Il Clan Dei Siciliani

Le Casse

Peur Sur La Ville

Music by Ennio Morricone

 

 

 

With the adventure/western The Guns of San Sebastian (1968) the Armenian director based in France, Henri Verneuil began a prolific partnership with Ennio Morricone.

On the following year the successful crime thriller Il Clan Dei Siciliani received a beautiful soundtrack with its melancholic and melodious theme. Monothematic and often sad, the music concludes that really crime does not pay. Beautiful romantic themes add variety of material (Snack Bar, Nazzari and Delon) and the sounds of jew´s harp sounds close to westerns music. 

Verneuil and Morricone returned in 1971 with Le Casse (The Burglars), one of their best moments in a great assault thriller starred by Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Shariff. More varied than the previous track Le Casse orients to pop numbers just for the sound background of the film, without dramatic comment. The main theme, as well as Il Clan Dei Siciliani, is among the most popular of the composer, then at his prime. Other track adds romance (For Zacharia and Theme D'Amour), sensuality (Ma Non Troppo Erotico), suspense (Virage Dangereux) and pop lightness (Rodeo). The edition released by French label Play Time, includes versions of the main themes sung by Astrud Gilberto and Mirelle Mathieu. The same issue included the music for Peur Sur La Ville (1975), another policial adventure again with Belmondo and direction of Verneuil. Here the trail concentrates the drama and suspense. The startling Sur Les Toits du Paris followed Belmondo´s acrobacies without stunt (!) over the rooftops. Tracks like Nocturne and Paris Nuit are an exercise in suspense developed on jazz language. There´s also great romantic moments in Letellier et Helene and Defense StationerI, but the main material is the mystery and menace built with harmonica, whistle and piano, which would become composer´s hallmark sound to police thrillers.