Max Steiner

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Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian-born American music composer as well as a conductor.

He started out as a child prodigy and became a full-time pro, whether composing, arranging, or performing when he was fifteen. Steiner starred in England, then Broadway, and in 1929, he moved to Hollywood, where he became one of the first composers to write music scores for film.

Steiner, composer Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Bernard Newman, and Miklós Rózsa are among those who contributed to the tradition of writing music for film. Steiner produced over 300 film scores with RKO Pictures and Warner Bros. (1935), The Informer (1935), and Since You Went Away (1944).

In addition to his Oscar-winning scores, Steiner's most notable works include King Kong (1933), Little Women (1933), Jezebel (1938), and Casablanca (1942), although he did not award the love theme As Time Goes By. Steiner also contributed to The Searchers (1956), A Summer Place (1959), and Gone with the Wind (1939), which ranked second on AFI's list of best American film scores, as well as the film score for which he is best known. He was also the first winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, which he received for his work on Life with Father.

Steiner worked with some of the finest film directors in history, including Michael Curtiz, John Ford, and William Wyler, and he scored many of the films with Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Astaire.

Many of his film scores are also available as separate soundtrack releases.

Early years (1888–1907)

Max Steiner was born in Austria-Hungary on May 10, 1888 as the only child in a wealthy industry and theatrical family of Jewish origins. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Maximilian Steiner (1839–1880), who was credited with the first attempt for Johann Strauss II to write for the theater, and was the influential manager of Vienna's historic Theater an der Wien. Marie Josefine/Mirjam (Hasiba) and Hungarian-Jewish Gabor Steiner (1858-1944), a Viennese impresario, carnival exposition manager, and a builder of the Wiener Riesenrad, were among his parents. Steiner's father encouraged Steiner's musical talent and allowed him to conduct an American operetta at the age of 12, The Belle of New York, which allowed Steiner to be recognized early by Gustave Kerker, the operetta's author. Marie Steiner's mother was a dancer in stage productions produced by his grandfather as a child but later became involved in the restaurant industry. 56,37 : 56 His godfather, Richard Strauss, was heavily influence on Steiner's future work. 52 Steiner credited his early musical experiences to his family. Steiner was taking three or four piano lessons a week and yet many children became bored with the lessons as early as six years old. He'd be improvising on his own, with his dad encouraging him to write his own songs down because of this. Steiner cited his early improvisation as an influence on his musical taste, especially his fascination with Claude Debussy's music, which was considered "avant garde" at the time. 2 In his youth, he began his writing career by working on marches for regimental bands and hit songs for a tribute to his father.

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Steiner's parents accompanied him to the Vienna University of Technology, but he expressed no interest in academic research. He joined the Imperial Academy of Music in 1904, where, thanks to his precocious musical abilities and private tutoring by Robert Fuchs and Gustav Mahler, he completed a four-year course in just one year, earning himself a gold medal from the academy at the age of 15. 73 He played piano, organ, violin, double bass, and trumpet. The piano was his favorite and best instrument, but he acknowledged the importance of knowing what the other ones could do. He had classes in harmony, counterpoint, and composition. Felix Weingartner and Edmund Eysler, 56: 2 He cited his teachers as Felix Weingartner and Fuchsler, alongside Mahler and Fuchs.

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Edmund Eysler's music was a precursor to Max Steiner's masterpieces; however, Franz Lehár was one of his first operettas to be introduced; 3 Steiner paid tribute to Lehár by an operetta based on Lehár's Die lustige Witwe, which Steiner staged in 1907 in Vienna. 3 Eysler was well known for his operettas but the libretti were poor, with a simplistic style, and the performance was often reliant on the Viennese waltz style. As a result, when Steiner began writing pieces for the theater, he was interested in writing libretto as his instructor did, but had no success. However, many of his future film scores, including Dark Victory (1939), In This Our Life (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942), were heavily inspired by Eysler. 2 - Kate Daubney, author of Max Steiner's "Now, Voyager" magazine, is also influenced by Felix Weingartner, who conducted the Vienna Opera from 1908 to 1911. Despite taking composition lessons from Weingartner as a youth, Steiner always aspired to be a good conductor.

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Steiner went from Britain and Europe between 1907 and 1914 to work on theatrical productions. When he was fifteen, 4 Steiner first discovered the world of professional music. He wrote and directed The Beautiful Greek Girl, but his father refused to appear, saying that it wasn't strong enough. Steiner sold the composition to rival impresario Carl Tuschl, who offered to produce it. It appeared in the Orpheum Theatre for a year, much to Steiner's delight. 58 This paved the way for the staging of other shows in various cities around the world, including Moscow and Hamburg. Steiner's father was in bankruptcy while returning to Vienna. After having trouble finding jobs, he went to London (parts to honor an English showgirl he had encountered in Vienna). He was invited to perform The Merry Widow in London at 58. He spent eight years in London, including stints at the Daly Theatre, the Adelphi, the Hippodrome, the London Pavilion, and the Blackpool Winter Gardens. Beatrice Tilt was born in 1912, the Steiner twins. The exact date of their divorce is uncertain.

