Morricone, Ennio 1928–
MORRICONE, Ennio 1928–
(Leo Nichols, Dan Savio)
PERSONAL
Born November 10, 1928, in Rome, Italy; son of Mario (a jazz trumpeter) and Libera Morricone; married Maria Travia; children: Andrea (a composer), three other children. Education: Studied with Goffredo Petrassi at the Academy of Santa Cecilia, graduating with honors in 1946.
Addresses: Agent—The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, 13245 Riverside Dr., Suite 450, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.
Career: Composer, orchestrator, music director, and conductor. Opera House Orchestra, member, 1941; Nuova Consonanza (improvisational music group), performer; played trumpet in nightclubs.
Member: American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Awards, Honors: Silver Ribbon Award, best score, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, 1964, for A Fistful of Dollars; Silver Ribbon Award, best score, 1970, for Metti, una sera a cena; Silver Ribbon Award, best score, 1972, for Sacco e Vanzetti; Academy Award nomination, best original score, 1978, Film Award, best original film music, and Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, both British Academy of Film and Television Arts, both 1979, all for Days of Heaven; Cesar Award nomination, best music written for a film, 1980, for I ... comme Icare; Cesar Award nomination, best music written for a film, 1982, for Le professionel; Golden Globe Award nomination (with Carol Connors), best original song—motion picture, 1982, for Butterfly; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best music, 1984, Silver Ribbon Award, best score, Film Award, best score, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1985, for Once upon a Time in America; Academy Award nomination, best original score, Golden Globe Award, best original score for a motion picture, Film Award, best score, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award nomination, best original score, all 1987, all for The Mission; London Film Critics Award, best music, 1988, for The Mission and The Untouchables; Special Achievement Award, London Critics Circle, 1988; Academy Award nomination, best original score, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, Film Award, best score, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Silver Ribbon Award, best score, Grammy Award, best album of an original instrumental score for a motion picture, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, ASCAP Award, top box office films, ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, 1988, all for The Untouchables; David Award, best music, David di Donatello Awards, 1988, for Gli occhiali d'oro; Cable ACE Award, best original score, 1988, for "Control," HBO Showcase; Locarno International Film Festival, Leopard of Honor, 1989; David Award, best music, 1989, and Film Award (with Andrea Morricone), best original film score, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1991, both for Nuovo cinema paradiso; Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, 1990, for Casualties of War; Goya Award nomination, best original score, 1991, for Atame!; David Award, best music, 1991, for Stanno tutti bene; Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score for a motion picture, and Academy Award nomination, best music, original score, 1992, both for Bugsy; David Award, best music, 1993, for Jona che visse nella balena; Lifetime Achievement Award, ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, 1994; ASCAP Award, top box office films, 1994, for In the Line of Fire; Career Gold Lion, Venice Film Festival, 1995; Career Award, Fantafestival, 1995; Grammy Award nomination, best instrumental composition written for a motion picture or for television, ASCAP Award, top box office films, 1995, both for Wolf; Grammy Award nomination, best instrumental composition written for a motion picture or for television, 1997, for L'uomo delle stelle; Special Silver Ribbon Award, for musical research, David Award, best music, 1999, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best original score, Golden Globe Award, best original score—motion picture, 2000, all for La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano; Erich Wolfgang Korngold Porize, International Biennal for Film Music, 1999; Life Achievement Award, European Film Awards, 1999; Grammy Award nomination, best instrumental composition written for a motion picture or for television, 1999, for Bulworth; Silver Ribbon, best score, David Award, best music, 2000, both for Canone inverso—making love; Career Achievement Award, National Board of Review, 2000, for excellence in film music scoring; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Career Achievement Award, 2001; Academy Award nomination, beset music—original score, Silver Ribbon Award, best score, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best original score, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original score—motion picture, David Award, best music, 2001, all for Malena; Diamond Award, Taormina International Film Festival, 2002; Silver Ribbon Award nomination (with Andrea Morricone), best score, 2004, for Al cuore si comanda.
CREDITS
Film Work:
Conductor, Morte di un amico (also known as Death of a Friend), 1959.
(As Leo Nichols) Music director, Duello nel Texas (also known as Gringo and Gunfight at Red Sands), 1963.
Music director, Le monachine (also known as The Little Nuns), 1963, released in the United States, Embassy, 1965.
Conductor, Per un pugno di dollari (also known as Fuer eine Handvoll Dollar, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Fistful of Dollars, and Por un punado de dolares), 1964.
Music supervisor, In ginocchio da te, 1964.
Music director, Idoli controluce, 1965.
Music director, Menage all'italiana, 1965.
Music director, Centomila dollari per Ringo (also known as Sangre sobre Texas), 1965.
Conductor, Per qualche dollaro in piu (also known as For a Few Dollars More, Fur ein paar Dollar mehr, For Some Dollars More, La muerte tenia un precio, Por unos cuantos dolares mas, and Por unos pocos dolares mas), 1965.
Music supervisor, Se non avessi piu te, 1965.
Music director, Quien sabe? (also known as A Bullet for the General and El chucho quien sabe), 1966.
Music director, Gentleman Jo ... uccidi (also known as Gentleman Jo and Gentleman Killer), 1967.
Music director, Il giardino delle delizie (also known as Garden of Delights), 1967.
Music director, Once upon a Time in the West (also known as C'era una volta il west and There Was Once the West), 1968, released in the United States, Paramount, 1969.
Music director, Hornet's Nest, United Artists, 1970.
Conductor, Sacco e Vanzetti (also known as Sacco and Vanzetti), 1971.
Music director, Hayat sevince guzel (also known as Life Joy Beauty), 1971.
Music director, Duck, You Sucker (also known as Giu la testa, Once upon a Time ... the Revolution, C'era una volta la rivoluzione, and A Fistful of Dynamite), United Artists, 1972.
Conductor, D'amore si muore (also known as For Love One Dies), 1972.
Music director, My Name Is Nobody (also known as Il mio nome e nessuno, Lonesome Gun, Mon name est personne, and Mein Name ist Nobody), 1973, released in the United States, Universal, 1974.
Orchestrator, Le secret (also known as The Secret and Il segreto), Valoria Films, 1974.
Conductor, The End of the Game (also known as Murder on the Bridge, Assassinio sul ponte, Deception, Getting Away with Murder, and Der Richter und Sein Henker), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1975.
Conductor, Peur sur la ville (also known as Fear over the City, The Night Caller, and Il poliziotto della brigata criminalee), 1975.
Music director, Per le antiche scale (also known as Down the Ancient Staircase, Down the Ancient Stairs, En descendant les marches d'antan, and Vertiges), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1976.
Conductor, 1900 (also known as 1900—Gewalt, Macht, Leidenschaft, 1900—Kampf, Liebe, Hoffnung, and Novecento), 1976.
Conductor, L'agnese va a morire, 1976.
Music director, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Warner Bros., 1977.
Music director and conductor, Orca (also known as La orca, Orca—Killer Whale, and The Killer Whale), Paramount, 1977.
Conductor, Days of Heaven, Paramount, 1978.
Music director, La cage aux folles (also known as Birds of a Feather and Il vizietto), 1978.
Music director, orchestrator, and conductor, Bloodline (also known as Sidney Sheldon's "Bloodline" and Blutspur), Paramount, 1979.
Conductor, Il giocattolo, 1979.
Music director, The Island, Universal, 1980.
Conductor, La banquiere (also known as The Woman Banker), 1980.
Music director, La cage aux folles II, 1980, released in the United States, United Artists, 1981.
Conductor, La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo (also known as Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man), 1981.
Music director, Nana (also known as Nana, the True Key of Pleasure and Nana: Le desir), 1982, released in the United States, Cannon, 1983.
