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Top Films from Selected Film Composers (M-Z)

The lists below include only films for which the composers contributed original music regardless of whether they were credited.

Henry Mancini

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Touch of Evil 1958 Orson Welles 55
2 Breakfast at Tiffany's 1961 Blake Edwards 359
3 Imitation of Life 1959 Douglas Sirk 519
4 The Party 1968 Blake Edwards 908
5 Charade 1963 Stanley Donen 1007
6 The Pink Panther 1963 Blake Edwards 1143
7 Victor/Victoria 1982 Blake Edwards 1354
8 A Shot in the Dark 1964 Blake Edwards 1544
9 Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954 Jack Arnold 1849
10 Days of Wine and Roses 1962 Blake Edwards 1998
11 It Came from Outer Space 1953 Jack Arnold 2313
12 This Island Earth 1955 Joseph M. Newman 2513
13 Wait until Dark 1967 Terence Young 2526
14 Mommie Dearest 1981 Frank Perry 2702
15 Silver Streak 1976 Arthur Hiller 2791

Ennio Morricone

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 Sergio Leone 44
2 Once Upon a Time in the West 1968 Sergio Leone 58
3 The Thing 1982 John Carpenter 106
4 Once Upon a Time in America 1984 Sergio Leone 133
5 The Battle of Algiers 1966 Gillo Pontecorvo 145
6 Cinema Paradiso 1988 Giuseppe Tornatore 217
7 Days of Heaven 1978 Terrence Malick 221
8 A Fistful of Dollars 1964 Sergio Leone 383
9 For a Few Dollars More 1965 Sergio Leone 468
10 The Untouchables 1987 Brian De Palma 471
11 Salň 1975 Pier Paolo Pasolini 928
12 The Mission 1986 Roland Joffé 1451
13 The Great Silence 1968 Sergio Corbucci 1479
14 1900 1976 Bernardo Bertolucci 1600
15 Duck, You Sucker 1971 Sergio Leone 1676
16 The Hateful Eight 2015 Quentin Tarantino 1707
17 Teorema 1968 Pier Paolo Pasolini 1855
18 Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion 1970 Elio Petri 2048
19 Fist in His Pocket 1965 Marco Bellocchio 2081
20 La Cage aux Folles 1978 Edouard Molinaro 2111
21 In the Line of Fire 1993 Wolfgang Petersen 2350
22 Casualties of War 1989 Brian De Palma 2600
23 Danger: Diabolik 1968 Mario Bava 2660
24 The Legend of 1900 1998 Giuseppe Tornatore 2737
25 The Bird with the Crystal Plumage 1970 Dario Argento 2783
26 Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! 1989 Pedro Almodóvar 2803

Alfred Newman

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 All about Eve 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 56
2 The Grapes of Wrath 1940 John Ford 209
3 How Green Was My Valley 1941 John Ford 708
4 Young Mr. Lincoln 1939 John Ford 975
5 The King and I 1956 Walter Lang 997
6 The Gunfighter 1950 Henry King 1104
7 Wuthering Heights 1939 William Wyler 1136
8 Twelve O'Clock High 1949 Henry King 1185
9 Dodsworth 1936 William Wyler 1212
10 Gunga Din 1939 George Stevens 1213
11 The Seven Year Itch 1955 Billy Wilder 1425
12 Ball of Fire 1941 Howard Hawks 1446
13 Leave Her to Heaven 1945 John M. Stahl 1448
14 How the West Was Won 1962 John Ford, Henry Hathaway, and George Marshall 1530
15 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939 William Dieterle 1656
16 Stella Dallas 1937 King Vidor 1913
17 The Robe 1953 Henry Koster 2065
18 South Pacific 1958 Joshua Logan 2143
19 Gentleman's Agreement 1947 Elia Kazan 2150
20 Heaven Can Wait 1943 Ernst Lubitsch 2168
21 Foreign Correspondent 1940 Alfred Hitchcock 2232
22 Dead End 1937 William Wyler 2470
23 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1945 Elia Kazan 2517
24 A Letter to Three Wives 1949 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 2558
25 Carousel 1956 Henry King 2651
26 The Westerner 1940 William Wyler 2724
27 The Mark of Zorro 1940 Rouben Mamoulian 2763
28 You Only Live Once 1937 Fritz Lang 2802

Miklós Rózsa

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder 42
2 Ben-Hur 1959 William Wyler 159
3 To Be or Not to Be 1942 Ernst Lubitsch 280
4 The Asphalt Jungle 1950 John Huston 562
5 Adam's Rib 1949 George Cukor 574
6 The Killers 1946 Robert Siodmak 686
7 The Lost Weekend 1945 Billy Wilder 691
8 The Thief of Bagdad 1940 Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, and Tim Whelan 1090
9 The Naked City 1948 Jules Dassin 1749
10 Spellbound 1945 Alfred Hitchcock 1987
11 Lust for Life 1956 Vincente Minnelli 2182
12 Criss Cross 1949 Robert Siodmak 2518
13 El Cid 1961 Anthony Mann 2544

