Cinema Retro readers have been giving us a very enthusiastic response to correspondent John Exshaw's recent coverage of the Italian western festival that took place at the Venice International Film Festival. Among the films covered by John was Navajo Joe, a rather run-of-the-mill 1966 spaghetti western that is distinguished primarily by the presence of leading man Burt Reynolds, still several years away from superstardom. As with many of the Italian westerns, even those of the lowest denominator in terms of quality generally boasted worthy musical scores and Navajo Joe is no exception. Film Score Monthly has issued the most complete soundtrack of Ennio Morricone's original compositions ever released. (Curiously, Morricone had to adopt the Ameircan nom-de--plume "Leo Nichols" on the film's credits!) For more info and to order click here
For reports on the Venice Film Festival's tribute to Italian westerns, see John Exshaw's columns.