I was surprised to see this thread series that I did in 2010 brought up quite a few times recently. So I thought it would be a good time to see if I am capable of adding a few more.
L’EREDITA FERRAMONTI I probably ignored the first time around because I was focused on the most exciting and innovative scores of Morricone’s career. But at the same time this was also one of Ennio’s most accessible ones I was ignoring. It was number 10 of 15 movies he would do with director Mauro Bolognini, THE most productive artistic marriages of the many Morricone had over the years. Bolognini may have not been the most exciting director Ennio worked with but indeed he was one of the most elegant. And this period piece circa 1880 provided many opportunities for Ennio to express his lush side evoking the same type of score from the likes of Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa or even Philippe Rombi. The wedding (Entrata in chiesa) and the party music (polkas, valzer per la buona societa, una canzone della strada) are sterling examples of this.
The screenplay of THE INHERITANCE adapted from the novel by Gaetano Carlo Chelli was by Ugo Pirro who wrote INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION, THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS, NAVAJO JOE, METELLO, OGRO, etc. It centers around Gregorio (Anthony Quinn) who decides to close the family business, a bakery, and tells his progeny they have to fend for themselves. Enter Irene (Dominique Sanda) who marries one of the sons and proceeds to play cat and mouse with the whole group with her sights on the titular inheritance. But the inheritance is not just money but the world of posh dances, intimate salons and elaborate parties it makes you privy to. Morricone decided to score these surfaces of romance and gentility while slowly revealing the underbelly of deceit welling up from beneath. Here is a sample of one of the lusher cues “Disperazione”:
This was first released in 1976 on a Cam LP, then on the Cam soundtrack encyclopedia CD and then on the extended GDM CD. It was also included in many a compilation album AND many of his early concerts due of the sheer beautiful melodic nature of the piece.
This was amongst a handful of scores Morricone handed over to Franco Tamponi to conduct. BLUEBEARD, RED SONJA, THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK and LA DAME AUX CAMELIAS were also included. If his name sounds familiar he is also the violinist extraordinaire who worked on Morricone's CINEMA PARADISO, A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY, THE ANTICHRIST and GLI ANGELI DEL POTERE among others.
L'EREDITA FERRAMONTI was prestigious and was shown at Cannes and won Dominique Sanda a best actress award that year.
Great to see the continuation of your wonderful series Henry and as always, fantastically written. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Will be on the lookout for more of these wonderfully informative posts of yours.Cheers!
Another beautiful Morricone score from that fruitful period in the 70s. Gotta love those rather huge interval leaps that remind me of Nino Rota. Gotta be an Italian thing. Morricone was on fire in this period. Funny cover, though, looks like she's giving him a 'high five' for job well done!
