Broxton Comment-MB-009-89

HORNETS’ NEST (1970)

Hornets’ Nest is an action war film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Rock Hudson, Sylva Koscina, and Sergio Fantoni. The film is set in Northern Italy in 1944 and follows a group of teenage boys who survive a massacre perpetrated by the Nazi army in their village. The oldest of the boys, Aldo, vows revenge against the Germans, and finds an opportunity to do that when he rescues American Army captain Turner (Hudson), the only survivor of a paratroop regiment that is ambushed by the Nazis. Aldo kidnaps Bianca Freedling (Koscina), a German doctor, to nurse Turner back to health, and then convinces Turner to train him and his friends in the use of military weapons and tactics.

Morricone scored the film with just one main theme – an overarching classical theme for gentle woodwinds and tinkling dulcimers first heard in the first half of the “Main Titles,” which then gradually morphs into an unusually light pop arrangement in which the main melody is whistled. The theme reappears frequently throughout the score – it receives especially notable statements in the third cue “Bianca, the German Doctor,” and then later in “Dialogue With the Boys” and “Death of a Boy,” among others. The main theme is surprisingly light, considering the nature of the film, but it does reflect the young protagonists well, lamenting for their loss of innocence in the face of Nazi aggression. Interestingly, Captain Turner does not have a thematic idea of his own – the entire score is focused on Aldo and the children, and their quest for redemption.

When theme is not present Morricone tends to score the action and suspense with a series of atmospheric pieces for string sustains and uneasy-sounding dissonant colors; good examples of this atmospheric writing can be heard in tracks such as “Guns in the Tunnel,” “Radio Research,” and “The Dike,” which adds to the tension with an electric guitar. Perhaps the best action cue is “Blowing the Dam,” which features slightly more expansive orchestral textures, and becomes quite taut and anxious as it develops.

Hornet’s Nest was one of the more obscure scores in Morricone’s 1970s filmography for many years, available only via bootlegs, until it was released by Spanish label Quartet Records in 2010, building off an earlier release from Lukas Kendall and Film Score Monthly as part of the 2008 MGM Soundtrack Treasury box set. It’s a minor work in Morricone’s filmography, but will be interesting to completists, and the main theme is pretty.

Track Listing: 1. Main Titles (2:08), 2. Looking for a Partisan Doctor (:27), 3. Bianca, the German Doctor (5:02), 4. Guns in the Tunnel (1:55), 5. Radio – Research (2:05), 6. Opening Window (1:27), 7. Radio – Contacting (1:42), 8. The Dike (:55), 9. Research in the Wood (2:08), 10. Bianca and Turner (1:13), 11. Dialogue Doctor-American Soldier (1:30), 12. Dialogue with the Boys (1:18), 13. Boys Running to the River (2:08), 14. Blowing the Dam (6:31), 15. Death of a Boy (:36), 16. Boy and German Officer Fighting (1:20), 17. End Titles (3:44), 18. Research in the Wood (Alternate) (2:08), 19. Dialogue Doctor-American Soldier (Film Version) (1:23), 20. Boy and German Officer Fighting (Alternate) (1:20), 21. End Titles (Single Edit) (2:31). Quartet Records QRSCE-011, 43 minutes 31 seconds.

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