Known for Sound
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Murray Cutter (15 March 1902, Nice, France – 19 April 1983, Burbank, California) was a versatile Hollywood orchestrator, working mainly for film composer Max Steiner, with over 150 credits spanning the mid-thirties to early 1960s. Nevertheless, he remains relatively unknown except for the much-loved original arrangement of Judy Garland's Over the Rainbow, which continues to be sampled by modern filmmakers. Similar to fellow arranger Alexander Courage, Cutter's name has tended to be overshadowed by the popularity of the composers with whom he was most associated. Cutter was unusual among orchestrators who tended to specialize, in that he was adept in all genres: musicals (New Moon, Kismet, The Desert Song); romantic drama (Waterloo Bridge, A Summer Place); adventure (Northwest Passage, The Caine Mutiny); family/comedy (National Velvet, Sugarfoot); suspense (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Key Largo); epics ("Helen of Troy"); and westerns (The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Johnny Belinda and The Searchers). An early assignment were the vocal arrangements for the 1937 film version of Rosalie, which ten years before had been orchestrated for Broadway by Steiner. At MGM Cutter worked for Arthur Freed and Mervyn LeRoy on The Wizard of Oz. Under the loose musical direction of Herbert Stothart he contributed the "metallic sound" for the Tin Woodman's If I Only Had a Heart. Cutter told Oz historian Aljean Harmetz for "Over the Rainbow" he made it sound as pretty as he could with lots of strings and a touch of woodwind. After the war he collaborated most closely with Steiner during his golden period with Warner Brothers. Their work on A Summer Place netted them a US #1 hit for the insistent theme song. Joining ASCAP in 1946, Cutter occasionally wrote original music for the screen but rarely received a credit. His last credit, along with Steiner, was for Disney's forgettable Those Calloways in 1965. No known Broadway credits are recorded for him.
Born
March 15, 1902
Died
April 19, 1983 (age 81)
Birthplace
Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Filmography
54 films


Two on a Guillotine
1965 · 1h 47m
country: United States
The daughter of a dead magician who accidentally killed his wife, her mother, while performing a guillotine trick must spend the night in his house in order to collect her inheritance. Is the house haunted or is it all magic?


Youngblood Hawke
1964 · 2h 17m
country: United States
An unknown Kentucky writer comes to New York and pursues fame and women.


Rome Adventure
1962 · 1h 59m
country: United States
Prudence resigns from her teaching position after being criticized for giving a student her copy of a romance novel. She sails for Italy, takes a job at a small bookstore in Rome, and meets Don, who has just broken up with his girlfriend. Prudence and Don tour Italy together, and romance naturally follows.


A Majority of One
1961 · 2h 36m
country: United States
A gentle love story about a Japanese businessman and widower, and a Brooklyn widow. But before a happy ending can ensue, they must learn again the lessons of tolerance, kindness and forgiveness.


Susan Slade
1961 · 1h 56m
country: United States
A pregnant teen allows her mother to pass her secret baby off as her own.


Parrish
1961 · 2h 18m
country: United States
Parrish McLean lives with his mother Ellen on Sala Post's tobacco plantation in the Connecticut River Valley. His mother winds up marrying Sala's rival Judd Raike, ruthless planter who wants to drive Sala out of business. Judd insists that Parrish learn the business from the ground up.


The FBI Story
1959 · 2h 29m
country: United States
A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.


John Paul Jones
1959 · 2h 6m
country: Spain
The career of Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones, from his youth in Scotland through his service to Catherine the Great of Russia.


The Hanging Tree
1959 · 1h 47m
country: United States
Joseph "Doc" Frail is a doctor with a past he's trying to outrun. While in Montana, he comes across a mining camp with a hanging tree and rescues a man named Rune from the noose. With Rune as his servant, Frail decides to settle down, and he takes over as town doctor. He meets Elizabeth, who is suffering from shock, and the two soon fall in love. But when Elizabeth is attacked, Frail's attempt to help her lands them both in trouble.


Escapade in Japan
1957 · 1h 33m
country: United States
A plane is forced to land at sea just off the Japanese coast. A young American boy is later befriended by a fisherman's son, with the two setting off on an unintended journey across the country.


The Searchers
1956 · 1h 59m
country: United States
As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.


Illegal
1955 · 1h 28m
country: United States
A hugely successful DA goes into private practice after sending a man to the chair -- only to find out later he was innocent. Now the drunken attorney only seems to represent criminals and low lifes.