Steiner produced and conducted theatre performances and symphonies in England. However, he was interned as an enemy alien at the start of World War I in 1914. Fortunately, he was befriended by the Duke of Westminster, a fellow of his work, and was given exit papers to fly to America, but his money was confiscated. He arrived in New York City in December 1914, with only $32. Inability to find work, he resorted to menial positions, like a copyist for Harms Music Publishing, which eventually led to him doing orchestrating stage musicals.

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Max Steiner, a young boy from New York, landed in New York and spent fifteen years as a musical director, arranger, orchestrator, and conductor of Broadway shows. Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, and George Gershwin, among others, have all written operettas and musicals. George White's Scandals (1922) (director), Peaches (1923) (composer), and Lady, Be Good (1924) (conductor and orchestrator). Steiner, who was 20 years old at the time, became Fox Film's musical director in 1915. Steiner told studio founder William Fox that he wanted to write an original score for The Bondman (1916) at the time, but no specifically written music for films at the time. Fox understood and put together a 110-piece orchestra to accompany the screenings. Audree van Lieu married Audree van Lieu on April 27, 1927, during his time on Broadway. On December 14, 1933, the couple divorced. Steiner orchestrated and conducted Harry Tierney's Rio Rita in 1927. Tierney himself had RKO Pictures in Hollywood invite Steiner to work in their music production departments. RKO's head of production, William LeBaron, was on tour in New York to see Steiner perform and was enthralled by the performance of the two artists, who performed various instruments. Steiner became a Hollywood celebrity eventually. Sons O' Guns was Steiner's last Broadway performance on Broadway.

RKO hired Max Steiner as an orchestrator and his first film gig consisted of writing music for the main and end titles as well as occasional "on screen" music, according to Harry Tierney. 112–113 According to Steiner, the general opinion of filmmakers at the time was that film music was a "necessary evil" and that film production and release would often slowed down after it was shot. 216–218 Steiner's first film appearance was for the film Dixiana; however, RKO decided to let him go after a while because they weren't using him. On an operetta in Atlantic City, his agent discovered him a job as a musical director. They gave him a month to month contract as the head of the RKO's music department with the promise of more work in the future, which he accepted. 18 Steiner composed his first film score for Cimarron because few composers in Hollywood were able to perform. The score was well received, and it was partially responsible for the film's success. 18 In order to remain in Hollywood, he turned down numerous offers to film scoring in Moscow and Peking. 32 Steiner was asked by David O. Selznick, RKO's current producer, to perform music in Symphony of Six Million. Steiner produced a short segment; Selznick loved it so much that he asked him to design the theme and underscoring for the entire picture. Selznick was proud of the film, feeling that it gave a realistic portrayal of Jewish family life and heritage. 75 "Underscoring songs were not used well until then." "Steer pioneered the use of original composition as background scoring for films." Steiner's career and film industry were turned on by his successful conduct in Symphony of Six Million. After the underscoring of Symphony of Six Million, a third to half of the film's success was due in large part to the extensive use of music."

King Kong (1933) was Steiner's breakthrough and represented a paradigm shift in the scoring of fantasy and adventure films. 55 years old The score was an integral part of the film because it brought realism to a nippy film plot. 28 The studio's producers were initially skeptical of the need for an original score, but the company's supervisors were able to encourage Steiner to make the film sound better. In order to save on the film's costs, the studio suggested using old tracks, but Merian C. Cooper, a Hong Kong filmmaker, ordered Steiner to direct the film and announced that he would pay for the orchestra. 9 Steiner used an eight-piece orchestra to make the film "was made for music." "It was the kind of film that enabled you to do anything and everything, from strange chords and dissonances to beautiful melodies," Steiner said. Steiner also praised the wild tribal music that followed the ceremony to sacrifice Ann to Kong. He composed the score in two weeks, but the music recording cost about $50,000. 58 The film became a "landmark of film scoring" because it demonstrated that music can manipulate audience emotions. 113-29 Steiner arranged the score on Wagnerian leitmotif theory, which calls for specific themes for leading characters and concepts. The monster's design is recognized as a descending three-note chromatic motif. Following King Kong's death, the Kong theme and the Fay Wray theme converge, underlining the characters' "Beauty and the Beast" relationship. The music in the film's finale helped convey Kong's tender feelings for the woman without the film's finale having to explicitly state it. 29 The majority of the songs is heavy and screaming, but some of the songs are a bit lighter. For example, as the ship reaches Skull Island, Steiner keeps the music calm and quiet with a small amount of texture in the harps to help distinguish the ship as it slowly moves through the misty waters. 29 Steiner received a bonus for his contributions, although Cooper credited 25 percent of the film's success to the film's success to the film's score. 9 Steiner said King Kong was one of his favorite scores before he died.

