This is one of the longest-running film music e-zines providing hundreds of CD reviews.
Also there have been book reviews, film composer tributes, web surveys, and much more over these past 25 years.
Film Music Review (FMR) was first published on AOL beginning in 1998.
In 2006, it was moved to the American Music Preservation website as one of the sections.
In 2020, it was moved to this new location and some information is still available at the old FMR location — go here.
Check out the reviews and other items from the drop-down list at the top of this page,
including Film Music in Focus, listed in the order of their appearance over the years from 2007 onward.
With my best film music wishes,
Roger L. Hall,
Managing Editor and Publisher, Film Music Review (FMR)
Director, The Sammy Film Music Awards — see the page on Facebook
Moderator, Film Score Followers — see the page on Facebook
His popular book about film music is now in its 9th edition with additional articles about these six film composers:
Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, David Raksin, Dimitri Tiomkin, John Williams.
To read about how to get your copy of this popular book — A GUIDE TO FILM MUSIC: Songs and Scores — go here
Volume I, Number 1 (July 8, 1998):
“Welcome film music lovers to this new web magazine! This is not a site for fan gushing over one score or one composer. It’s intended to review film scores and film songs of the past and present.”
That was the opening statement from the first issue in 1998.
These are the comments sent in after that first issue:
- “Clearly you have a long view of this art form – and that is good!” –Bob Bowd
- “I was very impressed when viewing your site…I appreciate your taste in film music” — Matthew Gear
- “Enjoyed your web site – nice job and very informative”– Randall D. Larson
- “I want to congratulate you on your new site – for me it’s one of the best review sites on the net (or in print) simply because it gets to the ‘meat’ of the story without all the fluff and nasty personal grudge stuff that seems to be standard at some other sites” — Mark Northam
- “Excellent site – straightforward, no nonsense and to the point. Every film music buff should visit it.” — David Wishart
Here is the list of the soundtrack and compilation CDs which received the highest rating (****) in that first issue in 1998:
Soundtracks:
KING KONG – music by Max Steiner – Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William T. Stromberg, conductor (Marco Polo 8.223763) –
“Excellent first complete recording of Steiner’s landmark score. Essential for any film collector’s library.”
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND – music by John Williams – Soundtrack (Arista 078-19004-2)
“The CD sound is superb…the previously unreleased music makes this CD a must have addition to any film music library.
TAXI DRIVER – music by Bernard Herrmann – Soundtrack (Arista 07822-19005-2)
“Includes all the music composed for the film, conducted by Bernard Herrmann, just before his death in 1975. The sound quality is top notch.”
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME – music by Alfred Newman – Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William T. Stromberg (Marco Polo 8.223750)
“38 minutes from Newman’s film score. Excellent notes by John Morgan and Bill Whitaker.”
Compilations:
WARNER BROS. – 75 YEARS OF FILM MUSIC – 4 CD Set (Rhino R2 75187) – Produced by George Feltenstein and Julie D’Angelo
“Great collection of Warner Bros. scores and songs from 1927 to 1997. Shouldn’t that title be: ’70 YEARS OF FILM MUSIC.’? In any case this is a massive collection lasting 5 hours, with 84 songs, main themes and suites. Even the old mono recordings sound wonderful…this set is worth having for the first CD alone. A landmark collection.”
20th CENTURY FOX – MUISC FROM THE GOLDEN AGE – Varese Sarabande VSD-5937 – Produced by Nick Redman
“A treasure chest of great 20th Century Fox score classics…the notes are informative and well written by Jon Burlingame.”
Movie Songs:
Here is a list of 10 favorite songs from a 1999 web poll on Film Music Review sent in by readers.
