Italian theatrical poster.A young Maestro, around the time he composed the score for “Slalom.”The Maestro’s screen credit.
The Album:
From the liner notes to Dagored’s 2000 pressing of “Slalom“:
“It is without doubt thanks to the perfect harmony between the composer and the director (a subject that I wit repeat again and again, since the final result is, of course, a single work which is presented to the spectator in the audience) that Morricone’s music for “Slalom” by LucianoSalce is an exharating, small work of art in its category.
Front cover sticker.
It is certainly a reliable example of our own Morricone’s activity in the 60s and 70s. Certainly, the rhythmic, melodic accents would not have been the same without the impressive participation of Alessandroni’s choral formation, and without Alessandro himself, whose contribution often results as being fundamental (and this is particularly the case here) not only for the formal but also for the substance of the work of music itself. Both amused and amusing, the music closely follows the vicissitudes of Gassman who is all the best of his theatrical art (and this music becomes a sort of grateful homage, from myself and from DAGORED, to the memory of Gassman, since the tributes after his death have not been numerous).
The music emphasizes with irony and (it is here that we can see the genius of Morricone’s compositions) above all with a perfect, formal style, the frenzied and amusing events that begin at Sestriere but… who knows where they will finish!
(The orchestration, and we are speaking of a master composer, is rich and vivacious and (Bruno) Nicolai’s orchestral direction is rigorous and has style and, at the same time, is tastefully characterized by a good, healthy sense of rhythm).
See the film if you have the chance… it’s two hours of fun! I have already mentioned Alessandroni, but I would like to further emphasize how the contribution (always discreet, as Sandro isn’t a person who likes to be in the spotlight at all costs) Of “I Cantori Moderni“, which, at the time, included voices such as those of Edda Dell’Orso, Gianna Spagnuto,Raoul, Giulia Alessandroni (just to name a few that first come to mind) returns to this beautiful and enjoyable soundtrack the improvised flavor of a genuine dish of real Italian music… the same music which, with the same name and excellent quality (Morricone) has rightly become a legend all over the world.”
Roberto Zamori/ Film Music Art Studio
Listen to the main theme (“Titoli”) from “Slalom” here:
Lucio and Riccardo, a pair of married pals, take their wives on a ski vacation in Sestriere but get distracted by the beautiful and seductive Nadia and Helen, who lure them into unexpected adventure and danger where Lucio is forced to go to Egypt with another passport and identity.
Theatrical poster.Morricone around the time of composing the score to SergioCorbucci’s “IlGrandeSilenzio.”Director SergioCorbucci on location
The Album:
Dagored’s 2016 double-coloured vinyl pressing of Morricone’s 1968 score (one of my all-time favourite Morricones) to SergioCorbucci’s great Spaghetti Western, “IlGrandeSilenzio,” represents the “the first re-issue ever” and is limited to 500 copies.
Album sticker
From the album sticker:
“The legendary soundtrack composed by the Maestro ENNIOMORRICONE for ILGRANDESILENZIO, directed in 1968 by SERGIOCORBUCCI and staring JeanLouisTrintigant and KlausKinski.
Reverse album cover.
A melancholic, emotive score, deeply moving and cold as the snow covered landscape of the film, is considered one of the best “western” work by Morricone since the collaboration with SergioLeone.
Side A.
FIRST VINYL REISSUE EVER LIMITED EDITION OF 500 COPIES DOUBLE COLORED VINYL
Original Italian 1968 pressing.Reverse album cover.1978 Italian re-issue (blue).Reverse album cover.Alternate 1978 Italian re-issue (black).Reverse album cover.Alternate 1978 Italian re-issue.Reverse album cover.Soundcloud thumbnail.
The Film:
IMDb movie data.Jean-Louis Trintignant, beloved giant of European New Wave cinema, as “Silenzio” (Silence).
From A.O. Scott’s 2018 NY Times review:
“I’m not generally one for nostalgia, but I do regret the loss of a certain kind of craziness that used to flourish in movies — the kind that is on rich and ripe display in “The Great Silence,” a 1968 Italian western by Sergio Corbucci that is only now receiving a proper theatrical release in this country.
