Leo Frank Forbstein (October 16, 1892 – March 16, 1948) was an American

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

and orchestra conductor who worked on more than 550 projects during a twenty-year period.

Early years

Forbstein was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was attracted to music as a child, learning the violin at the age of four. As a conductor at the Royal Theater in

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

, he synchronized the orchestra with the action in silent films; he then became principal conductor at the Newman Theatre in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, where the organist was future Warner Bros. colleague Carl W. Stalling. In the mid-1920s, Forbstein relocated to Hollywood to head the

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

orchestra at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre.

Joins Warner Bros.

He signed with Warner Bros. as one of the directors of its Vitaphone Orchestra, alongside Erno Rapee (then Warners' general music director), Louis Silvers, and David Mendoza; Forbstein's first screen credit was ''The Squall'' in 1929. In 1931, Warners dismissed Rapee and Mendoza in a consolidation and economy move and Forbstein became the company's general music director.

Oscar nominations and win

In 1936, musical director Forbstein and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Erich Wolfgang Korngold were write-in candidates for the Academy Award for Best Scoring for their work on '' Captain Blood,'' a score composed by Korngold but for which Forbstein received recognition as head of the Warner Brothers music department under Academy rules in place at the time. The following year, Forbstein received nominations as head of the Warner Brothers music department for the nominated scores ''

The Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to s ...

'' (composed by Max Steiner) and '' Anthony Adverse'' (composed by Korngold), winning for the latter. The award for ''Anthony Adverse'' was originally a plaque that was later replaced with an Academy Award statuette in 1946. He was nominated as head of the department again in 1938 for '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (composed by Steiner).

Personal life

Forbstein was married to the former Bess Gallas from October 16, 1914 until his death from a heart attack in Los Angeles, California. They had one daughter, Harriett (born 1915), who married assistant director Melvin Dellar."The engagement of Harriett Forbstein to Melvin D. Dellar has been announced." ''Los Angeles Times'', July 21, 1935. Leo Forbstein was entombed in the Corridor of Immortality at Home of Peace Cemetery.

Selected film credits

*'' The Squall'' (1929) *'' The Widow from Chicago'' (1930) *'' The Maltese Falcon'' (1931) *'' The Millionaire'' (1931) *'' Bought! (1931) *'' The Star Witness'' (1931) *'' The Heart of New York'' (1932) *'' Union Depot'' (1932) *'' The Man Who Played God'' (1932) *'' The Cabin in the Cotton'' (1932) *'' I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang'' (1932) *'' 42nd Street'' (1933) *'' Gold Diggers of 1933'' (1933) *'' Footlight Parade'' (1933) *'' The Working Man'' (1933) *'' Ex-Lady'' (1933) *'' Bureau of Missing Persons'' (1933) *'' British Agent'' (1934) *'' Fog Over Frisco'' (1934) *'' The Big Shakedown'' (1934) *'' Jimmy the Gent'' (1934) *'' Fashions of 1934'' (1934) *''

Broadway Hostess ''Broadway Hostess'' is a 1935 American romantic comedy musical film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Wini Shaw, Genevieve Tobin and Lyle Talbot. The film was nominated at the 1935 Academy Awards for the short lived Best Dance Directi ...

'' (1935) *''

Front Page Woman ''Front Page Woman'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz. The screenplay by Laird Doyle, Lillie Hayward and Roy Chanslor based on the novel ''Women Are Bum Newspapermen'' by Richard Macauley. Plot Ellen Garfield refuses t ...

'' (1935) *'' The Girl from 10th Avenue'' (1935) *'' Special Agent'' (1935) * '' Times Square Playboy'' (1936) *'' The Golden Arrow'' (1936) *'' It's Love I'm After'' (1937) *'' Jezebel'' (1938) *'' Dark Victory'' (1939) *'' The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'' (1939) *''

The Letter The Letter may refer to: Literature * "The Letter" (poem), a poem by Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) * "The Letter", a short story in W. Somerset Maugham's 1926 collection ''The Casuarina Tree'' * "The Letter", 38th sura of the Qur'an * ''The Letters ...

'' (1940) *'' Footsteps in the Dark'' (1941) *'' Meet John Doe'' (1941) *''

Sergeant York Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964), also known as Sergeant York, was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine ...

'' (1941) *'' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941) *'' Kings Row'' (1942) *'' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) *'' Now, Voyager'' (1942) *''

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

'' (1942) *''

Destination Tokyo ''Destination Tokyo'' is a 1943 black and white American submarine war film. The film was directed by Delmer Daves in his directorial debut,McGee, Scott"Articles: 'Destination Tokyo' (1944)."''TCM.com'', 2019. Retrieved: August 15, 2019. and th ...

'' (1943) *''

Mr. Skeffington ''Mr. Skeffington'' is a 1944 American drama film directed by Vincent Sherman, based on the 1940 novel of the same name by Elizabeth von Arnim. The film stars Bette Davis as a beautiful but self-centered woman who has many suitors but marries Jo ...

'' (1944) *'' To Have and Have Not'' (1944) *'' The Corn Is Green'' (1945) *''

Mildred Pierce ''Mildred Pierce'' is a psychological drama by James M. Cain published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1941. A story of “social inequity and opportunity in America" set during the Great Depression, ''Mildred Pierce'' follows the trajectory of a lower- ...

'' (1945) *'' The Big Sleep'' (1946) *''

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (originally titled ''Der Schatz der Sierra Madre'') is a 1927 adventure novel by German author B. Traven, whose identity remains unknown. In the book, two destitute American men in Mexico of the 1920s join a ...

'' (1948) *''

Winter Meeting ''Winter Meeting'' is a 1948 American drama film directed by Bretaigne Windust and starring Bette Davis and Jim Davis. The screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Grace Zaring Stone (under the pseudonym Ethel Vance), was written by ...

'' (1948) *'' Rope'' (1948) *'' Johnny Belinda'' (1948)

References

External links

* (Date of death, February 12, 1948, on IMDB is incorrect.) *
The Royal Theatre in St. Joseph, Missouri.Newman Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri (changed to Paramount Theatre in 1947).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbstein, Leo F. 1892 births 1948 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians American film score composers American male conductors (music) Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery Classical musicians from Missouri American male film score composers Musicians from St. Louis