I WANT TO LIVE (1958)
Performed with Shelly Mann, Art Farmer, Bud Shank, Red Mitchell, and an All Star Jazz Orchestra.
BELLS ARE RINGING (1960)
Performed on saxophone, and acted as Judy Holliday’s blind date.
THE RAT RACE (1960)
Performed as Tony Curtis’ bandleader on a cruise ship, where he plays an out chorus on tenor to Curtis’s baritone, and then advises the young man to mix with the customers instead of writing love letters to Debbie Reynolds back in New York.
THE SUBTERRANEANS (1960)
Featured playing Andre Previn’s music, and acting in the role of a beatnik priest who uses jazz in the service of evangelism.
A THOUSAND CLOWNS (1965)
Wrote the title tune “A Thousand Clowns”, for which he received his first screen composer’s credit.
HELP! MY SNOWMAN’S BURNING DOWN (1965)
Composed improvising the soundtrack while watching this short comedy film with Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Crow and Dave Bailey.
THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966)
Performed Andre Previn’s score.
LUV (1967)
Composed and performed the music. With the creative control of the score, he used not just the distinctive sound of his saxophone, but showed himself capable of great originality in expressing the suggestiveness of jazz by using a full jazz orchestra and a classically performed violin and piano duet. He also employed Sousa-style band music, accordian and mandolin love songs, and a lietmotif of classic Dixieland.
THE HOT ROCK (1972)
Has important solo leads in Quincy Jones’s score for this Robert Redford film. His horn work is featured prominently on seven of the sound track album’s twelve cuts.
PELE (1977)
In this documentary honoring the great Brazilian soccer star, he peformed on soprano and baritone saxophones, collaborating with such Brazilian percussionists as Laudir de Oliveira an the legendary Chacal.
LA MENACE (1977)
He wrote his most important film score for French director Alain Corneau’s “La Menace”, featuring Yves Montand. The recorded version employed a ten-piece group, the most prominent features of which, aside from Gerry Mulligan’s horn, are the acoustic and electronic pianos and Moog and Obeheim synthesizers played by Gerry Mulligan and Dave Grusin. The score’s technique of rephrasing an initial line through various tempos, time signatures, and orchestral settings,gives the work a unified feeling, much like an extended classical piece, effects he developed in his symphonic works premiered a few years later.
THE PLAYER (1992)
Featured his tune “Tema Para Jobim” (“Theme for Jobim”).
I’M NOT RAPPAPORT (1997)
Originally written by Herb Gardner as a stage play, the film version featured Walter Matthau and Ossie Davis. Gerry Mulligan composed and performed the original theme tune “I’m Not Rappaport” which was featured throughout the film.
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
Featured the tune “Makin’ Whoopee”, performed by Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker.
THE ICE STORM (1997)
Featured the tune “Night Lights”, written and performed by Gerry Mulligan, from his album of the same name.
JAZZ: A FILM BY KEN BURNS (2000)
Gerry Mulligan is in episode eight “Risk” of this PBS Home Video Series.
GERRY MULLIGAN – THE AGE OF STEAM (2004)
This two disc compilation includes a standard audio CD of the original A&M recording of “The Age of Steam” and a DVD containing over fours hours of content including a master class, documentary, a Dolby Digital stereo and surround sound mix of the original recordings, plus interviews with several musicians.
CAROL (2015)
Gerry Mulligan’s recording of his tune “Mullenium” is included in the outstanding soundtrack for this Todd Haynes film which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival.
