For the first time available the complete Original Soundtrack of MATCHLESS, which includes the music composed by Ennio Morricone and the electronic tracks composed by Gino Marinuzzi Jr. --- In the monthly publication Quaderno 13 (1982), Circuito Cinema series, Ermanno Camuzio wrote that the tracks had been composed four hands by Ennio Morricone and Piero Piccioni. Later the municipality of Venice, the publisher of the series CIRCUIT CINEMA, published a new Quaderno 13 [1] with the additions and corrections desired by Ennio Morricone in the chapter titled - RESPONSE AND MOTIVATION TO THE CHOICES OF QADERNO 13, by Ennio Morricone - (p.4-5). Specifically, with regards to MATCHLESS, E. Morricone declared: PIERO PICCIONI NON C'ENTRA AFFATTO (Piero Piccioni has to do nothing at all with it).
In the title role, Patrick O'Neal is not really a professional spy. He's actually a reporter from The New York Tribune who signs his columns with the byline of "Matchless." While on assignment in China, he is captured and tortured in a secret prison by Chinese agents who think he possesses top-secret information about a lethal chemical substance. He miraculously escapes a firing squad only to end up imprisoned by American military intelligence who are after the same thing. Considering his limited options, Liston agrees to masquerade as a secret agent for the U.S., teaming up with fellow spy Arabella (Ira von Fuerstenberg). Their mission leads them to the lair of international criminal Andreanu (Donald Pleasence) who keeps samples of the deadly chemical in a Munich bank. Complicating their assignment are Hank Norris (Henry Silva) and Tipsy (Nicoletta Machiavelli), rival spies for the Chinese. While Matchless is certainly not Lattuada's best work, it's still a lot of fun and more entertaining than most James Bond imitations. Not only does it boast a catchy music score by Ennio Morricone and Gino Marinuzzi, Jr. but it features a wide range of interesting locations, spanning the globe from New York (glimpses from the top of the Pan Am building, the Brooklyn Bridge and the subway) to London to Munich. The special effects are goofy (how about that scene where Arabella is carried down a corridor by the invisible "Matchless"?) and Mike Myers of the Austin Powers films would love the pop-art opening credit sequence, set amid an array of multicolored test tubes and beakers filled with bubbling liquids. |
