DANGER: DIABOLIK (1968)
Danger: Diabolik is an action film directed by Mario Bava, based on a series of popular Italian comic books. The film stars John Philip Law as Diabolik, a masked master criminal who pulls off large-scale robberies and other heists on behalf of his seductive girlfriend (Marisa Meli). In order to stop the crime wave, intrepid inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli) teams up with a rival gangster (Adolfo Celi), who attempts to intervene in Diabolik’s next scam: the theft of a priceless emerald necklace. The film was one of the most popular and highly anticipated releases of the year in Europe, and was hugely influential, with filmmakers such as Edgar Wright citing it as a major inspiration for their career.
Morricone’s score for Danger: Diabolik is one of his most popular of the period. It is based mostly around two recurring themes: the ‘Diabolik’ theme, which is an unusual combination of light strings and breathy vocals, and variations on the melody from the song “Deep Down,” which is performed by Italian vocalist and frequent Morricone collaborator Maria Cristina ‘Christy’ Brancucci. The song itself is a slow, sultry, jazzy ballad with a languid string motif and a slightly exotic, enigmatic sound.
Variations on the Diabolik theme include a fast-paced version for psychedelic disco beats and operatic vocals in “Filatura,” an experimental electronic version for freaked-out sounding organs in “Ritagli,” a piece of harpsichord renaissance fluff in the charming and whimsical “La Collana di Lady Clarke,” a beautiful vocal version in “Bollicine,” and a second dance version in “Subaquei” which revisits the wa-wa-wa vocals from The Good the Bad and the Ugly, courtesy of Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni.
Meanwhile, variations in the Deep Down melody include a chipper, upbeat classical version for strings and clarinet in “Conducenti in Attesa,” a version with a hint of the kasbah in “Nella Grotta,” a version underpinned with an Indian raga in “Nascondiglio” and more straightforward recapitulations in “Baci,” “La Piscina,” and others. Perhaps the most unique cue is the 6-minute “Commando di Notte,” an extended piece of orchestral dissonance in which banks of agitated strings play off worried-sounding woodwinds, tinkling harpsichords, and dramatic percussion, to create a sense of unease and mystery.
I like the score for Danger: Diabolik a great deal, but to be honest I’m not quite sure how it has managed to attain such an enormous and influential reputation over the years; the film itself likely deserves it, but the music just seems very ‘middle of the road’ for Morricone, an hour’s worth of extrapolations on two recurring themes that seem to contain many of his usual tics and techniques from the period. The score for Danger: Diabolik has been released several times over the years; the version I have reviewed here is the one released by Recording Arts Records in 2014 as part of a 2-CD set with the score for For a Few Dollars More. A longer version of the score, which has a slightly different order and includes dialogue tracks, was released by Sycodelic Records in 2001, and then again by the Italian indie label Pallotta Foro later that same year.
Track Listing: 1. Introduzione (:57), 2. Deep Down (English Version) (performed by Christy) (2:56), 3. Conducenti in Attesa (1:37), 4. Filatura (2:37), 5. Baci (1:08), 6. Nella Grotta (2:30), 7. Nascondiglio (3:10), 8. Coperti di Biglietti (1:37), 9. Ritagli (:41), 10. Night Club (2:22), 11. La Collana di Lady Clarke (:48), 12. Commando di Notte (6:49), 13. La Mitragliatrice (1:26), 14. La Piscina (1:58), 15. Bollicine (1:29), 16. Subaquei (2:06), 17. Allarme – Esplosione (1:42), 18. Lacrime (1:22), 19. Deep Down (Italian Version) (performed by Christy) (3:11). Recording Arts RETRO-2X902, 40 minutes 50 seconds.
