Performer Information

Mischa Bakaleinikoff and his brothers came to the US as refugees from Russia, early in the 20th century, and he quickly established himself as a talented musician (bass and cello). Soon, he also became much in demand as a composer in Hollywood.  Beginning with the soundtrack music for the classic B-Western film, Forbidden Trail, starring Buck Jones (1932), he launched a career that spanned decades, scoring the soundtracks of over a dozen B-Western films starring Charles Starrett (especially his very popular Durango Kid series) and Gene Autry, and serving as the Musical Director for most of Autry’s films for Columbia Pictures.

His music effectively conveyed the intended atmosphere of those movies, and Gene Autry, for instance, was so happy to have had Bakaleinikoff direct the music for his films (including Autry’s 1948 color feature, The Strawberry Roan and 1949’s The Big Sombrero ) he made a point of letting that fact be known when he was talking with his audience on his Melody Ranch TV show, decades later. The films, themselves, have been considered some of the genre’s most memorable, all having been preserved on DVD, many with repeated tv showings to this day. Starrett’s Galloping Thunder (’46), Pecos River (‘51), Laramie Mountains (’52), and Kid from Amarillo (‘51), stand out. The latter included Autry’s colleagues, The Cass County Boys, as guest performers. Autry’s Last Roundup (’47), Blazing Sun (‘50), Blue Canadian Rockies (‘52) and several others are also readily available for viewing..

Film buffs will recognize these titles as products of Columbia Pictures. From 1944 until his death in 1960, Bakaleinikoff was Columbia’s Musical Director, often collaborating with George Dunning and Morris Stoloff.