Poliziotteschi ► reececrothers.com

“We can’t rule out the possibility that he is a pervert.”
-Quote from “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.”

**Ennio** **Morricone** circa 1970, the year “**The Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**” was released.

Spanish DVD art for “**The Bird With The Crystal Plumage**.”

Italian DVD art for Arrow’s home video release of “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

Morricone’s score for Dario Argento’s debut picture, 1970’s Rome-set thriller “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage,” is the first of three scores the Maestro composed for Argento’s so-called “Animal Trilogy” (followed swiftly by “The Cat O’ Nine Tails,” and “Four 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 **Dario** **Argento** 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.

**Suzy** **Kendall** and **Tony** **Musante** in “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

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 “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

**Tony** **Musante** interviewed by the police in “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

A staple of the *giallo* picture: the silhouette of a mysterious killer all in black.

Although it wasn’t the first (credit Mario Bava‘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 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 Lucio Fulci’s “Don’t Torture a Duckling,” to one of my personal favourites, Luigi Bazzoni’s “The Fifth Cord” (also scored by Morricone).

Poster for **Lucio** **Fulci’s** *giallo* classic.

After you check out the soundtrack, don’t forget to see the film! And on the subject of gialli, Arrow Video 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 Arrow Video’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 “All The Colors of Giallo,” which is a fun deep-dive for fans of the genre and newcomers alike.

Watch the complete documentary “All The Colors of Giallo” here:

“All the Colors of Giallo” 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:

https://youtu.be/ILqe-2aumvw?si=E8vFuKH9DtApG8CJ

Expect future posts on my favourite gialli and poliziotteschi pictures soon. So long!

Listen to the complete “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” score here:

Morricone’s complete score for “The Bird with The Crystal Plumage” on YouTube.

Watch the trailer for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” here:

Arrow Video trailer for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on YouTube.

Watch the Arrow Video Story on “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” here:

Arrow’s Video Story for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on YouTube.

Watch a clip from “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” here:

“The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” clip “The Painting” on YouTube.

Watch “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on The Criterion Channel here:

https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-bird-with-the-crystal-plumage

Watch “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” for free on YouTube here:

Full film on YouTube.

See Dario Argento introduce the film at the Lincoln Center here:

Dario Argento introduces his debut film at the Lincoln Center screening for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.”

Watch the Film at Lincoln Center screening Q&A here:

Dario Argento Q&A on “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” at the Film at Lincoln Center screening.

Find a copy of Morricone’s “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on Discogs here:

https://www.discogs.com/release/3405084-Ennio-Morricone-The-Bird-With-The-Crystal-Plumage

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, Bay Street Video, in store or with the link below:

The last great video store, Bay Street Video.

If you’re not in Toronto, you can find the blu-ray on Amazon here:

https://a.co/d/hC0Oerl

Watch the Arrow Video Story for the prototypical giallo picture, Mario Bava’s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much,” here:

Arrow Video Story on Mario Bava’s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much” on YouTube.

Watch the trailer for Lucio Fulci’s giallo classic “Don’t Torture A Duckling” here:

“Don’t Torture A Duckling” trailer on YouTube.

Watch the trailer for Luigi Bazzoni’s giallo classic “The Fifth Cord” here:

“The Fifth Cord” trailer on YouTube.

Listen to Morricone’s score for “The Fifth Cord” (aka “Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete) here:

https://youtu.be/CS6cyjaSofw?si=bfMk7SafCarhcZz1

Although Cam Sugar pressed a new LP in 2021, as the third in their “Morricone Segretto” collection, I sourced the original 1982 vinyl from Discogs, primarily for the excellent cover art.

The Maestro in 1980, the year he composed the score for “**The Blue-Eyed Bandit.**“

Released in 1980, The Blue-Eyed Bandit (aka Il Bandito Dagli Occhi Azzurri) is an amusing Italian poliziottesco picture. Written and directed by Alfredo Giannetti, it stars Franco Nero and Dalila Di Lazzaro, and features Morricone’s jazziest score.

The Album:

Cover-art for “**The Blue-Eyed Bandit**“

Side 1.

Side 2.

Other Editions:

The Film:

From MUBI.com:

Franco Nero stars as a mild mannered, elderly bank clerk, who shuffles in and out of the bank everyday, unnoticed by his co-workers, or anyone else for that matter.

Franco Nero disguised as an old, balding, dark-eyed bank clerk.

But this is quickly revealed to be a facade. The balding hairline is a wig. The dark eyes, contact lenses. The shuffle, an affectation.

The disguise is in aid of Nero’s real job, robbing banks as “The Blue-eyed Bandit” of the title.

*Not* Sean Connery in “**The Untouchables**.”

Complicating things at work is his attraction to (and attention from) his beautiful co-worker, played by Dalila Di Larraro, who also starred in the Morricone-scored “Stark System” the same year (co-starring Gian Maria Volonte, star of many Morricone-scored films himself).