Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Irwin Kostal is a Sound American born on 1 october 1911 at Chicago (USA)

Irwin Kostal

Irwin Kostal
If you like this person, let us know!
Nationality USA
Birth 1 october 1911 at Chicago (USA)
Death 23 november 1994 (at 83 years)

Irwin Kostal (October 1, 1911 – November 23, 1994) was an American musical arranger of films and an orchestrator of Broadway musicals.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kostal opted not to attend college, instead teaching himself musical arranging by studying the symphonic scores available at his local library. His first professional job was as a staff arranger for Design for Listening, an NBC radio show based in his hometown. Irwin was one of four children born to James and Emma Kostal. His siblings James, Jerome and Violet all remained in the Chicago area.

After moving to New York City, Kostal was hired for Sid Caesar's popular variety series Your Show of Shows, and followed this with a stint at The Garry Moore Show. In the latter part of the decade he began working on Broadway, orchestrating for Shinbone Alley, The Music Man, Fiorello!, and West Side Story. His work on the latter resulted in his being hired to score the 1961 screen adaptation with Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, and Sid Ramin. The quartet won both an Oscar and a Grammy Award for their contributions. Kostal later went on to collaborate with Saul Chaplin for the 1965 film adaptation of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music and won an Oscar for Best Music Scoring.

For the remainder of his life, Kostal divided his time primarily between stage and screen, with an occasional detour into television to work with such people as Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and Leonard Bernstein. He supervised the five Sherman Brothers musical film scores at four different movie studios between 1964 and 1978. In 1982, he conducted the digital re-recording of the music to Walt Disney's 1940 animated feature Fantasia.

Kostal died of a heart attack in Studio City, California. In 2004 he was named a Disney Legend in recognition of his contributions to films released by the studio.

Best films

The Sound of Music (1965)
(Original Music Composer)
Mary Poppins (1964)
(Music Arranger)
West Side Story (1961)
(Music Supervisor)
Pete's Dragon (1977)
(Original Music Composer)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
(Original Music Composer)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Irwin Kostal (11 films)

