Louis Levy (20 November 1894 – 18 August 1957) was an English film
music 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 d ...
and conductor, who worked in particular on
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
and
Will Hay
William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...
films. He was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and died in
Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
.
Early life
As a child Louis Levy played the violin, beginning with a toy violin that his father bought him at the age of seven. He later became the pupil of
Guido Papini but due to his parents' limited means, ended his studies with Papini and began a period of self-study. This led to him gaining a scholarship at the
London College of Music. Papini refused to allow Levy to study under anyone else, so resumed his tuition, this time free of charge.
[Obituary, ''The Times'', 19 August 1957, p 12]
Career
He started his career in 1910 arranging and performing music for silent films.
[ In 1916, he became musical director for the New Gallery Cinema in London. In 1921, he became Music Chief at the Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion and is credited with being the first to develop the theme song in movies, and one of the first musicians to tackle difficulties that were holding back the progress of sound recording in films.][
At the beginning of talkies, he joined the ]Gaumont British
The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France.
Film production
Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...
studios at Shepherd’s Bush, where he was musical director for Gaumont's earliest sound picture, ''High Treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
'' (1929).[Palmer, Russell. ''British Music'' (1947), pp. 148-149] He became the head of the music department for all Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...
productions from 1933 onwards.The Lady Vanishes
''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel ''The Wheel Spins'' by Ethel L ...
''.
Through the sheer necessity of having to produce so much music he established his own studios (The Levy Sound Studios at 73 New Bond Street) in the 1930s. He later had a long running BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio series ''Music From the Movies'', which started in 1936 and lasted until the 1950s, and also toured the provincial theatres with his orchestra.