Program Notes

It is a coincidence that two of Franz Waxman’s most beautiful themes were written for films starring Elizabeth Taylor. The Academy Award-winning score to A Place In The Sun (1951) contained the “Angela Vickers Theme” orchestrated for lush strings with a haunting alto saxophone solo that is well known through concert performances and recordings.

However, Taylor’s theme from Elephant Walk (Paramount, 1954) popularized by the song “Many Dreams Ago,” is less well known, but as romantic as “The Wonderful Seasons of Love” from Peyton Place. Christopher Palmer’s arrangement is meticulously drawn from the original scores and faithfully captures the many forms that the main theme takes throughout the course of the film. We first hear it over the “Main Title”;  it evolves into “Elephant Stampede,” the climax of the picture.

I always suspected that Waxman received the Elephant Walk assignment because the plot is in many ways reminiscent of Rebecca. The owner of a Ceylon tea plantation (Peter Finch) takes a young English wife who finds the atmosphere strange and turns to a friendly overseer (Dana Andrews) for comfort.

The next time you see the film, directed by William Dieterle, look closely at the location longshots. The actress is Vivien Leigh who was originally cast in the title role. Elizabeth Taylor stepped in when Leigh became ill on location.

The Suite from Elephant Walk contains the Prelude, The Plantation, Appeal for Help, Cylon Romance, Elephant Stampede & Finale.