Herrmann, Bernard. (1911 - 1975)
Signed Contract to Compose Score for "The Snows of Kilimanjaro."
An important signed item from the distinguished, Academy Award–winning American composer and conductor who, over the course of four decades, earned a place among the most influential figures in the field of film music. Among his most notable achievements are the scores for such iconic classics as Citizen Kane, Psycho, Taxi Driver, and the present film, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." DS, fifteen pages, 8.5 x 11, April 24, 1952. Agreement between Herrmann and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation for Herrmann to “render your services for us in composing, arranging, and conducting the musical score for our motion picture production now entitled ‘Snows of Kilimanjaro,’” with Herrmann receiving $15,000 upon completion, on top or royalties. Signed on the final page in black ink by Herrmann. In very fine condition, with a rusty staple to top left and some mild handling wear."Darryl F. Zanuck, the producer of The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), likely didn’t have an in-depth conversation about the source material with Bernard Herrmann before hiring the famed composer to write the score. The movie was based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway, a writer Herrmann did not much admire. 'He is one of the best examples of an American writer who started out with much talent, and look what a complete piece of corn he’s been for 25 years,' Herrmann was quoted in 1954, two years after the release of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, comparing Hemingway unfavorably to a British writer like Thomas Hardy. 'He never has a pronouncement to make about the world of any interest, he never has a literary criticism to make, all he’s good to do is talk some more about hunting or getting a new wife, which is his own affair.'
In spite of these feelings, Herrmann looked forward to the change in subject matter the assignment would offer him after the brooding noir of On Dangerous Ground (1952) and the dark sci-fi parable The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). 'The sensitive direction of Henry King gave me many opportunities to create music of a highly nostalgic nature, inasmuch as the film deals with the tale of a man who is dying on the African veldt and during the fever of his illness relives much of his emotional past.'
Nevertheless, The Snows of Kilimanjaro was a box office hit, if not a runaway critical success; most of the good reviews went to Leon Shamroy’s photography and the composer’s score (it marked Herrmann’s first color film). New York Times critic Bosley Crowther singled out Herrmann’s music, 'singing sadly and hauntingly,' noting how several instruments and themes were as much actors in the work as the flesh-and-blood cast." (Rob Nixon, Turner Classic Movies Online) (3653)
Signed Document/Item Film