The cast of “Il Grande Silenzio” in a lighter moment on set.
There is something about the film’s brazen mixing of incompatible elements that defies categorization, imitation or even sober critical assessment. It’s anarchic and rigorous, sophisticated and goofy, heartfelt and cynical. The score, by EnnioMorricone, is as mellow as wine. The action is raw, nasty and blood-soaked. The story is preposterous, the politics sincere.
Title shot.
In 2018, it’s possible — and perhaps inevitable — to view “The Great Silence” as a footnote to the oeuvre of Quentin Tarantino, whose admiration for Corbucci is well documented. Corbucci’s 1966 western “Django” was an inspiration for Mr. Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” and “The Hateful Eight” shares a snowbound aesthetic and a gleeful commitment to cruelty with “The Great Silence.” The scholarly minded viewer can trace other connections and divergences as well — to classic American westerns and to the contemporaneous and better-known work of the spaghetti maestro SergioLeone.
The great Jean-Louis Trintignant rides into town.
But this plate of pasta — bitter and pungent, nourishing and perhaps a bit nauseating — should be savored on its own. It takes place at the end of the 19th century in “Snow Hill, Utah,” a place name that sounds infinitely more exotic in Italian. There, farmers have been driven off their land and forced into banditry, leaving them at the mercy of bounty killers, the most fearsome and sadistic of whom is played by Klaus Kinski.
Klaus Kinski, legendary madman of WernerHerzog classics like “Fitzcaraldo.”
His character — referred to as Tigrero aloud and Loco in the subtitles — is a whispering sociopath and a symbol of the Darwinian brutality that governs Snow Hill. The actual governor wants to bring the area under the rule of law, and dispatches a bumbling, decent sheriff (Frank Wolff) to bring Tigrero and the rest of the bounty killers into line. The lawman’s earnest efforts are a sideshow to the main drama, though, which pits Tigrero and his minions against a solitary avenger known as Silenzio.
Played by the great Jean-Louis Trintignant, Silenzio is a tragic, poetic variation on Clint Eastwood’s taciturn Man With No Name. Silenzio is not a man of few words, but a survivor of horrific violence. When he was a child, the bounty hunters who murdered his parents severed his vocal cords to keep him from talking. He has grown up into Tigrero’s double and opposite, meting out justice for money and following a strict code of ethics. He will never draw his gun first, but he will always shoot faster than his adversary.
Silenzio packs heat.Kinski fires his pistol (and remembers to keep his ears warm at all times).
Silenzio’s services are solicited by Pauline (Vonetta McGee), the widow of one of Tigrero’s victims. The fact that she and her husband are black is at once a casual detail and a sign of the film’s anti-authoritarian, democratic ideology. The couple seems to have been welcomed by the other good people of Snow Hill, but their race is a big issue for the bad guys.
VonettaMcGee as Pauline.
The plot takes a twist or two, but serves mainly as a thread linking shootouts and glowering confrontations, with a brief respite for love. The mood is sometimes jaunty, but “The Great Silence” is no joke, and the fatalism of its ending serves as an implicit critique of the sentimental optimism of many Hollywood westerns. Power speaks louder than silence.”
Album cover art.
Perhaps the greatest influence “Il Grande Silenzio“” has had on contemporary cinema is on display in the snowy landscapes of die-hard Corbucci & Morricone fan QuentinTarantino’s 2nd western, “The Hateful 8,” which also features (an Oscar-winning) score by Maestro Morricone.
Alternate poster.Still from “the 8th film by QuentinTarantino.”UK theatrical poster.
Tarantino’s 1st western, 2012’s “DjangoUnchained,” was likewise inspired by another Corbucci Spaghetti Western, the one for which he is probably most famous, “Django,” released two years previously (1966).
Corbucci ‘s best known work, “Django” released two years before “IlGrandeSilenzio.”Original “Django” (1966) poster, and the film itself, are obvious influences on……the original poster (and film) for Robert Rodriguez’ ‘s take on the Spaghetti Western, “Desperado” (1995).Tarantino’s Django, JamieFoxx, with Corbucci’s original Django, Spaghetti Western icon, FrancoNero, in Tarantino’s 2012 ode to Corbucci’s picture.Title shot.Alternate poster.