Il miestero della quattro corona (also known as Treasure of the Four Crowns and El tesora de las cuatro coronas), 1982, released in the United States, Cannon, 1983.
Orchestrator and conductor, White Dog (also known as Trained to Kill), Paramount, 1982.
Conductor, Le ruffian (also known as The Ruffian), Roissy Films/AMLF, 1982.
Conductor, La chiave (also known as The Key), 1983, released in the United States, Enterprise, 1985.
Music director, Sahara, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1984.
Musical director, Once upon a Time in America (also known as C'era una volta in America), 1984.
Conductor, Il pentito, 1985.
Music director, La cage aux folles III: The Wedding, Warner Bros./Columbia/TriStar, 1985.
Music director and orchestrator, The Mission, Warner Bros., 1986.
Conductor, La venexiana (also known as The Venetian Woman), 1986.
Music director, orchestrator, and conductor, The Untouchables, Warner Bros., 1987.
Orchestrator and conductor, Rampage, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 1987, released in the United States, Vestron Video, 1992.
Orchestrator and conductor, Frantic, Warner Bros., 1988.
Music director, A Time of Destiny, Columbia, 1988.
Orchestrator and conductor, Casualties of War, Columbia, 1989.
Orchestrator and conductor, Fat Man and Little Boy (also known as The Shadowmakers), 1989.
Orchestrator and conductor, State of Grace, Orion, 1990.
Conductor, Stanno tutti bene (also known as Everybody's Fine and Ils vont tous bien), 1990.
Conductor, Atame! (also known as Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!), 1990.
Orchestrator and conductor, Bugsy, TriStar, 1991.
Conductor and orchestrator, Mio caro dottor Grasler (also known as The Bachelor), 1991.
Orchestrator and conductor, City of Joy (also known as La cite de la joie), TriStar, 1992.
Orchestrator and conductor, In the Line of Fire, Columbia, 1993.
Orchestrator and conductor, Jonah Who Lived in the Whale, 1993.
Orchestrator and conductor, Wolf, Columbia, 1994.
Orchestrator and conductor, Love Affair, Warner Bros., 1994.
Conductor, A Pure Formality (also known as Una pura formalita, A Simple Formality, Only a Formality, and A Mere Formality), Sony Picture Classics, 1994.
Orchestrator and conductor, The Star Maker, Miramax, 1995.
Orchestrator and conductor, U–Turn (also known as U Turn—Ici commence l'enfer), Columbia TriStar, 1997.
Conductor and orchestrator, Lolita, 1997.
Orchestrator and conductor, Bulworth, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1998.
Conductor and orchestrator, La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (also known as The Legend of 1900 and The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean), 1998.
Conductor and orchestrator, Il fantasma dell'opera (also known as Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera, Phantom of the Opera, and The Phantom of the Opera), 1998.
Conductor and orchestrator, Malena, Miramax, 2000.
Orchestrator and conductor, Mission to Mars, Buena Vista, 2000.
Film Appearances:
(As Leo Nichols) Destino: Estambul 68 (also known as Agente Z–55, mision Coleman and Occhio per occhio, dente per dente), 1970.
Conductor, Stanno tutti bene (also known as Everybody's Fine and Ils vont tous bien), 1990.
Himself, Ennio Morricone: La musica neegli occhi (also known as Ennio Morricone: Music for the Eyes), 1990.
Himself, Colonna sonora, 1992.
Himself, Tales of the Cat, Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2001.
Himself, Rosy–Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick, 2002.
Himself, Compositeurs/realisateurs, dialogue impossible?, 2002.
Television Work; Miniseries:
Music director, Moses: The Lawgiver, CBS, 1975.
Conductor and music supervisor, Abraham (also known as The Bible: Abraham and Die Bibel—Abraham), TNT, 1994.
Music coordinator and consultant, Joseph (also known as The Bible: Joseph and Joseph in Egypt), TNT, 1995.
Music coordinator and consultant, Moses (also known as The Bible: Moses, Die Bibel—Moses, Die Bibel: Moses, and La Bible: Moise), TNT, 1996.
End title music arranger and conductor, Samson and Delilah (also known as Sansone e Dalila), TNT, 1996.
End title music arranger and conductor, David (also known as Die Bibel—David), TNT, 1997.
Television Work; Movies:
Orchestrator, coordinator, consultant, and conductor, Jacob (also known as Jacob: A TNT Bible Story and Die Bibel—Jakob), TNT, 1994.
Conductor, Il quatro re (also known as Die 4 heilgen Koenige, The Fourth King, and Die Heiligen vier Koenige), 1998.
Conductor, Ultimo 2—La sfida, 1999.
Television Appearances; Specials:
Himself, Der Klang der Bilder, 1995.
Himself, Ennio Morricone, 1995.
RECORDINGS
Albums; Original Soundtrack Recordings:
A Fistful of Dollars, RCA, 1967.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Liberty, 1967.
Guns for San Sebastian, MCA, 1968.
Once upon a Time in the West, Mercury, 1969.
Burn, United Artists, 1970.
Sacco and Vanzetti, RCA, 1971.
Exorcist II, Warner, 1977.
Takeoff: Film Hits, RCA, 1978.
Bloodline, Varese/Sarabande, 1979.
Once upon a Time in America, RCA, 1984.
Sahara, Varese/Sarabande, 1984.
Red Sonja, Varese/Sarabande, 1985.
The Mission, Virgin, 1986.
Rampage, Fastlane, 1987.
The Untouchables, A&M, 1987.
Film Music, Vol. 1: The Collection, Virgin, 1987.
Film Music, Vol. 2: The Collection, Virgin, 1988.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, EMI, 1988.
Casualties of War, Columbia, 1989.
For a Few Dollars More, RCA, 1990.
The Legendary Italian Westerns, RCA, 1990.
City of Joy, Epic, 1992.
Cannibals (also known as I cannibali), Cam, 1993.
Commandment for Gangster, Cam, 1993.
Dear Dr. Grasler (also known as Mio caro Dottore Grasler), Cam, 1993.
Dirty Hands (also known as Mani sporace), Cam, 1993.
La domenica specialmente, Cam, 1993.
Escalation, Cam, 1993.
Everybody's Fine (also known as Stanno tutti bene), Cam, 1993.
Inheritance (also known as Leredita ferramonti), Cam, 1993.
Meeting (also known as Incontro), Cam, 1993.
Stalin's Women, Cam, 1993.
Sun Spots (also known as Eat It Macchie Solari), Cam, 1993.
Venetian Lies (also known as Professione figlio), Cam, 1993.
When Love Is Lust, Cam, 1993.
Il vizietto/Il vizietto 2, Chameleon, 1994.
I malamondo/La tarantola dal V, Chameleon, 1994.
93 Movie Sounds, TriStar, 1994.
Classic Ennio Morricone, Silva Screen, 1994.
Il gatto a nove code, PNT, 1994.
L'immoralita, Chameleon, 1994.
Il prato (also known as Meadow), Chameleon, 1994.
Vita venduta, Chameleon, 1994.
Jonah & The Whale, Camcos, 1994.
Thank You Aunt (also known as Grazie zia), Cam CSE, 1994.
The Long Silence (also known as Il lungo silenzi), Camcos, 1994.
Blue Eyed Bandit, Cam CSE, 1994.
Nuovo cinema paradiso, TriStar, 1994.
Scorta, TriStar, 1994.
Enrico Morricone's Original Soundtracks, Beat, 1995.
Un bellissimo novembre, Beat, 1995.
Best of Ennio Morricone, RCA, 1995.
Love Themes, RCA, 1995.
Neapolitan Songs, RCA, 1995.
The Ennio Morricone Anthology, Rhino, 1995.
Film Music, Vivi Musica, 1995.
