Hollywood film music has its roots in Europe. Three composers who fled war and National Socialism to the USA created the sound that still shapes film music today: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner and Franz Waxman. In the early 20th century, these classically trained composers transformed the methods acquired in Vienna and Berlin into a new American art form: film music. They balanced the relationship between image and sound and developed techniques and dramaturgical tricks to achieve the greatest possible effect on the viewer. Their influence is visible in the work of contemporary US composers such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Today, Oscar winner Hans Zimmer, Ramin Djawadi and Harold Faltermeyer continue this tradition. Their melodies are part of humanity's collective memory and reflect the combined traditions of European and American musical history. The documentary accompanies composers in their work and explores the European roots of Hollywood.
Despite its Afro-American origins, the history of disco music, the soundtrack of the seventies, would be inconceivable without a handful of legendary European music producers who conjured up some of the biggest world-wide hits in the anonymity of their studios.
This portrait for the comedian's 70th birthday also shows the artist from his sensitive side. He talks about his failed marriages, his religious upbringing and how he actually wanted to be a serious musician, but that comedy was ultimately more popular with audiences. In addition, many companions from Otto's early youth as well as later prominent companions have their say.
Harold Faltermeyer (born Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier; named after a US-Colonel stationed in Germany; 5 October 1952) is a German musician, keyboard player, composer and record producer. He is recognized as one of the composers/producers who best captured the zeitgeist of 1980s synthpop in film scores. He is best known for writing and composing the "Axel F" theme for Beverly Hills Cop and the Top Gun Anthem for the film Top Gun. Both works were influential synthpop hits in the 1980s.