Finding Aid for Music and Performing Arts Library Frank Skinner Movie Scores and Sound Recordings, 1937-1966 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Music and Performing Arts Library Frank Skinner Movie Scores and Sound Recordings, 1937-1966

ID: 35/3/100

Primary Creator: Skinner, Frank (1897-1968)

Extent: 6.25 cubic feet

Arrangement:

This collection is organized into two series:

Series 1) Movie Scores, 1938-1966, which is organized chronologically by each film score's year of composition and then alphabetically within each year.

and Series 2) Sound Recordings, 1940-1942, which is organized alphabetically by the title of the movie.

Date Acquired: 10/11/2019. More info below under Accruals.

Subjects: Composers, Film Music, Hollywood, Instrumental music, Movie music, Music, Music -- Illinois, Music - United States, Music Composition, Music Library

Formats/Genres: Sheet music, Sound Recordings

Languages: English

Consists of film scores and sound recordings created by the film composer Frank Skinner, documenting his career as a Hollywood composer. The scores in this collection were created between 1938-1966, during Skinner's time working at Universal Studios, where he composed the soundtracks to horror films, civil war dramas, westerns, comedies and dramas. Accompanying many of the scores are copyright documents which list publisher and other information about each of the compositions within the score, as well as clerical information about the score. The vast majority of the scores in the collection are published scores, but this collection also contains multiple publisher drafts.

Frank Skinner (1897-1968) was born in Meridosia, Illinois on December 31, 1897. He began his musical career playing piano with his brother Carl on several American vaudeville circuits. In the 1930s, he began arranging songs for New York area dance bands. In 1934 he published F. Skinner's Simplified Method of Modern Arranging. In 1936, he moved to Hollywood to become a film composer, his debut came in an arrangement for MGM's The Great Ziegfield. The bulk of his career was spent at Universal Studios, where he worked from 1937 until 1966. During this time he became known for his horror film music, although he wrote music for several other genres including westerns, historical hiction, and romance films. His most significant film scores were written for Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Saboteur, Arabian Nights, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Spring Parade, House of the Seven Gables, Mad About Music, Shenandoah, The Amazing Mrs. Holiday, Written on the Wind, Black Street, Imitation of Life, and Ride to the Hangman's Tree. He was nominated for five oscars for best music score in 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944, but never won.

Composers
Film Music
Hollywood
Instrumental music
Movie music
Music
Music -- Illinois
Music - United States
Music Composition
Music Library

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Accruals: 12 CDs of sound tracks from Skinner movie scores donated by Ray Faiola on November 24, 2021. CD transfer of the LP for Shenanhoah was donated by Ray Faiola on November 4, 2025.

Acquisition Source: University of Illinois, Music and Performing Arts Library

Acquisition Method: Transferred from the University of Illinois Music and Performing Arts Library to the Sousa Archives on October 11, 2019.