“The Man With No Name”.
Available on YouTube
The whistling in the film “The Man with No Name”
(also known as “A Fistful of Dollars”) was performed
by Alessandro Alessandroni.
He was an Italian whistler and singer who contributed to many film scores, especially in the Spaghetti Western genre.
The film’s composer was Ennio Morricone, but the main theme was supplied by his friend Alessandro Alessandroni, who also played guitar on the soundtrack.
Alessandroni, who died aged ninety-two, was the expert whistler on several of film-maker Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, notably on “A Fistful of Dollars”.
As usual, a fascinating mini-feature by Zephyrinus on musician and expert whistler, Alessandro Alessandroni, paired with the music of film genius Ennio Morricone.
ReplyDeleteThe guitar accompaniment, the fatalistic striking of the church bell (like a funeral tolling), the myriad other unique sound effects, the hollowness echoes of the Morricone score and the whistling of Alessandroni captures vividly the atmosphere of the dry, zero humidity desert air of the American Southwest and foreshadows the impending collision of evil desperadoes with the tireless bounty hunter seeking his fistful of dollars.
(Although this scribe had lived in the West, when he moved to live in Arizona for almost two decades, it was a different experience altogether: the crackling dryness of the desert air and the echo effect produced by rocky canyons and outcroppings was a fascinating experience . “Is that a pale rider coming over the mesa in the distance?”)
The Westerns of Sergio Leone, the skill of Alessandroni, and the scores of Morricone are a mesmerizing peak of film art. Thank you, Zephyrinus! -Comment by Dante P.
An outstanding summation of this magnificent Western from our Liturgical Film Correspondent, Dante P, for which we are most grateful.
ReplyDeleteDante P's illustrious cinematographic professionalism shines through in this captivating critique of “The Man With No Name”.
It suffices, surely, to suggest that the Ennio Morricone Trilogy of Westerns, “A Fistful Of Dollars” (1964), “For A Few Dollars More” (1965), “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” (1966), will never be surpassed.
Dante P's contribution says it all. Nothing more can be added.
Zephyrinus was delighted to read that Dante P hints at another marvellous Western, again featuring Clint Eastwood, called “Pale Rider” (1985). The allusion being, of course, to the Biblical “Pale Horse Rider”.