Anthology: Main Titles & Rare Tracks, DRG, 1995.
Dario Argento Trilogy, DRG, 1995.
Death Rides a Horse/Pistol for Ringo, Intermezzo Media, 1995.
Film Hits, BMG Italy, 1995.
Film Tracks, Star, 1995.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly/The Big Gun Down, Vivi Musica, 1995.
Mother's Heart/I bambini ci chiedono perche, Intermezzo Media, 1995.
Morricone Film Music, Vivi Musica, 1995.
Songbook, Star, 1995.
Music Composed & Conducted By, DRG, 1995.
Spaghetti Western, RCA, 1995.
With Love, DRG, 1995.
Action Thrillers, RCA, 1995.
Wolf, Columbia, 1995.
Western Quintet, DRG, 1995.
Disclosure, Virgin, 1995.
Cat o' Nine Tails, Intermezzo Media, 1995.
Once upon a Time in America, Musicrama, 1995.
Svegliati e uccidi & citta violenta, Intermezzo Media, 1995.
A Fistful of Film Music: The Ennio Morricone Anthology, 1995.
Butterfly, Prometheus, 1995.
Colonne sonore, BMG Italy, 1995.
An Hour with Ennio Morricone, Replay, 1995.
I western, BMG Italy, 1995.
La dame aux camelias, Prometheus, 1995.
Soundtracks, Beat, 1995.
Stay as You Are, Prometheus, 1995.
Sunday Woman, Prometheus, 1995.
Trilogia deldo, BMG Italy, 1995.
Time of Adventure, RCA, 1996.
TV Film Music, RCA, 1996.
Once upon a Time in the Cinema, Varese, 1996.
Main Titles, Vol. 1 (1965–95), DRG, 1996.
Bluebeard/Lady of Monza, Intermezzo Media, 1996.
Evil Fingers/Cold Eyes of Fear, Intermezzo Media, 1996.
Magic World of Ennio Morricone, Vivi Musica, 1996.
Sicilian Checkmate/A Brief Season, Intermezzo Media, 1996.
Time for Suspense, Vivi Musica, 1996.
Ennio Morricone per pier Paolo Pasolini, RCA, 1996.
Secret of the Sahara, RCA, 1996.
Gothic Dramas, DRG, 1996.
Ennio Morricone, Vivi Musica, 1996.
Hawks & the Sparrows, Intermezzo Media, 1996.
L'orchestra, Alex, 1996.
Original Film Music, Great Hits, 1996.
Queimada, Dom, 1996.
Fear According to Morricone, Intermezzo Media, 1997.
Singles Collection, Vol. 2, DRG, 1997.
More Than a Miracle, Intermezzo Media, 1997.
Movie Classics, BMG International, 1998.
Film Music, Disky, 1998.
Ennio Morricone Songbook, Vol. 1: The 60's, Bear Family, 1998.
Ennio Morricone Songbook, Vol. 2: Western, Bear Family, 1998.
Belmondo Morricone, Imprint, 1998.
Desert of the Tartars, Intermezzo Media, 1998.
Corta notte dell bambole di vetro, Intermezzo Media, 1998.
Murder Charge for a Student, Intermezzo Media, 1998.
1966–1987, EMI, 1999.
With Love, Vol. 2, DRG, 1999.
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Imprint, 1999.
Mondo Morricone, Imprint, 1999.
Case Closed Forget It, Intermezzo Media, 1999.
The Thriller Collection, DRG, 1999.
The Gangster Collection, DRG, 1999.
Main Titles, Vol. 3: 1965–1985, DRG, 1999.
Priume de cristallo, Imprint, 1999.
La califfa, Imprint, 1999.
Vite strozzate, Intermezzo Media, 1999.
One upon a Time in the West, Intermezzo Media, 1999.
Other albums include His Greatest Themes, Accord; Novecento, RCA; Moses: The Lawgiver, RCA; Red Tent, Paramount; Two Mules for Sister Sarah, Kapp; The Thing, Varese Sarabande, A Time of Destiny, Virgin; State of Grace, MCA; In the Line of Fire, Sony; Film Musik Von Ennio Morricone, Vig; Chamber Music, Virgin; and Foto proibite di una signora per bene.
WRITINGS
Film Scores:
Il federale (also known as The Fascist), 1961, released in the United States, Embassy, 1965.
Diciottenni al sole (also known as Eighteen in the Sun and Beach Party Italian Style), 1962, released in the United States, Goldstone, 1964.
La voglia matta (also known as Crazy Desire and The Crazy Urge), 1962, released in the United States, Embassy, 1964.
La cuccagna (also known as A Girl ... and a Million), 1962.
I basilischi (also known as The Lizards and The Basilisks), 1963.
Il successo (also known as The Success), 1963.
Le ore dell'amore, 1963.
(As Dan Savio) Duello nel Texas (also known as Gringo and Gunfight at Red Sands), 1963.
I motorizzati (also known as Los motorizados), 1964.
Le monachine (also known as The Little Nuns), 1963, released in the United States, Embassy, 1965.
I malamondo (also known as Malamondo), Titanis, 1964.
(As Dan Savio) A Fistful of Dollars (also known as Per un pugno di dollari, Fuer eine Handvoll Dollar, and Por un punado de dolares), 1964, released in the United States, 1967.
E la donna creo l'uomo (also known as Full Hearts and Empty Pockets and Volles Herz und leere Taschen), 1964.
I due evasi di Sing Sing (also known as Two Escape from Sing Sing), 1964.
Le pistole non discutono (also known as Guns Don't Talk, Bullets Don't Argue, Bullets Don't Lie, Die Letzten Zwei vom Rio Bravo, and Las pistolas no discuten), 1964.
La scoperta dell'America, 1964.
I maniaci (also known as Beautiful Eyes, Los mangantes, and The Maniacs), 1964.
(With Gino Paoli) Before the Revolution (also known as Prima della revoluzione), New Yorker, 1964.
I pugni in tasca (also known as Fist in the Pocket, Fists in the Pocket, and Fist in His Pocket), 1964, released in the United States, Peppercorn Wormser, 1968.
Agent 505—Todesfalle Beirut (also known as Agent 505—Death Trap Beirut and La trappola scatta a Beirut), 1965.
Altissima pressione (also known as Highest Pressure), 1965.
El greco, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1965.
Non son degno di te, 1965.
Menage all'italiana (also known as Menage Italian Style), 1965.
Idoli controluce, 1965.
Gli amanti d'oltre tomba (also known as Nightmare Castle, Night of the Doomed, The Faceless Monsters, Orgasmo, Lovers beyond the Tomb, The Faceless Monster, and Lovers from beyond the Tomb), 1965, released in the United States, Allied Artists, 1966.
For a Few Dollars More (also known as Per qualche dollaro in piu, Fuer ein paar Dollar mehr, La Muerte tenia un precio, Por unos cuantos dolares mas, For Some Dollars More, and Por unos pocos dolares mas), 1965, released in the United States, United Artists, 1967.
Una pistola per Ringo (also known as A Pistol for Ringo, Ballad of Death Valley, and Una pistola para Ringo), 1965.
Slalom, 1965.
Thrilling, 1965.
Centomila dollari per Ringo (also known as $100,000 for Ringo, One Hundred Thousand Dollars for Ringo, and Sangre sobre Texas), 1965.
Il ritorno di Ringo (also known as Blood at Sundown, El retorno de Ringo, and The Return of Ringo), 1965.
(With Gino Pontecorvo) La battaglia di Algeri (also known as The Battle of Algiers, Maarakat madinat al Jazaer, and La bataille d'Alger), 1965, released in the United States, Rizzoli, 1967.
Seven Guns for the MacGregors (also known as Sette pistole per i MacGregor and Siete pistolas para los MacGregors), 1966, released in the United States, Columbia, 1968.
