Today marks the 50th anniversary of the
premier of “Il grande silenzio” (The Great Silence) in Rome, Italy. Arguably
one of the best films of the genre it starred Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus
Kinski and Frank Wolff. Directed and co-written by Sergio Corbucci it tells the
story of a mute gunfighter who defends a
young widow and a group of outlaws against a gang of bounty killers in the
winter of 1898, as a grim, tense struggle unfolds. The film was made in the
snow of the Italian Alps and the depressing ending where Silence is actually
killed by the villainous Tigero was a total shock to filmgoers in the 1960s. So
shocking was it that several distributors demanded Corbucci produce a happy
ending for their markets. Sergio complied and the film has two versions.
The film was re-released with a 4-K restoration this past
year. It’s also available on Blu-ray for collectors.
Il grande silenzio - Italian title
Le grand silence - French title
Le grand massacre - French title
O silencio da morte - Brazilian title
O Vingador Silencioso - Brazilian title
Suuri hiljainen - Finnish title
Suuri hiljaisuus - Finnish title
Leichen pflastern seinen Weg - German title
O ekdikitis tou diavolou - Greek title
A halál csöndje - Hungarian title
Czlowiek zwany Cisza - Polish title
O Grande Silêncio - Portuguese title
El gran silencio - Spanish title
Den tyste hämnaren - Swedish title
The Big Silence - English title
The Great Silence - English title
A 1967 Italian, French co-production [Adelphia Compagnia
Cinematografica (Rome), Les Films
Corona
(Paris)]
Producer: Sergio CorbucciDirector: Sergio Corbucci
Story: Sergio Corbucci
Screenplay: Sergio Corbucci, Vittoriano Petrilli, Mario
Amendola, Bruno Corbucci
French dialogue: André Tranché
English dialogue: Lewis E. Ciannelli (Lewis Edward
Ciannelli), John Hart
Cinematography: Silvano Ippoliti [Eastmancolor]
Music: Ennio Morricone
Running time: 106 minutes
Cast:
Silenzio/Silence - Jean-Louis Trintignant
Sheriff Gideon Burnett/Corbett - Frank Wolff (Walter
Wolff)
Tigrero/Tiger - Klaus Kinski (Nikolaus Nakaszynski)
Henry Pollicut - Luigi Pistilli
Pauline Middleton - Vonetta McGee (Lawrence McGee, Jr.)
Martin - Mario Brega
Governor of Utah - Carlo D’Angelo
Regina - Marisa Merlini
Sanchez/Bobo Schultz - Raf Baldassarre (Raffaele
Baldassarre)
Walter - Spartaco Conversi
False sheriff - Remo DeAngelis
Charlie - Bruno Corazzari
Barman - Mimmo Poli (Domenico Poli)
Silence as a boy - Loris Loddi
Silence’s mother - Adriana Giuffre
Saloon girl - Mirella Pamphili
Bounty killers - Claudio Ruffini, Luciano Rossi
Child on sled - Giulia Salvatori
Outlaw - Fortunato Arena
Stagecoach driver - Benito Pacifico
Miguel’s mother - Maria Mizar (Maria Ferrara)
Miguel’s mother - Pupita Lea Scuderoni
With: Marisa Salli, Jacques Toulouse
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