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Two on a Guillotine was the last movie scored by Max Steiner. He commented, "it wasn't a picture, it was an abortion ... The guillotine was placed in the wrong place ... they should have cut off William Conrad's head for producing the thing." [9] Critical reception.
May 2, 2012 · He made a few ventures into television, notably scoring the 4th season of “Hawaiian Eye,” and his final film score was for the film Two on a Guillotine in 1965. Max Steiner’s music is extremely versatile, and runs the gamut from intensely powerful to delicate and timid, often within the same score.
But the damage was done and TWO ON A GUILLOTINE sent Steiner packing. However, leisure did not agree with Max and when he learned that a new film about George Custer was being made he interviewed with one of the producers.
After eight years with RKO, in 1937 Steiner left that studio for Warner Brothers (Warner Bros.), where he would work until completing Two on a Guillotine in 1965. He would score a total of 140 films for Warners, including 18 of Bette Davis’ romantic dramas and 15 Errol Flynn adventures.
- America 1914
- RKO 1929 to 1936
- King Kong 1933
- Warner Brothers 1937
- Personal
Steiner was conversant with the conventions of composing for silent movies and as early as 1915 he had composed the accompanying music for 'The Bondman'. Steiner became a naturalised American in 1920. He made many contacts during his time on the East coast who would prove invaluable in his future career, including William Fox, founder of the Fox Fi...
The first film for which he wrote an original composition was the Western, 'Cimarron', in 1931. In the next year he also wrote an original composition for his next project, 'Bird of Paradise', as well as using traditional Hawaiian melodies. The result was a masterwork which is still used today as a basis to create an Hawaiian atmosphere.
He continued with RKO for two more years, until 1936, composing, conducting and arranging large numbers of movies. His work rate was astonishing. In 1934 alone he worked on 36 films and again on 37 films in 1935. He was often approached by individual directors and producers within RKO to help them with their current projects. He formed a close asso...
Steiner was to spend almost 30 years at Warner Bros and he began by creating the studio's introductory fanfare to accompany its logo. During his time at the studio he composed for an amazing 140 movies, beginning with 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in 1936 and including such classics as 'Casablanca' and 'Now, Voyager' in 1942, 'Mildred Pierce' i...
Steiner died of heart failure in Hollywood on December 28, 1971. He was aged 83 years. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. He was a hugely successful innovator, a visionary with an unparallelled record of success. He introduced the integration of the musical score with the on-screen action instead of simply ...
Maximilian Raoul Steiner[ a ] (10 May 1888 – 28 December 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and became one of Hollywood 's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted his first operetta when he was twelve and became a full-time professional, proficient at composing, arranging, and ...
A wonderful score from Max during the twilight of his career. Great main theme, very pretty love theme and some solid mood cues makes this a winner. The film itself is a winner in my book, There are some very subtle scary moments, right up there with the best of them.
