When you’ve waited fifteen years to kill a man… It’s a shame you can only kill him once!”
-Tagline for “Death Rides A Horse.”
Theatrical Poster.Title Shot.Morricone’s On-Screen Credit.Dagored’s re-issue of Morricone’s “DeathRidesAHorse.”
From the album cover sticker on Dagored’s excellent 2017 re-issue of Morricone’s score to Giulio Petroni’s 1967 Spaghetti Western, “Death Rides A Horse“:
“The soundtrack for this epic western movie featuring the great LeeVanCleef bears the signature of EnnioMorricone: Guitars, flute, piano, timpani, drums and a Native-American choir style make this motion picture a kind of original masterpiece in the maestro ouvre. I Cantori Moderni di Alessandro Alessandroni perform here in their own unique way with Alessandro Alessandroni on evidence with his original whistling.
Reverse Album Cover Art.ScreenshotScreenshotScreenshotScreenshotAlbum Insert.Reverse Album Insert.
The main musical theme was employed by QuentinTarantino in ‘KillBillvol. 1′ and in IngloriousBasterds!'”
Album Cover Art.Album Cover Art.Lee Van Cleef in “DeathRidesAHorse.”John Phillip Law (l), with Van Cleef (r).Law and VanCleef.Earlier Album Pressing.Italian Poster Art: “DaUomoAUomo” aka “DeathRidesA Horse.”Alternate Poster Art.French Poster.Alternate Poster ArtDVD Cover Art.
Links:
Listen to the complete score here:
https://youtu.be/Jy5D7D_XzaU?si=Xdauo27R6uUmnN9f
Watch the complete film for free here:
Complete film on YouTube.www.baystreetvideo.com
If you are in the Toronto area, say hi to my Filmography podcast co-host, Bjorn, and order the film from BayStreetVideo.
Outside of Toronto, you can find “DeathRidesAHorse” on blu-ray at Amazon here:
Theatrical poster.Album cover art.Reverse album sleeveSide ASide B
Having previously written the scores for the HenriVernueil-directed pictures “GunsForSanSebastián,” TheSicilianClan,” and “LeCasse” (aka “TheBurglars“), EnnioMorricone was once again enlisted by Verneuil, this time to compose the score for his new spy thriller, “LeSerpent.”
Album cover art (earlier pressing).
Side A of Morricone’s score for “IlSerpente” starts off weary and mournful, with a theme that would not be out of place in a romantic drama (at that inevitable point when the lovers part). As sad and wistful as things begin, they quickly turn jazzy and psychedelic, with grungy guitars, propulsive drums, and wailing electric keyboards. Then the Maestro slows things down again with strings, piano, and flute, another melancholy theme, veering on romantic. Heavy organs follow, furthering the “funeral music” vibe. A slower variation on the opening theme ends on a bittersweet note, before a traditional- sounding military march caps off the first half of the record.
Album cover art (earlier French pressing).
Side B kicks off with high tension from a string arrangement that recalls some of Morricone’sgiallo scores. Strange percussive sounds add to the uneasy feeling that might have the listener on edge as the strings become jagged razors.
Album cover art (Dagored pressing).
With the next track, Morricoene blurs the line between score and sound design, providing more mood and atmosphere than melody and rhythm.
Album cover art (Japanese pressing).
Taut, disorienting, and anxiety-inducing for the remainder of Side B, “IlSerpente” is not one of the Maestro’s most melodic compositions, but it very effectively creates the suspense and tension an international spy thriller requires.
CD album art.
Morricone would also go on to write the scores for Verneuil’s “PeurSurLaVille” (aka “FearOverTheCity“), starring Jean–PaulBelmondo (in one of his best action-star performances), and “I… For Icarus,” starring YvesMontand.
Album cover art.Album cover art.
With an impressive international cast of headliners (HenryFonda, YulBrynner, DirkBogard, PhilipNoiret, and VirnaLisi), “LeSerpent” (aka “NightFlightFromMoscow“) tells the story of a Soviet diplomat (Brynner) plotting his defection to America by trading a list of alleged Soviet double agents. As Brynner is taken into Fonda’s custody in the US, the names on his list begin getting knocked off, one by one.
HenryFonda has his eye on the slippery YulBrynner.YulBrynner as soviet spy, Col. AlexeiVlassov.Lobby card featuring Fonda and Brynner.Lobby card featuring Fonda.Alternate poster art.Alternate poster.More lobby cards.Italian poster.Japanese poster.
Links:
Listen to Morricone’s score for “IlSerpente” here:
“IlSerpente” score on YouTube.
Watch the trailer for “LeSerpent” here:
“LeSerpent” aka “NightFlightFromMoscow” trailer on YouTube.