Quien sabe? (also known as A Bullet for the General and El chucho quien sabe), 1966.
Das Gewisse Etwas der Frauen (also known as Come imparai ad amare le donne, Comment j'ai appris a aimer les femmes, and How I Learned to Love Women), 1966.
Un uomo a meta (also known as Almost a Man and Half a Man), 1966.
I lunghi giorni della vendetta (also known as Los largos dias de la venganza, Faccia d'angelo, and Long Days of Vengeance), 1966.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (also known as Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, El bo, el lleig i el dolent, El bueno, el feo y el malo, and The Good, the Ugly, the Bad), United Artists, 1966.
La ragazza del bersagliere, 1966.
Per Firenze, 1966.
Uccellacci e uccellini (also known as The Hawks and the Sparrows and Hawks and Sparrows), 1966, released in the United States, Brandon, 1967.
(With Piero Piccioni and Gino Marinuzzi, Jr.) Matchless, 1966, released in the United States, United Artists, 1967.
(As Leo Nichols) Navajo Joe (also known as Un dollaro a testa, A Dollar a Head, Savage Run, and Joe, el implacable), 1966, released in the United States, United Artists, 1967.
Lutring ... reveille–toi et meurs (also known as Svegliati e uccidi, Too Soon to Die, and Wake Up and Die), 1966, released in the United States, Rizzoli, 1967.
Mi vedrai tornare, 1966.
Un fiume di dollari (also known as The Hills Run Red and A River of Dollars), 1966, released in the United States, 1967.
La resa dei conti (also known as The Big Gundown, Account Rendered, and El halcon y la presa), 1966, released in the United States, Columbia, 1968.
Operation Kid Brother (also known as O.K. Connery, Operation Double 007, and Secret Agent 00), United Artists, 1967.
The Rover (also known as L'aventuriero, L'avventuriero, and The Adventurer), Cinerama, 1967.
Up the MacGregors (also known as Sette donne per i MacGregor, 7 Women for the MacGregors, and Siete mujeres para los MacGregors), 1967.
La ragazza e il generale (also known as The Girl and the General and La fille et le general), 1967, released in the United States, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1967.
(With Piccioni) La streghe (also known as The Witches and Les sorcieres), 1967, released in the United States, Lopert, 1969.
(As Leo Nichols) I crudeli (also known as The Hellbenders, The Cruel Ones, and Los despiadados), 1967, released in the United States, Embassy, 1967.
La cina e vicina (also known as China Is Near), 1967, released in the United States, Royal Films International, 1968.
Ad ogni costo (also known as Grand Slam, Top Job, Top Job—Diamantenraub, Um jeden Preis, and Diamantes a go–go), 1967, released in the United States, Paramount, 1968.
Arabella (also known as Ragazza del Charleston), 1967, released in the United States, Universal, 1969.
Il giardino delle delizie (also known as Garden of Delights), 1967.
L'harem (also known as The Harem and Her Harem), 1967.
Faccia a faccia (also known as Cara a cara and Face to Face), 1967.
Per pochi dollari ancora (also known as Fort Yuma Gold, For a Few Extras Dollars, El hombre del sur, and Trois cavaliers pour fort Yuma), 1967.
Scusi, facciamo l'amore? (also known as Et si on faisait l'amour? and Listen, Let's Make Love), 1967, released in the United States, Lopert, 1969.
(With Nicolai) Dalle ardenne all'inferno (also known as Dirty Heroes, La gloiree des canailles, and Und morgen fahrt ihr zur Hoelle), 1967.
Escalation, 1968.
Da uomo a uomo (also known as Death Rides a Horse and As Man to Man), 1968, released in the United States, United Artists, 1969.
Italia vista dal cielo, 1968.
La bataille de San Sebastian (also known as Guns for San Sebastian, Los canones de San Sebastian, and I cannoni di San Sebastian), 1968, released in the United States, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1968.
Comandamenti per un gangster, 1968.
Partner (also known as Il sosia), 1968.
Il grande silenzio (also known as The Big Silence, Le grand silence, and The Great Silence), 1968.
Roma come Chicago (also known as Bandits in Rome, Rome Like Chicago, and The Violent Four), 1968.
(Uncredited) Corri, uomo, corri (also known as Big Gundown 2, Run, Man, Run!, and Saludos hombre), 1968.
E per tetto un cielo di stelle (also known as And for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars and A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof), 1968.
Danger: Diabolik (also known as Diabolik and Danger: Diabolik!), Paramount, 1968.
Once upon a Time in the West (also known as C'era una volta il west and There Was a Time in the West), 1968, released in the United States, Paramount, 1969.
Teorema (also known as Theorem), 1968, released in the United States, Continental Distributing, 1969.
Grazie, zia (also known as Thank You, Aunt and Come Play with Me), 1968, released in the United States, Avco–Embassy, 1969.
(With Bruno Nicolai) Il mercenario (also known as Salario para matar, The Professional Gun, Revenge of a Gunfighter, and The Mercenary), 1968, released in the United States, United Artists, 1970.
Gli intoccabili (also known as Machine Gun McCain), 1968, released in the United States, Columbia, 1969.
Tepepa (also known as Blood and Guns, Long Live the Revolution, and Tepepa ... Viva la revolucion), 1968.
Sai cosa faceva Stalin alle donne (also known as What Did Stalin Do to Women), 1968.
Mangiala (also known as Eat It), 1968.
Ecce homo—I soparavvisuti (also known as Ecce Homo), 1968.
Un tranquillo posto di campagna (also known as Un coin tranquille a la campagne and A Quiet Place in the Country), 1969, released in the United States, Lopert, 1970.
Un bellissimo novembre (also known as That Splendid November and Ce merveilleux automne), 1968, released in the United States, United Artists, 1971.
Ruba al prossimo tuo (also known as Una coppia tranquilla and A Fine Pair), 1969, released in the United States, National General, 1969.
Zenabel, 1969.
La monaca di Monza (also known as Una storia lombarda, The Awful Story of the Nun of Monza, La monaca di Monza: Una storia lombarda, The Lady of Monza, and The Nun of Monza), 1969, released in the United States, Tower, 1970.
Gospodjica Doktor—Spijunka bez imena (also known as Fraeulein Doktor, Stamboul Quest, and The Betrayal), 1969, released in the United States, Paramount, 1969.
H. 2S, 1969.
Galileo (also known as Galileo Galilei), Fenice Cinematografica/Rizzoli/Kinozenter, 1969.
Gentleman Jo ... uccidi (also known as Gentleman Jo and Gentleman Killer), 1969.
L'alibi (also known as Alibi), 1969.
Senza sapere niente di lei, 1969.
Vergogna Schifosi (also known as The Dirty Angels), 1969.
Quemimada! (also known as Burn, The Mercenary, and Quemada!), 1969, released in the United States, United Artists, 1970.
The Sicilian Clan (also known as Le clan des sicilians), 1969, released in the United States, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1970.
Un esercito di cinque womini (also known as The Five Man Army), 1969, released in the United States, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1970.
Metti, une sera a cena (also known as Love Circle and One Night at Dinner), 1969.
Una breve stagione (also known as A Brief Season), 1969.
Giotto, 1969.
La stagione dei sensi (also known as Season of the Senses), 1969.
L'assoluto naturale (also known as She and He), 1969.
La donna invisibile (also known as The Fantasies of a Sensuous Woman and The Invisible Woman), 1969.
1943: Un incontro, 1969.
Gott mit uns (also known as Crime of Defeat, Die im Dreck krepieren, Dio e con noi, The Fifth Day of Peace, God with Us, and The Last Five Days of Peace), 1969.