Worthy of note in any discussion on “IlGrandeSilenzio” is the performance by American actor FrankWolff as the doomed sheriff first hired by the put-upon townspeople to go after Kinski and his fellow bounty hunters. Having worked extensively in the U.S. with the prince of independent cinema, RogerCorman, Wolff later distinguished himself in many Italian and European films that sprung forth as part of the boom of filmmaking in Rome (and other European cities) in the 1960’s and 70’s. Wolff was an extremely likeable character actor who met a very tragic end, “slashing” his own throat, allegedly over the unrequited love of a young woman, after being left by his wife for another man.
American actor and Italian cinema stalwart, Frank Wolff, who tragically committed suicide just 3 years after appearing as the doomed sheriff in “Il Grande Silenzio.”
From Wikipedia:
(Frank Wolff’s) Death:
Wolff committed suicide by cutting his throat in the bathroom of a residence in his Rome hotel room, a few steps from the Hilton hotel, at the age of 43 on December 12, 1971.[2] Long the victim of a deep depressive crisis, the actor was separated from his wife AliceCampbell, who lived like him in Rome. According to one hypothesis, Wolff would have injured himself for the first time with a razor blade. Having dropped the blade from his hand, the actor would have taken a second one, with which he would have cut the carotid artery. This second injury caused a cerebral anemia that led to his death in a short time.[3]
His body was found by a 24-year-old Austrian friend on the same day, and police said he had slashed his throat.[4] It was speculated that the unrequited love for the young woman might have contributed to Wolff’s fatal act, already suffering from a nervous breakdown for some time, after his wife had left him for another man.[3]
His final two Italian-made films, Milano Caliber 9 and When Women Lost Their Tails were released posthumously in 1972. His voice in the English-language version of Milano Caliber 9was dubbed in by his frequent co-star and roommate at the time of his death Michael Forest.
Additional Film Stills:
Scars and core wounds.A love story fraught with danger and trauma.Even in winter, the dead must be buried.Frosted windows and a grumpy Silenzio.Silenzio reflects in the glow of a solitary candle.Kinski with the bounty hunter’s greatest prop, the wanted poster.Trintignant rides the high country.Crosses in the snow: a recurring motif.Trintignant makes a grand entrance as “TheGreatSilence.”
The Director:
“Il Grande Silenzio” director Corbucci likes what he sees through the viewfinder.“The Great Silence,” Corbucci’s great achievement.Compilation album of 3 collaborations between Morricone and Corbucci.
Morricone is forever associated with the most famous of the “threeSergios” of Italian cinema, Leone, but equally great are the 7 soundtracks the Maestro scored for another Sergio, that being Mr. Corbucci, for whom Morricone composed the scores for “Compañeros,” “I Crudeli,” aka “The Hellbenders,” “Che C’entriamo Noi Con La Rivoluzione?“, “The Mercenary, ” “Navajo Joe,” “Sonny & Jed,” and of course, “Il Grande Silenzio.”
He is the older brother of screenwriter and film director Bruno Corbucci.[2]
Biography
Sergio Corbucci.
Early career
He started his career by directing mostly low-budget sword and sandal movies. Among his first spaghetti Westerns were the films Grand Canyon Massacre (1964), which he co-directed (under the pseudonym, Stanley Corbett) with Albert Band, as well as Minnesota Clay (1964), his first solo directed spaghetti Western. Corbucci’s first commercial success was with the cult spaghetti Western Django, starring Franco Nero, the leading man in many of his movies.[3] He would later collaborate with Franco Neroon two other spaghetti Westerns, Il Mercenario or The Mercenary (a.k.a. A Professional Gun) (1968) — where Nero played Sergei Kowalski, a Polish mercenary and the film also starring Tony Musante, Jack Palance and Giovanna Ralli — as well as Compañeros (1970) a.k.a. Vamos a matar, Companeros, which also starred Tomas Milian and Jack Palance. The last film of the “Mexican Revolution” trilogy – The Mercenary and Compañeros being the first two in the installment – was What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution? (1972).