Watch the complete film for free here:
Full film on YouTube.
If you are in the Toronto area, say hi to my Filmography co-host Bjorn, and find “Le Serpent” (as “Night Flight From Moscow“) at Bay Street Video here:
“We can’t rule out the possibility that he is a pervert.”
-Quote from “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.”
EnnioMorricone circa 1970, the year “The BirdWithTheCrystalPlumage” was released.Original theatrical poster.Spanish DVD art for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.”Italian DVD art for Arrow’s home video release of “TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage.”Front album cover art.Reverse album cover sleeve.Vinyl Side 1Vinyl Side 2
Morricone’s score for DarioArgento’s debut picture, 1970’s Rome-set thriller “TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage,” is the first of three scores the Maestro composed for Argento’s so-called “AnimalTrilogy” (followed swiftly by “The Cat O’ Nine Tails,” and “Four Flies On Grey Velvet“).
“The Cat O’ Nine Tails.““4 Flies On Grey Velvet.”
Morricone would later compose the music for Argento’s “The Stendhal Syndrome,” and “The Phantom Of The Opera,” bringing the total of Argento-directed films with Morricone scores to 5.
Of course, Argento was already an established screenwriter of note before making his directorial debut on “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.” Argento penned the screenplays for the Morricone-scored pictures “Comandamenti Per Un Gangster,” “Once Upon a Time In The West,” “Metti Una Sera A Cena,” “Un Esercito Di 5 Uomini,” and “La Stagione Dei Sensei,” making it a 10 film-collaboration over four-decades.
“The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” director DarioArgento with the Maestro himself.
The “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” score begins with a light touch, very much in the vein of Morricone’s more melodic lounge compositions, but things quickly get weird, with strange vocalizations, moans, and heavy breathing over sparse, jagged, anxiety-inducing discordant themes.
SuzyKendall and TonyMusante in “TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage.”
The effect is that Morricone’s score lulls you into a dreamy state before it strikes with dissonance and unnerving sounds meant to put you on a razor’s edge, only appropriate given the nature of the film to which this music belongs.
Tony Musante and a soon to be murder-victim in “TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage.”TonyMusante interviewed by the police in “TheBirdWithTheCrystalPlumage.”A staple of the giallo picture: the silhouette of a mysterious killer all in black.
Although it wasn’t the first (credit MarioBava‘s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much” with that honour) Argento’s oft-imitated suspense picture set the benchmark for the giallo genre.
The original giallo picture, Mario Bava’s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much”
Literally translated as “yellow” from Italian, gialli are Italian thrillers that take their name from “Il Giallo Mondadori,” a series of popular Italian murder mysteries originally published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, with their iconic yellow jackets.
“Giallo” was an Italian literary genre before bleeding into Italian cinema.Argento wields the knife.
Argento was the best of the best in the giallo business, and has become synonymous with the genre, but there are many other classics to seek out, from LucioFulci’s “Don’tTorturea Duckling,” to one of my personal favourites, LuigiBazzoni’s “TheFifthCord” (also scored by Morricone).
Poster for LucioFulci’sgiallo classic.Poster for LuigiBazzoni’s giallo classic.
After you check out the soundtrack, don’t forget to see the film! And on the subject of gialli, ArrowVideo has been releasing a number of significant giallo pictures both on blu-ray and on their Arrow Player streaming app.
Visit the giallo section of ArrowVideo’s website here:
https://www.arrow-player.com/giallo-essentials
Along with Spaghetti Westerns (Italian westerns) and Poliziotteschi (Italian cop thrillers), the giallo sub-genre shows what a rich period the 1960s and ’70s were for Italian cinema. For more on everything giallo, check out the documentary “AllTheColorsofGiallo,” which is a fun deep-dive for fans of the genre and newcomers alike.
Watch the complete documentary “AllTheColorsofGiallo” here:
“AlltheColorsofGiallo” on YouTube.
And for more on poliziotteschi and why the ’60s and ’70s were the heyday for Italian genre cinema, check out the trailer for “Eurocrime: The Italian Cop & Gangster Films That Ruled The 70s” here:
If you are in the Toronto area, say hi to my Filmography podcast co-host Bjorn, and rent or purchase “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” by visiting the last great video store, BayStreetVideo, in store or with the link below:
“I’ve made some important films. ‘Dog Eat Dog’ is not one of them.” –Paul Schrader
Paul Schrader directs “Dog Eat Dog.”
On this week’s episode of TheFilmography podcast, Bjorn and I take a deep dive into PaulSchrader’s wildest picture yet, 2016’s bonkers neo-noir “DogEatDog.”
Nicolas Cage sees red in “Dog Eat Dog.”