I marziani hanno dodici mani (also known as Siammo quattro marziani, Llegaron los marcianos, and The Twelve–Handed Men of Mars), Epoca, 1969.
La moglie piu bella (also known as The Most Beautiful Wife), 1970.
Uccidete il vitello grasso e arrostitelo, 1970.
Metello, 1970.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (also known as L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, The Bird with the Glass Feathers, The Gallery Murders, Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Handschuhe, Point of Terror, and The Phantom of Terror), 1970, released in the United States, UM, 1970.
I cannibali (also known as The Cannibals and The Year of the Cannibals), Dori–San Marco, 1970.
La califfa (also known as Lady Califfa and Lady Caliph), Titanus, 1970.
Hornet's Nest (also known as I lupi attaccano in branco and Il vespaio), United Artists, 1970.
Le foto proibite di una signora per bene (also known as Dias de angustia and Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion), 1970.
Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (also known as Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion and Investigation of a Private Citizen), 1970, released in the United States, Columbia, 1970.
Two Mules for Sister Sara, Universal, 1970.
Quando le donne avevano la coda (also known as When Women Had Tails), 1970, released in the United States, Film Ventures, 1970.
La sciantosa, 1970.
Vamos a matar, companeros (also known as Companeros, Los companeros, Lasst uns toeten, Companeros, and Zwei Companeros), 1970, released in the United States, GSF, 1970.
Giochi particolari (also known as Le voyeur and The Voyeur), 1970.
Citta violenta (also known as The Family, La cita de la violence, and Violent City), 1970, released in the United States, International CoProduction/EDP Films, 1974.
La classe operaia in paradiso (also known as The Working Class Goes to Heaven and Lulu the Tool), Euro International, 1971.
Cat o' Nine Tails (also known as Il gatto a nove code, Le Chat a neuf queues, and Die Neunschwaenzige Katze), 1971, released in the United States, National General, 1971.
The Decameron (also known as Il decamerone and The Decameron), Roma Film, 1971.
Maddalena, International CoProduction, 1971.
Una lucertola con la pella di donna (also known as A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Carole, Una lagartija con piel de mujer, Schizoid, Les salopes vont en enfer, and Le venin de la peur), Fida Cinematografica, 1971.
Krasnaya palatka (also known as La tenda rossa and The Red Tent), 1971, released in the United States, Paramount, 1971.
Oceano (also known as The Wind Blows Free), PEA, 1971.
Sacco and Vanzetti (also known as Sacco e Vanzetti), UMC, 1971.
Le casse (also known as The Burglars, Gil scazzinatori, and Kuppen), 1971, released in the United States, Columbia, 1972.
Quatro mosche di velluto grigio (also known as Four Flies on Grey Velvet, 4 mosche di velluto grigio, and Four Patches of Grey Velvet), 1971, released in the United States, Paramount, 1972.
Forza G. (also known as Die Todesflieger and Winged Devils), 1971.
Veruschka—Poesia di una donna (also known as Veruschka), 1971.
Incontro, 1971.
Il giorno del giudizio (also known as Drummer of Vengeance, Day of Judgement, and Doomsday), 1971.
Giornata nera per l'ariete (also known as Evil Fingers and The Fifth Cord), 1971.
Tre nel mille, 1971.
Gli occhi freddi della paura (also known as Cold Eyes of Fear and Los frios ojos del miedo), 1971.
La corta notte delle bambole di vetro (also known as Malastrana, Paralzyed, Short Night of the Glass Dolls, Das Todessyndrom, and Unter dem Skapell des Teufels), 1971.
Lui per lei, 1971.
Hayat sevince guezel (also known as Life Is Beautiful When You Love and Life Joy Beauty), 1971.
La tarantola dal ventro nero (also known as The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Black Bellied Tarantula, and Tarentule au ventre noir), 1971, released in the United States, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1972.
Without Apparent Motive (also known as Sans mobile apparent and Senza movente), 1971, released in the United States, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1972.
Addio, fratello crudele (also known as 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore and Peccato che sia una puttana), Euro International, 1971.
L'istruttoria e chiusa, dimentichi! (also known as Istruttoria e chiusa: dimentichi), 1971.
Duck, You Sucker (also known as Giu la testa, C'era una volta la rivoluzione, Once upon a Time ... the Revolution, and A Fistful of Dynamite), 1971, released in the United States, United Artists, 1972.
Viva la muerte ... tua! (also known as Don't Turn the Other Cheek, Long Live Your Death, Companeros, and Zwei wilde Companeros), 1972.
Quando le donne persero la coda (also known as When Women Lost Their Tails and Toll trieben es die alten Germanen), 1971, released in the United States, Film Ventures, 1972.
Correva l'anno di grazia 1870 ... (also known as 1870), 1971.
Anche se volessi lavorare, che faccio? (also known as Even If I Wanted to Work, What Could I Do?), Titanus, 1972.
Bianchi bandinelli e la Colonna Traiana, 1972.
L'automobile, 1972.
Chi l'ha vista morire? (also known as Who Saw Her Die? and The Child), Assonitis–Romeo, 1972.
Le tueur (also known as Il commissario Le Guen e il caso Gassot, The Killer, and The Killer und der Kommissar), Societe nouvelle prodis, 1972.
Bluebeard (also known as Barbe–bleue, Barbablu, and Blaubart), 1972, released in the United States, Cinerama, 1972.
D'amore si muore (also known as For Love One Dies), Euro International, 1972.
Imputazione di omicidio per uno studente, 1972.
Il maestro e Margherita (also known as The Master and Margherite, The Master and Margherite, and Majstor i Margarita), Euro International, 1972.
Les deux saisons de la vie (also known as Two Seasons of Life, Les deux saisons, and De twee saisonen van het leven), De L'aube, 1972.
Questa specie d'amore (also known as This Kind of Love), Titanus, 1972.
L'ultimo uomo di Sara (also known as Sarah's Last Man), Italnoleggio Cinematografica, 1972.
Guttoso e il "Marat morto" di David, 1972.
Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina (also known as Slap the Monster on Page One and Viol en premiere page), Euro International, 1972.
Das Geheimnis der Gruenen Stecknadel (also known as The Secret of the Green Pins, Cosa avete fatto a Solange?, The School That Couldn't Scream, Solange, Terror in the Woods, What Have They Done to Solange?, Who Killed Solange?, and Who's Next), 1972, released in the United States, Constantin Films, 1975.
L'attentat (also known as The French Conspiracy, Plot, Die Toedliche Falle (Die Affaere Sadiel), Das Attentat, L'attentato, and The Assassination), 1972, released in the United States, Cine Globe, 1973.
La banda J. & S. (cronaca ciminale del far west) (also known as Sonny and Jed, Far West Story, J. and S.—Storia criminale del far west, Bandera Bandits, J & S: Criminal Story of an Outlaw Couple, Los hijos del dia y de la noche, and Die Rote Sonne der Rache), 1972, released in the United States, Loyola Cinematography/Terra K–Tel, 1974.
Il diavolo nel cervello (also known as Devil in the Brain and Le Diable dans la tete), 1972.
La violenza: Quinto potere, 1972.
Mio caro assassino (also known as My Dear Killer and Sumario sangriento de la pequena Stefania), 1972.
I bambini chiedono perche (also known as Perche?, I figli chiedono perche, and Why), 1972.
Il retorno di Clint il solitario (also known as El retorno de Clint el solitario, The Return of Clint the Stranger, There's a Noose Waiting for You ... Trinity!, and Ti attende una corda ... Ringo), 1972.
I racconti di Canterbury (also known as The Canterbury Tales and Les contes de Canterbury), 1972.
(Uncredited) Meng long guojiang (also known as Fury of the Dragon, Return of the Dragon, Revenge of the Dragon, and Way of the Dragon), 1972.
Fiorina la vacca, 1972.
Crescete e moltiplicatevi, 1972.
Spogliati, protesta, uccidi! (also known as Quando la preda e l'uomo), 1972.
Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza? (also known as El bruto, el listo y el capitan, Life Is Tough, Eh Providence?, Sometimes Life Is Hard—Right, Providence?, La vita, a volte e molto dura, vero provvidenza?, On m'appelle Providence, and Providenza—Mausefalle fur zwei schrage Vogel), 1972, released in the United States, Euro International, 1973.
Un uomo da rispettare (also known as Hearts and Minds, A Man to Respect, The Master Touch, and Ein Achtbarer Mann), 1972, released in the United States, Warner Bros., 1974.
La cosa buffa (also known as La drole de chose and The Funny Thing), Euro International, 1972.
Le moine (also known as The Monk and Il monaco), Maya Films, 1973.
La proprieta non e piu un furto (also known as Property Is No Longer a Theft), Quasars Film/Labrador, 1973.
The Serpent (also known as Night Flight from Moscow, Le serpent, Die Schlange, and Il serpente), 1973, released in the United States, Avco–Embassy, 1973.
Quando l'amore e sensualita (also known as When Love Is Lust), 1973.
Giordano Bruno (also known as Revolt of the City), Euro International, 1973.
Rappresaglia (also known as Massacre in Rome), National General, 1973.
Libera, amore mio (also known as Libera, My Love), Italnoleggio Cinematografica, 1973.
My Name Is Nobody (also known as Il mio nome e nessuno, Lonesome Gun, Mein Name ist Nobody, and Mein Name ist Nobody), 1973, released in the United States, Universal, 1974.
Sepolta viva, 1973.
Vaarwel (also known as Farewell and The Romantic Agony), 1973.
Che c'entriamo noi con la rivoluzione? (also known as Que nos importa la revolucion! And What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution), 1973.
Blood in the Streets (also known as The Revolver and La poursuite implacable), 1973, released in the United States, Independent International, 1975.
Allonsanfan, 1973, released in the United States, Italoons–Wonder Movies, 1985.
La cugina (also known as The Cousin), 1974.
Sesso in confessionale, 1974.
Spasmo (also known as The Death Dealer), 1974, released in the United States, 1976.
Il fiore delle mille e una notte (also known as A Thousand and One Nights, Flower of the Arabian Nights, Le mille et une nuits, and Arabian Nights), United Artists, 1974, released in the United States, 1980.
Il giro del mondo degli "innamorati" di Peyser (also known as A World Tour Made by Peynet's "Lovers"), NOC, 1974.
Mussolini: Ultimo atto (also known as The Last Days of Mussolini, The Last Tyrant, Mussolini: The Last Four Days, and The Last Four Days), Paramount, 1974.
Milano odia: La polizia no puo sparare (also known as Almost Human and The Kidnap of Mary Lou), Joseph Brenner, 1974, released in the United States, 1980.
Le secret (also known as The Secret and Il segreto), Valoria Films, 1974.
Le trio infernal (also known as The Infernal Trio, Trio Infernal, and Trio infernale), Levitt–Pickman, 1974.
Fatti di gente per bene (also known as La grande bourgeoise, The Murri Affair, and Drama of the Rich), 1974, released in the United States, Production Artistique Cinematographique, 1975.
L'anticristo (also known as The Antichrist and The Tempter), 1974, released in the United States, Avco–Embassy, 1978.
Peur sur la ville (also known as Fear on the City, Fear over the City, Il poliziotto della brigata criminale, and Night Caller), AMLF, 1975.
Il sorriso del grande tentatore (also known as The Devil Is a Woman and The Tempter), 1975, released in the United States, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1975.
La faille (also known as La smagliature, Der Dritte Grad, and The Weak Stop), Gaumont, 1975.
Macchie solari (also known as Autopsy, The Magician, Sun Spots, Tension, The Victim, and Tarot), 1975, released in the United States, 1977.
The Human Factor, Bryanston, 1975.
The End of the Game (also known as Murder on the Bridge, Getting Away with Murder, Assassinio sul ponte, and Der Richter und Sein Henker), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1975.
Salo, o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (also known as Pasolini's 120 Days of Sodom, Salo ou les 120 journees de Sodome, and Salo—The 120 Days of Sodom), United Artists, 1975.
Leonor, 1975, released in the United States, New Line, 1977.
L'ultimo treno della notte (also known as Don't Ride on Late Night Trains, Late Night Trains, Night Train Murders, Violenza sull'ultimo della notte, Torture Train), 1975.
Gente di rispetto (also known as The Flower in His Mouth, The Masters, and The Schoolmistress and the Devil), 1975.
Labbra di lurido blu, 1976.
Storie di vita e malavita (also known as The Teenage Prostitution Racket and Prostitute), 1975.
Un genio, due compari, un pollo (also known as The Genius, A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe, Nobody ist der Grosste, Nobody's the Greatest, A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot, Trinity Is Back Again, and Un genie, deux associes, une cloche), Titanus, 1976.
Per le antiche scale (also known as Down the Ancient Staircase, Down the Ancient Stairs, En descendant les marches d'antan, and Vertiges), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1976.
La donna della domenica (also known a The Sunday Woman and La femme du dimanche), Fox Europa, 1976.
Attenti al buffone (also known as Eye of the Cat), Medusa Distributors, 1976.
La divina creatura (also known as The Divine Nymph), 1976, released in the United States, Film Releasing Corp., 1979.
San Babila ore 20: Un delitto inutile (also known as San Babila—8 P.M.), 1976.
Per amore (also known as For Love), 1976.
Il deserta dei Tartari (also known as Le desert des Tartares, Die Tartenwuste, and The Desert of the Tartars), Gaumont, 1976.
1900 (also known a Novecento, 1900—Gewalt, Macht, Leidenschaft, 1900—Kampf, Liebe, Hoffnung, and Nineteen Hundred), Paramount/United Artists/Twentieth Century–Fox, 1976.
Rene la canne (also known as Rene the Cane and Tre simpatiche carogne), AMLF, 1976.
Todo modo, Nu–Image, 1976.
Film, 1976.
Ariel Limon, 1976.
L'eredita Ferramonti (also known as The Inheritance), 1976, released in the United States, S. J. International, 1978.
L'arriviste (also known as The Thruster), Elan Films, 1977.
Exorcist II: The Heretic, Warner Bros., 1977.
Orca (also known as La orca, Orca—Killer Whale, and The Killer Whale), Paramount, 1977.
Una vita venduta, 1976.
L'agnese va a morire, 1976.
Il prefetto di ferro (also known as The Iron Prefect), Cineriz, 1977.
Autostop rosso sangue (also known as Death Drive, Hitch Hike, The Naked Prey, and Hitchhike: Last House on the Left), Watchgrove, 1977.
Le ricain (also known as The Man from Chicago), 1977.
The Chosen (also known as Holocaust 2000 and Rain of Fire), 1977, released in the United States, American International, 1978.
Stato interessante, 1977.
Il mostro, 1977.
Corleone (also known as Father of the Godfathers), Cineriz, 1977.
Il gatto (also known as The Cat and Qui a tue le chat?), United Artists, 1978.
Forza Italia!, 1978.
L'immoralita, 1978.
"Saro tuto per te," in Dove vai in vacanza? (also known as Where Are You Going on Holiday?), 1978.
Days of Heaven, Paramount, 1978.
Deutschland im Herbst (also known as Germany in Autumn), Osiris, 1978.
Cosi comme sei (also known as Stay As You Are, Stay the Way You Are, Asi como eres, and Bleib wie du Bist), Columbia/Warner Distribution, 1978.
One, Two, Two: 122, rue de Provence (also known as One Two Two), 1978.
