What I know of the career of Mischa Spoliansky could be written on a matchbox. So, get yourself a matchbox and a thin-nibbed pen and copy down the following:
He was born in Bialystok, Russia, the son of an opera singer. The family moved to Germany in 1905 and Spoliansky studied music. He got involved in the booming theatrical life of Berlin writing as a sort of cheerier version of Kurt Weill. He worked with Max Reinhardt and Marlene Dietrich among other notables. His musical Zwei Krawatten was filmed.
He got out of Germany in 1933 and settled in England where he kept busy providing the music for some forty-odd films over forty-odd years.
And that's the sum total of my knowledge. So why is he included here? Because in the years since I started this site, whenever I've sat through a film and thought "Oo, I like that music, it really suits", it's usually been by him.
Why isn't he better known? Probably because most of his work was done in comedy. The better-known composers in British cinema are usually highbrow chappies like William Walton or Benjamin Britten, slumming it for a quick buck on some prestigious project or other. Mischa Spoliansky never gave the impression of someone slumming it. His music served the films they graced, and that's the finest thing you can say about a film composer.
| 1931 | Wie Werde ich riech und glucklich? (Ger.) |
| 1930 | Zwei Krawatten (Ger.) |
| 1931 | Nie wieder Liebe (Ger.) |
| 1931 | Calais-Douvres (Ger.) |
| 1932 | The Lucky Number |
| 1932 | Das lied einer Nacht (Ger.) |
| 1932 | Einmal mocht ich keine Sorger Haben (Ger.) |
| 1932 | La Chanson d'une nuit (Fr.) |
| 1933 | Muss man sich gleich scheiden lasseng (Ger.) |
| 1934 | The Private Life of Don Juan |
| 1934 | My Song for You |
| 1934 | Love at Second Sight |
| 1934 | Evensong |
| 1935 | Sanders of the River |
| 1935 | The Ghost Goes West |
| 1935 | Car of Dreams |
| 1936 | The Man Who Could Work Miracles |
| 1936 | Forget-Me-Not |
| 1937 | King Solomon's Mines |
| 1937 | Paradise for Two |
| 1937 | Over the Moon |
| 1941 | Jeannie |
| 1942 | Secret Mission |
| 1944 | Mr Emmanuel |
| 1944 | Don't Take it to Heart |
| 1946 | Wanted for Murder |
| 1946 | The Man from Morocco |
| 1947 | Temptation Harbour |
| 1947 | Meet Me at Dawn |
| 1948 | It Always Rains on Sunday |
| 1948 | Under the Frozen Falls |
| 1948 | This Was a Woman |
| 1948 | Idol of Paris |
| 1949 | That Dangerous Age |
| 1949 | Adam and Evelyne |
| 1949 | Golden Arrow |
| 1950 | The Happiest Days of Your Life |
| 1950 | Stage Fright |
| 1950 | Midnight Episode |
| 1950 | Into the Blue |
| 1951 | Happy go Lovely |
| 1952 | Treasure Hunt |
| 1953 | Turn the Key Softly |
| 1953 | Trouble in Store |
| 1953 | Melba |
| 1954 | Viktoria und ihr Husar (Ger.) |
| 1954 | Duel in the Jungle |
| 1957 | Saint Joan |
| 1958 | The Whole Truth |
| 1959 | North West Frontier |
| 1965 | The Battle of the Villa Fiorita |
| 1969 | The Best House in London |
| 1973 | Hitler: the Last Ten Days |
Mischa Spoliansky at Amazon UK
Mischa Spoliansky at Amazon US
