Daniele Patucchi

* 2023 stock * Chris' Soundtrack Corner proudly presents the CD soundtrack to the 1973 German-French-Italian co-production Sans Sommation (called WITHOUT APPEAL in the UK, worldwide English title WITHOUT WARNING), helmed by French director Bruno Gantillon and featuring a score by Daniele Patucchi. The film is an entertaining thriller that plays out satisfactorily.

Maurice Ronet stars as discredited police inspector Raoul Maury, who made the mistake as a policeman of going after a politician's nephew on drug charges. This resulted in his demotion to an archivist in the police records office. But when it is learned that he has a remarkable resemblance to Lt. Kieffer, an associate of wanted mercenary Pierre Capra, Maury is reinstated and assigned to impersonate Kieffer in order to get close to Capra and assassinate him. But during the assignment, Maury finds Capra to be a noble man and is caught up in shifting loyalties. The story is one of suspicion and trust, the contrast between two men, one resentful over failure and lost opportunity, the other craving loyalty and bitterly vengeful over betrayal.

Patucchi's music for Sans Sommation is one of more than 35 European movie soundtracks he composed throughout the 1970s and '80s. His gift for tuneful, pop-oriented melodies have served him well in this film and many others. The Sans Sommation score is a mixture of a single primary theme and a harsh, driving action motif – a score that maintains both emotive sympathy and energetic forward motion for the crime story. There is also a variety of pleasing diegetic source music. Patucchi's lovely main theme never grows old or unwelcome; it's one of his nicest melodies, enhanced by the softness of the featured keyboard.

Chris' Soundtrack Corner is delighted to make this score available, for essentially the first time, in a 15-track collection. Only five of Patucchi's score tracks have been released previously (as, of course, has the popular standard "Midnight, The Stars and You"). The album is produced by Christian Riedrich and mastered by Manmade Mastering. The CD is accompanied by a 12-page illustrated booklet designed by Aletta Heinsohn and featuring detailed, exclusive notes on the film and its score by film music journalist Randall D. Larson, who deconstructs the score's elements in detail.