La cage aux folles (also known as Birds of a Feather, Il vizietto, and The Mad Cage), 1978, released in the United States, United Artists, 1979.
Pedro Paramo (also known as El hombre de la media luna), 1978.
Viaggio con Anita (also known as Lovers and Liars, Voyage avec Anita, A Trip with Anita, and Travels with Anita), 1979, released in the United States, Levitt–Pickman, 1981.
Bloodline (also known as Sidney Sheldon's "Bloodline" and Blutspur), Paramount, 1979.
L'umanoide (also known as The Humanoid), Columbia, 1979.
Il prato (also known as The Meadow), Sacis, 1979.
I ... comme Icare (also known as I As in Icarus), AMLF, 1979.
Le buone notizie (also known as Good News), Medusa Distribution, 1979.
Ogro (also known as Operation Ogre, Operazione ogro, and Operacion ogro), Vides Cinematografica, 1979.
Ten to Survive, 1979.
Il ladrone (also known as The Thief, The Good Thief, Le larron, and Le ali della liberta), Italian International Films, 1979.
La luna (also known as Luna), 1979, released in the United States, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1979.
Dedicato al mare Eglo (also known as Dedicated to the Aegean Sea and Ege–kai ni sasagu), 1979.
Il giocattalo, 1979.
La vera storia della signora delle Camelie (also known as The True Story of Camille, La dame aux camelias, La dama delle camelie, Die Kameliendame, Lady of the Camelias, and La storia vera della signora delle camelie), 1980.
Windows, 1980, released in the United States, United Artists, 1980.
Un sacco bello (also known as Fun Is Beautiful), Medusa Distribution, 1980.
Stark System, 1980.
Si salvi chi vuole, 1980.
The Fantastic World of M. C. Escher, 1980.
Bugie bianche (also known as Bugie veneziane, Footloose, and Ventian Lies), 1980.
Nouvelles rencontres, 1980.
L'oeil (also known as Le facteur en vadrouille and L'oeil pervers), 1980.
La banquiere (also known as The Woman Banker), Gaumont, 1980.
The Island, Universal, 1980.
Uomini e no (also known as Men or Not Men), Italnoleggio Cinematografica, 1980.
La cage aux folles II (also known as Il vizietto II), 1980, released in the United States, United Artists, 1981.
Bianco, rosso, e verdone (also known as White, Red, and Verdon Green), Medusa Distribution, 1981.
So Fine, Warner Bros., 1981.
La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo (also known as The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man), 1981, released in the United States, Warner Bros., 1982.
Butterfly, 1981, released in the United States, Analysis, 1982.
Le professionel (also known as The Professional), 1981.
Espion, Leve–toi, 1981.
Occhio alla penna (also known as Buddy Goes West), 1981.
La disubbidienza (also known as La desobeissance), 1981.
Il pianeta azzurro, 1981.
Il bandito dagli occhi azzurri (also known as The Blue–Eyed Bandit), 1982.
The Thing (also known as John Carpenter's The Thing), Universal, 1982.
A Time to Die (also known as Seven Graves for Rogan), 1982.
Maja Plisetskaja, 1982.
White Dog (also known as Trained to Kill), Paramount, 1982.
Le ruffian (also known as The Ruffian), Roissy Films/AMLF, 1982.
Nana (also known as Nana, the True Key of Pleasure and Nana: La vera chiave del piacere), 1982, released in the United States, Cannon, 1983.
(Uncredited) Intilnirea (also known as The Encounter), 1982.
Il miestero della quattro corona (also known as Treasure of the Four Crowns and El tesora de las cuatro coronas), 1982, released in the United States, Cannon, 1983.
Porca vacca! (also known as Dammit!), Filmexport Group, 1982.
Le marginal (also known as The Outsider), Roissy Films/Gaumont, 1983.
(With Robert O. Ragland) A Time to Die (also known as Seven Graves for Rogan), Almi, 1983.
Corrupt (also known as Copkiller, Order of Death, Copkiller—l'assassino dei poliziotti, Corrupt, Corrupt Lieutenant, and Cop Killers), 1983, released in the United States, New Line, 1984.
Hundra, 1983, released in the United States, GTO, 1984.
La chiave (also known as The Key), 1983, released in the United States, Enterprise, 1985.
Sahara, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1983.
Once upon a Time in America (also known as C'era una volta in America), Warner Bros., 1984.
Les voleurs de la nuit (also known as Thieves after Dark), Parafrance, 1984.
Partir revenir (also known as Going and Coming Back), 1984.
Don't Kill God, Armand Rubin/Europex, 1984.
Code Name: Wild Geese (also known as Geheimcode: Wildganse and Arcobaleno selvaggio), 1984.
Pelota, 1984.
Il pentito (also known as The Repenter), Columbia, 1985.
La cage aux folles III: The Wedding (also known as La cage aux folles 3—Elles se marient, Matrimonio con vizietto, La Cage aux folles 3—'Elles' se marient, and Il vizietto III), Warner Bros./Columbia/TriStar, 1985.
Dario Argento's World of Horror, 1985.
Kommando Leopard (also known as Commando Leopard), Ascot, 1985.
Red Sonja, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1985.
The Link (also known as Blood Link, The Link, and Extrasensorial), Zadar, 1985.
La gabbia (also known as Collector's Item, Dead Fright, La jaula, and The Trap), 1986.
La Venexiana (also known as The Venetian Woman), Titanus, 1986.
The Mission, Warner Bros., 1986.
Gli occhiali d'oro (also known as The Gold Spectacles, The Gold Rimmed Glasses, and Les lunettes d'or), DMV, 1987.
Il giorno prima (also known as The Day Before and Control), Columbia, 1987.
Mosca addio (also known as Moscow Farewell), Istituto Luce–Italnoleggio, 1987.
Quartiere (also known as Another Day), Istituto Luce–Italnoleggio, 1987.
The Untouchables, Warner Bros., 1987.
Rampage, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 1988, released in the United States, Vestron Video, 1992.
Frantic, Warner Bros., 1988.
Il cuore di mamma (also known as Mother's Heart), 1988.
A Time of Destiny, Columbia, 1988.
(With Andrea Morricone) Nuovo cinema paradiso (also known as Cinema paradiso, New Paradise Cinema, and Cinema Paradiso: The New Version), Titanus, 1988, released in the United States, Miramax, 1990.
Fat Man and Little Boy (also known as Shadowmakers), Paramount, 1989.
Casualties of War, Columbia, 1989.
"Firenze" and "Udine," 12 registi per 12 citta, 1989.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (also known as Atame!), Miramax, 1990.
State of Grace, Orion, 1990.
Hamlet, Warner Bros., 1990.
Tracce di vita amorosa (also known as Traces of an Amorous Life), 1990.
Tre colonne in cronaca, 1990.
The Palermo Connection (also known as Dimenticare Palermo, Oublier Palerme, and To Forget Palermo), 1990, released in the United States, Live Home Video, 1991.
Ennio Morricone: La musica negli occhi (also known as Ennio Morricone: Music for the Eyes), 1990.
Time to Kill (also known as Tempo di uccidere, Le raccourci, and The Short Cut), Republic Pictures Home Video, 1991.
Everybody's Fine (also known as Stanno tutti bene and Ils vont tous bien), Miramax, 1991.
Crossing the Line (also known as The Big Man), Miramax, 1991.
Bugsy, TriStar, 1991.
Money, 1991.
Deutsches Mann Geil! Die Geschichte von Ilona und Kurti (also known as Ilona und Kurti and German Guy Sexy! The Story of Ilona and Kurti), 1991.
(Uncredited) Lucky Luke, 1991.
Mio caro dottor Graesler (also known as The Bachelor), 1991, released in the United States, 1992.