Howard Shore

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 Jonathan Demme 31
2 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 Peter Jackson 43
3 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 Peter Jackson 48
4 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 Peter Jackson 67
5 Seven 1995 David Fincher 102
6 The Fly 1986 David Cronenberg 223
7 The Departed 2006 Martin Scorsese 238
8 Videodrome 1983 David Cronenberg 349
9 Ed Wood 1994 Tim Burton 435
10 Big 1988 Penny Marshall 501
11 A History of Violence 2005 David Cronenberg 509
12 Dead Ringers 1988 David Cronenberg 674
13 Crash 1996 David Cronenberg 756
14 Philadelphia 1993 Jonathan Demme 828
15 After Hours 1985 Martin Scorsese 992
16 High Fidelity 2000 Stephen Frears 1052
17 Hugo 2011 Martin Scorsese 1120
18 The Brood 1979 David Cronenberg 1132
19 The Game 1997 David Fincher 1173
20 Mrs. Doubtfire 1993 Chris Columbus 1241
21 Spotlight 2015 Tom McCarthy 1373
22 Eastern Promises 2007 David Cronenberg 1459
23 The Aviator 2004 Martin Scorsese 1605
24 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012 Peter Jackson 1679
25 Gangs of New York 2002 Martin Scorsese 1774
26 Naked Lunch 1991 David Cronenberg 1875
27 Scanners 1981 David Cronenberg 2121
28 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 2013 Peter Jackson 2198
29 Doubt 2008 John Patrick Shanley 2327
30 Dogma 1999 Kevin Smith 2371
31 eXistenZ 1999 David Cronenberg 2391

Alan Silvestri

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Back to the Future 1985 Robert Zemeckis 45
2 Forrest Gump 1994 Robert Zemeckis 107
3 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988 Robert Zemeckis 264
4 Predator 1987 John McTiernan 347
5 The Avengers 2012 Joss Whedon 540
6 The Abyss 1989 James Cameron 952
7 Back to the Future Part II 1989 Robert Zemeckis 1095
8 Contact 1997 Robert Zemeckis 1222
9 Avengers: Infinity War 2018 Anthony and Joe Russo 1384
10 Cast Away 2000 Robert Zemeckis 1395
11 Avengers: Endgame 2019 Anthony and Joe Russo 1454
12 Back to the Future Part III 1990 Robert Zemeckis 1697
13 Lilo & Stitch 2002 Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders 1994
14 The Long Kiss Goodnight 1996 Renny Harlin 2130
15 Romancing the Stone 1984 Robert Zemeckis 2167
16 Captain America: The First Avenger 2011 Joe Johnston 2620

Max Steiner

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Casablanca 1942 Michael Curtiz 5
2 Gone with the Wind 1939 Victor Fleming 32
3 The Searchers 1956 John Ford 37
4 King Kong 1933 Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack 51
5 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 John Huston 134
6 The Big Sleep 1946 Howard Hawks 177
7 White Heat 1949 Raoul Walsh 336
8 Mildred Pierce 1945 Michael Curtiz 440
9 Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 Frank Capra 533
10 Now, Voyager 1942 Irving Rapper 612
11 Sergeant York 1941 Howard Hawks 1133
12 Key Largo 1948 John Huston 1337
13 Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 Michael Curtiz 1382
14 The Caine Mutiny 1954 Edward Dmytryk 1508
15 Jezebel 1938 William Wyler 1824
16 The Informer 1935 John Ford 1868
17 The Life of Emile Zola 1937 William Dieterle 1936
18 Little Women 1933 George Cukor 2096
19 Dark Victory 1939 Edmund Goulding 2100
20 The Letter 1940 William Wyler 2299
21 The Gay Divorcee 1934 Mark Sandrich 2348
22 They Died with Their Boots on 1941 Raoul Walsh 2487
23 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1936 Michael Curtiz 2493
24 Dodge City 1939 Michael Curtiz 2540

