Biography
W. Franke Harling (also credited as William Franke Harling) was a composer of film scores, operas and popular songs. Born in London in 1887, he was educated at the Grace Choir Church School in New York City. He worked as an organist and choir director in Brussels, attended the United States Military Academy at West Point for two years, and composed its hymn "The Corps" and official march "West Point Forever".
Harling contributed incidental music to Broadway productions including Pan and the Young Shepherd (1918) and collaborated on the opera Deep River (1926). He began scoring films in 1928. His credits include The Love Parade (1929), Monte Carlo (1930), Blonde Venus (1932), Shanghai Express (1932), A Farewell to Arms (1932), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Peter Ibbetson (1935), Black Legion (1937), Souls at Sea (1937), Stagecoach (1939) and Penny Serenade (1941). He won the Academy Award for Best Music Scoring for Stagecoach and received nominations for Souls at Sea and Three Russian Girls (1944). His popular songs include "Beyond the Blue Horizon" and "Sing, You Sinners".
