David L. Snell (10 September 1897 – 27 March 1967) was a pianist, conductor, composer and music director. He composed the music for over 170 shorts, series or feature films.
David L. Snell | |
---|---|
Born | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA | 10 September 1897
Died | 27 March 1967 Glendale, California, USA | (aged 69)
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Composer |
Known for | Shadow of the Thin Man |
David L. Snell was born on 10 September 1897 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He became a pianist, and studied at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Wisconsin College and the Meyer Conservatory of Music. He formed his own orchestra, and was the musical director for several stage productions.[1]
Snell joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's music department in 1937, turning out music for a range of films from low-cost "B" movies to expensive features.[2] He would spend his entire film career with MGM.[3] He was conductor, composer, and music director for MGM for twenty-one years.'[1] The work could be high pressure. In November 1938 Franz Waxman had just five days to put together the fifty-minute score for A Christmas Carol so it could be released in time for the holiday season. Snell helped out, writing the opening and closing credit cues and half a dozen other cues based on themes provided by Waxman.[4]
Snell wrote music for many full-length films, shorts and B-movie series such as Dr. Kildare, Maisie and The Thin Man.
His songs include Under The Stars, Downstream Drifter, Come Back Little Girl Of Mine and Once Over Lightly.[1]
Snell's scores often showed first-rate craftmanship, but his work has generally been ignored, perhaps because in most cases he chose to simply underscore the dialog as opposed to contributing complementary musical ideas.[5] However, for the 1947 Lady in the Lake, based on the Raymond Chandler novel and set around Christmas time, Snell chose to use a choir singing a cappella without musical accompaniment, providing an austere and effective "black and white" score to accompany the stark black and white cinematography.[6] The moody music echoed Christmas carols.[7]
David L. Snell died at home in Glendale, California on March 27, 1967.[1]
Snell is credited as composer in many films, including:[8]