Paul Misraki (28 January 1908 – 29 October 1998) was a French composer of popular music and

film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

. Over the course of over 60 years, Misraki wrote the music to 130 films, scoring works by directors like

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

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, Henri-Georges Clouzot,

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

and

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director, and producer, as well as an author, artist, and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, s ...

. For his work, he was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.

Biography and film career

Born Paul Misrachi in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(now

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) into a French

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family of Italian descent, Misraki showed an early aptitude for music. He went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study classical composition, and by the 1930s had become an established jazz pianist,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, and writer of popular songs; around this time he began composing film scores, with his first known work being for

's first

sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

, '' On purge bébé'' (''Baby's Laxative'', 1931), for which he was not credited. Like Renoir, Misraki fled France during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

German occupation. After a brief stay in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, Misraki ended up in Hollywood, where he composed the music to all of Renoir's American films. After the war, Misraki returned to France, working busily throughout the 1950s, a period when he was routinely scoring half a dozen or more films a year. These included numerous films by Yves Allégret and Jean Boyer, as well as two films by

, '' Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (''Ali Baba et les 40 voleurs'', 1954) and '' Montparnasse 19'' (1958) and

' '' Mr. Arkadin'' (1955). The 1960s saw Misraki slow down slightly, writing only 2–3 scores a year. During this period, he worked with many of the leading French directors of the period, including

on '' Alphaville'' (1965),

on '' Le Doulos'' (1963) and

, for whom he scored several films. Misraki composed intermittently throughout the last two decades of his life. He composed his last score at age 85; by this point he had been working almost exclusively in television for several years. He died of natural causes at age 90 in

Career as composer of popular songs

Misraki first found acclaim as a composer and lyricist of popular songs. His first hit was 1935's "," and during his careers in France, America and Argentina he wrote successful songs in French, English and Spanish. In 1998, at the age of 90 years, Misraki collaborates with Singer Raquel Bitton on her American tribute to his songs in a CD entitled ''In a Jazzy mood''.

Other interests

Outside music, Misraki was interested in

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

Ufology Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy ( or ), is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary claims, extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial hypothesis, extrate ...

and

extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life, or alien life (colloquially, aliens), is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms ...

. Misraki was an early proponent of the ancient astronaut hypothesis. In 1962 Misraki published his book ''Les Extraterrestres'' in France which was later reprinted in English under the title of ''Flying Saucers Through The Ages'' in 1965, he first published the book under the pen name of Paul Thomas as he believed that if his real identity was revealed, his reputation as a musician might be damaged; however, he later revealed his identity, and a number of American editions of the book were published under his real name. In the book, Misraki claimed that angels from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

were aliens, that the Bible and other ancient texts are filled with many UFO flying saucer sightings, and that throughout human history there was intervention from extraterrestrial aliens. Misraki was also one of the first authors to suggest that apparitions may be UFO related phenomena. Ufologist Jacques Vallée studied some of Misraki's UFO theories and visited Misraki in

in September 1962 to discuss them with him, in his journals Vallée described Misraki as a "deeply reflective man" and a "religious scholar". Misraki was also a supporter of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and his theory of omega point, and wrote a number of papers on his work.

Selected filmography

* '' American Love'' (1931) * '' Coralie and Company'' (1934) * ''

Moutonnet ''Moutonnet'' is a 1936 French comedy film directed by René Sti and starring Noël-Noël, Lucien Rozenberg and Michel Simon.Crisp p.408 Cast * Noël-Noël as Moutonnet et Mérac * Lucien Rozenberg as Dumonthal * Michel Simon as Frècheville ...

'' (1936) * '' Claudine at School'' (1937) * '' The House Opposite'' (1937) * '' Return at Dawn'' (1938) * '' Chéri-Bibi'' (1938) * '' Beautiful Star'' (1938) * ''

I Was an Adventuress ''I Was an Adventuress'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by Gregory Ratoff, starring Vera Zorina, Richard Greene, Erich von Stroheim, and Peter Lorre. An actress/ballerina works as decoy for two international con artists. Plot Countess Ta ...

'' (1938) * '' Whirlwind of Paris'' (1939) * ''

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

'' (1939) * '' The Duraton Family'' (1939) * '' Prince Bouboule'' (1939) * '' Beating Heart'' (1940) * '' Seven Women'' (1944) * '' Devil and the Angel'' (1946) * '' Loves, Delights and Organs'' (1947) * '' Are You Sure?'' (1947) * '' Christmas with the Poor'' (1947) * '' All Roads Lead to Rome'' (1949) * '' Thirst of Men'' (1950) * '' The Prize'' (1950) * '' They Are Twenty'' (1950) * '' Dr. Knock'' (1951) * '' Dirty Hands'' (1951) * '' Savage Triangle'' (1951) * '' Young Love'' (1951) * '' Crazy for Love'' (1952) * '' Desperate Decision'' (1952) * '' The Man in My Life'' (1952) * ''

Women of Paris A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uter ...

'' (1953) * '' Napoleon Road'' (1953) * '' Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1954) * '' The Women Couldn't Care Less'' (1954) * '' Queen Margot'' (1954) * '' Mr. Arkadin'' (1955) * '' The Little Rebels'' (1955) * '' Stopover in Orly'' (1955) * '' My Priest Among the Poor'' (1956) * '' The Lebanese Mission'' (1956) * '' Fernandel the Dressmaker'' (1956) * '' And God Created Woman'' (1956) * '' A Bomb for a Dictator'' (1957) * '' Sénéchal the Magnificent'' (1957) *'' Three Murderesses'' (1958) * '' The Gendarme of Champignol'' (1959) * '' Women Are Like That'' (1960) * '' We Will Go to Deauville'' (1962) * '' Alphaville'' (1965) * '' Attack of the Robots'' (1966) * '' Sept hommes et une garce'' (1967) * '' Juliette and Juliette'' (1974) * '' The Porter from Maxim's'' (1976)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Misraki, Paul 1908 births 1998 deaths Musicians from Istanbul French film score composers French male film score composers French operetta composers French people of Italian-Jewish descent Turkish emigrants to France Turkish Jews Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Ancient astronauts proponents Pseudohistorians Ufologists 20th-century French historians 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians