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AKA:
Brothers Till We Die (USA) (video title)
Gobbo di Roma, Il (Italy) (working title)
Kröte, Die (West Germany)
After "Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare" and "Roma a mano armata" Umberto Lenzi returns to the Police Movies genre with "La banda del gobbo" (aka Brother till we die) (1977) starring again Cuban actor Tomas Milian. Here the actor plays two roles: the very feracious "Gobbo" (Hunchback) and the likeable scoundrel "Monnezza" (Garbage). The first one is a pitiless and merciless criminal while the second character is a good-hearted petty thief. During a robbery "Gobbo" is betrayed by his companions, forced to hide in a girlfriend's house where he prepares his ferocious plan of revenge. As Police cannot discover Gobbo's hiding-place, they look up his twin brother Monnezza. During a spectacular chase, Gobbo's car skids and falls into the river Tiber. Nevertheless his corpse remains undiscovered... Umberto Lenzi, a Tuscan director with an incredible activity of making movies of various genres (from Giallo to Police movies, from Horror to Cannibal movies) expertly directs this milestone of the Italian Police Movies genre. The action scenes in "La banda del gobbo" show the proof of his excellence in this genre for which he has given his bests of his unforgettable career. Digitmovies presents the second volume dedicated to the Italian Police Movies: for the very first time on record the complete original motion picture score by Franco Micalizzi, one of the most prolific composers of the Italian Cinema. M° Micalizzi became famous around the world for his OST for the cult Western "Lo chiamavano Trinità" (1970) (available on Digitmovies CDDM026), but also for his other famous OST of "Poliziotteschi" (Police movies) like "Italia a mano armata" (1976), "Roma a mano armata" (1976), "Napoli violenta" (1976), "Il cinico, l'infame e il violento" (1977). For "La banda del gobbo" Franco Micalizzi wrote a sparse, but effective score based on a main theme introduced by the electric piano then developed by moog, brass and percussions in a funky mood (Tr.1). This motif is reprised several times throughout the score, sometimes with slow, another time with fast renditions (Tr.2, Tr.4, Tr.5, Tr.7, Tr.9, Tr.10, Tr.11, Tr.13, Tr.15, Tr.18). Franco Micalizzi also composed suspense music for strings (Tr.8, Tr.16) and various tracks of Source Music like a Sirtaki (Tr.3), a disco music tune (Tr.6), a romantic ballade for voice and orchestra (Tr.12), church music for organ (Tr.14) and funeral music (tr.17).
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