Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer
We have 8 Books to Giveaway this Month!
“Gracefully written, this sympathetic portrait captures the prodigious composer’s personality and documents his many milestone achievements, from King Kong to Casablanca. I loved reading it.” –Leonard Maltin, Film Critic and Historian
CMH is very excited to announce that we will be giving away 8 COPIES of Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer by Steven C. Smith, courtesy of Oxford University Press!
In order to qualify to win one of these prizes via this contest giveaway, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Dec 26 at 6PM EST. However, the sooner you enter, the better chance you have of winning, because we will pick two winners on four different days within the contest period, via random drawings, as listed below… So if you don’t win the first week that you enter, you will still be eligible to win during the following weeks until the contest is over.
- Dec 5: Two Winners
- Dec 12: Two Winners
- Dec 19: Two Winners
- Dec 26: Two Winners
We will announce each week’s winner on Twitter @ClassicMovieHub, the day after each winner is picked around 9PM EST — for example, we will announce our first week’s winner on Sunday Dec 6 around 9PM EST on Twitter. And, please note that you don’t have to have a Twitter account to enter; just see below for the details…
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And now on to the contest!
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, Dec 26 at 6PM EST — BUT remember, the sooner you enter, the more chances you have to win…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
2) Then TWEET (not DM) the following message*:
Just entered to win the “Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer” #BookGiveaway courtesy of @OUPAcademic & @ClassicMovieHub #CMHContest You can #EnterToWin here: http://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/music-by-max-steiner-the-epic-life-of-hollywoods-most-influential-composer-book-giveaway-dec/
THE QUESTION:
What is one of your favorite Max Steiner scores and why? Or, if you’re not familiar with his work, why do you want to win this book?
*If you do not have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
NOTE: if for any reason you encounter a problem commenting here on this blog, please feel free to tweet or DM us, or send an email to clas…@gmail.com and we will be happy to create the entry for you.
ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…
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About the Book: During a seven-decade career that spanned from 19th century Vienna to 1920s Broadway to the golden age of Hollywood, three-time Academy Award winner Max Steiner did more than any other composer to introduce and establish the language of film music. Throughout his chaotic life, Steiner was buoyed by an innate optimism, a quick wit, and an instinctive gift for melody, all of which would come to the fore as he met and worked with luminaries like Richard Strauss, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, the Warner Bros., David O. Selznick, Bette Davis, Frank Sinatra, and Frank Capra. In Music by Max Steiner, the first full biography of Steiner, author Steven C. Smith interweaves the dramatic incidents of Steiner’s personal life with an accessible exploration of his composing methods and experiences, bringing to life the previously untold story of a musical pioneer and master dramatist who helped create a vital new art with some of the greatest film scores in cinema history.
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Please note that only United States (excluding the territory of Puerto Rico) AND Canada entrants are eligible. No P.O. Boxes please.
And — BlogHub members ARE eligible to win.
Images courtesy of Steven C. Smith.
Good Luck!
And if you can’t wait to win the book, you can purchase the on amazon by clicking here:
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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub
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Steiner composed so many wonderful film scores. My favorites are for “Now Voyager” (1942) and “Mildred Pierce” (1945) if only for the fact that Steiner used a segment of the Now Voyager theme in Mildred Pierce, instantly recognizable and surprising at that. Voyager’s music stays with you long after The End, it’s that compelling.
‘I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message’ as I’m on suspension for a while.
The Gone With the Wind score is my favorite, but I like most of his work.
I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
I’ll pick NOW, VOYAGER since I recently rewatched it and was impressed by the perfect match of the score to the acting and story.
I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
Being honest, Max Steiner’s name didn’t ring a bell with me (… ducking). But after doing a search, the number of films he has worked on is incredible. (The more I learn about film, the less I know). Most movies wouldn’t be movies without terrific musical scores. As influential as Max Steiner has been/is to the movie business, his life story must be fascinating. I would love to learn more about him. Please include me in the giveaway.
Darby’s Rangers. It’s one that is lively when it needs to be, and when the tragedy occurs, fits the mood. A lesser film, it in my personal opinion, is one of Steiner’s best.
I have sen Max Steiner cited in dozens of classic movie credits, but I have never seen all the movies Steiner composed for (which would make a fascinating festival topic.) I ad am Astairevmovie fanatic, and wouldblovecto know ore about Steiner’s range of compositions. This book sounds like a treasure!
I think it’s truly impossible to pick a very favorite but if I have to it would be Casablanca or Gone With The Wind. However, I love all the Bette Davis films, Mildred Pierce, A Summer Place and so many others that are a big part of my favorite films! I would love this book to learn more about this truly talented gem!
I had no idea that Max Steiner had such a long career and scored so many films. By far the most memorable for me would be Casablanca, one of my favorites of all time. Thanks.
It would be great to learn more about the composer of the music behind some of my favorite films of all time!
Dark Victory, Casablanca, The Treasure of Sierra Madre and A Summer Place are among my favorite films and the music behind them is so compelling!
For all of my classic film watching and love of music I know very little about Mr. Steiner and I love to read biographies especially those of the Golden Era!
Gone With The Wind. The music is as legendary and immediately recognizable than the film!
