Still scoring it big

James Meier

NEWPORT BEACH -- “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “The Magnificent Seven.”

“The 10 Commandments.” “The Great Escape.”

Everyone has heard of the films and most have seen a few of them.

Known for their music, none of them garnered composer Elmer Bernstein an

Academy Award. Incredibly, he only received nominations for two of those

films, “Mockingbird” and “Magnificent.”

“Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

A 1967 film few have heard of and even fewer have seen earned

Bernstein his lone Oscar -- out of nine best score and four best song

nominations.

“Retrospectively, it was an Academy payback,” he said earlier this

week. By then, Bernstein had lost six times for best score and once for

best song -- “Walk on the Wild Side” for the film boasting the same name.

But the New York native, who turned 80 on April 4, isn’t about to give

his only Academy Award back. Heck, he’s willing to add more to his

collection.

“It’s a great honor when [Oscar] happens,” he said. “I wish I had won

for all of them.”

At 7 p.m. this evening, the Newport Beach Film Festival will celebrate

the 50th anniversary of Bernstein as a composer in the Lido Theater with

a screening of “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

“It’s particularly nice to come to the Newport Beach Film Festival

because I have some good friends in Newport,” he said.

In truth, he’s in his 51st year, as his film music career began with

the 1951 film “Saturday’s Hero.” Just four years later, he earned his

first best score nomination with “Man with the Golden Arm.” It marked the

first all-jazz score for a film.

“When I started, I was into using solo instruments -- what was a clean

approach to scoring,” Bernstein said, specifically noting “Man.”

In the 1960s, Bernstein really made his presence known with work on 39

films, garnering him nine of his Oscar nominations. In 1962 and 1966, he

earned two nominations apiece. Included in those was “The Magnificent

Seven,” regarded by many as the soundtrack that reinvented western film

music.

Among those not receiving the Academy’s notice during the 1960s,

however, were “Birdman of Alcatraz” and “The Great Escape.”

By the late ‘70s, Bernstein entered into the realm of comedy. He began

with “Slap Shot” and “Animal House.”

“John Landis called me and I knew him since he was in high school. He

was doing ‘Animal House,”’ Bernstein explained. “He wanted me to score it

as if it were a drama and not a comedy. And it turned out really funny.

“I actually got stuck in comedies for a while. I finally got out. The

comedies started getting stupider.”

Other movies he composed included “Meatballs,” “Airplane!” “The Blues

Brothers,” “Stripes,” “Ghostbusters,” “Legal Eagles” and “Three Amigos!”

In between, he earned yet another Oscar nod for “Trading Places” (1983).

In 1989, Bernstein returned to serious films with “My Left Foot,” and

eventually earned another nomination for “The Age of Innocence” (1993).

This year, the composer will continue to stick with dramas, with

Martin Scorsese’s “The Gangs of New York” and “Far From Heaven,” a film

starring Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid, he said.

“Obviously, I want to work on any serious piece of work,” Bernstein

said of his future. “I’m not anxious to work on another comedy.”

But don’t expect to catch him in the movie theater.

“I don’t like the experience of seeing a film I scored in the

theater,” he said. “There are things about it that never seem right to

me. I enjoy getting comments from people. I certainly enjoy that part.

Going to a theater to see it is uncomfortable for me. There are things I

would do differently. Or it was treated differently.”

Bernstein, however, does like the music he’s composed. Specifically,

he says he enjoys “Mockingbird,” “Magnificent,” “Innocence” and “The

Grifters” (1990). He also appreciates the works of his contemporaries,

including Bernard Hermann, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and James

Horner.

Throughout his career, he has worked with many directors, but one

still evades him and he doesn’t foresee that changing any time soon.

“I probably would have like to have done anything that Steven

Spielberg has done, but he and John [Williams] have a tremendous

partnership,” he said. “I’ve worked with every famous director of my

time. In another life it would have been nice to work with him. If you

look at his films, you can tell he’s someone who loves music and knows

how to use it.”

There’s still somewhat of a chance to work with the director, however.

After all, it would appear Bernstein has no plans to retire any time

soon.

“I love the process,” he said. “I love to keep my mind going.

* JAMES MEIER is the city editor. He can be reached at (949) 764-4324

or at o7 [email protected] .