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Gray, Allan (1902-1973)
 

Composer

Main image of Gray, Allan (1902-1973)

Trained in Berlin under Arnold Schönberg, Allan Gray (born Josef Zmigrod in Tarnow, Poland) was an established composer for stage, cabaret, and screen before his emigration in 1933. His film scores in Britain were playfully eclectic in style, alternating between haunting romanticism, catchy melodies, and occasional stark modernist touches.

Gray's arguably most experimental work can be found in his collaborations with Powell and Pressburger, particularly in I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), where he inventively used Scottish folklore, and in A Matter of Life and Death (1946), where ticking clocks and repetitive piano scales evoke the monotony of celestial afterlife.

Tim Bergfelder, Encyclopedia of British Film

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FILM & TV CREDITS

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Selected credits

Thumbnail image of 'I Know Where I'm Going!' (1945)'I Know Where I'm Going!' (1945)

Metaphysical love story, beautifully filmed in the Scottish Hebrides

Thumbnail image of Canterbury Tale, A (1944)Canterbury Tale, A (1944)

Weird and fascinating tale of modern-day pilgrims in WWII

Thumbnail image of Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943)Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The (1943)

Ambitious wartime saga which infuriated Churchill

Thumbnail image of Madness of the Heart (1949)Madness of the Heart (1949)

Melodrama with Margaret Lockwood as a blind nun

Thumbnail image of Matter of Life and Death, A (1946)Matter of Life and Death, A (1946)

Romance fantasy bridging the gap between two worlds

Thumbnail image of Silver Fleet, The (1943)Silver Fleet, The (1943)

WWII propaganda film set among the Dutch resistance

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