Paul Sawtell started his career as a movie composer at RKO, where he wrote the music for such features as the comedy Mexican Spitfire and the thrillers The Gay Falcon and A Date With the Falcon. After scoring Youth Runs Wild -- one of the truly offbeat, non-horror films of producer Val Lewton, dealing with wartime juvenile delinquency -- he left RKO to join Universal, where his first assignment was The Pearl of Death. A part of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes series, based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story The Six Napoleons, The Pearl of Death was one of the better entries in the series and provided a rich canvas for Sawtell's work, although as with most members of the Universal music department, he was also forced to adapt pre-existing material in the studio's library, primarily written by Frank Skinner and Hans J. Salter. Sawtell later proved adept working in a multitude of idioms, including Westerns and horror movies, and also scored what was perhaps the best of the Holmes films, The Scarlet Claw. He returned to RKO during the second half of the 1940s and also worked for various independent producers, such as Aubrey Schenk at Eagle Lion, on Anthony Mann's crime thriller T-Men, and Harry Sherman at United Artists, on Four Faces West. In 1951 he began a relationship with producer/director Irwin Allen when he scored the Oscar-winning documentary The Sea Around Us, adapted from Rachel Carson's book. Begining in the late '50s, Sawtell became extremely busy scoring science fiction films such Kronos, It! The Terror From Beyond Space, The Black Scorpion, and The Fly, amid his usual spread of Westerns and dramas, and set the stage for the most visible part of his career, as part of Irwin Allen's production team (it helped that Sawtell had a contractual relationship with 20th Century Fox, where Allen was based. He scored early features of Allen's such as The Story of Mankind at United Artists and The Big Circus at Allied Artists, and when Allen went into production on his science fiction and fantasy vehicles, Sawtell was there with his music for splashy, all-star productions like The Lost World, Five Weeks in a Balloon, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. During the 1960s, he remained busy in features, co-writing the music for such familiar science fiction titles as the Italian-made The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, but by the middle of the decade he had largely moved to television, working on Allen's series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; his title theme for that, with its swirling main motif and the musical equivalent of a sonar pulse in the background, is one of Sawtell's most striking creations and one of the most well-known science fiction themes ever to come out of '60s television. The Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea scoring has become Sawtell's most easily heard music, thanks to a series of CD releases by GNP-Crescendo Records, beginning in the 1990s, devoted to Allen's television series.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Gatling Gun
Composer (Music Score) |
1972 | |||
|
Emiliano Zapata
Composer (Music Score) |
1970 | |||
|
The Christine Jorgensen Story
Composer (Music Score) |
1970 | |||
|
The Bubble
Composer (Music Score) |
1967 | |||
|
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Composer (Music Score) |
1966 | |||
|
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Composer (Music Score) |
1964 | |||
|
The Last Man on Earth
Composer (Music Score) |
1964 | |||
|
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season 01
Composer (Music Score) |
1964 | |||
|
Cattle King
Composer (Music Score) |
1963 | |||
|
Harbor Lights
Composer (Music Score) |
1963 | |||
|
Thunder Island
Composer (Music Score) |
1963 | |||
|
Young Guns of Texas
Composer (Music Score) |
1963 | |||
|
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Composer (Music Score) |
1962 | |||
|
Jack the Giant Killer
Composer (Music Score) |
1962 | |||
|
Wild Harvest
Composer (Music Score) |
1962 | |||
|
Five Guns to Tombstone
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
Frontier Uprising
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
Gun Fight
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
Misty
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
Pirates of Tortuga
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
Tess of the Storm Country
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
The Big Show
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
The Long Rope
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Composer (Music Score) |
1961 | |||
|
A Dog's Best Friend
Composer (Music Score) |
1960 | |||
|
Cage of Evil
Composer (Music Score) |
1960 | |||
|
The Lost World
Composer (Music Score) |
1960 | |||
|
The Music Box Kid
Composer (Music Score) |
1960 | |||
|
Three Came to Kill
Composer (Music Score) |
1960 | |||
|
A Dog of Flanders
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
The Big Circus
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
The Cosmic Man
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
The Miracle of the Hills
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
The Return of the Fly
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
The Sad Horse
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
Vice Raid
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
Ambush at Cimarron Pass
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Cattle Empire
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Hong Kong Confidential
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Machete
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Sierra Baron
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
The Fly
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
The Hunters
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Villa!