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Steiner was quickly made one of Hollywood's most well-known names. He served as RKO's music director for two more years before 1936. In 1936, Max married Louise Klos, a harpist. They had a son, Ron, and divorced in 1946. Steiner produced, arranged, and produced another 55 films, including the majority of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' dance musicals. In addition, Steiner wrote a sonata for Katharine Hepburn's first film, Bill of Divorce (1932). Selznick, among other RKO artists, often came to him when they had problems with films, treating him as if he were a music "doctor." Steiner was asked to write a score for Of Human Bondage (1934), which had no music at the time. He brought musical touches to important scenes. Director John Ford ordered Steiner to film his film The Lost Patrol (1934), which had no tension without music.

The Informer (1935), John Ford's second film, The Informer (1935), before Ford began filming. Even before the writing process, Ford asked him to meet with Steiner to discuss collaboratively. Steiner was unusual in that he had not attempted to compose a score from anything earlier than a rough cut of the film. Because Steiner composed the music before and during film development, Ford will often film scenes in syncopation with Steiner's composition rather than the usual procedure of film composers synchronizing music to the film's scenes. Therefore, Steiner directly influenced the formation of Gypo. Victor McLaglen, a student at Gypo, rehearsed his walking in order to complement the fumbling leitmotif Steiner had designed for Gypo. 124–125 This rare film making technique was a hit; the film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won four, including Steiner's first Academy Award for Best Scoring. This score helped to illustrate Steiner's ability to capture the essence of a film in a single theme. 29 The film's main title has three specific features. First, the heavy-march-like design helps to describe Gypo's draconian army and central character's inevitable demise. The character's theme, second, is stern and sober, which brings the viewer into the right mood for the film. In addition, the music's theme includes some Irish folk songs, which helps to better represent Ireland's historical context and popularity. 30 The theme is not present throughout the film and serves more as a framework for the other melodic motifs heard throughout various parts of the film.

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Many of the characters and situations in the film are represented by the film's score. Katie Steiner helps portray the genuine love she has for the main character Gypo. Katie calls after Gypo as a solo violin echoes her voice's dulling cadence. Gypo sees an advertisement for a steamship to America, but instead of the advertisement, he sees Katie's hand on the ship. Hearse songs are mixed with organ music, and Katie is seen wearing a veil and holding a bouquet. The Katie theme in a later scene portrays a beautiful woman in the bar, accusing him of mistaking her for Katie. 30 other film themes include an Irish folk song on French horns for Frankie McPhillip, a warm string theme for Dan and Gallagher and Mary McPhillip, and a sad focus on the blind man's horns. 30 The most prominent part of the film is the betrayal relating to Gypo's betrayal of his friend Frankie: the "blood-money" motif. After Frankie is killed, the Captain throws the money on the table. On harp, the theme is a four note descent; the tritone is the first interval. The motif is repeated slowly and indefinitely to establish Gypo's guilt, as the men's judgments determine who will be the executioner, and the musical motif is linked to the dripping of water in the jail. The theme is played at a fortissimo rate in the film, suggesting Gypo's penitence and no longer having to establish his guilt.

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In Steiner's film style, simular film mannerisms are still present, such as when events or ramifications are immediately followed by a sforzato chord and silence, followed by silence. Frankie is remarked on the film's portion of the story as he praises Gypo for his arrest poster, as an example. In the film, Steiner employs minor "Mickey Mousing" techniques. 32. Steiner demonstrated the potential of film music by combining various themes such as the Irish "Circassian Circle," the "blood-money" motif, and Frankie's theme. Steiner's original "Sancta Maria" brings the score to a close. Several writers have incorrectly referred to the cue as featuring Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria."

Steiner was recruited by Frank Capra to conduct Dimitri Tiomkin's film (1937) as a backup in case Steiner needed to rewrite the score by an inexperienced Tiomkin, but Tiomkin preferring him over the film's then music director. 52 Selznick formed his own production company in 1936 and enlisted Steiner to write the scores for his next three films.

Steiner left RKO and signed a long-term deal with Warner Bros in April 1937; he will, however, continue to work for Selznick. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Warner Bros.'s first film he directed was The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). Steiner, a mainstay at Warner Bros., has scored 140 of their films over the next 30 years, including Hollywood stars Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney. 58 Steiner consulted with composer Hugo Friedhofer, who was hired as an orchestrator for Warner Bros. Friedholfer would orchestrate more than half of Steiner's works during his career. 72 In 1938, Steiner wrote and arranged the first "composed for film" piece, Symphony Moderne, which a woman plays on the piano and later performs as a theme in Four Daughters (1938), which is performed by a full orchestra in Four Wives (1939).