The film marks the second collaboration between Schrader and Nicolas Cage following their mutual dissatisfaction with the removal of Schrader as director in the botched post-production process of finishing their first picture together, 2014’s “DyingoftheLight.”
Japanese poster.“DogEatDog” author EdwardBunker as Mr. Blue (with MichaelMadsen) in QuentinTarantino’s debut film, “ReservoirDogs.”Edward Bunker’s novel, on which MathewWilder’s screenplay is based.
Adapted from (most of) the novel of the same name by Edward “Mr. Blue” Bunker (“ReservoirDogs”) , the film features a totally unhinged supporting turn from Willem Dafoe, who was absolutely riveting 17 years earlier opposite Edward Furlong in the excellent EddieBunker adaptation “Animal Factory,” directed by Bunker’s fellow “ReservoirDogs” alum, Steve “Mr. Pink” Buscemi (who also played a small part).
WillemDafoe tripping out in “DogEatDog.”Steve Buscemi and Edward Bunker as co-stars in Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”Willem Dafoe with Eddie Furlong in Steve Buscemi’s adaptation of Edward Bunker’s “Animal Factory.”Willem Dafoe in “AnimalFactory”Steve Buscemi in “Animal Factory”Buscemi, stepping behind the camera into the director’s role on his debut picture, “TreesLounge.”Poster for “Animal Factory.”The devil in Mr. Defoe: “Dog Eat Dog.”
Apparently, after playing smaller parts in “Affliction” and “TheWalker,” Dafoe told Schrader not to bother casting him again unless he had a truly interesting character for himto sink his famous teeth into. Dafoe got his wish (and more!) in a role that sees him at his most uninhibited, crazed, and funniest best.
Dafoe freaking even himself out with his extreme behaviour.
It’s not the first time that Dafoe and Cage have brought out the extreme in each other on screen before, having previously co-starred in DavidLynch’s brilliantly deranged ode to “TheWizardofOz,’ 1992’s “WildAt Heart.”
Cage and Dafoe in Lynch’s “WildatHeart.”Cage as Troy in “Dog Eat Dog.”
In the lead role, NicolasCage demonstrates some of his best and worst thespian instincts. For instance, he spends much of the film impersonating HumphreyBogart, an alternately amusing and distracting creative choice that he apparently surprised Schrader with on the day.
Cage in HumphreyBogart mode.The real thing: Bogart in his best and most iconic role in “Casablanca.”
Rounding out the trio of disorganized criminals at the heart of the film is ChristopherMathewCook (“Treme,” “2Guns”), who steals many scenes from his much more famous co-stars.
The three stooges: Dafoe, Cage, and Cook cosplay in their police uniforms.Cook as “Diesel,” the muscle in Cage’s crew.
In particular, Cook is excellent in a scene with one of the few female characters in the film, played with great depth and tenderness (despite her limited screen time) by LouisaKrause (“Billions,” TheGirlfriendExperience” series).
Krause and Cook in a standout scene.Krause as Zoe in “Dog Eat Dog.”
With its midnight-black humour and outrageous violence, “DogEatDog” is a lot of fun, and certainly a step up from the last Schrader–Cage flick, “DyingoftheLight,” though it’s hardly a masterpiece.
Dafoe blows the audience away as Mad Dog in “DogEatDog.”
If nothing else, it’s the shotgun-blast, who-gives-a-fuck picture that Schrader clearly needed to make before he was ready to return to his transcendental roots a year later for what is, arguably, his true masterpiece, “FirstReformed.”
Poster for “FirstReformed.”Schrader in press photo for “Dog Eat Dog.”
Schrader even makes a rare (and entertaining) cameo in the film as “El Greco” (The Greek), a decidedly non-Greek mobster.
PaulSchrader as “The Greek.”
For the complete breakdown of all the highs and lows of Schrader’s 20th picture (including a debate on the meaning of that mad ending!), you will have to check out the full Filmography podcast episode below:
Listen to TheFilmography on Spotify (with above link), Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch the trailer for “DogEatDog” here:
“DogEatDog” trailer on YouTube.
Watch an interview with PaulSchrader on “DogEatDog” here:
And before next week’s episode of The Filmography where Bjorn and I will take a deep dive into “FirstReformed,” check out PaulSchrader’s definitive treatise on “Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dryer” here:
Paul Schrader’s 1997 adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s “Touch.”
Happy Filmography Friday! In this week’s episode, Bjorn Olson and I are joined by returning special guest, Noah Taylor, for a discussion of Paul Schrader’s adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s strangest novel, “Touch,” the first of two films Schrader released in 1997 (followed by Affliction). Thank you for listening!
New episode now streaming on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
