Cinema Retro magazine covers the John Barry & Timothy Dalton reunion at Carnegie Hall for MI6...

John Barry 70th Birthday Concert
28th May 2004

The evening of May 25 was a very special one for John Barry and his admirers. To celebrate the legendary composer's 70th birthday, a major event was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Conductor Robert Bass led a full orchestra and the Collegiate Chorale in a masterful tribute to Barry's Oscar-winning score for the 1968 film "The Lion in Winter". The score- one of the most unique in the Barry list of achievements- was recreated under the direction of Bass and accompanied by scenes from the film. Cinema Retro, the forthcoming film magazine devoted to the films of the 1960's and 1970's, covered the event for a future issue that will celebrate the legacy of "The Lion in Winter". Cinema Retro publisher Lee Pfeiffer, accompanied by New York correspondent Mark Cerulli and photographer Tom Stroud, also attended a pre-concert seminar with John Barry and Timothy Dalton, who (along with Anthony Hopkins) made his film debut in the classic directed by Anthony Harvey.

The event was historic not only in reuniting Barry, who composed the score for the James Bond film "The Living Daylights" with the star of that movie, Timothy Dalton. It also marked the first time Barry had made an official appearance at the famed Carnegie Hall.

The pre-concert chat allowed Barry and Dalton to discuss their recollections of the film, with Dalton admitting he was more than a bit intimidated to make his film debut opposite Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The two men also discussed the filmmaking process as it pertained to musical scoring and took questions from the audience as well. "John Barry was in excellent spirits and was obviously very moved by this tribute", reports Lee Pfeiffer. "He told some insightful and amusing stories including one of interest to James Bond fans. When Harry Saltzman first heard Barry's rendition of the theme song for "Goldfinger" he called it "The worst thing I've ever heard" and wanted it excised from the film. The only thing that spared this from happening was Barry's warning that they were quite close to the premiere date and that the main theme had already been woven into the entire musical track for the film- thus it was too late to replace it. After the song hit #1 on numerous international charts, Barry had a chance encounter with Saltzman in a London restaurant. The only mea culpa the producer could offer was muttering a subdued "Thank you, John" before walking away."

Prior to the concert, Pfeiffer, Cerulli and Stroud chatted with Timothy Dalton and then were invited to meet Barry in his private box. "Ironically, despite the countless James Bond projects we had all been involved with over the years, we had never met John Barry", said Pfeiffer. Left: Lee Pfeiffer, John Barry & Mark Cerulli.

"He was as charming and witty as you would expect him to be. He discussed his score for "Zulu" at length and answered some questions I've always had about the African tribal chants that were employed for the film. He also recalled an amusing story about having a down-and-out Michael Caine as a semi-permanent houseguest at his London flat. During this period, Barry was composing the title song for "Goldfinger" and Michael Caine was the first person he played it for." At one point, Barry said he never had any interest in acting in films, but Dalton reminded him that he recalled seeing him play a conductor in a film once- a sly reference to Barry's cameo in "The Living Daylights".

"The concert itself was magnificent" said Mark Cerulli. "Timothy Dalton introduced the event, which received a rousing standing ovation when John Barry came on stage to acknowledge the crowd. It was truly a night to remember".

Many thanks to Cinema Retro magazine. For more information visit www.cinemaretro.com