Steiner's 1939 score for Gone with the Wind (1939), which became one of Steiner's most popular hits, was borrowed from Warner Bros. Selznick was the only composer considered for scoring the film. Despite composing twelve more film scores in 1939, Steiner had only three months to finish the job, more than he had in any other year of his career. Selznick was worried that Steiner would not have enough time to finish the score, so he had Franz Waxman write an additional score in the event that the Steiner didn't finish. Steiner regularly worked for 20 hours straight, with the support of a doctor-administered Benzedrine to remain alert to stay up until the deadline. It was the longest film score ever created at nearly three hours when it was released. The composition had 16 main themes and almost 300 musical segments. 34 Steiner needed support from four orchestrators and arrangers, including Heinz Roemheld, to work on the score due to the score's length. Selznick had ordered Steiner to save money and time by swatching classic concert performance or popular films, but Steiner tried to convince him that filling the picture with swatches of classic concert music or famous scenes could be used to raise the emotional content of scenes. Steiner ignored Selznick's wishes and created a completely new score. Selznick's take on original scoring may have changed due to the film's overwhelming reaction, nearly all of which contained Steiner's music. He even wrote a letter a year later urging the value of original film scores. 227 The most well-known of Steiner's musical styles is the "Tara" theme for the O'Hara family plantation's O'Hara family plantation. Scarlett's deep love for her home is the reason why "the 'Tara' theme starts and ends with the picture and permeates the entire score." The film went on to win ten Academy Awards, but not for Best Original Score, but rather for Herbert Stothart's Wizard of Oz. By AFI, Gone with the Wind is ranked as the second best American film score of all time.

Now, Voyager will be the film score for which Steiner will earn his second Academy Award. Kate Daubney attributes the success of this score to Steiner's ability to "balance] the scheme of thematic meaning with the tone of the music. 46 Steiner's music emphasised the narrative's emotional development." 38 Steiner, a singer from Now, Voyager (1942), was hired to conduct Casablanca's music (1942). Steiner would usually wait until the film was edited before scoring it, but after watching Casablanca, he realized that the song "As Time Goes By" by Herman Hupfeld wasn't an appropriate addition to the film and wanted to replace it with a song of his own composition; nonetheless, Ingrid Bergman couldn't re-film the section with Steiner's song. Steiner, who was stuck on "As Time Goes By," embraced the song and made it the center theme of his score. Maria Blanca's score for Casablanca was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, losing to The Song of Bernadette (1943). Since You Went Away (1944), 319 Steiner received his third and final award in 1944. Steiner actually invented the theme from Since You Went Away, as well as helping to counterbalance Franz Waxman's moody score for Rebecca. Since You Went Away, producer David O. Selznick loved the theme so much that he asked Steiner to include it in Since You Went Away. 119: Max Burton was born in 1947 and married Leonette Blair.

Steiner has also excelled at the film noir genre. Mildred Pierce's Big Sleep, The Letter, and the Big Sleep were his best film noir scores of the 1940s. 32 The Letter is set in Singapore, and the tale of murder begins with a blazing musical theme in the credits, which creates the film's dramatic and violent tone. Leslie, the main character, is portrayed by her tragic passion in the main theme. 32–33 In Leslie and the murdered man's wife's squabble in the Chinese shop, the main theme is heard. Steiner reveals this scene through the jangling of wind chimes that intensifies as the wife emerges from opium smoke. The jangling continues until Leslie, the wife begged Leslie to take off her shawl, after which the theme blasts indicate the women's moods are at a breaking point. 33 Steiner's score for The Letter was nominated for the 1941 Academy Award for Best Original Score, losing to Walt Disney's Pinocchio. Steiner uses musical thematic characterization for the characters in the film. Philip Marlowe's (Humphrey Bogart) theme is both beguiling and ironic, with a playful grace note at the end of the motif depicting mixed major and minor. His theme is fully developed in major chords and finishes at the end of the film by abruptly ending the chord as the film ended (this was an unusual film music practice in Hollywood at the time). According to Christopher Palmer, Bogart's Vivian's love theme is one of Steiner's most popular topics. To emphasize Philip's dissatisfaction with Vivian's brutality in the criminal world, Steiner compares high strings and low strings and brass. 35 In 1947, Steiner directed a film noir in Pursued, England.

Steiner had more success with the Western style of film, primarily because of epic-inspiring scores "about empire construction and progress," such as Dodge City (1939), and Virginia City (1940). Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland's portrayal of classic scenes of the Western genre is a good example of Steiner's treatment of classic scenes of the Western genre. Steiner's "lifting, loping melody" portrayed wagons, horses, and cattle. As he did in They Died with Their Boots On (1941), Steiner displayed a passion for combining Westerns and romance, as well as featuring Flynn and de Havilland. The Hunters (1956) is today regarded as the finest Western figure in the United States.

