Hans May was a Viennese-born composer and music director who spent much of his career writing for the screen and the stage. He was initially best known for his songs, and he entered the movie business in Berlin and Paris during the silent era, composing incidental music for feature films beginning in the mid-'20s. May first visited London in 1930 but continued to work on German films until 1935. The coming of sound only increased the demand for his movie scores, though many of his projects tended to involve the lighter musical fare of the era. He left Germany in the mid-'30s and initially transferred his career to France, where he worked on the Mayerling (1936). In the late '30s, however, May settled in England, where his film music career took root first on such lighter-weight entertainments as the operetta-based vehicle The Lilac Domino (1937). A little later, he showed himself well able to deal with more serious dramatic subjects, beginning with The Stars Look Down (1939). May's big breakthrough film in England, however, was Thunder Rock (1942), an anti-isolationist fantasy-drama directed and produced by John Boulting and Roy Boulting, which commanded the attention and admiration of British film critics and serious filmgoers -- May's music for the film was particularly effective at setting and underscoring the delicate moods needed to make the topical ghost story work on the screen.
Over the next few years May's career advanced as he joined The Rank Organization, scoring smaller-scale comedies at first, such as Back-Room Boy (1942), and then more expensive and prestigious movies, including the Gainsborough costume productions Madonna of the Seven Moons (1944) and The Wicked Lady (1945), and the psychological melodrama Bedelia (1946). He was back with the Boultings for their film Brighton Rock (1947), but his next few movies were less prominent and prestigious. During that period, however, May was concentrating more on a theatrical work, Carissima, in collaboration with playwright and screenwriter Eric Maschwitz -- the latter play debuted on London's West End in 1948 and ran 488 performances, a major success by the standards of the day. He resumed his film work in 1950, and by the middle of that decade, he had begun working on international film productions, including his first German movies in nearly 20 years. In 1954, he enjoyed a second major stage hit with Wedding in Paris, written in collaboration with Vera Caspary and Sonny Miller, and starring Anton Walbrook and Evelyn Laye, which ran for more than 400 performances. His health began declining late in the decade, and May died at Beaulieu in the south of France soon after midnight on January 1, 1959.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Gypsy and the Gentleman
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1958 | |||
|
I'll Get You
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Never Let Me Go
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1953 | |||
|
Shoot First
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
The Frightened Bride
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
A Tale of Five Women
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Hell Is Sold Out
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Guilt Is My Shadow
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Shadow of the Eagle
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1950 | |||
|
My Brother Jonathan
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1949 | |||
|
No Room at the Inn
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1948 | |||
|
Uneasy Terms
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1948 | |||
|
Brighton Rock
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Dual Alibi
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Fame Is the Spur
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1947 | |||
|
Green Fingers
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Mrs. Fitzherbert
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1947 | |||
|
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Murder in Reverse
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
The Laughing Lady
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1946 | |||
|
Woman to Woman
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1946 | |||
|
The Wicked Lady
Composer (Music Score) |
1945 | |||
|
Waltz Time
Actor, Composer (Music Score), Conductor |
1945 | |||
|
Candlelight in Algeria
Songwriter |
1944 | |||
|
The Hundred Pound Window
Composer (Music Score) |
1943 | |||
|
Back Room Boy
Composer (Music Score) |
1942 | |||
|
Thunder Rock
Composer (Music Score) |
1942 | |||
|
The Stars Look Down
Composer (Music Score) |
1939 | |||
|
Everything in Life
Composer (Music Score) |
1936 | |||
|
Give Her a Ring
Songwriter |
1936 | |||
|
Mayerling
Composer (Music Score) |
1936 | |||
|
Southern Roses
Composer (Music Score) |
1936 | |||
|
The Student's Romance
Songwriter |
1935 | |||
|
Bleeke Bet
Composer (Music Score) |
1934 | |||
|
Gado Bravo
Composer (Music Score) |
1934 | |||
|
Ein Leid Geht Um Die Welt
Composer (Music Score) |
1933 | |||
|
Keinen Tag Ohne Dich
Composer (Music Score) |
1933 | |||
|
Unsichtbare Front
Composer (Music Score) |
1933 | |||
|
Der Frauendiplomat
Composer (Music Score) |
1932 | |||
|
Der Stolz Der 3. Kompagnie
Composer (Music Score) |
1932 | |||
|
Johann Strauss, K. und K. Hofballmusikdirektor
Composer (Music Score) |
1932 | |||
|
Ein Burschenlied Aus Heidelberg
Composer (Music Score) |
1931 | |||
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Trara Um Liebe
Composer (Music Score) |
1931 | |||
|
Week-End im Paradies
Composer (Music Score) |
1931 | |||
|
Das Gestohlene Gesicht
Composer (Music Score) |
1930 | |||
|
The Copper
Composer (Music Score) |
1930 | |||
|
Twice Wedding
Composer (Music Score) |
1930 | |||
|
Wien, Du Stadt der Lieder
Composer (Music Score), Songwriter |
1930 |
