George Antheil: Bad Boy of Music

From the 2003 archives of State of the Arts, a profile of composer George Antheil (1900-1959). The Trenton, NJ-born musician became a sensation in Paris in the 1920s with modernist creations that shocked concert goers. Later, he became a Hollywood composer, writing numerous scores for Humphrey Bogart films. His autobiography, Bad Boy of Music, is a tell-all tour de force with stories of dozens of the leading artists of his day, both in Paris and in Hollywood.

[@spinsandneedles]

Excellent video. Along with his other interests, George Antheil considered himself an amateur criminologist. However he got stuck on a medical pseudo-science believing criminality could be discovered and solved through gland theory. He wasn't the only to carry these views. Many mid-century doctors attempted to find a solution to crime through an examination of glands, blood, spinal fluid, etc.