Marvin Hamlisch

[GRAEME]

Love Marvin's film music - Nobody does It Better has to be one of the best ever Bond themes.

His latest film, The Informant ((2009) starring Matt Damon, and directed by Steven Soderbergh) contains a comedy score very reminiscent of his early work for Woody Allen. In fact, there's a recurrent tune with a yak-yak effect that is almost identical to a tune in Take the Money and Run. Makes you wonder if this was deliberate quoting and says something about the characters in the film. Got me thinking that the whole soundtrack really contributed to the comedy feel of the new film - without it the movie would play a lot straighter. I wonder at what point Marvin was included on the project and how the decision to go for a score like that - consciously old fashioned and comic - came about?

[Dame Starry]

He's a wonderful composer and musician. On chat shows, I've seen him sitting at a piano making up songs just from a few word suggestions from the audience - he's very clever.

He had a relationship with songwriter Carole Bayer Sager (once married to Bacharach) and, allegedly, was engaged to Emma Samms in the early 80s.

It's nice to see that he's still in demand.

[Freddy]

One of my favourites as well, I remember the programme the Dame is talking about, marvellous to watch and listen to him. A year or so back on the radio he mentioned The Way We Were and how he still felt he hadn't got the ending quite right, went home and then something clicked, the following day he went back to the studio and placed the music just as her hand touched his hair. The whole sequence of the scene, the writing, acting, the way the music exits and enters. A classic.



Paul

[vincenzo]

His score to The Swimmer is superb.