Known for Sound
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901 – May 17, 1981) was an American composer and cellist best known for his motion picture scores. Friedhofer was born in San Francisco, California, United States. His father, Paul, was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany. Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13. After taking lessons in harmony and counterpoint at University of California, Berkeley, he was employed as a cellist for the People's Symphony Orchestra. In 1929, he relocated to Hollywood, where he performed as a musician for Fox Studios productions such as Sunny Side Up (1920) and Grand Canary (1934). Later, he was hired as an orchestrator for Warner Bros. and worked on more than 50 films for the studio. While at Warners he was largely assigned to work with Max Steiner and, because he could speak German, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Steiner, in particular, relied on Friedhofer's skill in turning his sketches into a full orchestral score. In 1937, Friedhofer composed his first full-length film score, The Adventures of Marco Polo. Though he was still employed as an orchestrator through the 1930s and into the 1940s, he gradually received more assignments as a composer. In 1942, he composed the score for the film Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas. In 1946, Friedhofer was hired to compose the score for the 1946 William Wyler directed film, The Best Years of Our Lives, which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Score at the 1947 Academy Awards, beating Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa, William Walton and Franz Waxman. A new recording of the score, released in 1979 by Entr'acte Recording Society, was favorably received at the time. Friedhofer was also nominated for other films, including The Bishop's Wife, Joan of Arc, Above and Beyond, Between Heaven and Hell, Boy on a Dolphin, An Affair to Remember, and The Young Lions. Friedhofer, who was greatly admired by his colleagues, was also noted for his caustic, self-deprecating wit. When asked by fellow composer David Raksin as to the progress he was making on his score for Joan of Arc, he replied, "I've just started on the barbecue!". In reply to an interview by Page Cook, the film music critic at Films in Review magazine, who inquired about his place in the pantheon of film musicians, Friedhofer said, "I am just a fake giant among real pygmies." A biographical collection of essays, letters and interviews has been edited by Linda Danly. He died at St. Vincent Hospsital from complications of a fall on May 17, 1981. Description above from the Wikipedia page Hugo Friedhofer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
May 3, 1901
Died
May 17, 1981 (age 80)
Birthplace
San Francisco, California, USA
Filmography
140 films, 1 show


Deep in My Heart
1954 · 2h 12m · US
Biographic movie about the American composer Sigmund Romberg.


The Man I Love
1946 · 1h 36m · US
Tough torch singer Petey Brown, visiting her family, finds a nest of troubles: her sister, brother, and the neighbor's wife are involved in various ways with shady nightclub owner Nicky Toresca. Petey has what it takes to handle Nicky, but then she meets San Thomas, a formerly great jazz pianist now on the skids, and falls hard for him.


Devotion
1946 · 1h 47m · US
In Victorian England, literary siblings Emily and Charlotte Brontë vie for the affection of the Rev. Arthur Nicholls. Along with their sister Anne, Emily and Charlotte also try to help their tormented brother Branwell, a gifted artist whose life is being destroyed by alcohol.


Mildred Pierce
1945 · 1h 51m · US
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.


Arsenic and Old Lace
1944 · 1h 58m · US
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!


Watch on the Rhine
1943 · 1h 54m · US
On the eve of World War II, the German Kurt Müller, his American-born wife Sara, and their three children, having lived in Europe for years, visit Sara's wealthy mother near Washington, DC. Kurt secretly works for the anti-Nazi resistance. A visiting Romanian count, becoming aware of this, seeks to blackmail him.


The Constant Nymph
1943 · 1h 52m · US
The daughter of a musical mentor adores a promising composer, who is quite fond of the adolescent. When her father dies, an uncle arrives with his own grown daughter, who begins a romance with the composer which culminates in marriage but creates an emotional rivalry that affects the three.


Casablanca
1943 · 1h 42m · US
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.


The Hard Way
1943 · 1h 49m · US
Helen Chernen pushes her younger sister Katherine into show business in order to escape their small town poverty.


How Green Was My Valley
1941 · 1h 58m · US
Huw Morgan, the academically inclined youngest son in a proud family of Welsh coal miners, witnesses the tumultuous events of his young life during a period of rapid social change. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a miners' strike divides the Morgans: the sons demand improvements, and the father doesn't want to rock the boat.


Sergeant York
1941 · 2h 14m · US
Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.


The Great Lie
1941 · 1h 48m · US
After a newlywed's husband apparently dies in a plane crash, she discovers that her rival for his affections is pregnant with his child.


Santa Fe Trail
1940 · 1h 50m · US
As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.


The Letter
1940 · 1h 35m · US
After a woman shoots a man to death, a damning letter she wrote raises suspicions.