Despite his 1954 work, Steiner returned to Warner Bros. in 1958 and scored many films, including "Band of Angels," Marjorie Morningstar, and John Paul Jones, and later ventured into television. During this period of his career, Steiner still used large orchestras and leitmotif techniques. 152 Steiner's pace slowed dramatically in the mid-1950s and he began freelancing. RCA Victor asked Steiner to prepare and conduct an orchestral suite of music from Gone with the Wind in 1954, which was later released on CD. Steiner's orchestra is also acetate from several of his film scores. Victor Young and Steiner, composers, were good friends, and Steiner completed the film score for China Gate because Young died before he could finish it. "Music by Victor Young, expanded by his old friend, Max Steiner," the credit frame reads. "48" Steiner's music appears on many soundtracks, collections, and recordings by others. Steiner wrote into his seventies, ailing and nearsighted, but his compositions "revealed a freshness and vigor of invention." A summer Place, written in 1959, became one of Warner Brothers' most hit-tunes for years and a re-recorded pop standard. In 1960 (in an instrumental cover version by Percy Faith), this memorable instrumental theme spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Steiner continued to film noir films made by Warner until the mid-sixties.

Steiner's autobiography began in 1963. Despite the fact that it was completed, it was never released, and it is the only source of information available on Steiner's childhood. A copy of the manuscript is on display at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, alongside the rest of the Max Steiner Collection. Steiner produced his last film in 1965, but he said he would have scored more films if he had been given the opportunity. Hollywood's declining involvement in his scores caused by new film makers and a new interest in film music played a role in his lack of work in the last three years of his life. He also lost vision and deteriorating health, causing him to prematurely retire. Tony Thomas, 59, 66, described Steiner's last work as "a poor coda to a mighty career."

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Steiner, an 80-year-old Steiner, died of convulsion heart disease in Hollywood. He is entombed in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Source

Beginning music career (1907–1914)

Edmund Eysler's music appeared in Max Steiner's works early in his career; 2: However, Franz Lehár's first introductions to operettas was in Steiner's father's theatre. 3 Steiner modeled Lehár's Die lustige Witwe, which Steiner staged in 1907 in Vienna, in honor of Lehár. 3 Eysler was well-known for his operettas, but the libretti, although Richard Traubner, were bad, with a relatively simple look, was still too dependent on the Viennese waltz style. As a result, Steiner started writing libretto as his tutor did, but had no success, but he was still interested in writing libretto as his tutor did, but with no success. However, several of his upcoming film scores, such as Dark Victory (1939), In This Our Life (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942), as influenced by Eysler, had a frequent waltz melodies. 2 According to Max Steiner's "Now, Voyager" Kate Daubney, Steiner may have been inspired by Felix Weingartner, who conducted the Vienna Opera from 1908 to 1911. Though Steiner took composition classes from Weingartner as a youth, he always wanted to be a good conductor.

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Steiner traveled between Britain and Europe between 1907 and 1914 to work on theater sets. 4 Steiner was introduced to professional music when he was 15 years old. He wrote and directed The Beautiful Greek Girl, but his father refused to stage it because it was not good enough. Steiner sold the piece to competing impresario Carl Tuschl, who agreed to produce it. It ran in the Orpheum Theatre for a year, much to Steiner's delight. 58 This opened the possibility of staging other shows in various cities around the world, including Moscow and Hamburg. Steiner's father was in bankruptcy when he returned to Vienna. He moved to London in part to assist an English showgirl who had visited Vienna. 58 He was invited to Lehar's The Merry Widow in London. He spent eight years in London, performing musicals at Daly's Theatre, the Adelphi, the Hippodrome, the London Pavilion, and the Blackpool Winter Gardens. Beatrice Tilt was born in 1912, Steiner married Beatrice Tilt on September 12, 1912. The exact date of their divorce is uncertain.

Steiner wrote and directed theater performances and symphonies in England. But he was interned as an enemy alien at the start of World War I in 1914. Fortunately, he was befriended by the Duke of Westminster, who was a fan of his work, and was given exit papers to go to America, although his money was confiscated. He arrived in New York City in December 1914 with only $32. Unable to find jobs, he resorted to menial occupations, such as a copyist for Harms Music Publishing, which eventually led to him in orchestrating stage musicals.

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Max Steiner, a native of New York, quickly obtained a musical director, arranger, orchestrator, and conductor of Broadway shows. Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, and George Gershwin, among others, have written operettas and musicals. George White's Scandals (1922) (director), Peaches (1923) (composer), and Lady, Be Good (1924) are among Steiner's credits (conductor and orchestrator). Steiner, who was 20 years old, became Fox Film's musical director in 1915. At the time, there was no specifically written music for films, and Steiner told studio founder William Fox that he wanted to write an original score for The Bondman (1916). Fox accepted and they assembled a 110-piece orchestra to accompany the screenings. Audree van Lieu married on April 27, 1927, during his Broadway days. They divorced on December 14, 1933. Steiner orchestrated and conducted Harry Tierney's Rio Rita in 1927. Tierney himself requested that RKO Pictures in Hollywood recruit Steiner to serve in their music production teams. William LeBaron, RKO's head of production, came to New York to see Steiner perform, and was captivated by his performances by the pair, who performed many instruments. Steiner went on to be a Hollywood celebrity later. Sons O' Guns, Steiner's last Broadway performance, was in 1929.

