1924 - 2009

Maurice Jarre soon associated soon with the "young savages" Harold Pinter and Albert Camus and especially the legendary director Jean Cocteau.

He began his career as a filmcomposer in the 50's and he composed mostly the music to French productions till the middle of the 60's.
To his early works belong "Toute la mémoire du monde" (56), "Le feu aux poudres" (57), "Les dragueurs" (59), "Les yeux sans visage" (60), "Le président" (61), "Pleins feux sur l'assassin" (61), "Ton ombre est la mienne" (62), "Le soleil dans l'oeil" (62), "Mourir à Madrid" (63) and "Paris brûle-t-il?" (66).

But soon the call of Hollywood turned out to be irresistible. The first contact with Hollywood proved to be fateful for is further future. First he composed the music to movies like "The Big Gamble" (61), "The Longest Day" (62) and "The Train" (64) before he collaborated with director David Lean. He was forced to follow the shooting for a big battle in the desert for one week. After that he had to compose the film music within six weeks. We are speaking of "Lawrence of Arabia" of course.

In the next decades he normally worked for the American film business but also some French productions got the benefit of his music.
To his well-known movies of the 60's and 70's belong besides the already mentioned "Lawrence von Arabien" and "Doktor Schiwago" also the productions "The Fixer" (68), "Topaz" (69), "Ryan's Daughter" (70), "Soleil rouge" (71), "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" (72), "The Mackintosh Man" (73), "Great Expectations" (74), "The Man Who Would Be King" (75), "The Last Tycoon" (76), "March or Die" (77) and "Die Blechtrommel" (79).

In the 80's followed again countless compositions which emphasized Maurice Jarre's impressive ability. Only from the 90's he reduced his creative power but his music always remained an event for the public.

To Maurice Jarre's latest film composition belong the serial "Shogun" (80), "Firefox" (82), "Witness" (85), "The Bride" (85), "Enemy Mine" (85), "The Mosquito Coast" (86), "No Way Out" (87), "Gorillas in the Mist" (88), "Mr. Jones" (93), "Le jour et la nuit" (97) and "Uprising" (01).

The drastic, powerfull and romantic orchestration, which belongs to Jarre's trademark, didn't prevent him from composing successfully for other genres where tender and pleasant timbres or suspense were demanded. Best examples are „Fatal Attraction“ (87), „Dead Poets Society - Der Club der toten Dichter“ (89), „Jacob‘s Ladder“ (90) and „Ghost“ (90). Each movie became a so-called blockbuster and Jarre revealed his ability to grasp the soul of a movie with few bars.

Maurice Jarre was nominated for nine Oscars and got it in 1963, 1966 and 1985.
 

Other movies from Maurice Jarre: 
Hôtel des Invalides (52) Le théâtre national populaire (56) Sur le pont d'Avignon (56) Le bel indifférent (57) La tête contre les murs (59) Les étoiles de midi (59) Vous n'avez rien à déclarer? (59) Vel' d'Hiv (59) La main chaude (60) La corde raide (60) Crack in the Mirror (60) Recours en grâce (60) De fil en aiguille (60) Amours célèbres (61) Le temps du ghetto (61) Le puits aux trois vérités (61) Les dimanches du Ville d'Avray (62) Les travestis du diable (62) Thérèse Desqueyroux (62) Les oliviers de la justice (62) L'oiseau de paradis (62) Les rustres (63) Judex (63) Un roi sans divertissement (63) Les animaux (63) Behold a Pale Horse (64) Week-end à Zuydcoote (64) The Collector (65) The Professionals (66) Gambit (66) Grand Prix (66) The Night of the Generals (67) La vight-cinquième heure (67) Serie "Cimarron STrip: The Battlegound" (67) Villa Rides (68) 5 Card Stud (68) Isadora (68) Serie "The Survivors" (69) La caduta degli dei - Die Verdammten (69) The Extraordinary Seaman (69) The Only Game in Town (70) El Condor (70) Una stagione all-inferno (70) Plaza Suite (71) Pope Joan (72) The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (72) Liza with a "Z" (72) Jean Vilar, une belle vie (72) Ash Wednesday (73) Grandeur nature (74) The Island at the Top of the World (74) Mandingo (75) Posse (75) The Silence (75) Mr. Sycamore (75) Shout at the Devil (76) The Message (76) Serie "Jesus of Nazareth" (77) Crossed Swords (78) La tortue dur le dos (78) Two Solitudes (78) The Users (78) One of a Kind (78) Serie "Mourning Becomes Electra" (78) Ishi: The Last of His Tribe (78) Winter Kills (79) The Magician of Lublin (79) The American Success Company (80) The Last Flight of Noah's Ark (80) Resurrection (80) Lion of the Desert (80) The Black Marble (80) Die Fälschung (81) Taps (81) Vendredi ou la vie sauvage (81) Coming Out of the Ice (82) Young Doctors in Love (82) The Year of Living Dangerously (82) Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder (82) Au nom de tous les miens (83) The Sky's No Limit (84) Top Secret! (84) Dreamscape (84) Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (85) Apology (86) Tai-Pan (86) Solarbabies (86) Shuto shoshtsu (87) Giulia e Giulia (87) Gaby: A True Story (87) Le palanquin des larmes (87) The Murder of Mary Phagan (88) Moon Over Parador (88) Distant Thunder (88) Wildfire (88) Chances Are (89) Prancer (89) Enemies: A Love Story (89) Solar Crisis (90) After Dark, My Sweet (90) Almost an Angel (90) Only the Lonely (91) Fires Within (91) Rakuyô (92) School Ties (92) Shadow of the Wolf (92) Fearless (93) A Walk in the Clouds (95) The Sunchaser (96) Sunshine - Ein Hauch von Sonnenschein (00) I Dreamed of AFrica (00)