Great Silence 50th Anniversary

Today marks the 50^th 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