The songs are listed in alphabetical order with the film listed where it is sung:
“As Time Goes By” (music & lyrics by Herman Hupfeld) from CASABLANCA, 1942
“Beauty And The Beast” (music: Alan Menken/lyrics; Howard Ashman) from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, 1991
“Blue Skies” (music & lyrics by Irving Berlin) from WHITE CHRISTMAS, 1954
“But Not For Me” (music: George Gershwin/lyrics: Ira Gershwin) from GIRL CRAZY, 1943
“A Couple Of Swells” (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) from EASTER PARADE, 1948
“It Might As Well Be Spring”(music by Richard Rodgers/lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II) from STATE FAIR, 1945
“Laura” (music by David Raksin, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, 1945) from LAURA, 1944 (music only)
“Love Is Here To Stay” (music by George Gershwin/lyrics by Ira Gershwin) from AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, 1951
“Night And Day” (music and lyrics by Cole Porter) from THE GAY DIVORCEE, 1934
“On The Atcheson, Topeka And The Santa Fe” (music: Harry Warren/ lyrics: Johnny Mercer)
from THE HARVEY GIRLS, 1946
Editor’s Notes
I give special thanks to Steven A. Kennedy and Steve Vertlieb for their reviews and tributes over the years for Film Music Review.
Oscar Meet Sammy!
One of the annual events announced on Film Music Review has been the Sammy Film Music Awards (or “Sammys”), which began in 1988, and were named after four-time Oscar-winning lyricist, Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), who also received an Emmy for “Love and Marriage” from a TV play.
The Sammy Awards were first announced on WGBH radio in Boston, Massachusetts.
These awards are the longest-running ones for film music recordings.
Do you know which composer has received the most Sammy Film Music Awards so far?
To find out and see the list of composers and music producers who have received Sammy Film Music awards —go here
Readers Beware!
Unfortunately, some of the FMR articles by Steve Vertlieb have been copied without permission on the fan site, File 770.
Here is the original centennial tribute to Bernard Herrmann on FMR, published in 2011 — go here
Here is another original article on FMR, published in 2014 — go here
No permission was given for these reprints on File 770. They are in violation of the original copyright notice.
As a fund-raiser for FILM MUSIC REVIEW,
read about this special DVD-ROM: “Hooray For Hollywood” – Memorable Movie Music — go here
Film Music Review is pleased to announce an association with this extensive site
and recommend it for your viewing:
Here are some of the articles reprinted from Film Music Review:
–Aaron Copland talks about Film Music
—An Interview with James Fitzpatrick
—An Interview with David L. Fuller
—Max Steiner: Maestro of Movie Music
A sad announcement:
In addition to his great work on CINESCORES CENTER, Jeannot Boever was also the one who published numerous articles from Soundtrack Magazine on Soundtrack! The Cinemascore and Soundtrack Archive website.
He died on 4 February 2024. R.I.P. dear friend.
Please help support Film Music Review by ordering any of these titles:
No. 1:
The book (9th edition, 2024) is available as a PDF sent by email. Or the multi-media 8th edition with audio and video bonus files.
To read how to order this popular film music book, ideal for research or reading by any film lover — go here
No. 2:
The disc contains text files (Microsoft Word), articles, and
centennial tributes to Herrmann by Roger L. Hall, Steven A. Kennedy, and Steve Vertlieb.
Also, an image gallery and audio highlights from film scores by Herrmann presented on radio programs,
plus a 30-minute cable TV program about film music from the 1930s to 1950s with Roger Hall as special guest.
This title is available on a DVD-ROM.
To order your copy of this disc titled, OBSESSION: A Tribute To Bernard Herrmann— go here
No. 3:
The Sammy Film Music Awards were begun in 1988
and have been the longest-running awards for film music recordings.
They were first announced on WGBH radio in Boston.
The awards were named in honor of film lyricist, Sammy Cahn,
who received 4 Academy Awards for his song lyrics.
He was nominated 26 times, more than any other past film songwriter.
Help the Sammy Film Music Awards continue by ordering
this commemorative CD (not available from Amazon)
funded by the American Music Recordings Archive (AMRA),
with all 4 of his Oscar-winning songs sung by an outstanding ensemble of singers,
and with over one hour of enjoyable music!
To your order this special limited edition CD — go here
Film Music Webinars
To inquire about scheduling any of these five webinars for your group,
contact film music critic and historian, Roger Hall,
about scheduling any of his online programs.
Write to him at: pinetreepro@aol.com
Program No. 1: CITIZEN KANE: From Screenplay To Soundtrack
This special online webinar includes a discussion of the Oscar-winning screenplay
by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles and the Oscar-nominated score by Bernard Herrmann.
