Elmer Bernstein puts down the baton, rises into legend!

Harry here and once again it falls upon me to be the bringer of sad tidyings... Elmer Bernstein has passed away.

For film geeks and specifically lovers of the sounds of cinema, this is indeed a tragic passing. From his earliest days he produced music for Westerns and Horror/Fantasy/Sci-fi... along with a wide-ranging degree of genres. For funky film geeks, his music for ROBOT MONSTER and CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON... well, that's not really the music we like to think of when his name pops into our minds... truly fun though.

Probably the first truly striking theme music he's responsible for was for the Television show, "GUNSMOKE"! For me, his first truly great score was for Sinatra's brilliant film, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM... that jazzy score is stunningly riveting and integral to that classic film. It sounded like nothing before it, in many ways.

However, when Moses (Charleton Heston) shouted out, "BEHOLD.... THE HAND OF GOD!" it was Elmer's music that accompanied the hand parting the Red Sea. And officially, a power had been released upon soundtracks forever. After that - his music and films and work just kept getting better... Whether it was to accompany Hunsecker and Falco in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS or one of my all time favorite scored television shows in history, "JOHNNY STACCATO," filled note to note, edge to edge with the grooviest hippest slyest shit you ever did hear roll out of a mono speaker and curved picture tube!

Then... he won the assignment to score a remake of a brilliant Asian film, which undeniably - film geeks in the shady backrooms of 1960 L.A., Paris and New York were crying heresy for... fell upon him. Some fool of an exec decided to remake one of the greatest films of all time, something called SEVEN SAMURAI, and had the nerve to american it up with fucking Cowboys. The genius of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN followed and one of film's greatest themes ever emerged. EVERYBODY knows it by heart. Just the mere humming causes others to join in, whistle, tap on the dashboard and finish out his theme. Just brilliant.

Then, when Reverend Sykes said, "Jean Louise. Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing." Or when Scout our narrator said, "Neighbors bring food with death, and flowers with sickness, and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife... and our lives." Of course, I'm referring to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.... another of the greatest films ever.

I'm sure you've whistled THE GREAT ESCAPE theme... How could you not? For me, it was just a theme for claustrophobia and triumph. Of defeat and elation. The music is as perfect a score for a film as there could be. Greatness.

Then his music touched our funnybone with ANIMAL HOUSE, MEATBALLS, BLUES BROTHERS, AIRPLANE!, CADDYSHACK, STRIPES, AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, HEAVY METAL, GHOSTBUSTERS, SPIES LIKE US, THREE AMIGOS and more... hell, he even scored the scary music parts of Michael Jackson's THRILLER!

He's scored well over 240 films and contributed many of the themes we whistle, hum and that we're very passionate about. We truly lost a legend today.