RKO hired Max Steiner as an orchestrator and his first film position entailed writing music for the main and end titles as well as occasional "on screen" music, according to Harry Tierney. 113–113 According to Steiner, the common view of filmmakers at the time was that film music was a "necessary evil," and film production and distribution of the film would often slowed down after it was shot. 216–218 Steiner's first film role was for the film Dixiana; however, RKO decided to let him go after a while, feeling they were not using him. On an operetta in Atlantic City, his agent found him a job as a musical director. They gave him a month to month contract as the head of RKO's music department in the hopes of more work in the future, which he accepted. 18 Steiner composed his first film score for Cimarron because the few composers in Hollywood were unable. The score was well received and was partially responsible for the film's success. In order to remain in Hollywood, Edward declined several bids to teach film scoring techniques in Moscow and Peking. 32 Steiner was asked by David O. Selznick, the RKO's current producer, to join Symphony of Six Million in 1932. Steiner produced a short segment; Selznick loved it so much that he asked him to design the theme and underscoring for the whole picture. Selznick was proud of the film, believing it gave a realistic account of Jewish family life and culture. 76 "Underscoring music has not been used much before." "Steiner pioneered the use of original composition as background scoring for films." Steiner's career and film industry were turned upside down by his strong scoring in Symphony of Six Million. After the underscoring of Symphony of Six Million, a third to a quarter of the films' success was "due to the extensive use of music."

King Kong (1933)'s score was Steiner's breakthrough and represented a paradigm shift in the scoring of fantasy and adventure films. 18: 55 The score was an integral part of the film because it brought realism to an unrealistic film plot. 28 The studio's leaders were initially skeptical of the need for an original score, but the filmmakers later allowed Steiner to try to make the film sound better. In order to save on the film's costs, the studio suggested using old tracks; but King Kong producer Merian C. Cooper ordered Steiner to score the film and said he'd pay for the orchestra. 9 Steiner took advantage of this opportunity to play an eighty-piece orchestra, describing the film "was made for music." 11 "It was the kind of film that encouraged you to do anything and everything," Steiner said, from weird chords and dissonances to stunning melodies. Steiner also scored the wild tribal music that accompanied the service to honor Ann to Kong. He wrote the score in two weeks and the music recording cost about $50,000. 58 The film became a "landmark of film scoring" because it demonstrated that music must manipulate audience reactions. 113: 29 Steiner crafted the score on Wagner's leitmotif principle, which calls for specific themes for leading characters and concepts. The monster's theme is recognizable as a descending three-note chromatic motif. The Kong theme and the Fay Wray theme joined together after King Kong's death, underlining the characters' "Beauty and the Beast" type relationship. The music in the film's finale helped convey Kong's tender feelings for the woman without having to specifically state it in the film. 29 The bulk of the songs is heavy and loud, but some of the songs are a bit lighter. For example, Steiner keeps the music cool and quiet as it approaches Skull Island, with a small amount of texture in the harps to help characterize the ship as it cautiously travels through the misty waters. As Cooper credited 25 percent of the film's success to the film's success, 29 Steiner received a bonus from his work. 9 Before he died, Steiner said that King Kong was one of his favorite scores.

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Steiner was quickly made one of Hollywood's most well-known names. He served as RKO's music director for two years before 1936. In 1936, Max married Louise Klos, a harpist. They had a son, Ron, together, and they divorced in 1946. Steiner created, arranged, and produced another 55 films, including the majority of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' dance revues. Steiner also created a sonata that was used in Katharine Hepburn's first film, Bill of Divorce (1932). Selznick, one of RKO's most popular musicians, would often come to him when they had issues with film, treating him as if he were a music "doctor." Steiner was asked to write a score for Of Human Bondage (1934), which had no music at the time. He brought musical touches to dramatic scenes. Director John Ford hired Steiner to direct his film, The Lost Patrol (1934), which was lacking interest without music.

Before Ford began making the film, John Ford hired Steiner again to compose for his next film, The Informer (1935). Ford even asked his screenwriter to speak with Steiner during the writing process to collaborate. Steiner was unusual in that he did not have a score from anything earlier than a rough cut of the film. Because Steiner wrote the music before and during film production, Ford would often shoot scenes in syncopation with Steiner's score rather than the usual practice of film composers synchronizing music to the film's scenes. In the process, Steiner influenced Gypo's development in a way. Victor McLaglen, a gymnast, rehearsed his walking in order to match the fumbling leitmotif Steiner had created for Gypo. 124–125 This rare filmmaking technique was a hit; the film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won four, including Steiner's first Academy Award for Best Scoring. This score helped to emphasize Steiner's ability to capture the essence of a film in a single style. 29 The film's main title has three specific elements. First, the heavy-march-like theme helps to describe Gypo's brutal military and central character's inevitable demise. Second, the character's theme is stern and sober, putting the viewer in the right mood for the film. In addition, the music includes some Irish folk songs, which help to better reflect the film's Irish historical setting and influence. 30 The theme is not present throughout the film and rather serves as a framework for the other melodic motifs heard throughout various scenes of the film.

