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Murray Cutter

Murray Cutter

Known For Sound
Birthday Mar 15, 1902
Died Apr 19, 1983 (81)
Birthplace Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Popularity 0.1 (history)
Updated Aug 18, 2025 (Update)
Entry Date Aug 18, 2025
Links TMDb
Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Murray Cutter (15 March 1902, Nice, France – 19 April 1983, Burbank, California) was a versatile Hollywood orchestrator, working mainly for film composer Max Steiner, with over 150 credits spanning the mid-thirties to early 1960s. Nevertheless, he remains relat ... ively unknown except for the much-loved original arrangement of Judy Garland's Over the Rainbow, which continues to be sampled by modern filmmakers. Similar to fellow arranger Alexander Courage, Cutter's name has tended to be overshadowed by the popularity of the composers with whom he was most associated. Cutter was unusual among orchestrators who tended to specialize, in that he was adept in all genres: musicals (New Moon, Kismet, The Desert Song); romantic drama (Waterloo Bridge, A Summer Place); adventure (Northwest Passage, The Caine Mutiny); family/comedy (National Velvet, Sugarfoot); suspense (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Key Largo); epics ("Helen of Troy"); and westerns (The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Johnny Belinda and The Searchers). An early assignment were the vocal arrangements for the 1937 film version of Rosalie, which ten years before had been orchestrated for Broadway by Steiner. At MGM Cutter worked for Arthur Freed and Mervyn LeRoy on The Wizard of Oz. Under the loose musical direction of Herbert Stothart he contributed the "metallic sound" for the Tin Woodman's If I Only Had a Heart. Cutter told Oz historian Aljean Harmetz for "Over the Rainbow" he made it sound as pretty as he could with lots of strings and a touch of woodwind. After the war he collaborated most closely with Steiner during his golden period with Warner Brothers. Their work on A Summer Place netted them a US #1 hit for the insistent theme song. Joining ASCAP in 1946, Cutter occasionally wrote original music for the screen but rarely received a credit. His last credit, along with Steiner, was for Disney's forgettable Those Calloways in 1965. No known Broadway credits are recorded for him.

Known For

Filmography

No data available

Two on a Guillotine

Two on a Guillotine

1965

Orchestrator

Rome Adventure

Rome Adventure

1962

Orchestrator

Parrish

Parrish

1961

Orchestrator

A Majority of One

A Majority of One

1961

Orchestrator

Susan Slade

Susan Slade

1961

Orchestrator

The FBI Story

The FBI Story

1959

Orchestrator

The Hanging Tree

The Hanging Tree

1959

Orchestrator

John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones

1959

Orchestrator

Escapade in Japan

Escapade in Japan

1957

Orchestrator

The Violent Men

The Violent Men

1955

Orchestrator

The Caine Mutiny

The Caine Mutiny

1954

Orchestrator

Room for One More

Room for One More

1952

Orchestrator

The Iron Mistress

The Iron Mistress

1952

Orchestrator

Mara Maru

Mara Maru

1952

Orchestrator

Lightning Strikes Twice

Lightning Strikes Twice

1951

Orchestrator

Distant Drums

Distant Drums

1951

Orchestrator

Sugarfoot

Sugarfoot

1951

Orchestrator

Raton Pass

Raton Pass

1951

Orchestrator

Jim Thorpe – All-American

Jim Thorpe – All-American

1951

Orchestrator

Caged

Caged

1950

Orchestrator

The Flame and the Arrow

The Flame and the Arrow

1950

Orchestrator

Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountain

1950

Orchestrator

White Heat

White Heat

1949

Orchestrator

Key Largo

Key Largo

1948

Orchestrator

Winter Meeting

Winter Meeting

1948

Orchestrator

Adventures of Don Juan

Adventures of Don Juan

1948

Orchestrator

Silver River

Silver River

1948

Orchestrator

The Unfaithful

The Unfaithful

1947

Music Arranger

Deep Valley

Deep Valley

1947

Music Arranger

Love and Learn

Love and Learn

1947

Music Arranger

Shadow of a Woman

Shadow of a Woman

1946

Orchestrator

Three Strangers

Three Strangers

1946

Orchestrator

Danger Signal

Danger Signal

1945

Orchestrator

The White Cliffs of Dover

The White Cliffs of Dover

1944

Orchestrator

Come Live with Me

Come Live with Me

1941

Orchestrator

Ziegfeld Girl

Ziegfeld Girl

1941

Orchestrator

Comrade X

Comrade X

1940

Orchestrator

Babes in Arms

Babes in Arms

1939

Orchestrator

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz

1939

Music Arranger

The Captain's Pup

The Captain's Pup

1938

Orchestrator

Mannequin

Mannequin

1938

Orchestrator

Broadway Melody of 1938

Broadway Melody of 1938

1937

Music Arranger

Double Wedding

Double Wedding

1937

Orchestrator

The Women Men Marry

The Women Men Marry

1937

Orchestrator

Conquest

Conquest

1937

Orchestrator

No data available

No data available

Organization Category Movie
Television Credits

No data available

No data available

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