The Whore, the Killer, the Revenger and the Tramp
50 Years ago in the West
By Didier Thunus
Track by Track
Analysis
After the long
credits sequence with
no music, showing three men
waiting for a train that appears to not bring what they
had expected, a moaning harmonica reveals that the men’s
wait has not
been in vain: somebody did
step out of the train
and is now insidiously calling
them to face him. The man Harmonica kills them all and is injured. The music heard
is L’uomo, a slow
but disquieting
prefiguration of the L’uomo dell’armonica theme, with a first
apparition of Frank’s theme played by the banjo. Il grande massacro / L’uomo
dell’armonica All the members
of the McBain
family, except the young
boy, have been
shot by unseen killers.
They now emerge from
the wilderness to face the kid. This impressive musical moment will
mark film music history forever. Interestingly, the
second episode of the Ultimo TV series (La sfida) kicks off with a comparable
scene where killers face a boy and decide to kill him in the same way and for
the same reason (the boy has heard the killer’s name) 50. If the wink to West is more 50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnv5TIN7QfY
than obvious, Morricone however
decided to not play
the game of
self-reference and simply
illustrated the scene with a suspense cue (a variation of Quattro suoni). L’orchestraccia
Jill arrives to
Flagstone, where diegetic saloon music
is being played.
A soft piece called L’arrivo alla stazione is
present on the expanded
CD, probably conceived
for this scene but unused. C’era una volta il West Jill’s theme
premieres majestically as she realizes there
is no-one to
pick her up and
moves her way through town to find a lift to get to Sweetwater. It is actually
a shortened version of the piece C’era una volta il West, where the
final part is absent.
This is
the version that appeared
in 1974 on
the LP “Soundtracks” (RCA TBD1-1068), lasting 2:37.
L’America di Jill A short intro
illustrates Jill’s doubts
about her husband’s sincerity,
then a nice
bridgeon a melody
not heard elsewhere
makes room to a
new rendition of
Jill’s theme as the
carriage, driven by
Paolo Stoppa (who in spite of his short role did have his
name on the poster,
because he was a known figure in Italy at the time)
crosses Monument Valley
La posada/Cheyenne They stop at an inn (“posada”
in Spanish), where Cheyenne makes his first appearance on an unreleased version
of his theme. Armonica The man with
the harmonica is also
at the inn, and the two men will
check each other out a bit like Eastwood and Van Cleef had been doing outdoors in a
town in Per qualche dollaro
in più.
A version of L’uomo
dell’armonica is used, but
due to the more confined space in
which the scene takes place, Morricone had to hold back his horses, making
it a half - baked
rendition. This long scene adopts theatre - like manners with overdone
short dialogues and
corner looks by the two men who don’t know yet on
which side the
other is, not
willing to lose their face
especially in the presence of a woman. This scene is far from perfect in my
humble opinion – then again, not every scene had to be iconic, right?
Armonica - 2 versions Harmonica can
play, but Cheyenne
still wonders if he can also shoot. La posada n1 This version
of La posada makes use of
Cheyenne’s theme as he challenges a man, still inside the inn. Armonica Cheyenne
advises Harmonica to
watch for the false notes. C’era
una volta il West Jill finally arrives
at Sweetwater, only
to discover that her
new family has
been massacred. An unreleased
version of her theme plays as she looks at the bodies
one by one, very similar to the published version, but shorter and with the
bridge played softly by an English horn.
C’era una volta il - West Very short
version of the
theme as Jill decides to stay in Sweetwater. Un letto
troppo grande Short and soft version of Jill’s theme. A shot of Cardinale
lying on a bed
is strangely reminiscent of
the fin al scene
from Once Upon a Time in America, where De Niro enigmatically smiles at
the camera.
Jill - Another short version of Jill’s theme as
she is searching the
house, with a
longer and
very
different intro on
soft strings seguing into the theme delicately played by a
celesta.
Armonica - She
hears a menacing
harmonica played outside. Frank The morning
after, Jill is
alone in her
new home. Frank’s theme
is played on
English horn, probably to
bring some variety
after so many variations of Jill’s theme.
La posada n1 - The
term “posada” will
be used for
two other suspense cues
even though the corresponding scenes do not take place
in an inn at all. This one is heard when Jill opens the door only to face
Cheyenne and his men who have silently arrived at her house. This is another
theatrical effect of Leone: it was quite
impossible that all
those men and horses could approach the house
unnoticed.
Cheyenne Short
- version of Cheyenne
after he was impressed
by Jill’s harsh
speech about not being afraid of getting raped.
C’era una volta il West -Different version of Jill’s theme as she
talks, now friendly, to Cheyenne.
Armonica / L’uomo - Inside the barn,
Jill now has
to face Harmonica. He approaches
her, first giving the impression that he intends to ill-treat her, but he only
means to scare her and to showhis superiority.
Suspense -Jill gets
water from the
well for Harmonica, as
killersare waiting for the
right moment to attack. Harmonica
will kill them both.
Cheyenne - Cheyenne has witnessed the scene and
now knows that Harmonica can also shoot.
Armonica - Harmonica is facing Frank for the first
time and memories from
the past come
to his mind, with a flashback of
an unidentifiable silhouette in the wilderness.