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The film's score is made up of many different themes that characterize the various characters and situations. Katie Steiner portrays Katie's genuine love for the main character Gypo. Katie calls after Gypo as a solo violin repeats her voice's decreasing cadence in one scene. Gypo sees an advertisement for a steamship to America and instead of the advertisement, sees him holding Katie's hand on the ship. Wedding bells are heard along with organ music, and Katie is seen wearing a veil and holding a bouquet. The Katie theme plays in a later scene as a teen girl in the bar, insisting he had mistaken her for Katie. 30 Other film themes include an Irish folk song on French horns for Frankie McPhillip, a warm string theme for Dan and Gallagher and Mary McPhillip, and a sad focus on English horns with harp for the blind man. 30 The film's most prominent plot is the motif of betrayal relating to how Gypo betrays his friend Frankie: the "blood-money" motif. After Frankie is killed, the Captain throws the money on the table. The theme is a four note descending tune on harp; the first interval is the tritone. The motif is repeated persistently to establish Gypo's guilt as the men select their executioner, while the musical motif is connected to the dripping of water in the prison. As Gypo staggers into the church, ending the climax with the clap of the cymbals, meaning he no longer has to establish his guilt. The theme is explored in the film as it appears.

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In Steiner's film style, silent film mannerisms are still present, particularly when events or repercussions are immediately followed by a sforzato chord, followed by silence. Frankie is criticized in a scene in the film in which Frankie confronts Gypo who is looking at his reward for his arrest poster. Steiner's film features minor "Mickey Mousing" techniques. 32 Steiner demonstrated the promise of film music by combining various elements, including the Irish "Circassian Circle," the "blood-money" motif, and Frankie's theme. Steiner's original "Sancta Maria" comes to an end in the score. Any writers have mistakenly referred to the cue as featuring Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria."

Steiner was hired by Frank Capra to conduct Dimitri Tiomkin's film production in 1937 as a hedge in the case where Steiner wanted to rewrite the score by an inexperienced Tiomkin; however, Tiomkin requested Steiner over the film's then music director. 52 Selznick founded his own production company in 1936 and recruited Steiner to write the scores for his next three films.

Steiner left RKO and signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros., however, he'll continue to work with Selznick in April 1937. Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Warner Bros.'s first film he appeared in was The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). Steiner, a mainstay at Warner Bros., has directed 140 of their films over the next 30 years, including Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney. 56 Steiner was often employed as an orchestrator for Warner Bros, and Friedhofer would orchestrate more than half of Steiner's works during his career. 72 is a boy from 1938-1938 Steiner wrote and arranged the first "composed for film" work, Symphony Moderne, which a person plays on the piano and later appears in Four Daughters (1938), and the orchestra is conducted by a full orchestra.

Steiner was lent from Warner Bros. Selznick to write the Gone with the Wind (1939), one of Steiner's most popular hits. Selznick was the only composer considered for scoring the film. Despite composing 12 more film scores in 1939, Steiner's career was cut short of him in only three months to complete the score. Selznick was worried that Steiner would not have enough time to finish the score, so he had Franz Waxman write an additional score in case that the Steiner didn't finish. Steiner used to work for 20 hours in a row, aided by a doctor-administered Benzedrine to stay awake until the deadline. It was the longest film score ever created when it was released, taking nearly three hours. The piece was divided into 16 main themes and nearly 300 musical segments. 34 Due to the score's length, Steiner received support from four orchestrators and arrangers, including Heinz Roemheld, to work on the score. 58 Selznick had asked Steiner to save money and time, but Steiner tried to convince him that swatches of classic concert music or popular performances would not be as effective as an original score, which could be used to raise the emotional content of scenes. Steiner ignored Selznick's wishes and created a completely new score. Selznick's opinion about original scoring may have changed due to the overwhelming reaction to the film, nearly all of which contained Steiner's music. He also wrote a letter a year later emphasizing the value of original film scores. 227 The most well-known of Steiner's plots is "Tara" themed for the O'Hara family plantation. Scarlett's deep love for her home is the reason why "the 'Tara' theme starts and ends with the picture and permeates the entire score." The film went on to win ten Academy Awards, but not for Best Original Score, which was instead awarded to Herbert Stothart for The Wizard of Oz. The score of Gone with the Wind is rated by AFI as the second best American film score of all time.

