“Roger, over and out.” The planes rose steeply then began their frantic dive down, down towards the target

“There are the guns. Keep absolutely quiet we must not be seen

“The only way in is to scale the walls.”

“OK you guys, the objective is dead ahead.”

This is an evocative album. It is an album containing twelve themes from war films. It covers almost all of the twenty-five years since the war ended. It will bring back memories to those who were old enough to be involved and it will provoke tales to be told to those who were too young. The films from which these themes have been taken are based both on fact and on fiction. It is not always easy to decide which is which. They can be said to represent truth or to represent adventure stories of the highest order. What is a fact is that since the war literally hundreds of war films have been made and that cinema audiences have flocked to see them. One might well ask why this is so but it is not really necessary to come to any conclusions here. They can be made as you listen to this record. 1957 saw THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI receiving a whole batch of Oscars at the Academy Awards. As well as best picture and best actor (the superb Alec Guiness) it also won an award for the best music. COLONEL BOGEY has been sung end whistled all over the world since. It is interesting to note that this particular theme incorporates two types. COLONEL BOGEY by Alford and THE RIVER KWAI MARCH by Arnold.

Five years later LAWRENCE OF ARABIA a film of epic grandeur collected its own share of Oscars and again the soundtrack music was a winner. Maurice Jarre (who also wrote the score for Dr. Zhivago) has written a memorable score that is a perfect background to the story of that enigmatic man T. E. Lawrence.

Gregory Peck ‘did his bit for the war effort’ in THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. This was an exciting adventure story based on the novel by Alistair MacLean. It was one of the most popular films of 1961 and the theme music by Dimitri Tiomkin did its fair share in achieving this success.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN theme comes from the most recently released film on this album. This story of the ‘glorious few’ appeared in the cinemas last year and has been doing great business. Ron Goodwin has written the music for many war films and here we have a very good example of his talent for writing music that matches perfectly the mood of a film. THE LONGEST DAY a film about D Day has an all star cast that included John Wayne and Robert Mitchum but it was not a particularly big box-office success. The theme music from this film may recall a visit to the cinema in 1963 when this film first appeared.

Side One ends with the theme from another great adventure story WHERE EAGLES DARE: This too was adapted from an Alistair MacLean novel and with stars like Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood it couldn’t fail. It has certainly been one of the most popular films of the last two years. Ron Goodwin also wrote the score for this film and he captures in musical form all the excitement and tension of the film.

Side Two opens with a third Goodwin theme this time from 633 SQUADRON. These days it is the rousing theme that is best remembered and it is played again and again on the radio. For the record the film starred Cliff Robertson and George Chakiris.

One of the best war films of the fifties was THE DAM BUSTERS the story of Barnes Wallis’ bouncing bomb and the squadron that used it. The theme has always remained popular.

Elmer Bernstein has written a great deal of music for the cinema and its effective use as background to a story can be seen in the music for THE GREAT ESCAPE. Fans will remember too the fantastic stunt riding of Steve McQueen as he hurled his motorcycle at the barbed wire fence surrounding the prison camp.

Mikios Rozsa is known mainly as a composer for biblical epics such as King of Kings. Ben Hur and Quo Vadis. For THE GREEN BERETS he wrote a rousing score that highlighted the action of the film. A film by the way that caused a wave of anti-war demonstrations throughout the world when it was released in 1968. John Wayne was star of this controversial film.

Maurice Jarre wrote the music for IS PARIS BURNING? and despite a star studded cast that included Charles Boyer it was not a great commercial success. However, it is worth remembering for the theme alone.

The final track on this album comes from another fine British film of the fifties REACH FOR THE SKY. This was a film that told of the courage and fortitude of that remarkable man Douglas Bader. Despite the disaster that befell him Bader’s fighting spirit enabled him to reach for the sky and the music of Addison acts as a perfect foil in a film that will long remain popular wherever it is shown.

Geoff Love and his orchestra play superbly to give us an album to remember. They have recreated the atmosphere and moods of twelve different war films. Atmospheres captured in music that range from the hot sands of Arabia to the steamy jungles of Vietnam from the plane filled skies over Britain to the tank filled streets of Paris. Moods captured in music that cover the excitement, the tension, the drama and even the humour that is to be found in these stories.

Some of the most exciting film themes ever to be written have been for films about the war. This album presents twelve of the best.

F.W.