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We love the movies for the popcorn and fizzy drinks, the action, the actors and also the music: the theme songs, some of which have become iconic over time. Wherever you hear them, you know you’ve heard them often before and you don’t doubt that you’ll hear them often again. Of course different people will have different opinions about the greatest movie theme songs, but few will dislike the ones we have chosen for you.
Early Hollywood

Who can ever forget the classic Oscar winning movie songs from the years of the Golden Era of Hollywood? Think back of songs such as ‘’The Way You Look Tonight,’’ which was composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics added by Dorothy Fields, from the movie Swing Time (1936 – directed by George Stevens and starring the combination of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers).
Then there’s that great ‘’Over the Rainbow’’ which was immortalized by one of the biggest stars in film history, Judy Garland. One of the best loved films from that era, The Wizard of Oz helped shape Ms. Garland’s career as one of the greatest stars according to the American Film Institute (at no.8). She will be remembered as an actress, singer, entertainer, and of course for ‘’Over the Rainbow.’’

That era featured other famous musical scores like ‘’Tara’s Theme’’ from Gone with the Wind (1939, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh) – also one of Cole Porter’s most memorable compositions, ‘’Night and Day’’ from the 1934 film which was based on the earlier musical play, Gay Divorce.

Love Story

A trip down memory lane will have the movie going generation of the early 70s humming along to tunes such as ‘’Where Do I Begin’’ from Love Story, the 1970 film directed by Arthur Hiller, about young love between two students from different social backgrounds. Love Story helped make big stars of Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw. The theme song was composed by Francis Lai and actually introduced as an instrumental tune; lyrics by Carl Sigman were added afterwards when the movie and the tune proved to be so popular. Recorded successfully by great artists such as Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and Shirley Bassey, the music from this film remains a great achievement in cinematic history. Still regarded as one of the greatest (if not most sentimental) love stories ever told on film, the movie was the highest grossing film of 1970 and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Some movies are also remembered for memorable lines. Think of ‘’Here’s looking at you kid’’ (Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman in the 40s classic Casablanca) or ‘’Go ahead, make my day’’ (Clint Eastwood’s famous line from Dirty Harry). And of course the famous one from Love Story: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

The Ultimate Hero

Of course, James Bond enjoys his visits to the casino as much as he loves great cars, stylish clothes and beautiful women (known as the Bond Girls). Some of the greatest theme songs in cinematic history are found in The James Bond movies, starting with Dr. No in 1962 (with Sean Connery as Bond opposite Ursula Andress) in which Bond plays baccarat. There are many memorable songs and casino scenes from the series, which is based on the novels by Ian Flemming. Think back of Shirley Bassey’s James Bond theme songs such as “Goldfinger” (1964) in which our hero plays baccarat once again, or “Diamonds are Forever” (1971- with music by John Barry and lyrics by Don Black), the iconic song featured in the movie of the same name, in which Bond is seen playing black 17 at the roulette table – which is quite rare for our hero considering he usually plays baccarat.

Ms. Bassey was also responsible for singing ‘’Moonraker’’ (1979) and she holds the record for the most Bond theme songs by any one artist. Other singers who have performed Bond theme songs to great acclaim include Tom Jones (1965 – ‘’Thunderball’’ from the film with the same title), Rita Coolidge (1983 – ‘’All time high’’ from Octopussy) and more recently multiple award winner Adele, the English sensation that won the Academy Award for the theme song ”Skyfall” (2012) from the Bond movie with the same title. Since 1962 an amazing 23 more James Bond films have been produced and their theme songs are almost as well-known as the movie titles and actors.

Instrumental

The very successful film The Sting (1973), written by David S. Ward and directed by George Roy Hill re-introduced the ragtime musical genre when Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” from 1902 was adapted by Marvin Hamlisch for the movie. The catchy tune helped revive Joplin’s music in the 70s and won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song Score and/or Adaptation at the 46th Academy Awards Ceremony. A timeless tune, it is easily recognizable and a great compliment to both Joplin and Hamlisch for his brilliant orchestrations and arrangements.

From 1981, comes the iconic ‘’Chariots of fire’’ from the movie with the same title. Produced by David Puttnam and directed by Hugh Hudson, the movie is based on real life events at the 1924 Olympic Games about two British athletes, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams competing for their country. They both took gold (one in the 100m and the other in 400m), and the movie’s theme song by Greek composer Vangelis became a hit with audiences worldwide, not only because of the film, but also because it received a lot of airplay throughout the world.

Nineties

The nineties brought Celine Dion’s hauntingly beautiful rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” from the hugely successful Titanic (1997 – produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau for 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment). Titanic became the first movie ever to gross $1 billion internationally. A great movie that swept the Oscars and brought Dion even more fame, Titanic remains one of cinema’s great success stories, also for its theme song. Still popular today, the song often comes up at talent tryouts such as American Idol, The X Factor and similar competitions.

From the same decade (1991) comes “Beauty and the Beast” from the film with the same title. Adapted from the classic French fairytale, the film was directed by Don Hahn for Walt Disney pictures and was nominated for, and won many awards, among them the Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for its title song, which is still played on radio stations today. A fairy tale in more than one sense: not only based on the classic story, but also because of its box office success – from a budget of $25 million it has made $425 million over the years.

The Best of the Rest

There are many other great movie theme songs. If you remember the film Deliverance from the 1970s starring Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight and Ned Beatty, you will surely remember its ‘’Dueling Banjos’’ as played by a city guy and country boy.
Everybody remembers the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly that resembles the howling of a coyote. Also the lovely theme song by Joe Cocker from An Officer and a Gentleman can’t be forgotten.

Surely the songs from great movies such as The Sound of Music (1965) and musicals such as Grease (1978) have not been forgotten. Movies have brought us great entertainment throughout the decades and their theme songs have provided wonderful memories. We may not be specifically aware of the importance or value we attach to the music in movies, but we all know film would be so much poorer without those great scores and movie themes.