Louis Levy
Encyclopedia
Louis Levy was an English film composer and music director
, who worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock
and Will Hay
films. He was born in London
and died in Slough
, Berkshire
.
At the beginning of talkies, he joined the Gaumont British
studios at Shepherd’s Bush, where he became the head of the music department for all Gainsborough Pictures
productions from 1933 onwards. The rich sounds emanating from his large orchestra are all the more impressive when one realises that electrical sound industry was barely ten years old. He worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock and Will Hay films.
He later had a long running BBC radio series Music From the Movies, which started in 1936 and went on until the 1950s.
At this time, through the sheer necessity of having to produce so much music he employed several talented arrangers, among them Peter Yorke (who adapted the Levy sound for his own successful post-war concert orchestra) and Bretton Byrd, who was his chief music editor at Gaumont British.
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
, who worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
and Will Hay
Will Hay
William Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
films. He was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and died in Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
.
Career
He started his career in 1910 arranging and performing music for silent films. In 1916 he became musical director for the New Gallery Cinema in London. In 1921, he went to the Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion as Music Chief and is credited with being the first to develop the theme song in movies.At the beginning of talkies, he joined the Gaumont British
Gaumont British
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
studios at Shepherd’s Bush, where he became the head of the music department for all Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
productions from 1933 onwards. The rich sounds emanating from his large orchestra are all the more impressive when one realises that electrical sound industry was barely ten years old. He worked in particular on Alfred Hitchcock and Will Hay films.
He later had a long running BBC radio series Music From the Movies, which started in 1936 and went on until the 1950s.
At this time, through the sheer necessity of having to produce so much music he employed several talented arrangers, among them Peter Yorke (who adapted the Levy sound for his own successful post-war concert orchestra) and Bretton Byrd, who was his chief music editor at Gaumont British.
Partial filmography
As composer and/or music director and/or composer of additional music:- SheShe (1925 film)She is a 1925 British-German fantasy adventure film directed by Leander de Cordova and G.B. Samuelson and starring Betty Blythe, Carlyle Blackwell, Mary Odette. It was filmed in Berlin as a co-production, and based on H. Rider Haggard's novel of the same name.The book has been a popular subject for...
(1925) - The Ghoul (1933)
- It's a BoyIt's a Boy (film)It's a Boy is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Leslie Henson, Albert Burdon and Edward Everett Horton. It is a farce about a blackmailer who attempts to demand money from a young woman on the brink of marriage...
(1933) - Brown on ResolutionBrown on Resolution (film)Brown on Resolution is a 1935 film adaptation of the CS Forester novel Brown on Resolution. The plot is centred on the illegitimate son of a British naval officer singlehandedly bringing about the downfall of a German battleship during World War I...
(1935) - The 39 StepsThe 39 Steps (1935 film)The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
(1935) - Tudor RoseTudor Rose (film)Tudor Rose is a 1936 British film starring Cedric Hardwicke and Nova Pilbeam and directed by Robert Stevenson....
(1936) - Oh, Mr Porter!Oh, Mr Porter!Oh, Mr Porter! is a British comedy film starring Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel. While not his most commercially successful, it is probably his best-known film to modern audiences...
(1937) - The Lady VanishesThe Lady Vanishes (1938 film)The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder from the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White...
(1938) - The CitadelThe Citadel (film)The Citadel is a 1938 film based on the novel of the same name by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937. The film was directed by King Vidor and produced by Victor Saville.-Plot:...
(1938) - Ask a PolicemanAsk A PolicemanAsk a Policeman is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel which stars Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt. The title comes from the popular music hall song Ask a Policeman. The Turnbottom Round police force are threatened with dismissal by their Chief Constable and decide to...
(1939) - The Lambeth WalkThe Lambeth Walk (film)The Lambeth Walk is a 1939 British musical comedy film directed by Albert de Courville and starring Lupino Lane, Sally Gray and Seymour Hicks. It was an adaptation of the 1937 musical Me and My Girl. The film takes its title from the play's best known song The Lambeth Walk...
(1939) - Night Train to MunichNight Train to MunichNight Train to Munich is a 1940 British thriller film. It was directed by Carol Reed, with writing credits by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder. It is liberally adapted from the Gordon Wellesley novel Report on a Fugitive.-Plot:...
(1940) - The Young Mr PittThe Young Mr PittThe Young Mr Pitt is a 1942 British, black-and-white, biographical film, directed by Carol Reed and starring Robert Donat, Robert Morley and John Mills. It was produced by Edward Black, Maurice Ostrer, Twentieth Century Productions Ltd. and Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.-Synopsis:The film...
(1942) - UncensoredUncensored (film)Uncensored is a 1942 British World War II drama, directed by Anthony Asquith for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert...
(1942) - We Dive at DawnWe Dive at DawnWe Dive at Dawn is a 1943 war film directed by Anthony Asquith, starring John Mills and Eric Portman as Royal Navy submariners in the Second World War. It was written by Val Valentine and J. B. Williams with uncredited assistance from Frank Launder...
(1943) - Millions Like UsMillions Like UsMillions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It stars Patricia Roc, Eric Portman, Megs Jenkins, and Anne Crawford, was written by Sidney Gilliat, and directed by Gilliat and Frank Launder...
(1943) - The Man in GreyThe Man in GreyThe Man in Grey is a 1943 British film melodrama made by Gainsborough Pictures, and is widely considered as the first of its "Gainsborough melodramas"...
(1943) - Fanny by GaslightFanny by Gaslight (film)Fanny by Gaslight was a 1944 British drama film, produced by Gainsborough Pictures, set in the 1870s and adapted from a novel by Michael Sadleir . It was one of its famous period-set "Gainsborough melodramas"...
(1944) - They Were SistersThey Were SistersThey Were Sisters is a 1945 British melodrama film, directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures and starring James Mason and Phyllis Calvert. The film was produced by Harold Huth, with cinematography from Jack Cox and screenplay by Roland Pertwee...
(1945) - Under CapricornUnder CapricornUnder Capricorn is an Alfred Hitchcock historical feature film.-Production:The film is based on the novel Under Capricorn by Helen Simpson, with screenplay by James Bridie, and adaptation by Hume Cronyn. The movie was co-produced by Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein for their short-lived production...
(1949) - Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
- So Little TimeSo Little Time (film)So Little Time is a 1952 British World War II romance drama, directed by Compton Bennett and starring Marius Goring and Maria Schell. The film is based on the novel Je ne suis pas une héroïne by French author Noelle Henry...
(1952) - The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters (film)The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
(1954) - Yield to the NightYield to the NightYield to the Night is a 1956 British crime drama film starring Diana Dors as a murderess sentenced to hang and spending her last days in the condemned cell in a British women's prison...
(1956)