Patrol, The (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Mesopotamia, 1917 Murder, as much by Max Steiner's oppressive (and Academy Award nominated) score as by unseen Arab gunmen, in the opening scene from John Ford's The Lost Patrol, 1934, starring Victor McLaglen.

Top Hat (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Isn't It A Lovely Day Jerry (Fred Astaire) explaining to Dale (Ginger Rogers) about the weather, into Irving Berlin's song and another famous dance number, from Top Hat, 1935.

Gone With The Wind (1939) -- (Movie Clip) All Our Prayers Ashley (Leslie Howard) is departing for war when Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) at last confesses her love, in one of many romantic climaxes in Gone With The Wind, 1939, from Margaret Mitchell's novel.

Gone With The Wind (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Tear You To Pieces Drunken Rhett (Clark Gable) speaks of honor and gets physical with defiant wife Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) in a famous scene ending on the staircase in Gone With The Wind, 1939.

Big Sleep, The - (Original Trailer) Private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) investigates a society girl's involvement in the murder of a pornographer in The Big Sleep.

Phantom of Crestwood, The - (Original Trailer) Five men have to prove their innocence when a blackmailer is murdered in The Phantom of Crestwood, 1932, from producer David O. Selznick.

That Certain Woman - (Original Trailer) A gangster's widow (Bette Davis) fights for love despite society's disapproval in That Certain Woman (1937) co-starring Henry Fonda.

Lady Takes a Sailor - (Original Trailer) A woman (Jane Wyman) is saved from drowning by a mysterious submarine, but nobody believes her in Lady Takes A Sailor (1949).

Night and Day - (Original Trailer) Fanciful biography of songwriter Cole Porter (Cary Grant), who rose from high society to find success on Tin Pan Alley.

Ghost Valley - (Original Trailer) A cowboy and a beautiful girl inherit a supposedly haunted gold mine in the Tom Keene western Ghost Valley (1932).

Iron Mistress, The - (Original Trailer) American adventurer Jim Bowie (Alan Ladd) fights to make his way in the lumber business in The Iron Mistress (1952).

God's Country and the Woman - (Original Trailer) A lady lumberjack falls for one of her workers, not realizing it's a business rival in disguise in God's Country and the Woman (1937).

Four Daughters - (Original Trailer) A small-town family's peaceful life is shattered when one daughter falls for a rebellious musician. Starring Claude Rains and John Garfield, directed by Michael Curtiz.

Force of Arms - (Original Trailer) An Army sergeant (William Holden) romances a WAC (Nancy Olsen) in World War II Italy in Force of Arms (1951).

Flying Down to Rio - (Original Trailer) A dance-band leader finds love and success in Brazil. The first Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie.

First Lady - (Original Trailer) Kay Francis wants to be First Lady (1937) in the movie version of the Broadway hit comedy by George S. Kaufman and Katharine Dayton.

Bibliography

Notes

Steiner was one of six motion picture composers who were honored in 1999 with a postage stamp.

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