Now, Voyager will be the film score for which Steiner will receive his second Academy Award. Kate Daubney attributes the success of this score to Steiner's ability to "balance] the scheme of thematic meaning with the performance of the song. "46 Steiner's music stressed the narrative's emotional development." 38 After graduating Now, Voyager (1942), Steiner was hired to conduct the Casablanca (1942). Steiner would usually wait until the film was edited before scoring it, and after watching Casablanca, he realized that the song "As Time Goes By" by Herman Hupfeld wasn't a good addition to the film and wanted to replace it with a song of his own creation; however, Ingrid Bergman's hair was cut short in preparation for filming For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), so she couldn't re-film the section with Steiner Steiner, who was stuck with "As Time Goes By," embraced the song and made it the center theme of his score. Casablanca's score of 254–255 was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, losing to Bernadette (1943). Since You Went Away (1944), 319 Steiner received his third and final award in 1944. While assisting Rebecca in counterbalance Franz Waxman's moody score, Steiner actually initiated the theme from Since You Went Away. Since You Went Away, producer David O. Selznick loved the theme so much that he begged Steiner to include it in Since You Went Away. 78 Born in 1947, Max married Leonette Blair.

Steiner has also enjoyed success in the film noir genre. Mildred Pierce's Big Sleep, and The Letter were his best film noir scores of the 1940s. 32 The Letter is set in Singapore, and the tale of murder opens with the loudest musical motif in the film's credits, which sets the film's tense and violent atmosphere. Leslie, the main protagonist of the story, is portrayed by her tragic passion, which follows her story. 32-33 In the confrontation between Leslie and the murdered man's wife in the Chinese store, the main theme is heard. This scene is depicted by Steiner's jangling of wind chimes, which eventually crescendos as the wife emerges amid of opium smoke. The jangling continues until the wife begged Leslie to take off her shawl, after which the theme blasts reveal the woman's emotional thresholds. 33 Steiner's score for The Letter was nominated for the 1941 Academy Award for Best Original Score, losing to Walt Disney's Pinocchio. Steiner's score for The Big Sleep uses musical thematic characterization for the characters in the film. Philip Marlowe's (Humphrey Bogart) theme is both beguiling and ironic, with a playful grace note at the end of the motif depicting mixed between major and minor. His theme is fully developed in major chords and finishes at the end of the film by abruptly ending the chord as the movie ended (this was an unusual film music usage in Hollywood at the time). 33, 48 According to Christopher Palmer, Bogart's Philip and Lauren Bacall's Vivian's love theme is one of Steiner's most popular topics. Steiner emphasizes Philip's dissatisfaction with Vivian's brutality in the criminal world, with the comparison of high strings and low strings and brass. 35 years old Steiner produced Pursued, a film noir.

Steiner had more success with the Western genre of film, judging over twenty large-scale Westerns, most with epic-inspiring scores "about empire building and growth" as a result. (1939), The Oklahoma Kid (1939), and Virginia City (1940). Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland's performance in Dodge City is a good example of Steiner's treatment of typical Western movie scenes. Steiner performed a "lifting, loping melody" that reflected wagons, horses, and cattle's movement and sounds. Steiner demonstrated a fascination with mixing Westerns and romance in They Died with Their Boots On (1941), which also starred Flynn and De Havilland. The Searchers (1956) is today considered to be the best Western performer in the United States.

Steiner returned to Warner Bros. in 1958 and directed several films including Band of Angels, Marjorie Morningstar, and John Paul Jones, and later moved to television. During this period of his career, Steiner still used big orchestras and leitmotif techniques. 152 Steiner's slowed dramatically in the 1950s, and he began freelancing. RCA Victor asked Steiner to prepare and conduct an orchestral suite of music from Gone with the Wind for a limited LP that was later released on CD. Steiner's orchestra orchestra in music from several of his film scores is also available on acetate. Victor Young and Steiner, a composer, were good friends, and Steiner completed the film score for China Gate because Young had died before he could finish it. "Music by Victor Young, with his old friend, Max Steiner," the credit frame reads. "48": Steiner's music has appeared on soundtracks, collections, and recordings by others. Steiner's compositions "revealed a freshness and fertility of invention" in his seventies, ailing and near blind. A summer Place in 1959, written when Steiner was 71, became one of Warner Brothers' most popular hit-tunes for years and a re-recorded pop standard. In 1960 (in an instrumental cover version by Percy Faith), this memorable musical theme debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for nine weeks (in an instrumental cover version). Steiner continued to score Warner films until the mid-sixties.

Steiner's autobiography began in 1963. Despite being completed, it was never released and is the only source of information available on Steiner's childhood. A copy of the manuscript is on display at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, along with the rest of the Max Steiner Collection. Steiner's last work was in 1965, but he said he would have scored more films if he had been given the opportunity. Hollywood's decreased involvement in his scores owing to a new film creator and a fresh interest in film music contributed to his lack of work in the last two years of his life. His declining eyesight and deteriorating health were two other contributing factors to his declining career, causing him to reluctantly retire. Tony Thomas, 59, 66, cited Steiner's last work as, "a weak coda to a mighty career."

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Steiner died of convulsion heart disease in Hollywood, at the age of 83. In Glendale, California, he is entombed in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

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