Corbucci.
After Django, Corbucci made many other spaghetti Westerns, which made him the most successful Italian Western director after Sergio Leone and one of Italy’s most productive and prolific directors.[4] His most famous of these pictures was The Great Silence (Il Grande Silenzio), a dark and gruesome Western starring a mute action hero and a psychopathic bad guy.[5][6] The film was banned in some countries for its excessive display of violence.
Corbucci (r) on location with “Navajo Joe” star, Burt Reynolds.
Corbucci (r) with actor TomasMilian on set of “Compañeros.”
Corbucci’s Westerns were dark and brutal, with the characters portrayed as sadistic antiheroes. His films featured very high body counts and scenes of mutilation. Django especially is considered to have set a new level for violence in Westerns.[7]
In the 1970s and 1980s Corbucci mostly directed comedies, often starring Adriano Celentano. Many of these comedies were huge successes at the Italian box office and found wide distribution in European countries like Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland, but were barely released overseas.[8]
His movies were rarely taken seriously by contemporary critics[9][10] and he was considered an exploitation director, but Corbucci has managed to attain a cult reputation.[6][11]
His nephew Leonardo Corbucci[13] continues the legacy of film directors in the family in Los Angeles.
In 2021 was released a documentary about Corbucci, directed by Luca Rea, Django & Django, that relies to a considerable extent on an interview with Quentin Tarantino.[14]
In 2022 German thrash metal band Kreator released the instrumental song “Sergio Corbucci is Dead” as an intro to their album Hate Über Alles. According to vocalist/guitarist Mille Petrozza, “Sergio Corbucci was someone who was very anti-authoritarian in his film. In all his films he has a protagonist who rebels against the authorities. Often these characters are very obscure. I was wondering if there are still people like that who make really political films without trying to preach anything to you. It’s a bit of a dig at the bands who don’t speak their minds out of fear of losing fans.”[15]
50th anniversary restoration poster.German lobby card.20th Century Fox international poster.Japanese posterItalian DVD cover art.German theatrical poster.French theatrical poster.Alternate poster.Alternate poster.Danish theatrical poster.British DVD cover art.
If in the Toronto area, say hi to my Filmography podcast co-host Bjorn, and find a copy of “The Great Silence” on DVD or blu-ray at Toronto’s “last great video store,” BayStreetVideo, in store or online at baystreetvideo.com:
Original Italian Theatrical Poster.Morricone (l) in 1971, the year he composed the score for “Verushka.” The Maestro is pictured here with legendary director SergioLeone (r). The two would become synonymous with each other for their groundbreaking work on the ClintEastwood “ManWithNoName” trilogy, and other works.Veruschka and DavidHemmings in Antonioni’s “BlowUp.”
Though she is only in the film for 5 minutes, fashion superstar Veruschka is probably best known to cinephiles for her iconic appearance in Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 art-house classic, “BlowUp,” for which her image on the film’s poster has become iconic and forever synonymous with the film itself.
Lesser known is the 1971 picture directed by fashion photographer FrancoRubartelli, “Veruschka: PoetryOfAWoman,” for which this excellent Morricone score was composed.
Featuring vocals by frequent Morricone collaborator EddaDell’Orso, the soundtrack to “Veruschka” is one of Morricone’s sweetest (and saddest) scores. Wistful, romantic, and melancholy, with sweeping string arrangements that suggest a story as grand, tragic and exciting as the life lived by “the world’s first supermodel.”
