---
name: "Ben Oakland"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ben-oakland"
roles: ["Composer"]
born: "24 September 1907"
died: "26 August 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 90
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-19T23:27:26.566206+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ben Oakland

Composer. Born 24 September 1907 in Brooklyn. Died 26 August 1979.

## Details

- **Work:** Composer
- **Born:** 24 September 1907, Brooklyn
- **Died:** 26 August 1979
- **Active:** 1937–1940
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 89 (1), 1940s 90 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Oakland, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q649938, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642992/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/34173

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Awful Truth*](https://film.one/film/the-awful-truth.md) (89)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ben Oakland (24 September 1907 – 26 August 1979) was an American composer, lyricist and pianist. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he worked in Broadway, vaudeville and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1940s.

He composed music for films including *The Awful Truth* (1937), *The Man They Could Not Hang* (1939) and *The Werewolf* (1956). Notable songs include "Java Jive" (with Milton Drake) and "I'll Take Romance" (with Oscar Hammerstein II); the latter's follow-up, "A Mist Over the Moon", earned an Academy Award nomination.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *His Girl Friday* (1940), Fi1m 90, Additional Music — [page](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday.md)
- *The Awful Truth* (1937), Fi1m 89, Original Music Composer, Music — [page](https://film.one/film/the-awful-truth.md)

## Complete filmography (28)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Werewolf* (1956), Music
- *The Woman from Tangier* (1948), Original Music Composer
- *Leave It to Blondie* (1945), Original Music Composer
- *I Love a Mystery* (1945), Original Music Composer
- *No Dough Boys* (1944), Music Arranger
- *One Mysterious Night* (1944), Additional Music
- *The Soul of a Monster* (1944), Music
- *The Chance of a Lifetime* (1943), Additional Music
- *Footlight Glamour* (1943), Original Music Composer
- *It's a Great Life* (1943), Original Music Composer
- *Secrets of the Lone Wolf* (1941), Original Music Composer
- *The Face Behind the Mask* (1941), Additional Music
- *Blondie Plays Cupid* (1940), Original Music Composer
- *Glamour for Sale* (1940), Original Music Composer
- *Island of Doomed Men* (1940), Music
- *Men Without Souls* (1940), Original Music Composer
- *The Man with Nine Lives* (1940), Music
- *Blondie on a Budget* (1940), Original Music Composer
- *His Girl Friday* (1940), Additional Music — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday.md)
- *Blondie Brings Up Baby* (1939), Original Music Composer
- *The Man They Could Not Hang* (1939), Music
- *Blind Alley* (1939), Music
- *Smashing the Spy Ring* (1938), Original Music Composer
- *Penitentiary* (1938), Musical
- *The Awful Truth* (1937), Original Music Composer — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/the-awful-truth.md)
- *Criminals of the Air* (1937), Music
- *A Lesson in Love* (1931), Writer
- *Old Man Blues* (1931), Story, Music

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1939: Best Original Song (nominated), for *A Mist Is Over the Moon*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ben-oakland