Oscar Score Nominations and Winners: Now Discussing the Year 1967

1969

"ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS"
Georges Delerue

"BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID"
Burt Bacharach

"THE REIVERS"
John Williams

"THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA"
Ernest Gold

"THE WILD BUNCH"
Jerry Fielding


WINNER: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by Burt Bacharach

Rain Drops keep falling on my head basically won it for this movie. The rest of the score is only mediocre.

Never heard the Secret of Santa Victoria or Anne of the Thousand Days.

The Reivers I said could have been nominated in 1970. This was my error. It stems from going backwards in the timeline and the fact that all my notes on these things were lost in the crash over the summer. But the Reivers was deserving on the nomination and could have won.

The Wild Bunch isn't too bad. There's only a few points in the film that stand out musically and that's during the chases.

Other scores not nominated include True Grit by Elmer Bernstein, Topaz by Maurice Jarre and Midnight Cowboy by John Barry.


Not really the best year.

 

I love The Reivers.

 

And thus began the trend of including completely irrelevant pop songs as a way of increasing soundtrack sales...

 

1968

"THE FOX"
Lalo Schifrin

"THE LION IN WINTER"
John Barry

"PLANET OF THE APES"
Jerry Goldsmith

"THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN"
Alex North

"THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR"
Michel Legrand

And the winner is: THE LION IN WINTER


Some good nominations. The Lion In Winter is a noble effort by Barry though I'm not it's biggest fan. I do respect it and can accept the win this year. Though I do believe there were better. I'm not referring to Planet of the Apes though. While it's innovative for its time, I wouldn't have expected them to realize this that very year.

I don't remember the score to the Shoes of the Fisherman though I think I've heard it and I've never heard The Fox.

The Thomas Crown Affair was probably nominated because of the "Windmills of your mind" than the score itself.


Scores not nominated include Where Eagles Dare by Ron Goodwin, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Dave Grusin, The Fixer by Maurice Jarre, and Bullitt by Lalo Schifrin.

Surprising that they chose the Fox over Bullitt, but since I've never heard the Fox, maybe not.

Two scores that seem to have been neglected include...

1) Romeo and Juliet by Nino Rota - While most of the score is only alright, the love theme is so beautiful that if the Windmills of your mind could get TTCA nominated, it could have gotten this too.

and

2) Once Upon A Time In The West - That harmonica work always blows me away. A snub in my book. This score I believe is better than the Lion In The Winter and should have been nominated and won.

 

Some good scores here. I have heard Apes, but not seen it, so I don't think my voice counts here.

OUATITW is a great score, but again, I haven't actually seen the film...

 

1967

"COOL HAND LUKE"
Lalo Schifrin

"DOCTOR DOLITTLE"
Leslie Bricusse

"FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD"
Richard Rodney Bennett

"IN COLD BLOOD"
Quincy Jones

"THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE"
Elmer Bernstein

And the winner is: THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE


This was a year when they were combining musicals with the scores. So Dolittle and Millie were basically nominated for their songs IMHO. They're not bad musicals, but I don't believe they are in the appropriate category. Thankfully the Academy fixed this in later events.

But the rest of the scores are nothing to talk about either. Part of that new age of scores or silver age. The scores that someone like Dimitri Tiomkin would have hated. Though with this years more song orientated scores, I'm surprised they didn't nominate You Only Live Twice by John Barry, Casion Royale by Burt Bacharach, and In The Heat of the Night by Quincy Jones.

Not the best year in the film music.