This webinar is presented by film music critic, Roger Hall. It was previously presented to,
a Boston film group to help celebrate the 80th anniversary of the release of CITIZEN KANE (1941).
For his PowerPoint presentation he focuses on the Director, Co-Writer, and Actor, Orson Welles,
and the Oscar-nominated score by Bernard Herrmann,
This score is at the top of Roger’s list of 100 Essential Film Scores of the 20th Century.
See the interview with Roger by Jocelyn at her film lover’s blog — Classic Film Observations & Obsessions
Program No. 2: “High Hopes” – Great Hollywood Movie Songs
A discussion of movie songs from the 1930s to the 1960s,
with a focus on several movie songwriters, including lyricist Sammy Cahn (signature shown above) and composer Henry Mancini.
Video clips from will be shown as well as audio clips in this enjoyable music program.
Read about the Sammy Film Music Awards, named after Sammy Cahn — go here
Program No. 3: “Hooray For Hollywood” – Memorable Movie Music
What makes movie music memorable? This will be discussed and presented by film music critic, Roger Hall.
It will include scenes from selected movie scores from the 1930s to the 1970s,
by composers like Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, Mikos Rozsa, John Williams.
Program No. 4: Making KING KONG: From Story To Soundtrack
KING KONG is considered to be the first major monster adventure film and remains one of the best.
How did it originate and who were the people most responsible for getting it made?
The program focuses on how KING KONG came into being, from its story to the screenplay and the stop motion animation and the soundtrack.
The main part of the program is on the memorable music score by Max Steiner, considered to be the first great synchronized film score.
Music examples and video clips are used to illustrate how the score was used in the film.
The score to KING KONG is discussed in A GUIDE TO FILM MUSIC: Songs and Scores (PineTree Press, 8th edition, 2022) — go here
Program No. 5: Film Noir in New York City: Hollywood’s Darkest Genre
FMR Managing Editor, Roger Hall, has a webinar on this topic available for any online group.
He has previously presented this webinar sponsored by the New York Adventure Club.
The topic was film noirs from the 1940s and 1950s which take place in New York City.
He focused on these six films and their music scores:
STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR (RKO Radio, 1940)- music score: Roy Webb
THE NAKED CITY (Universal, 1948) – music score: Frank Skinner and Miklos Rozsa
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER (Paramount, 1948)- music score: Franz Waxman
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (20th Century Fox, 1953) – music score: David Buttolph
THE WRONG MAN (Warner Bros., 1956) – music score: Bernard Herrmann
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (United Artists, 1957) – music score: Elmer Bernstein
Here are some of the comments from those who watched his earlier online webinar:
“Including the music, and the composer, as part of the experience–first time I’ve seen that. Bravo.”
“Interesting to learn what was shared about the defining elements of Noir (and the better translation of the term),
highlights in its history, and the like.”
“The presenter was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject matter.”
“Well organized and interesting. Very knowledgeable presenter.”
“Thank you for yet another fascinating and informative webinar!”
Roger Hall has written positive reviews for these two recommended Film Noir CDs:
The Sound of Film Noir, 1941-58 (Jasmine, 2 CDs, 42 tracks)
Jazz Noir (NOT New Media, 3 Disc Set with 60 tracks)
News for 2024:
See the CDs available in the American Film Composers Series on AMRC CDs — go here
News for 2023:
An Interview with Sally Stevens, about her many years as a session singer for film scores
by Burt Bacharach, Danny Elfman, James Horner, John Williams and other composers — go here
American Film Composer Series:
Receive your choice of any one of these 4 limited edition AMRC CDs
with in-person interviews and radio highlights about these film composers
prepared by film music author and historian, Roger Hall:
No. 1: “Aaron Copland On Film Music” (AMRC 0019)
No. 2: “Henry Mancini Radio Tributes” (AMRC 0020)
No. 3: “John Williams On Radio” (AMRC 0021)
No. 4: “Bernard Herrmann Radio Tributes (AMRC 0022)
These discs are for personal, non-commercial use only.
To order any of these four CDs — go here
The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA)
Awards for 2023 have been announced:
IFMCA Award Winners 2023
Award Winners for 2022 have been announced — go here
For the list of 2021 award winners — go here
For the complete list of 2020 award winners — go here