Leo F. Forbstein

Leo Frank Forbstein (October 16, 1892 – March 16, 1948) was an American film musical director and orchestra conductor who worked on more than 550 projects during a twenty-year period.

Contents

1 Early years 2 Joins Warner Bros. 3 Oscars and Oscar nominations 4 Personal life 5 Selected film credits 6 References 7 External links

Early years[edit] 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, he synchronized the orchestra with the action in silent films; he then became principal conductor at the Newman Theatre in Kansas City, where the organist was future Warner Bros. colleague Carl W. Stalling. In the mid-1920s, Forbstein relocated to Hollywood to head the symphony orchestra at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. Joins Warner Bros.[edit] He signed with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. as one of the directors of its Vitaphone Orchestra, alongside Erno Rapee
Erno Rapee (then Warners' general music director), Louis Silvers, and David Mendoza; Forbstein's first screen credit was The Squall
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. Oscars and Oscar nominations[edit]

Leo Forbstein conducts Dick Powell
Dick Powell as Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell looks on in Broadway Gondolier (1935).

In 1936, Forbstein and composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold were write-in candidates for the Oscar for Best Music, Score for their work on Captain Blood. The following year, he was nominated officially for The Charge of the Light Brigade and Anthony Adverse, winning for the latter.[citation needed] He was nominated again for The Life of Emile Zola in 1938. Personal life[edit] 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.[2][3] Leo Forbstein was entombed in the Corridor of Immortality at Home of Peace Cemetery. Selected film credits[edit]

The Squall
The Squall (1929) The Widow from Chicago
The Widow from Chicago (1930) The Maltese Falcon (1931) The Millionaire (1931) Bought!
Bought! (1931) The Star Witness
The Star Witness (1931) Union Depot (1932) The Man Who Played God (1932) The Cabin in the Cotton
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) 42nd Street (1933) Gold Diggers of 1933
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) The Working Man
The Working Man (1933) Ex-Lady
Ex-Lady (1933) Bureau of Missing Persons
Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) Fog Over Frisco
Fog Over Frisco (1934) The Big Shakedown
The Big Shakedown (1934) Jimmy the Gent (1934) Fashions of 1934
Fashions of 1934 (1934) Broadway Hostess (1935) Front Page Woman
Front Page Woman (1935) The Girl from 10th Avenue
The Girl from 10th Avenue (1935) Special
Special Agent (1935) Times Square Playboy (1936) The Golden Arrow (1936) It's Love I'm After
It's Love I'm After (1937) Jezebel (1938) Dark Victory
Dark Victory (1939) The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) The Letter (1940) (1940) Meet John Doe
Meet John Doe (1941) Sergeant York (1941) The Maltese Falcon (1941) Kings Row
Kings Row (1942) Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) Now, Voyager
Now, Voyager (1942) Casablanca (1942) Destination Tokyo
Destination Tokyo (1943) Mr. Skeffington
Mr. Skeffington (1944) To Have and Have Not (1944) The Corn Is Green
The Corn Is Green (1945) Mildred Pierce (1945) The Big Sleep (1946) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Winter Meeting
Winter Meeting (1948) Rope (1948) Johnny Belinda (1948)

References[edit]

^ Harriett Forbstein Dellar on findagrave.com ^ "The engagement of Harriett Forbstein to Melvin D. Dellar has been announced", Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1935 ^ Melvin Dellar on the Internet Movie Database

External links[edit]

Leo F. Forbstein
Leo F. Forbstein on IMDb
IMDb (Date of death, Feb 12, 1948, on IMDB is incorrect) Leo F. Forbstein
Leo F. Forbstein at Find a Grave

v t e

Academy Award for Best Original Score

1930s

Louis Silvers
Louis Silvers (1934) Max Steiner
Max Steiner (1935) Leo F. Forbstein
Leo F. Forbstein (1936) Charles Previn
Charles Previn (1937) Erich Wolfgang Korngold/Alfred Newman (1938) Herbert Stothart/Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken (1939)

1940s

Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith, Ned Washington/Alfred Newman (1940) Bernard Herrmann/ Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace (1941) Max Steiner/ Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld (1942) Alfred Newman/ Ray Heindorf (1943) Max Steiner/ Morris Stoloff and Carmen Dragon
Carmen Dragon (1944) Miklós Rózsa/ Georgie Stoll (1945) Hugo Friedhofer/ Morris Stoloff (1946) Miklós Rózsa/Alfred Newman (1947) Brian Easdale/ Johnny Green
Johnny Green and Roger Edens (1948) Aaron Copland/ Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton (1949)

1950s

Franz Waxman/ Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens (1950) Franz Waxman/ Johnny Green
Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin (1951) Dimitri Tiomkin/Alfred Newman (1952) Bronisław Kaper/Alfred Newman (1953) Dimitri Tiomkin/ Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin (1954) Alfred Newman/Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton and Adolph Deutsch (1955) Victor Young/Alfred Newman and Ken Darby (1956) Malcolm Arnold (1957) Dimitri Tiomkin/Andre Previn (1958) Miklós Rózsa/Andre Previn and Ken Darby (1959)

1960s

Ernest Gold/ Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman (1960) Henry Mancini/Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal (1961) Maurice Jarre/ Ray Heindorf (1962) John Addison/Andre Previn (1963) Richard M. Sherman
Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman/Andre Previn (1964) Maurice Jarre/ Irwin Kostal (1965) John Barry/ Ken Thorne (1966) Elmer Bernstein/Alfred Newman and Ken Darby (1967) John Barry/ Johnny Green
Johnny Green (1968) Burt Bacharach/ Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman (1969)