Film Scores

Maurice Jarre's Oscar nomination (for "Ghost") cannot in any way be justified. The only memorable music in this score, and the sole reason it's the biggest-selling recording in the history of the Varese Sarabande label, is the work of another composer. Alex North, who has never won an Oscar despite composing several of Hollywood's finest and most memorable film scores, wrote what is known as "Unchained Melody" for the 1955 film "Unchained." The possibility that Jarre could take home an Oscar in this category is an outrage.

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Victor and Borislav Chouchkov were satisfied. Co-owners of a family recording company in Sofia, the brothers had completed -- in just 48 hours -- recording a score for a movie starring Ethan Hawke. For the Chouchkovs, James DeMonaco's latest movie, "Staten Island," was just another in a string of successful projects. As the U.S.

Patrick Williams would be the last one to put the rap on his "livelihood." "Hey," says the film and television composer, "I've done pretty well in this town for the last 20 years or so." "Pretty well," to say the least. With a resume that includes more than 60 feature film scores, 30 TV film scores and countless television series underscoring to his credit, Williams is certifiably one of the most prolific and successful composers in the entertainment business.

It has been a slow tempo for Hollywood's session musicians. Work has grown more scarce in the last two decades as studios have slashed music budgets and composers have relied more on synthesizers and digital samplers to produce scores for their movies and TV shows. Local musicians have been further squeezed by competition from other cities where scores can be performed at a fraction of the cost, thanks to film tax credits or the use of nonunion musicians in such countries as Slovakia and Poland.

When most people drive on the Golden State Freeway, just north of Los Angeles, they worry about traffic. Michael Feinstein worries about George Gershwin, Cole Porter and a priceless musical legacy buried near the onrushing cars. He knows that MGM officials, in a 1970 housecleaning, dumped film scores, musical manuscripts and recordings by some of America's greatest songwriters into a landfill by the freeway near Valencia.

Charles Wolcott, whose diverse interests carried him from a stint as a jazz pianist to composing and conducting film scores at Walt Disney and Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios and then most recently to the ruling council of the Baha'i religious faith, is dead.

Walk down the dark, crumbling corridors of Mosfilm Studios and, for a moment, you might think you've entered Frankenstein's castle. The music filling the air would certainly underscore that feeling. Behind heavily guarded studio doors, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra has been recording music from the 1944 Boris Karloff horror film "House of Frankenstein."

Aaron Copland stands near if not at the top of most lists of great American composers. Just about everyone has heard his "Fanfare for the Common Man," "El Salon Mexico," "Appalachian Spring" and "Billy the Kid." But some important Copland music is more obscure--his film scores. Pacific Symphony will be honoring this music as part of its Copland Centenary Festival, Sunday through Nov. 19.

What's a nice Jewish girl like Judith Krantz doing in a place like Chanel? Buying, bubbeleh . . . and with all those bestsellers to her name, not on sale either. Krantz always wears Chanel . . . probably to bed, for all I know. Krantz's 10 novels have kept her in Coco's logo, starting with her No. 1 bestseller "Scruples," which came out in 1978. Now the Material Girl of the nip-and-tuck set is telling all in her autobiography, "Sex and Shopping: The Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl."