Douglas Shearer
Douglas Graham Shearer (November 17, 1899 – January 5, 1971) was a Canadian-American pioneering sound designer and recording director who played a key role in the advancement of sound technology for motion pictures. He won seven Academy Awards for his work. In 2008, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Douglas began his journey into cinema by studying experimental electricity at Northern Electric Company before joining MGM in 1925. Initially exploring lighting and cameras, he pivoted to sound when the era of sound pictures emerged in 1928. He pioneered synchronizing musical soundtracks with film scenes, notably in the groundbreaking "The Broadway Melody," which won the 1929 Oscar for Best Picture. As head of MGM's sound department until his retirement, Shearer revolutionized sound recording, winning an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording for "The Big House." His groundbreaking work at MGM significantly enhanced the technical aspects of filmmaking. His legacy was recognized even in death, receiving a front-page obituary in The New York Times—an honour typically reserved for industry giants and heads of state.
Douglas began his journey into cinema by studying experimental electricity at Northern Electric Company before joining MGM in 1925. Initially exploring lighting and cameras, he pivoted to sound when the era of sound pictures emerged in 1928. He pioneered synchronizing musical soundtracks with film scenes, notably in the groundbreaking "The Broadway Melody," which won the 1929 Oscar for Best Picture. As head of MGM's sound department until his retirement, Shearer revolutionized sound recording, winning an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording for "The Big House." His groundbreaking work at MGM significantly enhanced the technical aspects of filmmaking. His legacy was recognized even in death, receiving a front-page obituary in The New York Times—an honour typically reserved for industry giants and heads of state.
Known for
Her Twelve Men
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Valley of the Kings
Executive Suite
Rose Marie
The Great Diamond Robbery
M-G-M Jubilee Overture
Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
Kiss Me Kate
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Take the High Ground!
The Actress
Big Leaguer
The Affairs of Dobie Gillis
The Band Wagon
Dream Wife
Dangerous When Wet
Julius Caesar
Young Bess
Scandal at Scourie
Remains to Be Seen
Small Town Girl
Jeopardy
The Girl Who Had Everything
The Story of Three Loves
I Love Melvin
Confidentially Connie
Lili
Battle Circus
The Naked Spur
The Bad and the Beautiful
Million Dollar Mermaid
Desperate Search
Everything I Have Is Yours
The Merry Widow
Fearless Fagan
Holiday for Sinners
Shadow in the Sky
Pat and Mike
Glory Alley
Skirts Ahoy!
The Girl in White
Scaramouche
Young Man with Ideas
Carbine Williams
Talk About a Stranger
Singin' in the Rain
Love Is Better Than Ever
The Belle of New York
Invitation
The Wild North
Westward the Women
Too Young to Kiss
Callaway Went Thataway
Quo Vadis
Angels in the Outfield
Texas Carnival
The Red Badge of Courage
An American in Paris
The Strip
The Tall Target
The Law and the Lady
Show Boat
Kind Lady
The Painted Hills
The Great Caruso
Father's Little Dividend
Soldiers Three
Cause for Alarm!
Royal Wedding
Three Guys Named Mike
Grounds for Marriage
Pagan Love Song
The Magnificent Yankee
Kim
Two Weeks with Love
King Solomon's Mines
To Please a Lady
Right Cross
Summer Stock
Duchess of Idaho
Three Little Words
Crisis
The Big Hangover
Shadow on the Wall
Father of the Bride
Annie Get Your Gun
Please Believe Me
Stars in My Crown
The Reformer and the Redhead
The Yellow Cab Man
Black Hand
Nancy Goes to Rio
The Outriders
On the Town
Tension
Adam's Rib
Battleground
That Forsyte Woman
Challenge to Lassie
Madame Bovary
In the Good Old Summertime
The Great Sinner
Neptune's Daughter
The Stratton Story
The Barkleys of Broadway
The Secret Garden
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The Three Musketeers
Julia Misbehaves
A Date with Judy
Easter Parade
The Pirate
Summer Holiday
Big City
Good News
Killer McCoy
Desire Me
Song of Love
The Unfinished Dance
Cynthia
Song of the Thin Man
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
The Hucksters
Dark Delusion
Living in a Big Way
The Sea of Grass
Undercover Maisie
The Arnelo Affair
Green Dolphin Street
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
Lady in the Lake
The Yearling
Undercurrent
Courage of Lassie
Two Sisters from Boston
Two Smart People
Bad Bascomb
The Postman Always Rings Twice
The Hoodlum Saint
Up Goes Maisie
The Harvey Girls
She Went to the Races
Week-End at the Waldorf
The Hidden Eye
Ziegfeld Follies
Dangerous Partners
Twice Blessed
Thrill of a Romance
Son of Lassie
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Main Street After Dark
The Great Morgan
The Thin Man Goes Home
Music for Millions
Gentle Annie
Meet Me in St. Louis
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Mrs. Parkington
Kismet
Maisie Goes to Reno
The Canterville Ghost
Bathing Beauty
The White Cliffs of Dover
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
An American Romance
Rationing
See Here, Private Hargrove
A Guy Named Joe
Swing Fever
Swing Shift Maisie
Thousands Cheer
The Man from Down Under
Bataan
Above Suspicion
Cabin in the Sky
The Human Comedy
Andy Hardy's Double Life
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant
For Me and My Gal
Eyes in the Night
Panama Hattie
Cairo
Calling Dr. Gillespie
Her Cardboard Lover
Mrs. Miniver
Maisie Gets Her Man
Tortilla Flat
Tarzan's New York Adventure
Fingers at the Window
Kid Glove Killer
Mokey
The Courtship of Andy Hardy
Nazi Agent
Dr. Kildare's Victory
Two-Faced Woman
Kathleen
Johnny Eager
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Shadow of the Thin Man
Married Bachelor
The Feminine Touch
Lady Be Good
When Ladies Meet
Life Begins for Andy Hardy
Whistling in the Dark
Love Crazy
I'll Wait for You
A Woman's Face
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Ziegfeld Girl
Washington Melodrama
Rage in Heaven
Andy Hardy's Private Secretary
Blonde Inspiration
Maisie Was a Lady
Comrade X
Go West
The Philadelphia Story
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Dulcy
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
Boom Town
The Golden Fleecing
I Love You Again
Pride and Prejudice
We Who Are Young
Sporting Blood
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
Susan and God
Waterloo Bridge
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
Strange Cargo
Northwest Passage
Congo Maisie
The Shop Around the Corner
The Earl of Chicago
Judge Hardy and Son
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Henry Goes Arizona
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
Ninotchka
Another Thin Man
At the Circus
Babes in Arms
Fast and Furious
Thunder Afloat
The Women
The Wizard of Oz
Miracles for Sale
They All Come Out
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever
On Borrowed Time
Stronger Than Desire
Maisie
Tarzan Finds a Son!
Tell No Tales
6,000 Enemies
Calling Dr. Kildare
The Hardys Ride High
The Kid From Texas
Broadway Serenade
The Ice Follies of 1939
Honolulu
Idiot's Delight
Sweethearts
The Girl Downstairs
Dramatic School
Out West with the Hardys
The Shining Hour
Spring Madness
The Great Waltz
Young Dr. Kildare
Vacation from Love
Too Hot to Handle
Boys Town
Three Loves Has Nancy
Marie Antoinette
The Chaser
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Fast Company
Paradise for Three
Three Comrades
Test Pilot
Judge Hardy's Children
The First Hundred Years
Arsène Lupin Returns
Of Human Hearts
Mannequin
Love Is a Headache
Man-Proof
You're Only Young Once
Beg, Borrow or Steal
Navy Blue and Gold
Conquest
Double Wedding
The Bride Wore Red
Madame X
My Dear Miss Aldrich
The Women Men Marry
The Romance of Celluloid
Broadway Melody of 1938
Captains Courageous
Married Before Breakfast
A Day at the Races
Parnell
The Good Earth
The Thirteenth Chair
Night Must Fall
A Family Affair
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Camille
After the Thin Man
Sinner Take All
Born to Dance
Mad Holiday
Tarzan Escapes
Libeled Lady
The Longest Night
Sworn Enemy
Romeo and Juliet
Suzy
The Devil-Doll
San Francisco
Fury
Trouble for Two
Absolute Quiet
The Unguarded Hour
The Great Ziegfeld
Moonlight Murder
Petticoat Fever
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Three Godfathers
Wife vs. Secretary
The Garden Murder Case
The Voice of Bugle Ann
Rose Marie
Tough Guy
Three Live Ghosts
Riffraff
A Tale of Two Cities
Last of the Pagans
Whipsaw
Kind Lady
Mutiny on the Bounty
A Night at the Opera
Rendezvous
I Live My Life
Broadway Melody of 1936
The Bishop Misbehaves
China Seas
Woman Wanted
Mad Love
Calm Yourself
No More Ladies
Public Hero Number 1
Murder in the Fleet
Age of Indiscretion
Reckless
Baby Face Harrington
Naughty Marietta
The Casino Murder Case
Times Square Lady
The Winning Ticket
David Copperfield
Sequoia
The Night Is Young
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
Forsaking All Others
The Gay Bride
What Every Woman Knows
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Chained
Hide-Out
Treasure Island
The Girl from Missouri
Paris Interlude
Operator 13
The Thin Man
Hollywood Party
Sadie McKee
Manhattan Melodrama
Tarzan and His Mate
Men in White
Riptide
The Show-Off
The Mystery of Mr. X
The Cat and the Fiddle
Queen Christina
Dinner at Eight
The Women in His Life
Should Ladies Behave
Dancing Lady
Bombshell
Night Flight
Stage Mother
The Solitaire Man
Penthouse
Beauty for Sale
Turn Back the Clock
Another Language
Hold Your Man
When Ladies Meet
Reunion in Vienna
Storm at Daybreak
The Nuisance
Peg o' My Heart
Made on Broadway
The Barbarian
Looking Forward
Gabriel Over the White House
The White Sister
Fast Workers
Today We Live
Men Must Fight
The Secret of Madame Blanche
Whistling in the Dark
Strange Interlude
Rasputin and the Empress
Flesh
The Mask of Fu Manchu
Payment Deferred
Red Dust
Faithless
Kongo
Smilin' Through
Blondie of the Follies
Downstairs
The Washington Masquerade
Unashamed
Red-Headed Woman
Night Court
As You Desire Me
Grand Hotel
Huddle
Letty Lynton
But the Flesh Is Weak
Tarzan the Ape Man
The Wet Parade
Polly of the Circus
Arsène Lupin
The Passionate Plumber
Lovers Courageous
Hell Divers
Emma
Freaks
Mata Hari
Private Lives
The Champ
The Cuban Love Song
Flying High
The Sin of Madelon Claudet
The Guardsman
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
This Modern Age
Guilty Hands
Sporting Blood
The Squaw Man
The Great Lover
The Man in Possession
Five and Ten
A Free Soul
Laughing Sinners
Strangers May Kiss
The bitter fruit
Parlor, Bedroom and Bath
Politics
Dance, Fools, Dance
The Bachelor Father
Reducing
Paid
New Moon
Anna Christie
Passion Flower
Min and Bill
War Nurse
The Big House
A Lady's Morals
Madam Satan
Romance
Our Blushing Brides
Let Us Be Gay
The Big House
The Florodora Girl
The Lady of Scandal
Children of Pleasure
The Divorcee
This Mad World
Lord Byron of Broadway
Anna Christie
Not So Dumb
The Ship from Shanghai
They Learned About Women
Their Own Desire
Dynamite
So This Is College
The Thirteenth Chair
The Unholy Night
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
The Idle Rich
The Voice of the City
The Broadway Melody