I’m just discovering what a wonderful composer Franz Waxman was.
I’d always loved MR. ROBERTS and CIMARRON but didn’t know
many other Waxman scores. I recently acquired several Legends of Hollywood:
Franz Waxman CD’s and am amazed by the complexity of his compositions,
his musical versatility, and his melodies.

Revisiting CIMARRON and MR. ROBERTS was rewarding; however,
my favorite discovery was the main theme to UNTAMED. It’s rousing and
majestic in the same vein as MR.ROBERTS. I looked the movie up on the IMDB
(Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward in Africa with Zulus) and remembered that I’d
seen this movie several times on AMC. Slap my forehead! I never noticed the
music while watching it. That seems rather abnormal for a soundtrack aficionado.
Another delectable discovery was the melodious MY GEISHA. Gorgeous score
with an ethnic flavor.

His versatility is amazing. MY COUSIN RACHEL is quite lovely but laced with
darker tones echoing Rachel’s calcified heart. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN,
DEVIL DOLL, DARK CITY portray fear, action, melancholy, and
dementia. His lighter comedic side is echoed in HUCKLEBERRY FINN and
parts of THE CHRISTMAS CAROL. He provides action epic themes
for ANNE OF THE INDIES and BOTANY BAY. His flair for drama is
evident in THE NUN’S STORY.

I agree with you that Franz Waxman was indeed one of the pre-eminent of the Golden Age. His key talent, I believe was versatility. Overall, it is difficult to think of a Waxman score that isn’t filled with well-composed music that well suits its picture (so far as I know). Indeed, he is probably the most accessible and versatile of the Golden Age.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Herrmann’s broody masterpieces, Korngold’s rousing adventuresome tunes, Steiner and Young’s emotional, soulful, stirring music and countless other great scores. But to me, you can learn to recognize their work by ear alone simply because of the distinct style and the approach to scoring they used. Waxman stands out in this regard because of his willingness to modify style and approach. Consider Prince Valiant. Here is a score that would be easy to dismiss as a pastiche of Korngold, but careful listening rewards the listener with a banquet of pure Waxman that is close to stunning. His adventurous themes call forth the essential elements of the Prince Valiant saga from the heroic to the romantic.

(As an aside, I have seen a lot of bashing of this film (Prince Valiant) and while I can understand why some might not make a connection, let me point out that this movie was based on the long running comic strip, not the other way around. I have read every strip from 1934 until Hal Foster left. I can tell you that it captured the spirit of original strip very well. Certainly, a great deal of credit goes to the music but it owes a huge debt to Hal Foster’s incredible work)

I know that in this regard we share this taste, and I would recommend the Peyton Place re-recording as well as Objective Burma as two excellent Waxman scores. I also recommend the four volume Legends of Hollywood series from Varese.

I have said before that we are living in the Golden Age of Film Score releases and with the release of Beneath the 12 Mile Reef and all the other incredible re-records and lost finds, how can anyone doubt?