The Violent Men
1955 · 1h 36m
country: United States
A former Union Army officer plans to sell out to Anchor Ranch and move east with his fiancée, but the low price offered by Anchor's crippled owner and the outfit's bullying tactics make him reconsider. When one of his hands is murdered he decides to stay and fight, utilizing his war experience. Not all is well at Anchor with the owner's wife carrying on with his brother who also has a Mexican woman in town.


The Caine Mutiny
1954 · 2h 4m
country: United States
When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.


The Iron Mistress
1952 · 1h 50m
country: United States
In this biopic, Jim Bowie goes to New Orleans, where he falls for Judalon and befriends her brother, Narcisse. Soon, Jim is forced to avenge Narcisse's murder, but Judalon takes up with another man. Jim eventually has another romantic interlude with Judalon and is forced to kill one of her suitors in self-defense. Jim leaves town, and falls for the daughter of a Texas politician, but his entanglement with Judalon continues to bedevil him.


Springfield Rifle
1952 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Major Lex Kearney, dishonourably discharged from the army for cowardice in battle, volunteers to go undercover to try to prevent raids against shipments of horses desperately needed for the Union war effort. Falling in with the gang of jayhawkers and Confederate soldiers who have been conducting the raids, he gradually gains their trust and is put in a position where he can discover who has been giving them secret information revealing the routes of the horse shipments.


Mara Maru
1952 · 1h 38m
country: United States
An American salvage diver plunges into dangerous intrigue around a sunken treasure in the Philippines.


Room for One More
1952 · 1h 38m
country: United States
Anne and "Poppy" Rose have three quirky kids. Anne has a generous heart and the belief in the innocence of children. To the unhappy surprise of her husband she takes in the orphan Jane, a problem child who already tried to kill herself once.


Distant Drums
1951 · 1h 41m
country: United States
After destroying a Seminole fort, American soldiers and their rescued companions must face the dangerous Everglades and hostile Indians in order to reach safety


Jim Thorpe – All-American
1951 · 1h 47m
country: United States
The triumph and tragedy of Native American Jim Thorpe, who, after winning both the pentathlon and decathlon in the same Olympics, is stripped of his medals on a technicality.


Lightning Strikes Twice
1951 · 1h 31m
country: United States
Sent to a dude ranch in the west to recover her health, a New York actress falls in love with a ranch owner recently acquitted of the murder of his wife.


Raton Pass
1951 · 1h 24m
country: United States
Raton Pass is a curious western based on the rules of Community Property. Dennis Morgan and Patricia Neal portray a recently married husband and wife, each of whom owns half of a huge cattle ranch. Neal is a tad more ambitious than her husband, and with the help of a little legal chicanery she tries to obtain Morgan's half of the spread. He balks, so she hires a few gunslingers to press the issue. In a 1951 western, the greedy party usually came to a sorry end; Raton Pass adheres strictly to tradition.


Sugarfoot
1951 · 1h 20m
country: United States
The lawless west had never met a gun-throwing gent like...


Rocky Mountain
1950 · 1h 23m
country: United States
A Confederate troop, led by Captain Lafe Barstow, is prowling the far ranges of California and Nevada in a last desperate attempt to build up an army in the West for the faltering Confederacy. Because the patrol saves a stagecoach, with Johanna Carterr as one of the passengers, from an Indian attack, and is marooned on a rocky mountain, it fails in its mission but the honor of the Old South is upheld.


The Flame and the Arrow
1950 · 1h 28m
country: United States
Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors.


Caged
1950 · 1h 36m
country: United States
A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.


White Heat
1949 · 1h 54m
country: United States
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.


Adventures of Don Juan
1948 · 1h 46m
country: United States
Spanish Lothario Don Juan, the legendary lover and adventurer returns to Spain following a scandal and comes to the aid of his queen, who is under threat from sinister forces.


Key Largo
1948 · 1h 40m
country: United States
A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.


Silver River
1948 · 1h 50m
country: United States
Unjustly booted out of the cavalry, Mike McComb strikes out for Nevada, and deciding never to be used again, ruthlessly works his way up to becoming one of the most powerful silver magnates in the west. His empire begins to fall apart as the other mining combines rise against him and his stubbornness loses him the support of his wife and old friends.


Winter Meeting
1948 · 1h 44m
country: United States
A repressed poetess and an embittered war hero help each other cope with their problems.


The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948 · 2h 6m
country: United States
Two jobless Americans convince a prospector to travel to the mountains of Mexico with them in search of gold. But the hostile wilderness, local bandits, and greed all get in the way of their journey.


