MOVIE MUSIC UK

Composer, arranger and conductor George Duning died in San Diego, California, on February 27, 2000, just two days after his 92nd birthday.

One of the most prolific composers of Hollywood’s studio era, Duning spent 15 years at Columbia Pictures and wrote music for more than 100 films, receiving five Academy Award nominations during a career that later extended successfully into television.

Duning was born in Richmond, Indiana, on February 25, 1908, into a musical family; his father was a singer and conductor and his mother taught piano and organ. He studied theory at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and composition with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, while also developing a strong background in jazz. After college he worked as a trumpeter and arranger with dance bands before becoming musical director of Kay Kyser’s enormously popular radio program Kollege of Musical Knowledge. During World War II he served in the US Navy as a conductor and arranger for the Armed Forces Radio Service.

After the war Duning joined Columbia Pictures as an arranger and orchestrator. His first substantial original film score was Robert Rossen’s noir Johnny O’Clock (1947), and he quickly became one of the studio’s principal composers. His first Oscar nomination came for Jolson Sings Again (1949), followed by another for the intimate drama No Sad Songs for Me (1950).

Duning’s reputation grew considerably during the 1950s. Among his major scores were Salome (1953), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), From Here to Eternity (1953), My Sister Eileen (1955), Picnic (1955), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Cowboy (1958), Bell, Book and Candle (1958) and Houseboat (1958). From Here to Eternity brought him his third Academy Award nomination, while The Eddy Duchin Story earned his fifth.

Perhaps Duning’s most famous score was Joshua Logan’s Picnic. His sweeping romantic theme was ingeniously combined with the 1930s standard “Moonglow” during the celebrated dance sequence between William Holden and Kim Novak, creating one of the defining musical moments of 1950s Hollywood romance. The resulting “Moonglow and Theme from Picnic” became enormously popular independently of the film, while Duning received his fourth Oscar nomination for the score.

His western music was equally impressive. Delmer Daves’s 3:10 to Yuma (1957) inspired one of Duning’s strongest dramatic scores, combining tense orchestral writing with a memorable title theme, recorded as a song by Frankie Laine. Elsewhere, Bell, Book and Candle allowed him to draw extensively on his jazz background, while films such as The World of Suzie Wong (1960), Strangers When We Meet (1960), The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1961) and Toys in the Attic (1963) demonstrated the warmth and lyricism that became particular hallmarks of his music.

As the Hollywood studio system declined during the 1960s, Duning moved increasingly into television. He composed for series including Naked City, The Big Valley, The Farmer’s Daughter and Star Trek. His scores for the original Star Trek included some of the series’ most lyrical music, especially when episodes emphasized romance or emotional drama rather than action. He eventually became musical director for Aaron Spelling Productions.

Duning continued working into the 1980s, but his legacy rests primarily on the remarkable body of music he created during Columbia’s post-war golden age. Although he never achieved the public recognition of contemporaries such as Bernard Herrmann or Alfred Newman, his five Oscar nominations reflected the esteem in which his work was held.