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Five Steps to Danger
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Ghost Diver
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Gun Duel in Durango
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Hell Ship Mutiny
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Kronos
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Last of the Badmen
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Monkey on My Back
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Pawnee
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
She Devil
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
Stopover Tokyo
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
The Black Scorpion
Composer (Music Score), Screenwriter |
1957 | |||
|
The Deerslayer
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
The Story of Mankind
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1957 | |||
|
Scandal Incorporated
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Texas Lady
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
The Animal World
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
The Desperados Are in Town
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
A Lawless Street
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1955 | |||
|
Rage at Dawn
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1955 | |||
|
Tall Man Riding
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
The Marauders
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
Down Three Dark Streets
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Night People
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Quest for the Lost City
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Return to Treasure Island
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Ten Wanted Men
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
They Rode West
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Three Hours to Kill
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Arrowhead
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Below the Sahara
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Flight to Tangier
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Half a Hero
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Inferno
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Raiders of the Seven Seas
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Tarzan and the She-Devil
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1953 | |||
|
The Diamond Queen
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
The Pony Express
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
The Savage
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Hurricane Smith
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Kansas City Confidential
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Sky Full of Moon
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Tarzan's Savage Fury
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
This Is Cinerama
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Trail Guide
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Another Man's Poison
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Flaming Feather
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Fort Defiance
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Gunplay
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Hot Lead
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Overland Telegraph
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Pistol Harvest
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Roadblock
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Rogue River
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Saddle Legion
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Silver City
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
The Denver and Rio Grande
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
The Half-Breed
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
The Racket
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
The Son of Dr. Jekyll
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
The Whip Hand
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Warpath
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Best of the Badmen
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Border Treasure
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Dynamite Pass
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Fortunes of Captain Blood
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Hunt the Man Down
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Law of the Badlands
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Southside 1-1000
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Stage to Tucson
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Storm over Wyoming
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Tarzan and the Slave Girl
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1950 | |||
|
The Cariboo Trail
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
The Great Missouri Raid
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Bad Boy
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1949 | |||
|
Black Magic
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Fighting Man of the Plains
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Riders of the Range
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Savage Splendor
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Stagecoach Kid
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Big Cat
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Clay Pigeon
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Doolins of Oklahoma
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Mysterious Desperado
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Rustlers
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Threat
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Four Faces West
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1948 | |||
|
Mystery in Mexico
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
Northwest Stampede
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
Raw Deal
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
Return of the Bad Men
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
River Lady
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
The Arizona Ranger
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
Walk a Crooked Mile
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
Western Heritage
Composer (Music Score) |
1948 | |||
|
Born to Kill
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Code of the West
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Desperate
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Dick Tracy's Dilemma
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Keeper of the Bees
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Seven Keys to Baldpate
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
T-Men
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Tarzan and the Huntress
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1947 | |||
|
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
The Vigilantes Return
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1947 | |||
|
Thunder Mountain
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Trail Street
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Under the Tonto Rim
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Wild Horse Mesa
Composer (Music Score) |
1947 | |||
|
Criminal Court
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
Danger Woman
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1946 | |||
|
Perilous Holiday
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
Renegades
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
San Quentin
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
Step by Step
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
Strange Conquest
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1946 | |||
|
Sunset Pass
Composer (Music Score), Songwriter |
1946 | |||
|
Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1946 | |||
|
The Cat Creeps
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1946 | |||
|
The Falcon's Adventure
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
Vacation in Reno
Composer (Music Score) |
1946 | |||
|
A Game of Death
Composer (Music Score) |
1945 | |||
|
Beyond the Pecos
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
Crime Doctor's Warning
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
I Love a Bandleader
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
Jungle Captive
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
Renegades of the Rio Grande
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
Snafu
Composer (Music Score) |
1945 | |||
|
Tarzan and the Amazons
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
The Fighting Guardsman
Composer (Music Score) |
1945 | |||
|
The House of Fear
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1945 | |||
|
Wanderer of the Wasteland
Composer (Music Score) |
1945 | |||
|
West of the Pecos
Composer (Music Score) |
1945 | |||
|
Dead Man's Eyes
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
Gildersleeve's Ghost
Composer (Music Score) |
1944 | |||
|
Mr. Winkle Goes to War
Composer (Music Score) |
1944 | |||
|
Nevada
Composer (Music Score) |
1944 | |||
|
Oklahoma Raiders
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
Riders of the Santa Fe
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
Secret Command
Composer (Music Score) |
1944 | |||
|
The Mummy's Curse
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
The Old Texas Trail
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
The Pearl of Death
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
The Scarlet Claw
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
Trail to Gunsight
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
Weird Woman
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1944 | |||
|
Youth Runs Wild
Composer (Music Score) |
1944 | |||
|
Fighting Frontier
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1943 | |||
|
Sagebrush Law
Composer (Music Score) |
1943 | |||
|
Tarzan Triumphs
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1943 | |||
|
Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Composer (Music Score) |
1943 | |||
|
The Avenging Rider
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1943 | |||
|
Bandit Ranger
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1942 | |||
|
Hillbilly Blitzkrieg
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1942 | |||
|
Pirates of the Prairie
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1942 | |||
|
Scattergood Survives a Murder
Composer (Music Score) |
1942 | |||
|
Valley of the Sun
Composer (Music Score) |
1942 | |||
|
A Date with the Falcon
Composer (Music Score) |
1941 | |||
|
Along the Rio Grande
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1941 | |||
|
Dude Cowboy
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1941 | |||
|
Land of the Open Range
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1941 | |||
|
Riding the Wind
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1941 | |||
|
Six Gun Gold
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1941 | |||
|
The Bandit Trail
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1941 | |||
|
The Fargo Kid
Composer (Music Score) |
1941 | |||
|
The Gay Falcon
Composer (Music Score) |
1941 | |||
|
Little Orvie
Composer (Music Score) |
1940 | |||
|
Millionaire Playboy
Composer (Music Score) |
1940 | |||
|
Play Girl
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1940 | |||
|
Pop Always Pays
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1940 | |||
|
Triple Justice
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1940 | |||
|
Wagon Train
Composer (Music Score) |
1940 | |||
|
Mexican Spitfire
Composer (Music Score) |
1939 |





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