My personal favorite Steiner score would be his score for Adventures Of Don Juan(1948). I first heard that score when I went to see Zorro The Gay Blade(1981) which reused an abridged version of the classic music for that film. It was a few years before I saw AODJ and was able to hear the full score. It would be another 20 years before I was able to find the score on cd. But while Steiner’s score for AODJ is my personal favorite I think his score for Gone With The Wind is his best and most complex work.
The Max Steiner scores which I enjoy the most (and I really enjoyed his work from all studios where he composed in the 1930’s and 40’s) were his RKO scores. KING KONG stands as a top favorite of mine. I also enjoyed recently watching RKO’s BIRD OF PARADISE, which features Steiner’s music throughout the entire movie.
I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
The work I love of his is: the music for gone with the wind, its beautiful the music helps the movie and the music helps with scene in which the music is being played on.
I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
Max Steiner was a superb composer, of rare insight. My favourite from amongst his scores, is the theme from: ‘Now Voyager’, as it goes beyond the merely descriptive to express the actual emotions of the characters.
“Casablanca” is one of my favorite films, and Steiner’s score is certainly one of the reasons why. I would be thrilled to add this book to my (growing!) collection of movie literature.
Since Casablanca is in my top five films, that’s my answer. I love the scope of it- the sweeping adventure tunes, the romantic melodies, even slipping in “La Marseillaise” at certain points. So well done!
Max Steiner has such a distinct style that you can tell his music a mile away. He has written some of the best remembered movie scores of all time. In short, he’s a genius. He knows how to hit every emotion necessary for a film.
Max Steiner has such a distinct style that you can tell his music a mile away. He has written some of the best remembered movie scores of all time. In short, he’s a genius. He knows how to hit every emotion necessary for a film, and I can admit that I have cried a lot during his scores.
My favorite Max Steiner score is Casablanca. The music is perfect for that movie. I would love to read this book.
It would be a toss-up between Now, Voyager and Little Women. I honestly love when music makes me feel the emotions the performers are reacting to. It can make you happy or make you cry, both emotions these movies have in abundance.
Max Steiner is responsible for an amazing number of fabulous film scores. My favorite is the relatively minor “A Summer Place”. Loved the Richard Egan – Dorothy McGuire romance and hearing the theme brings their scenes immediately to mind. Also my husband is a musician and would very much enjoy this book about a composer.
Casablanca, of course!
One of my favorite Max Steiner’s movie scores is for The Caine Mutiny (1954). I love the march elements in the music which adds a military element to the music.
It was genius of Steiner to write a military sounding soundtrack to a movie about a ship that seemed to be tune with the rest of the U. S. Navy!
One of my favourites? There is only one favourite and that has to be Gone with the Wind. However, I’d love to win the book to find out about the real person who scored so many of my other favourite films: Now, Voyager, Lost Horizon, The Searchers (Sweet Lorena behind Ethan/Martha’s farewell scene!), and They Died with Their Boots On.
Casablanca!
A Summer Place came out the year I was born, and the Percy Faith arrangement of the love theme stayed #1 on the charts for awhile, I think. The music just reminds me of a simpler time (is there such a thing?)
I like the scores of “Mildred Pierce” and “Now, Voyager.” In fact, Steiner recycled one of the Now Voyager themes in a scene in Mildred Pierce. Also, the theme from “A Summer Place” is a great tune, but not in typical Steiner style.
I like Steiner’s score for GWTW, and the mood and tone he sets with his Casablanca score is so wonderful. I somehow didn’t realize he’d also written the scores for several of my favorite films : The Big Sleep, Mildred Pierce, Now, Voyager, and The Breaking Point. Seems I need to read up on Mr. Steiner!
One of my favorite Max Steiner scores is of You Went Away (1944). The score for this movie is heartwarming and makes you yearn to be near your family and The Main Title score conveys that perfectly with World War Two going on at the time. The Fidelia score perfectly describes the romance and sensuality between Jennifer Jones’ and Robert Walker’s characters.
Max Steiner. What a short, unassuming name, and yet he assured my three favorite movies would lodge in my mind forever. Hearing a few blasts of King Kong, a bit of sweet sweeping notes from GWTW (my elderly mom’s eyes-closed delight) , or the weaving of As Time Goes By–the song my wife and I fell in love to – – has alway made me wonder about the genius of Steiner. I’d love to know more about how it all came to be. Thank you.
Casablanca is one of my favorites. The melody is so well known and it fits the movie so brilliantly. Makes me want to search out some more of Steiner’s works!
“Gone With The Wind” is hands down my favorite soundtrack by Max Steiner. It embodies the essence of the movie. When you hear any of the songs, particularly the theme song, you are immediately taken back to this epic movie. The sound track embodies the classic in a way no other music could have. It emanates the grace and charm that are reminiscent of the Old South. Truly captivating.
I don’t know of if I can pick a favorite Steiner score, but I adore his work for NOW, VOYAGER – KING KO G and GONE WITH THE WIND. One of the masters.
Casablanca or excerpts heard in Zorro The Gay Blade were my intro to Max Steiner’s composing skills
I had no idea some of my favorite movies were scored by him. I want to get to know him and his career more in depth and how he became a huge success.
Casablanca is my favorite of course.
Entering on behalf of Bruce —
I want to explore the range of Max Steiner scores; I’ve seen his name in dozens of movie credits, but I have no understanding of the range and depth of his talent and his work.