Director Claude Lelouch and composer Francis Lai had a very successful collaboration with the film A Man and A Woman in 1966. The film, soundtrack and title song were all critical and popular hits, so it's no surprise that the two worked together the following year on Live for Life.
The title song again was a hit as was the soundtrack LP. The film, however, was less successful, with many critics saying Live for Life was both dull and pointless.
United Artists released the soundtrack albums of both A Man and A Woman and Live for Life. As well the company issued versions of the scores credited to the Motion Picture Studio Orchestra on its budget Unart label. There are of course no credits on either of these LPs, as was usually the case for budget releases.
But these albums by the Motion Picture Studio Orchestra are far from cheap knockoffs. These are fine studio musicians performing great arrangements. The sound quality is excellent. Here's a sample from the Live for Life LP.
Theme de Catherine
For comparison here's the same tune from Francis Lai's original soundtrack. The Motion Picture Studio Orchestra's take on Theme de Catherine is a bit livelier while Lai's original has a a more subdued, classical feel.
There were a couple of other Unart releases in the late '60s that were credited to the Motion Picture Studio Orchestra. One was a collection of film themes of that era and the other was an updated take on the score of Around the World in 80 Days. None of these LPs have surfaced in a digital format.
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