They Drive by Night
1940 · 1h 35m · US
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.


Virginia City
1940 · 2h 1m · US
Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.


Four Wives
1939 · 1h 39m · US
In this sequel to Four Daughters, Ann struggles to move on after the death of her husband as she falls in love with Felix, but on the day of her engagement discovers that she carries Mickey's child.


The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1939 · 1h 46m · US
This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.


Dust Be My Destiny
1939 · 1h 28m · US
Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-one would believe a nobody like him.


Each Dawn I Die
1939 · 1h 32m · US
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.


The Old Maid
1939 · 1h 35m · US
The lives of two cousins are complicated by the return of an ex-boyfriend and an illegitimate child.


Juarez
1939 · 2h 5m · US
The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juárez and democracy.


Dark Victory
1939 · 1h 44m · US
Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele, Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.


You Can't Get Away with Murder
1939 · 1h 29m · US
Johnnie learns crime from petty thug Frank Wilson. When Wilson kills a pawnbroker with a gun stolen from Johnnie's sister Madge's fiance Fred Burke, Fred goes to Sing Sing's death house. Wilson uses all the pressure can to keep Johnnie silent, even after he and Johnnie themselves wind up in the big house.


The Dawn Patrol
1938 · 1h 43m · US
In 1915 France, Major Brand commands the 39th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. The young airmen go up in bullet-riddled "crates" and the casualty rate is appalling, but Brand can't make the "brass hats" at headquarters see reason. Insubordinate air ace Captain Courtney is another thorn in Brand's side...but finds the smile wiped from his face when he rises to command the squadron himself. Everyone keeps a stiff upper lip.


The Cowboy and the Lady
1938 · 1h 31m · US
Mary Smith decides after a lifetime of being a shut-in to do something wild while her father is out campaigning for the presidency, so she takes off for the family's home in West Palm Beach and inadvertently becomes romantically entangled with earnest cowboy Stretch Willoughby. Neither the dalliance nor the cowboy fit with the upper class image projected by her esteemed father, forcing her to choose.


Valley of the Giants
1938 · 1h 12m · US
A lumberman takes on a sleezy corporate giant wanting to move in and do whatever it takes to drive everyone else out of business.


The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938 · 1h 42m · US
Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.


Crime School
1938 · 1h 25m · US
In the slums, teenager Frankie Warren hangs out with a rowdy gang who one day knock him out in a fight. In court, the boys refuse to reveal who struck the knockout blow, and all are subsequently sentenced to a reformatory, cruelly run by two corrupt guards. New deputy commissioner Mark Braden arrives determined to change things, but despite the help of Frankie's sister, Mark's reform plans -- and Frankie's future -- may be sabotaged from within.


Jezebel
1938 · 1h 43m · US
In 1850s Louisiana, the willfulness of a tempestuous Southern belle threatens to destroy all who care for her.


Tovarich
1937 · 1h 38m · US
When upper-class Parisian Charles Dupont and his family hire Tina and Michel as their servants, they have no idea that the domestics are in fact Tatiana, the Grand Duchess Petrovna, and her husband, Mikail, Prince Ouratieff. Recent exiles from the Russian Revolution, Tatiana and Mikail befriend the Dupont family, keeping their true identities a secret -- until one night when Soviet official Gorotchenko arrives for dinner.


The Hurricane
1937 · 1h 44m · US
A Polynesian sailor is separated from his wife when he's unjustly imprisoned for defending himself against a colonial bully. Members of the community petition the governor for clemency but all pretense of law and order are soon shattered by an incoming tropical storm.


The Prisoner of Zenda
1937 · 1h 41m · US
A kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.


That Certain Woman
1937 · 1h 33m · US
A gangster's widow fights for love despite society's disapproval.


Kid Galahad
1937 · 1h 42m · US
Fight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.


Beloved Enemy
1936 · 1h 30m · US
In 1921, British Lord Athleigh arrives in Dublin with his daughter, Helen, to engage in peace talks. As wanted Irish rebel leader Dennis Riordan is not recognized in public, he is able to move about freely and saves the Athleighs from an assassination attempt by a radical faction. Dennis and Helen meet again and, unaware of his position, Helen falls in love with him. Later when Dennis admits his identity, Helen must make a fateful decision.


One Rainy Afternoon
1936 · 1h 20m · US
Suave French actor Philippe Martin provokes a scandal when, in a darkened theater, he mistakes young Monique for his mistress, Yvonne, and tries to kiss her. Charged with assault, the quick-thinking Philippe claims it's French tradition to do as he did, and is let go. To his surprise, Philippe learns that Monique has paid his fine. As the tabloids exploit the situation, Monique dates Philippe, until a photo appears of him kissing Yvonne.