Movie Martial Music Maestro Ron Goodwin has Passed On

Father Geek here with the uncool news that yet another mainstay of the 60's and 70's cinema has died. Film composer Ron Goodwin, who wrote the memorial scores for Eastwood & Burton's incredible WHERE EAGLES DARE, as well as FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE, and 633 SQUADRON, has died at his home in Brimpton Common, near Reading, Berkshire, England at the age of 77.

Goodwin was best known for composing the snappy Martial Music scores to a string of 1960s & 70s war films, among them BATTLE OF BRITAIN, SUBMARINE X-1, and OPERATION CROSSBOW. Buuuut they made up only a handful of the 60+ scores he composed in his career that stretched across five decades.

His first film scores were for MAN WITH A GUN in 1958, and WHIRLPOOLin 1959. He then went on to pen the movie music for such popular films as MURDER SHE SAID, THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES, Kim Novak's OF HUMAN BONDAGE, and the chillingly effective music for Alfred Hitchcock's FRENZY for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

Goodwin also received three Ivor Novello Awards during his lifetime, the most recent of which was in 1994 for "Lifetime Achievement".

During the last 30 years he toured the world as a guest conductor performing a mixture of classic works, film scores, and popular hits, everything from James Bond to Abba. It was during that time that Ron Goodwin also dedicated much of his time to working with young musicians, including the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra and the City of Birmingham School's Concert Orchestra.

He will be missed... Although his military hits are what made him famous to the general public ol' Father Geek here remembers him most for some of his earlier works... the thrilling scores to a handfull of great British Sci-Fi Classics. Yes, I remember fondly the themes that sent shivers up and down my spine as a 14 and 15 year old moviegoer. To me Ron Goodwin will live forever in the music from the creepy chiller VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, its followup that was downright disturbing CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED, the horrific DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (you'll never watch a meteor shower again), and the Verne-tastic ROCKET TO THE MOON.

Goodbye Ron, see ya on the otherside...