MovieChat Forums > Gunsmoke (1955) Discussion > Franz Waxman

Franz Waxman

posted 8 years ago by grizzledgeezer
6 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone notice that Franz Waxman scored "The Raid"? Other than Bernard Herrmann (who had a decades-long relationship with CBS), Waxman appears to be the only film composer who scored a Gunsmoke episode. He passed on a year later.

Waxman is one of the great film composers. Though he scored many major films, he's probably best-remembered for Bride of Frankenstein and Sunset Blvd..

At the end of part 1, as the bad'uns are riding off, the music strongly resembles (rhythmically, at least) "The Ride from Dubna" cue from Waxman's score to Taras Bulba.

[–] stark-8 8 years ago

So did Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Leonard Rosenman, Bruce Broughton, Ernest Gold, and Lyn Murray.

[–] grizzledgeezer 8 years ago

I stand corrected.

Murray was an excellent composer who never received the recognition he deserved. Note his score for It Takes a Thief.

[–] justinboggan 8 years ago

The series had some of the most famouse film and television composers of before, during, and after it, working on the show. Some only doing one episode like Bernstein and Rosenman, while others did a bunch like John Parker and Fred Steiner.

Waxman scored three or four episodes actually. The IMDb listing is incomplete for him and other composers.

_____
The New Number 2: "Are you going to run?"
Number 6: "Like blazes. First chance I get."

[–] grizzledgeezer 8 years ago

I noticed that a Rudy Schrager score was missing and reported it.

[–] justinboggan 8 years ago

I recovered my file I and fans put together for years of the complete composer credits, from one of the archive websites. The Full Waxman credits:

Season 11:
"The Raid -- Part 1"
"The Raid -- Part 2"
"The Brothers" (not to be confused with the season eighteen episode by the same name, scored by John Parker)

Alex North did uncredited work on the show, but I've never been able to pin it down. I contacted his website, run by his estate and they were going to look into it, but I never heard back. How in the world does somebody like North do a score or maybe even a partial score, and not credit credit.

_____
The New Number 2: "Are you going to run?"
Number 6: "Like blazes. First chance I get."

[–] liscarkat (16592) 3 months ago

The score for Episode 6, Season 7, "Long, Long Trail", first shown on November 4, 1961, was composed by Jerome Moross, best know as the composer for the Gregory Peck film "The Big Country".