La posada n3 - Frank made
Harmonica a prisoner and
kills Wobbles because he had been followed.
Epilogo - Frank
asks questions to Harmonica to
try to understand who he
really is. There was really
no reason to
call this version “Epilogue” on the expanded CD.
Sul tetto del treno - After Frank
left, Cheyenne manages to set
Harmonica free.
A Station -
Jill understands that McBain actually intended to build a station. The music, unreleased and not making use of a
specific theme, segues into
a suspense cue
until
Frank appears in side Jill’s house.
Morton - In a strange twist of the screenplay,
Frank is now back with his men and has harsh words towards Morton,
whose theme appears
forthe first time as he falls on the ground. On the CD, the piece is a
collage of the several short cues that will be heard throughout the movie. It is
quite amazing that
such a brilliant piece
of music had
never been released until 1999. In
una stanza con poca luce.
Frank - Frank
is abusing an
ambiguously semi-consenting Jill
on a suspended
bed, in an
undetermined place (not
her house as Cheyenne
and Harmonica are
waiting for her there). He
reveals he killed her husband and convinces her to sell her property. This was the
first scene shot
by Leone, and Cardinale
often recalls that
Fonda’s wife was attending the
shooting, making her very uncomfortable.
Morton - Morton dreams of the Pacific ocean. He
will then convince Frank’s
men to go and kill their own boss
Cheyenne - 2 versions At the
auction for McBain’s
house, conducted by Keenan
Wynn and with
an uncredited Fabio Testi
in one of
his very first roles, Harmonica
makes the final bid in the form of
the reward for the prisoner
he delivers: Cheyenne, whose theme is shortly heard. Yet another unreleased
version of it is heard as Cheyenne is being escorted to jail.
L’uomo - Frank and Harmonica face each other in the
deserted saloon.
Armonica - Second short flashback
L’attentato - Frank has been ambushed by his own
men but Harmonica helps him get out uninjured. The minimalistic suspense
music for percussion, piano and
organ is actually
made up of
a set of
short cues, some
of which are unreleased.
Ritorno al treno - Frank
goes back to
the train on
this appropriately named
version of Frank’s theme on French horn.
Morton - Morton
is the only
survivor of an
unseen confrontation between
his men and
Cheyenne’s (I
must admit that
the body count doesn’t
always make sense
to me). We will soon understand
that Cheyenne himself could escape
but was mortally injured during
this figh. Morton soon miserably
dies as well in a puddle of water.
Cheyenne - As the railway construction nears
McBain’s property, and as
Harmonica seems to be waiting
for someone, Cheyenne arrives and asks Jill to make coffee. Come una sentenza film
version Frank arrives to
face Harmonica. The trumpet
kicks off later
than on the
album version, leaving room
for a majestic and unreleased
introduction on strings.
Cheyenne - Cheyenne
tells Jill to bring water to the workers.
Prima del duello The
scene of the
duel has remained anchored in
every
one’s
memory. Amasterpiece of
directing and of
musical underscoring. This unreleased
version is extended in
order to give enough time to Frank
to find the right
position in front
of Harmonica, who then moves closer to him.
Duello finale - As
they stand immobile,
Harmonica has a longer flashback and the whole scene is now
revealed: the indistinct
silhouette was the one
of a younger
Frank, bringing to completion his
ruthless plan in
the most famous and original
torture scene of cinema history. Harmonica breathes music as he in vain tries
to prolong as much as possible the life
of his brother
(played by producer Claudio Mancini), the latter having
his neck inside a rope and
his feet on
young Harmonica’s shoulders. The
version heard is very
close to the
one released as Duello finale, still with some differences
though.
This is the
climax of the
movie, justifying the long wait and
actually magnified by it. L’ultimo rantolo Harmonica now kills Frank, revealing
at the very last moment who
he is and his motivation for
revenge. The gasp in the harmonica are now Frank’s.
C’era una volta il - Abridged version of Jill’s theme
as she is relieved to
see who survived the confrontation.
Addio a Cheyenne - Cheyenne and Harmonica both
leave, and it appears that Cheyenne had
been injured during the fight
at Morton’s train. As the man sits on the ground and
dies, we finally get to hear
the full version
of Cheyenne’s theme, even longer
than on the album (with no new music though, just a couple of lines that are
repeated). This is
actually the moment where Alessandroni’s
whistle first appears in the movie, as a late reminiscence of the Dollars
trilogy.
Finale - As the first train arrives to Sweetwater,
Jill goes out to bring water to the workers, and Leone puts
an end to
his epic movie
on a grandiose version of Jill’s
theme.
Addio a Cheyenne - As the end credits roll and we see Harmonica on horseback taking
Cheyenne’s body away, the album
version of Cheyenne’s theme is heard.
We see that many tracks heard in the movies are still
unpublished. This is
partially compensated by the
fact that many published tracks are not heard in the
movie, namely:
Come una sent enza, Il grande massacro, L’arrivo alla
stazione, Duello finale and Nascità di una città. Not counting of course
the many songs which Morricone derived later from Jill’s theme, for Mireille Mathieu, Katia
Ricciarelli, Dulce Pontes and
Hayley Westenra, plus revisions for Edda Dell’Orso,
Yo Yo Ma
and for live concerts. version of
the soundtrack, where
a detailed description of such
differences.
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