Dimitri Tiomkin

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 It's a Wonderful Life 1946 Frank Capra 33
2 High Noon 1952 Fred Zinnemann 130
3 Rio Bravo 1959 Howard Hawks 175
4 Strangers on a Train 1951 Alfred Hitchcock 263
5 Red River 1948 Howard Hawks 271
6 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Frank Capra 303
7 Shadow of a Doubt 1943 Alfred Hitchcock 432
8 Giant 1956 George Stevens 641
9 The Thing from Another World 1951 Christian Nyby 762
10 Dial M for Murder 1954 Alfred Hitchcock 826
11 Only Angels Have Wings 1939 Howard Hawks 1142
12 Lost Horizon 1937 Frank Capra 1248
13 Duel in the Sun 1946 King Vidor 1285
14 The Guns of Navarone 1961 J. Lee Thompson 1303
15 D.O.A. 1949 Rudolph Maté 1604
16 You Can't Take It with You 1938 Frank Capra 1644
17 Portrait of Jennie 1948 William Dieterle 1802
18 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 1957 John Sturges 2026
19 The Westerner 1940 William Wyler 2724

John Williams

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Star Wars 1977 George Lucas 6
2 Jaws 1975 Steven Spielberg 23
3 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 Steven Spielberg 26
4 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 Steven Spielberg 27
5 Schindler's List 1993 Steven Spielberg 28
6 The Empire Strikes Back 1980 Irvin Kershner 36
7 Saving Private Ryan 1998 Steven Spielberg 77
8 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 Steven Spielberg 120
9 Jurassic Park 1993 Steven Spielberg 132
10 Return of the Jedi 1983 Richard Marquand 236
11 Superman 1978 Richard Donner 275
12 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 Steven Spielberg 380
13 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 Alfonso Cuarón 449
14 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 2001 Chris Columbus 503
15 The Long Goodbye 1973 Robert Altman 508
16 Minority Report 2002 Steven Spielberg 516
17 JFK 1991 Oliver Stone 529
18 A.I.: Artificial Intelligence 2001 Steven Spielberg 593
19 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984 Steven Spielberg 695
20 Empire of the Sun 1987 Steven Spielberg 812
21 Home Alone 1990 Chris Columbus 822
22 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 2015 J.J. Abrams 925
23 Catch Me If You Can 2002 Steven Spielberg 988
24 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 2005 George Lucas 1139
25 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2002 Chris Columbus 1151
26 Fiddler on the Roof 1971 Norman Jewison 1277
27 Born on the Fourth of July 1989 Oliver Stone 1467
28 Munich 2005 Steven Spielberg 1624
29 War of the Worlds 2005 Steven Spielberg 1684
30 Lincoln 2012 Steven Spielberg 1814
31 Nixon 1995 Oliver Stone 1946
32 Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi 2017 Rian Johnson 2072
33 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 1999 George Lucas 2263
34 The Towering Inferno 1974 John Guillermin and Irwin Allen 2306
35 The Poseidon Adventure 1972 Ronald Neame 2402
36 Sleepers 1996 Barry Levinson 2533
37 The Patriot 2000 Roland Emmerich 2557
38 The Terminal 2004 Steven Spielberg 2575

Hans Zimmer

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Dark Knight 2008 Christopher Nolan 47
2 Gladiator 2000 Ridley Scott 137
3 The Lion King 1994 Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff 138
4 Inception 2010 Christopher Nolan 158
5 The Thin Red Line 1998 Terrence Malick 378
6 Thelma & Louise 1991 Ridley Scott 379
7 Batman Begins 2005 Christopher Nolan 414
8 Rain Man 1988 Barry Levinson 479
9 12 Years a Slave 2013 Steve McQueen 543
10 A League of Their Own 1992 Penny Marshall 591
11 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 Christopher Nolan 614
12 Interstellar 2014 Christopher Nolan 638
13 True Romance 1993 Tony Scott 768
14 As Good as It Gets 1997 James L. Brooks 791
15 My Beautiful Laundrette 1985 Stephen Frears 869
16 The Rock 1996 Michael Bay 927
17 Black Hawk Down 2001 Ridley Scott 947
18 The Ring 2002 Gore Verbinski 1234
19 Kung Fu Panda 2008 Mark Osborne and John Stevenson 1327
20 Cool Runnings 1993 Jon Turteltaub 1370
21 Dunkirk 2017 Christopher Nolan 1439
22 Rush 2013 Ron Howard 1487
23 Blade Runner 2049 2017 Denis Villeneuve 1647
24 The Last Samurai 2003 Edward Zwick 1922
25 Driving Miss Daisy 1989 Bruce Beresford 1945
26 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006 Gore Verbinski 1948
27 Rango 2011 Gore Verbinski 2164
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 2007 Gore Verbinski 2455
29 Sherlock Holmes 2009 Guy Ritchie 2528
30 Man of Steel 2013 Zack Snyder 2589
31 Frost/Nixon 2008 Ron Howard 2692
32 The Simpsons Movie 2007 David Silverman 2711
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This page was last modified on March 26, 2020