Hank Oh’s album review from turntablelab.com:
“ENNIO MORRICONE MIGHT BE BEST KNOWN FOR HIS SPAGHETTI WESTERN soundtracks for directors like Sergio Leone and Duccio Tessari, but his experimental work deserves some attention as well. Morricone’s soundtrack for Franco Rubartelli 1971 documentary Veruschka, Poesia di una Donna is one of the composer’s greatest works. The film follows Veruschka von Lehndorff, the world’s first supermodel and icon of the 60s and 70s, on a surreal journey through the Italian country side. She goes through downward spiral of self discovery that leads her through many whacked out head trips. Rubartelli creates a world that is dark and melancholy paired with stunning psychedelic eye candy and Morricone’s music matches it every step of the way. It’s a haunting work of music that shifts from mood to mood over the course of the LP. Beautiful female vocals float over sublime grooves at one point only to move towards darker moments further down the line. Atonal passages signal tension while more jazz based moments serve to ease it. There are many takes of various themes throughout the soundtrack, creating different vibes with each version. Truly fantastic material from Morricone. Dagored, the Italian record label that specialized in soundtracks from composers like Morricone, has recently resurrected itself with this latest batch of soundtracks. Limited edition double vinyl pressing with reinterpreted cover on the front and original cover on the back.”
Reverse Album Cover.Side A.Side B.
From the album sticker:
“EnnioMorricone’s soundtrack for the 1971 documentary “Veruschka: PoesiaDiUnaDonna” about the legendary and the world’s first supermodel VERUSHKA (a real ’60s/’70s icon that starred in several cult movies including “BlowUp,” “Salome,” and “ColourChair“).
Alternate Pressings:
Verushka “After Hate Remix.”
Posters:
Alternate Poster.Alternate Poster.Alternate Poster.Alternate Poster.The iconic image of DavidHemmings straddling Verushka that has become synonymous with Antonioni’s film.Alternate poster.
Misc. Images:
VogueMagazine’s “TheVeruschkaIssue.”
Links:
Listen to Morricone’s score here:
Veruschka by Ennio Morricone Watch “Versushka” the Morricone-scored documentary directed by FrancoRubartelli for free on YouTube here:
Original Italian Theatrical Poster.The Morricone gaze.
From the album sticker:
“For this 1968 cult Italian thriller based on a script by DarioArgento, the Maestro EnnioMorricone composed a dark and oppressive score, with experimental and avant-garde elements that describes perfectly the brutality of the plot”
Album Sticker.Reverse Album Cover.Lato ALato B
AlanBishop’s album review from ForcedExposure’s website:
“This is an obscure 1968 mafia film score that begins with a short dramatic theme complete with pounding tympani, a horn section, distorted electric piano, ascending strings and a monumental vocal chorus. This title track has been a neglected masterpiece of sound forgotten over time. The same can be said for the lovely vocal track Solo Nostalgia sung by Jane Relly set to echoed drums, electric bass, and baroque organ. The screenplay to the film was co-written by Dario Argento and the balance of music is a pastiche of dark moods and colorfully orchestrated intensity. Dagored had great taste in prioritizing this LP for reissue.”
Earlier Album Pressing.Earlier Album Pressing.Earlier Album Pressing.
The Film:
From Mubi’s synopsis of director AlfioCaltabiano’s 1968 Italian crime picture, “ComandamentiPerUnGangster” (aka “CommandmentsForA Gangster“):
Still from “Comandamenti Per Un Gangster.”
“Norton is a retired gangster who wants to avenge the death of his sister, who was married to Frank Cline. Cline disappeared while transporting a large shipment of the Organization’s gold, leaving three dead bodies before him. “
Still from “Comandamenti Per Un Gangster.”
The screenplay for “ComandamentiPerUngangster” was co-written by legendary horror director (and frequent Morricone collaborator) Dario Argento.
An edgy, young Dario Argento with his favourite prop.
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:
Featuring 9 bonus tracks, this 2018 Dagored limited edition (500 copies) of Morricone’s score to the 1966 Italian crime thriller “Svegliati E Uccidi” (aka “Wake Up & Die,” aka “Wake Up & Kill,” aka “Too Soon To Die”) is the first time the complete soundtrack has been available on vinyl. Described as “dark and powerful,” this early work from Morricone showcases his mastery of not just film scores, but pop songs, too, as evidenced by the stirring, mournful opening track “Una Stanza Vuota” (“An Empty Room”) sung by the film’s lead actress, Lisa Gastoni, who also starred in the Morricone-scored films “Grazie Zia,”“Maddalena,” and “I Pugni In Tasca” (aka “Fists In The Pocket”).