Pursued
1947 · 1h 41m
country: United States
A boy haunted by nightmares about the night his entire family was murdered is brought up by a neighboring family in the 1880s. He falls for his lovely adoptive sister but his nasty adoptive brother and mysterious uncle want him dead.


Shadow of a Woman
1946 · 1h 18m
country: United States
Brooke's brief marital life with Eric takes a downturn when she starts suspecting that he is starving his son from a prior marriage to death in order to claim his inheritance.


Three Strangers
1946 · 1h 32m
country: United States
On the eve of the Chinese New Year, three strangers, Crystal Shackleford, married to a wealthy philanderer; Jerome Artbutny, an outwardly respectable judge; and Johnny West, a seedy sneak thief, make a pact before a small statue of the Chinese goddess of Destiny. The threesome agree to purchase a sweepstakes ticket and share whatever winnings might accrue.


Danger Signal
1945 · 1h 18m
country: United States
After robbing and murdering his married lover and then making her death look like suicide, conniving philanderer Ronnie Mason relocates to Los Angeles. Under a new identity and claiming to be a writer, Ronnie finds lodging at the home of Hilda Fenchurch and her mother. He woos Hilda, knowing she has money, but when he discovers that Hilda's sister, Anne, has just inherited $25,000, he switches his attentions to her.


The White Cliffs of Dover
1944 · 2h 6m
country: United States
American Susan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a society ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a whirlwind romance. However, she never quite adjusts to life as a new member of the British gentry. At the outbreak of World War I, John is sent to the trenches and never returns. When her son goes off to fight in World War II, Susan fears the same tragic fate may befall him too.


Ziegfeld Girl
1941 · 2h 12m
country: United States
Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway: Susan, the singer who must leave behind her ageing vaudevillian father; vulnerable Sheila, the working girl pursued both by a millionaire and by her loyal boyfriend from Flatbush; and the mysterious European beauty Sandra, whose concert violinist husband cannot endure the thought of their escaping from poverty by promenading her glamor in skimpy costumes.


Come Live with Me
1941 · 1h 26m
country: United States
Seeking US citizenship, a Viennese refugee arranges a marriage of convenience with a struggling writer.


Comrade X
1940 · 1h 30m
country: United States
An American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.


Babes in Arms
1939 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Mickey Moran, son of two vaudeville veterans, decides to put up his own vaudeville show with his girlfriend Patsy Barton. But child actress Rosalie wants to make a comeback and replace Patsy both professionally and as Mickey's girl.


The Oklahoma Kid
1939 · 1h 25m
country: United States
McCord's gang robs the stage carrying money to pay Indians for their land, and the notorious outlaw "The Oklahoma Kid" Jim Kincaid takes the money from McCord. McCord stakes a "sooner" claim on land which is to be used for a new town; in exchange for giving it up, he gets control of gambling and saloons. When Kincaid's father runs for mayor, McCord incites a mob to lynch the old man whom McCord has already framed for murder.


Too Hot to Handle
1938 · 1h 47m
country: United States
While in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter, meets pilot Alma Harding. She does not trust him, but he manages to hire her as his assistant. During an adventurous expedition through the jungles of South America, her opinion of him begins to change.


The Captain's Pup
1938 · 9m
country: United States
The mangiest pup at Pete's Pooch Palace catches the Captain's eye. He takes it home, but Mama is less than thrilled; she forbids it to stay in the house. The Captain pretends to put it out, but hides it under his coat. At the dinner table, though, it is soon exposed. Confined to the back yard, the dog howls the night away. The Captain is sent outside to quiet it, but is too tired to make it out the door. He finally gets there and sneaks the dog back inside to his own bed.


Billy Rose's Casa Mañana Revue
1938 · 21m
country: United States
The scene is set at Billy Rose's Casa Manana Revue, filmed at the Fort Worth Frontier Fiesta (1937), an enormous production created as part of the Texas Centennial civic celebrations. The opening song, "The Night Is Young And You're So Beautiful" emanated from the first edition of the Revue and became a hit song on two continents in 1936.


Mannequin
1938 · 1h 35m
country: United States
Jessie, a young working class woman, seeks to improve her life by marrying her boyfriend, only to find out that he is no better than what she left behind.


Conquest
1937 · 1h 53m
country: United States
A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to support Polish independence.


Double Wedding
1937 · 1h 27m
country: United States
A bohemian free spirit helps meek Waldo win back his fiancée and falls in love with her over-controlling sister in the process.


The Women Men Marry
1937 · 1h 1m
country: United States
A newsman with a no-good wife exposes a religious racket with a newswoman who loves him.