Broxton Comment-MB-003-35

UN FIUME DI DOLLARI [THE HILLS RUN RED] (1966)

Un Fiume di Dollari, known in English as The Hills Run Red, is a spaghetti western directed by Carlo Lizzani. The film stars Thomas Hunter as Brewster, a rebel Texan fighter in the American Civil War heading towards Mexico with a cache of stolen American gold. When he is captured by soldiers just short of his goal, he trusts his partner Seagull (Nando Gazzolo) to finish the job, get the money across the border, and use his half to help his wife and son. Five years later, having been released from prison, Brewster finally returns home, only to find that he has been double-crossed by Seagull and his family gone Vowing revenge, he teams up with a drifter named Getz (Dan Duryea), and sets off in pursuit of Seagull.

The main title theme, “The Hills Run Red,” is a stridently heroic march for brass and strings augmented by the dulcet tones of soprano Edda dell’Orso and a male voice choir, and its recapitulations and variations in “The Fury of Fire,” “The River of Dollars,” “Vindication,” and the conclusive “Un Fiume di Dollari” are score highlights. There is suspense music a-plenty too, with the familiar nervous agitato strings, muted horns, and impatient snare drum licks anchoring cues like “Fifteen Miles to Prison” and the sometimes quite dissonant “Blind Obsession”. Elsewhere there is some wistful music for glockenspiel, harp and strings in “Dreams Into Dust,” which gives Brewster’s longing for home a poignant twist; the soft focus pop arrangements of the same ideas in “Memories of Rebecca” and “The Girl With the Golden Hair” are of their time.

The soundtrack also includes two original songs, “Home to My Love” and “Quel Giorno Verrà,” both of which are performed by Gino, and neither of which I care for; there is also some lively Mexican source music in cues such as “Fiesta del Sol,” which is authentic and features some ripe trumpet solos, some down-home Americana in “Ecstasy of Strings,” and ragtimee/honkytonk saloon pianos in “Five Card Draw,” the latter of which unfortunately verge on the annoying.

Un Fiume di Dollari fits squarely within the familiar Morricone spaghetti western sound that he perfected during the period, and although it’s certainly not as influential or creative as his more well-known efforts, it will satisfy the curiosity of genre fans. The score for Un Fiume di Dollari was never properly released until 2008, when it was included in the massive 12-CD ‘MGM Soundtrack Treasury’ box set released by Film Score Monthly. The score was then re-issued as a standalone soundtrack (featuring identical content) by Spanish label Quartet Records in 2010, and this is the version being reviewed here.

Track Listing: 1. Home to My Love (performed by Gino) (1:42), 2. The Hills Run Red (1:41), 3. Fifteen Miles to Prison (1:39), 4. Fiesta Del Sol (0:57), 5. Dreams Into Dust (2:03), 6. Ecstasy of Strings (1:18), 7. Memories of Rebecca (2:24), 8. The Fury of Fire (1:01), 9. The River of Dollars (1:54), 10. Five Card Draw (2:39), 11. The Girl With The Golden Hair (1:43), 12. Doing Time (1:29), 13. Blind Obsession (2:56), 14. Vindication (1:27), 15. Home to My Love (performed by Gino) (2:51), 16. Un Fiume Di Dollari (2:16), 17. Quel Giorno Verrà (performed by Gino) (2:12). Quartet Records QRSCE-007, 31 minutes 13 seconds.

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