Born May 3, 1901 in San Francisco, California, Hugo Friedhofer was the son of cellist Paul Friedhofer and his wife. Following in his father’s footsteps, he began playing the cello at the age of 13. After studying at the University of California, Berkely, he was employed as a cellist by the People’s Symphony Orchestra. He married at 19 and had a child at 22.
Moving to Hollywood in 1929, Friedhofer became an orchestrator and occasionally uncredited composer at Fox through 1935 where his films included Sunny Side Up. Liliom, Zoo in Budapest, Pilgrimage, The World Moves On, Charlie Chan in Paris, Charlie Chan in Egypt, and Call of the Wild. Later in 1935 he worked on The Last Days of Pompeii for RKO and Captain Blood for Warner Bros. In 1936, he worked on The Great Ziegfeld for MGM. In 1937, he worked on Lost Horizon for Columbia and A Star Is Born for Selznick International.
Under contract to Warner Bros. beginning later in 1937, he worked on such films as The Prince and the Pauper, Kid Galahad, The Life of Emile Zola, with time out for The Prisoner of Zenda for Selznick International and The Hurricane for Samuel Goldwyn Productions.
At Warner Bros, he worked on such films as Jezebel, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Four Daughters, Angels with Dirty Faces, The Dawn Patrol, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and more between 1938 and 1939, with time out for Selznick International’s Gone with the Wind.
In 1940 and 1941, he contributed to Selznick International once again for Rebecca, was back at Warner Bros. for All This, and Heven Too, They Drive by Night, The Sea Hawk, The Westerner, City for Conquest, The Letter, Meet John Doe, The Sea Wolf, Shining Victory, and Sergeant York among others before taking time out at Fox for How Green Was My Valley. Back at Warner Bros. for 1942’s Kings Row, In This Our Life, and Casablanca and 1943’s Watch on the Rhine among others, he was about to get the recognition he long deserved.
Friedhofer received the first of his nine Oscar nominations for his scoring of 1945’s The Woman in the Window the same year that he worked on The Corn Is Green, Rhapsody in Blue, Mildred Pierce and more. Uncredited for his contributions to 1946’s The Jolson Story and Gilda, he received his second Oscar nomination and only win for the same year’s The Best Years of Our Lives. In 1947, he composed the scores for both Body and Soul and The Bishop’s Wife, receiving his third Oscar nod for the latter. In 1948, he scored both Joan of Arc, for which he received his fourth Oscar nod, and Enchantment. In 1950, he composed the scores for Three Came Home, No Man of Her Own, Broken Arrow, and Edge of Doom. His score for 1951’s Ace in the Hole won an award at the Venice Film Festival.
Uncredited for his contributions to the scores for 1952’s Rancho Notorious and Just for You, he received five further Oscar nominations later in the decade for 1954’s Above and Beyond, 1956’s Between Heaven and Hell, 1957’s Boy on a Dolphin and An Affair to Remember, and 1958’s The Young Lions. Other late 1950s scores included those for 1957’s The Sun Also Rises, 1958’s The Bravados, and 1959’s This Earth Is Mine.
Mostly composing for episodes of TV shows from 1964 on, Friedhofer’s last score was for the forgotten 1968 horror film, Die Sister, Die!
Hugo Friedhofer died May 17, 1981, the result of a fall two weeks after his 80th birthday.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (1945), directed by Fritz Lang
Long a contributor to the unforgettable scores to some of Hollywood’s greatest films including The Adventures of Robin Hood, Gone with the Wind, How Green Was My Valley, and Casablanca, Friedhofer finally received recognition for his contributions, earning the first of nine Oscar nominations for Fritz Lang’s noir thriller starring Edward G. Robinson as a quiet, reserved college professor who falls under the spell of a woman (Joan Bennett) and is drawn into a murder by her and her boyfriend/pimp (Dan Duryea). That same year he contributed to the scores of The Corn Is Green, Rhapsody in Blue, and Mildred Pierce.
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), directed by William Wyler
Nominated for seven Oscars and winner of six, including one for Friedhofer’s score, the year’s Best Picture also won an honorary award for Harold Russell who also won the award for Best Supporting Actor. The film’s cast was one of the decade’s best, featuring Best Actor Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Russell as returning World War II veterans readjusting to civilian life. The female cast was just as brilliant with Myrna Loy as banker March’s wife, Teresa Wright as their forthright daughter, Virginia Mayo as aviator Andrews’ faithless wife, and Cathy O’Donnell as Russell’s girl next door.
THE BISHOP’S WIFE (1947), directed by Henry Koster
Nominated for five Oscars including one for Friedhofer’s jingly score, this Christmas season perennial had another one of the decade’s most memorable casts. It was headed by Cary Grant as angel sent to Earth to help struggling Episcopalian bishop David Niven and his wife, Loretta Young, raise money to help build a new church. Young, who won the year’s Best Actress Oscar for her other 1947 film, The Bishop’s Wife, is equally fine here. Also in the cast are Monty Woolley as an irascible retired professor, Gladys Cooper as an uppity grand dame given her comeuppance, James Gleason as a helpful cab driver, and Elsa Lanchester as a bewildered maid.
JOAN OF ARC (1948), directed by Victor Fleming
Ingrid Bergman’s favorite role was that of the martyred French saint for which she won a Tony for the 1946 Broadway version, called Joan of Lorraine. Nominated for seven Oscars including one for Bergman, co-star José Ferrer, and one for Friedhofer, it won two for its color cinematography and costume design. It was the first film to receive seven Oscar nominations without receiving a Best Picture nomination causing producer Walter Wanger to refuse his honorary award for the film. The film did poorly at the box-office in part due to the revelation of Bergman’s affair with Roberto Rossellini while the film was in release.
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957), directed by Leo McCarey
McCarey’s remake of his 1939 film, Love Affair, received four Oscar nods including one for Friedhofer’s lovely score. Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant had the roles originally played by Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer in the earlier version with Cathleen Nesbitt as Boyer’s grandmother, a role created by Maria Ouspenskaya. Dunne and Ouspenskaya were nominated for Oscars for the original. Kerr was nominated for her other 1957 film, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison while Grant and Nesbitt were ignored as were the stars of the 1994 remake, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Katharine Hepburn as Beatty aunt (she refused to play his grandmother).
HUGO FREIDHOFER AND OSCAR
The Woman in the Window (1945) – nominated – Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) – Oscar – Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
The Bishop’s Wife (1947) – nominated – Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Joan of Arc (1948) – nominated – Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Above and Beyond (1954) – nominated – Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Between Heaven and Hell (1956) – nominated – Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Boy on a Dolphin (1957) – nominated – Best Scoring
An Affair to Remember (1957) – nominated – Best Scoring
The Young Lions (1958) – nominated – Best Scoring
