Composer Max Steiner, whose scores for "King Kong," "Gone With the Wind" and "Casablanca" placed him in the movie-music pantheon, isn't much discussed today. He seems to belong to that old-school ...

Max Steiner, perhaps the most influential film composer ever for scores like "King Kong" and "Casablanca," is celebrated in a new biography.

A new biography puts spotlight on "King Kong" composer Max Steiner; his score for the 1933 film "established the grammar of film music." ...