Display filmography as list

Sound

Mickey's Christmas Carol, 26minutes
Directed by Burny Mattinson
Origin USA
Genres Comedy-drama, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Christmas films, Time travel films, Films about birds, Mise en scène d'un rongeur, Ghost films, Mise en scène d'un canard, Mise en scène d'une souris, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Clarence Nash, Hal Smith, Ethel Merman, Gene Kelly
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating79% 3.9882853.9882853.9882853.9882853.988285
Le soir de Noël, l'égoïste et acariâtre Ebenezer Scrooge reçoit la visite du fantôme de son ancien associé, Jacob Marley. Celui-ci tente de le convaincre de l'immoralité de son métier d'usurier. Jacob lui-même, qui « escroquait les veuves et grugeait les pauvres », montre à Ebenezer les lourdes chaînes qu'il est condamné à porter « pour l'éternité… et peut-être même au-delà ». Jacob menace Ebenezer de la damnation s'il ne revient pas à une conduite plus morale.
The Magic of Lassie, 1h40
Directed by Don Chaffey
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Musical
Themes Films about animals, Films about music and musicians, Films about dogs, Musical films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors James Stewart, Michael Sharrett, Pernell Roberts, Mickey Rooney, Gary Davis, Stéphanie Zimbalist
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating55% 2.7557452.7557452.7557452.7557452.755745
The story begins on the Mitchell Winery in Northern California. Lassie lives with Clovis Mitchell and his grandchildren, Chris and Kelly, but is discovered one day by her former owner. Lassie is taken back to the previous owner's estate in Colorado Springs. Dissatisfied with her new home, the dog runs away and travels across several states to be with the Mitchell family again.
Pete's Dragon, 1h45
Directed by Don Bluth, Don Chaffey
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about children, Films about magic and magicians, Films about music and musicians, Films about dragons, Musical films, Children's films, Films about child abuse
Actors Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, Sean Marshall
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating62% 3.149923.149923.149923.149923.14992
In the early 1900s, a young orphan named Pete flees his abusive adoptive hillbilly family, the Gogans. As Lena Gogan and company pursue him ("The Happiest Home in These Hills"), an unseen force, which Pete calls Elliott, knocks them into a mud pit. The next morning, Pete and Elliott, a green and purple dragon who has the power of invisibility, share breakfast ("I Love You, Too") and visit Passamaquoddy, a village where the unseen Elliott, performing clumsy antics, causes Pete to be labeled a source of ill luck. Lampie, the drunken old lighthouse keeper, stumbles out of a tavern and encounters Pete. A mischievous Elliott makes himself visible, and a terrified Lampie runs into the saloon to warn the townsfolk ("I Saw a Dragon"). In a seaside cave, Pete scolds Elliott for causing trouble. Just as they make up, Lampie's daughter Nora appears, having spotted Pete earlier. She says that due to the ongoing tides from the sea, that it's unsafe for Pete to stay, thus leaving Elliott to remain there. She offers him shelter at the lighthouse, and they talk ("It's Not Easy"). Pete learns the story of Nora's fiancé, Paul, whose ship was reported lost at sea the previous year. Pete promises to ask Elliott about Paul, and Nora accepts, believing Elliott to be an imaginary friend.
The Blue Bird, 1h39
Directed by George Cukor
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Théâtre, Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Ava Gardner, Cicely Tyson, Robert Morley, Patsy Kensit
Roles Music
Rating54% 2.7028952.7028952.7028952.7028952.702895
Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl are peasant children who are led on a quest for the Blue Bird of Happiness by the Queen of Light, who gives them a hat with a magic diamond that allows them to call forth the souls of all things, both living and inanimate. On their journey, they are accompanied by the human personifications of a dog, a cat, water, sugar, bread, milk, light, fire, and the like. They visit the kingdoms of the past and future and the queendoms of night and luxury, at each place absorbing more wisdom. Eventually they discover the blue bird they've been seeking has been in their own backyard all along.
Charlotte's Web, 1h34
Directed by Iwao Takamoto, Charles August Nichols
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about music and musicians, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Films about spiders, Films about pigs, Musical films, Buddy films, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Debbie Reynolds, Paul Lynde, Henry Gibson, Danny Bonaduce, Agnes Moorehead, Rex Allen
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating68% 3.4488853.4488853.4488853.4488853.448885
When farmer John Arable decides to "do away with" the runt of a litter of pig, his daughter Fern intervenes, telling him that it is absurd to kill it just because it is smaller than the others. John decides to spares the piglet and let Fern raise it as a pet. Fern nurtures it lovingly, naming it Wilbur. Six weeks later, Wilbur, due to being a spring pig, has matured, and John tells Fern that Wilbur has to be sold (his siblings were already sold). Fern sadly says good-bye as Wilbur is sold down the street to her uncle, Homer Zuckerman. At the farm, a goose coaxes a sullen Wilbur to speak his first words. Although delighted at this new ability, Wilbur still yearns for companionship. He attempts to get the goose to play with him, but she declines on the condition that she has to hatch her goslings. Wilbur also tries asking a rat named Templeton to play with him, but Templeton's only interests are spying, hiding, and eating. Wilbur then wants to play with a lamb, but the lamb's father says sheep do not play with pigs because it is only a matter of time before they are turned into smoked bacon and ham. Horrified at this depressing discovery, Wilbur reduces himself to tears until a mysterious voice tells him to "chin up", and wait until morning to reveal herself to him. The following morning, the voice reveals herself to be an araneus cavaticus named Charlotte living on a web overlooking Wilbur's enclosure. Charlotte tells Wilbur that she will come with a plan guaranteed to spare his life.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks, 1h53
Directed by Robert Stevenson, Christopher Hibler, Arthur J. Vitarelli
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about magic and magicians, Sports films, Transport films, Aviation films, Association football films, Witches in film, Musical films, Political films, Children's films
Actors Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Cindy O'Callaghan, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe, John Ericson
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating69% 3.499783.499783.499783.499783.49978
The three Rawlins children, Charlie, Carrie, and Paul are evacuated from London during The Blitz to the remote village of Pepperinge Eye. They are placed in the reluctant care of Miss Eglantine Price, a reclusive woman who agrees to the arrangement temporarily. The children attempt to run away back to London, but change their minds after observing Miss Price attempting to fly on a broomstick. Miss Price reveals she is learning witchcraft through a correspondence school with hopes of using her spells in the British war effort, and offers the children a transportation spell in exchange for their silence. Miss Price casts the spell on a knob that the youngest child, Paul, has removed from the bed in the children’s shared bedroom, and she adds that only Paul can activate the spell.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 2h24
Directed by Ken Hughes, Brian W. Cook
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Musical theatre, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical
Themes Monde imaginaire, Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Aviation films, Musical films, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Adrian Hall, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle
Roles Conductor
Rating68% 3.449233.449233.449233.449233.44923
Set in the 1910s, the story opens with a montage of European Grand Prix races in which a particular car appears to win every race. In the final race, the car swerves to avoid a girl and a dog, loses control, crashes, and catches fire, bringing its racing career to an end. The car ends up in an old garage in rural England, where two children, Jeremy and Jemima Potts, have grown fond of it. They are told by a junkman that he intends to buy the car from the garage owner for scrap. The children (who live with their widowed father Caractacus Potts, an eccentric inventor, and his equally peculiar father) implore their father to buy the car before the junkman does, but he does not have the money. While playing truant, they meet Truly Scrumptious, a beautiful upper class woman with her own motorcar. She brings them home to report their truancy to their father. Truly shows interest in Caractacus' odd inventions, but he is affronted by her insistence that his children should be in school.
Half a Sixpence, 2h23
Directed by George Sidney
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films based on plays
Actors Tommy Steele, Julia Foster, Cyril Ritchard, Elaine Taylor, Grover Dale, Pamela Brown
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating63% 3.1950153.1950153.1950153.1950153.195015
Dans l'Angleterre victorienne, un jeune orphelin, Arthur Kipps, découvre une pièce de six pences alors qu’il marche le long d’un ruisseau avec sa jeune amie, Ann. Il coupe la pièce en deux et en donne une moitié à Ann en tant que symbole de leur amour. Kipps se rend ensuite dans une ville voisine pour travailler en tant qu'apprenti chez un drapier. Le temps passe et il devient un homme. Il se lie d'amitié avec Harry Chitterlow, acteur et dramaturge, qui découvre que Kipps est l'héritier d'une fortune qui lui a été laissée par son grand-père.
The Sound of Music, 2h54
Directed by Robert Wise, Richard Lang
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Musical theatre, Historical, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about families, Films about music and musicians, Films about religion, Théâtre, Musical films, Political films, Films based on plays, Films based on musicals, Children's films
Actors Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Bill Lee, Bill Lee, Richard Haydn
Roles Original Music Composer
Rating80% 4.047524.047524.047524.047524.04752
Maria is a free-spirited young Austrian woman studying to become a nun at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg in 1938. Her love of music and the mountains, her youthful enthusiasm and imagination, and her lack of discipline cause some concern among the nuns. The Mother Abbess, believing Maria would be happier outside the abbey, sends her to the villa of retired naval officer Captain Georg von Trapp to be governess to his seven children—Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta, and Gretl. The Captain has been raising his children alone using strict military discipline following the death of his first wife. At first, the children treat Maria as they did their former governesses—playing tricks on her as a way of gaining their father's attention. Maria responds with kindness and patience, and soon the children come to trust and respect her.
Mary Poppins, 2h19
Directed by Robert Stevenson, Joseph L. McEveety, Tom Leetch, Arthur J. Vitarelli
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
Themes Films about animals, Films about children, Films about families, Films about music and musicians, Films about birds, Musical films, Films about penguins, Children's films
Actors Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber
Roles Music Arranger
Rating77% 3.897513.897513.897513.897513.89751
In Edwardian London, 1910, Cockney one-man band Bert is entertaining a crowd when he senses a change in the wind. Afterwards, he directly addresses the audience and gives them a tour of Cherry Tree Lane, stopping outside the home of the Banks'. George Banks returns home from his job at the bank to learn from his wife Winifred that their hired nanny, Katie Nanna, has left their service after his children, Jane and Michael, ran away again. They are returned shortly after by the local constable, who reveals that the children were dragged away by their kite. The children ask their father to help build a better kite, but he dismisses them. Taking it upon himself to hire a nanny, George advertises for a stern, no-nonsense nanny. Jane and Michael present their own advertisement for a kinder, sweeter nanny, but George rips up the letter and throws the scraps in the fireplace, which magically float up and out into the air.
West Side Story, 2h32
Directed by Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical theatre, Musical, Crime, Romance
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Théâtre, Musical films, Romeo and Juliet, Films based on plays, Films based on musicals, Films based on works by William Shakespeare, Gangster films
Actors Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Marni Nixon, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris
Roles Music Supervisor
Rating75% 3.797643.797643.797643.797643.79764
In the West Side's Lincoln Square neighborhood in Manhattan, there is tension between an Anglo gang, the Jets, led by Riff, and a Puerto Rican gang of immigrants, the Sharks, led by Bernardo. After a brawl erupts ("Prologue"), Lieutenant Schrank and Officer Krupke arrive and break it up, warning both gangs to cease fighting or pay. Despite the warning, the Jets decide to challenge the Sharks to a rumble for neighborhood control at an upcoming dance.