Elizabeth Taylor in London

1963

LP: Colpix SCP-459
CD: Play it Again PLAY 002

1. Elizabeth in London
2. Elizabeth Waltz
3. English Garden
4. London Theme
5. London Waltz
6. Lovers
7. Fire of London
8. Elizabeth Theme
9. London Theme

The Movie

Liz was born in London and spent her early childhood there; her parents took her back to the States when World War II broke. This was ABC's tv special about Liz in London, at the height of her popularity and power as a film superstar. Because it was a tv special and it's so old, I doubt it ever gets played. The only reason I've ever heard of it was because the score got a soundtrack release.

Elizabeth Taylor In London and Sophia Loren in Rome have both been released together on Blu-Ray. If it ever comes out on Region 1 and I see it, I'll write something about it.

The Music

This is one of Barry's earliest real film scores (as opposed to contributing pop songs as he did for Beat Girl or The Cool Mikado). I never found the music particularly interesting, but Barry was nominated for an Emmy so he must have hit a nerve. And he was hired to score a sequel, Sophia Loren in Rome.

Release Notes

I don't know whom has the rights to the old Ember catalog, which includes Elizabeth Taylor in New York, Four in the Morning and Zulu, but he must license it cheap because these things show up everywhere. First there was the original soundtrack LP on Colpix, and our friend Geoff Leonard published it on CD as John Barry: The Ember Years (Volume I) on his Play It Again label. In addition to that, various tracks show up on various compilations, including 007 and Other Great Soundtrack Themes, Bond By Barry, Fat's four-CD boxed set (Disc 3), John Barry Cinema Gold, John Barry Meets Chad & Jeremy, John Barry Plays 007, John Barry Plays Film & T.V. Themes, John Barry Revisited, Zulu & Other Great Film Themes of John Barry, and Zulu and Other Themes. And there are probably another half dozen that I don't know about.