Thursday Minute
No. 50 | March 11, 2010
What’s the Score?
Our theme this week (theme introduction)
Unforgettable film scores of the 1960s
Featured this week
Monday — Bernard Herrmann: “Psycho” (1960)
Tuesday — Elmer Bernstein: “The Magnificent Seven” (1960)
Wednesday — Ennio Morricone: “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966)
Henry Mancini: “The Pink Panther” (1963)
About Henry Mancini
- American, 1924-1994; active in film 1952-1994
- After World War II, he joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra; he later scored The Glenn Miller Story for the big screen
- Best known for his film collaborations with director Blake Edwards, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s featuring the hit “Moon River,” and the Pink Panther series
- A major influence in introducing jazz themes for film scores, but a versatile composer ranging from classical to pop
- Other work included composing for television (theme to Peter Gunn) and conducting
Honors
- Academy Awards: 3 Oscars, 18 nominations
- ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards: Lifetime Achievement Award
- One score among the top 25 American film scores chosen by the AFI in 2005 (The Pink Panther, #20)
Select list of film credits
- It Came from Outer Space (1953)
- The Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954)
- The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
- This Island Earth (1955)
- The Benny Goodman Story (1956)
- Touch of Evil (1958)
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
- Hatari! (1962)
- Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
- Charade (1963)
- The Pink Panther (1963)
- A Shot in the Dark (1964)
- The Great Race (1965)
- Arabesque (1966)
- Darling Lili (1970)
- Sunflower (1970)
- Sometimes a Great Notion (1970)
- 10 (1979)
- S.O.B. (1981)
- Victor Victoria (1982)
The Pink Panther (1963)
Henry Mancini, composer
The Pink Panther (1963)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
Blake Edwards, director
Henry Mancini, music
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau
Point of View
“In California, they like to pigeonhole you. From the time I began working for Hitchcock, they decided I was a big suspense man. On other occasions, I’ve had fantasies of bittersweet romantic stories. I think I’d enjoy writing a good comedy score, but I’ve never had the luck to be offered such films. Mancini gets the cheerful ones.”
—Bernard Herrmann
…58…59…60.