In 1972 Charles Gerhardt began conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra in the first of the Classic Film Score series. It featured the music Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his son George Korngold was the producer of the series, which quickly became a coveted series of vinyl albums for audiophiles since they were top quality stereo recordings of the original orchestrations of many legendary Hollywood film scores. A large orchestra was formed from London’s best musicians in 1964 in order to produce records for the Reader’s Digest series, and in 1970 the group was incorporated as the National Philharmonic Orchestra.
They were reissued on CD in the 1990s and it turned out the original tapes were multichannel, so they were released as Dolby Surround-encoded matrix CDs, which remain playable on any CD player, but produce an excellent soundfield rivaling multichannel SACDs & DVD-As when using Dolby ProLogic II, Circle Surround or DTS: Neo 6 Music to decode them. The series is now being skillfully remastered by Sony Music Entertainment, and though they make no mention anywhere on the discs about Dolby Surround, they still are. We reviewed the first six rereleases in the series here.
Response has been good, and now Sony Music has brought out seven more in the Classic Film Scores series. Here are the seven new ones which became available March 1. All National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt except “Laura” – which is David Raksin conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra:
Citizen Kane – The Classic Film Scores of Bernard Herrmann – RCA Red Seal 88697 81264 2
Includes selections from On Dangerous Ground / Citizen Kane / Beneath the 12-Mile Reef / Hangover Square / White Witch Doctor
Sunset Boulevard – The Classic Film Scores of Franz Waxman RCA Red Seal 88697 81265 2
Includes selections from Prince Valiant / A Place in the Sun / The Bride of Frankenstein / Sunset Boulevard / Old Acquaintance / Rebecca / The Philadelphia Story / Taras Bulba
Elizabeth and Essex – The Classic Film Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
– RCA Red Seal 88697 81266 2
Includes selections from The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex / The Prince and the Pauper / Anthony Adverse / The Sea Wolf / Deception / Another Dawn / Of Human Bondage
Spellbound – The Classic Film Scores of Miklos Rozsa – RCA Red Seal 88697 81269 2
Includes selections from The Red House / The Thief of Bagdad / The Lost Weekend / The Four Feathers / Double Indemnity / Knights of the Round Table / The Jungle Book / Spellbound / Ivanhoe
Now, Voyager – The Classic Film Scores of Max Steiner – – RCA Red Seal
88697 812702
Includes selections from Now, Voyager / King Kong / Saratoga Trunk / The Charge of the Light Brigade / Four Wives / The Big Sleep / Johnny Belinda / Since You Went Away / The Informer / The Fountainhead|
Classic Film Scores for Bette Davis – – RCA Red Seal 88697 81272 2
Includes selections from Now, Voyager / Dark Victory / A Stolen Life / The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex / Mr. Skeffington / In This Our Life / All About Eve / Jezebel / Beyond the Forest / Juarez / The Letter / All This, and Heaven Too
Laura / Forever Amber / The Bad and the Beautiful – David Raksin Conducts His Great 
Film Scores – – RCA Red Seal 88668 81265 2
Includes selections from Laura / Forever Amber / The Bad and the Beautiful
— John Sunier
