Sbagliando s'impera

Licenza d’uccidere (Dr. No), 1962, di Terence Young, con Sean Connery e Ursula Andress.

Rivisto in televisione ieri sera (2 marzo 2009). Ma questa non è una recensione, ma la condivione di una curiosità.

Il film si apre con un assassinio compiuto da 3 (finti) ciechi. La canzoncina – a ritmo di calipso – che accompagna la scena è Three Blind Mice, una nursery rhyme inglese.

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.

See how they run. See how they run.

They all ran after the farmer’s wife,

Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,

Did you ever see such a sight in your life,

As three blind mice?

Le parole nel film sono cambiate per rispecchiare le intenzioni del terzetto omicida e  il contenuto della sequenza.

Più o meno nello stesso volger di tempo (correva il 1962, e quelli erano anni che correvano davvero) The Beatles, non ancora celebri, proponevano la cover di Three Cool Cats, un brano di Jerry Leiber e Mike Stoller portata al successo dai Coasters nel 1958. Il brano, come lo sentiamo qui, faceva parte del demo tape di 5 canzoni che i nostri registrarono agli studi Decca il 1° gennaio. Come è noto, non passarono l’audizione. Alla Decca si mordono ancora le mani.

Three cool cats,
Three cool cats
Are coming up in a beat up car,
Spitting up a lift of candy bar
Talking on about how sharp they are.
Three cool cats.

Three cool chicks
Are walking down the street
Swinging their hips,
Splitting up a bag of potatoe chips
I think cool cats really did flip.
Three cool chicks
Three cool chicks.

Well up came that first cool cat,
He said: man look at that.
Man, do you see what I see?
Well I want that middle chick
I want that little chick.
Hey man save once chick for me.

Well three cool chicks.
Three cool chicks.

Well they love like
Angels from up above
And three cool cats
Really fell in love.
But three cool chicks
Made three fools out of
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.

Well up came that first cool cat,
He said: man look at that.
Man do you see what I see?
Well I want that middle chick,
I want that little chick.
Hey man, save one chick for me.

Three cool chicks.
Three cool chicks.
They look like
Angels from up above
And three cool cats
Really fell in love.
And three cool chicks
Made three fools out of
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.
Three cool cats.