Especially on Sunday (also known as La domenica specialmente and Le dimanche de preferencee), Miramax, 1991.
L'envers du decors: Portrait de Pierre Guffroy (also known as Behind the Scenes: A Portrait of Pierre Guffroy), 1992.
A Csalas Gyoenyoere (also known as Rapture of Deceit), 1992.
Husbands and Lovers (also known as La villa del Venerdi and In Excess), Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1992.
City of Joy (also known as La cite de la joie), TriStar, 1992.
Beyond Justice (also known as Desert Law), Vidmark, 1992.
In the Line of Fire, Columbia, 1993.
The Long Silence (also known as Il lungo silenzio and Zeit des Zorns), 1993.
La scorta (also known as The Bodyguards and The Escort), 1993.
Roma imago urbis, 1993.
Disclosure, Warner Bros., 1994.
The Night and the Moment (also known as La notte e il momento and La nuit et le moment), 1994.
Jonah Who Lived in the Whale (also known as Jona che visse nella balena), 1994.
Wolf, Columbia, 1994.
Love Affair, Warner Bros., 1994.
A Pure Formality (also known as Una pura formalita, Une pure formalite, A Simple Formality, Only a Formality, and A Mere Formality), Sony Picture Classics, 1994.
The Star Maker (also known as The Star Man, Starmaker, and L'uomo delle stelle), Miramax, 1995.
L'uomo proiettile (also known as The Human Cannonball), SACIS, 1995.
Pasolini: An Italian Crime (also known as Pasolini, mort d'un poete, Who Killed Pasolini?, and Pasolini, un delitto italiano), SACIS, 1995.
Strangled Lives (also known as Vite strozzate, Le jour du chien, and Un homme honnete), Cecchi Gori Group, 1996.
The Stendhal Syndrome (also known as La sindrome di Stendhal and Stendhal's Syndrome), SACIS, 1996.
North Star (also known as Alaska, Duello tra i ghiacci, Grand nord, and Tashunga), Goldcrest Films International, 1996.
Ninfa plebea (also known as The Nymph), Adriana Chiesa Enterprises, 1996.
Afirma Pereira (also known as Pereira declares, Pereira pretend, According to Pereia, and Sostiene Pereira), 1996.
La lupa (also known as She–Wolf), FilmExport Group, 1996.
I magi randagi (also known as We Free Kings), Istituto Luce, 1996.
Cartoni animati, 1997.
Marianna Ucria (also known as La vie silencieuse de Marianna Ucria), 1997.
Con rabbia e con amore, 1997.
Naissance des stereoscopages, 1997.
Lolita, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1997.
U–Turn (also known as U Turn—Ici commence l'enfer), Columbia TriStar, 1997.
Bulworth, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1998.
(Score withdrawn) What Dreams May Come, 1998.
The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean (also known as The Legend of 1900 and La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano), 1998.
The Phantom of the Opera (also known as Il fantasma dell'opera, Phantom of the Opera, and Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera), Medusa Distribuzione, Medusa Distribuzione/Les Films de l'Astre, 1999.
The Thing: Terror Takes Shape (also known as John Carpenter's The Thing: Terror Takes Shape), 1998.
Mission to Mars (also known as M2M), Buena Vista, 2000.
Canone inverso—making love, Cecchi Gori Distribuzione, 2000.
Vatel, Miramax, 2000.
Malena, Mirmax, 2000.
In the Line of Fire: The Ultimate Sacrifice, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2000.
La ragion pura (also known as The Sleeping Wife), 2001.
Un altro mondo e possibile (also known as Another World Is Possible), 2001.
Aida degli alberi (also known as Aida of the Trees), Medusa Distribuzione, 2001.
(Uncredited) Reflections of Evil, PookieFilms, 2002.
Threnody, 2002.
Senso '45 (also known as Black Angel), 2002.
Ripley's Game (also known as Il gioco di Ripley), Fine Line, 2002.
Il diario di Matilde Manzoni, 2002.
L'ultimo pistolero, Ass. Celluloide, 2002.
Guardiani delle nuvole, 2002.
La luz prodigiosa (also known as The End of a Mystery), 2003.
The Wages of Sin, 2003.
Something to Do with Death, 2003.
An Opera of Violence, 2003.
Al cuore si comanda, Medusa Films, 2003.
72 metra (also known as 72 Metres), Studio Trite, 2004.
Libertas, 2004.
E ridendo l'uccise, 2004.
Film Additional Music:
Lucignolo, 1999.
Television Scores; Series:
Invito allo sport, 1978.
La piovra (also known as Allein gegen die Mafia, La Mafia, and The Octopus), 1984.
(Uncredited) Lucky Luke, 1991.
Television Theme Songs; Series:
The Virginian (also known as The Men from Shiloh), 1970–1971.
The Life and Times of David Lloyd George, 1981.
Television Scores; Miniseries:
Moses: The Lawgiver (also known as Mose, Mose, la legge del deserto, and Moses), CBS, 1975.
Noi lazzaroni, 1978.
Orient–Express, 1979.
Marco Polo, NBC, 1982.
Via mala, 1985.
La piovra 2, 1985.
La piovra 3, 1987.
The Secret of the Sahara (also known as Il segreto del Sahara and Das Geheimnis der Sahara), 1987.
Gli indifferenti, 1988.
The Betrothed (also known as I promessi sposi), 1988.
Il principe del deserto (also known as Lion of the Desert and Maktub la legge del deserto), 1989.
La piovra 4, 1989.
Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair (also known as Die Entfuhrung der Achille Lauro), syndicated, 1990.
La piovra 5—Il cuore del problema, 1990.
La piovra 6—L'ultimo segreto, 1992.
Piazza di Spagna, 1993.
Abraham (also known as The Bible: Abraham, La Bible: Abraham, and Die Bibel—Abraham), TNT, 1994.
La piovra 7, 1994.
(End title music) Samson and Delilah (also known as Die Bibel: Samson und Delila and Sansone e Dalila), TNT, 1996.
(Title music) Moses (also known as The Bible: Moses, Die Bibel—Moses, Die Bibel: Moses, and La Biblee: Moise), 1996.
Il barone (also known as The Baron), 1996.
(End title music) David (also known as Die Bibel—David and La Bibbia: David), TNT, 1997.
Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo" (also known as Nostromo and Nostromo—Der Schatz in den Bergen), PBS, 1997.
La piovra 10, 1999.
Musashi, 2003.
Television Scores; Movies:
L'uomo e la magia, 1972.
Drammi gotichi, 1976.
Le mani sporche, 1978.
The Scarlet and the Black (also known as Scarlatto e nero and The Vatican Pimpernel), CBS, 1983.
Wer war Edgar Allan?, 1984.
Die Foersterbuben (also known as The Forester's Sons), 1984.
C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf (also known as C.A.T. Squad and Stalking Danger), NBC, 1988.
Camillo Castiglioni oder die Moral der Haifische, 1988.
Gli angeli del potere, 1988.
The Endless Game, Showtime, 1990.
Only One Survived (also known as Il cacciatore di navi), 1990.
Una storia italiana, 1992.
Missus, 1993.
Jacob (also known as Jacob: A TNT Bible Story and Die Bibel—Jackob), TNT, 1994.
Joseph (also known as The Bible: Joseph, Die Bibel: Josef, and Joseph in Egypt), TNT, 1995.
Genesi: La creazione e il diluvio (also known as Die Bibel—Die Schoepfung, Die Bibel—Genesis, and Genesis: The Creation of the Flood), 1994.
Solomon (also known as Die Bibel—Salomon and Salomone), 1997.
La casa bruciata, 1997.
In fondo al cuore, 1997.
Il quatro re (also known as Die 4 heiligen Koenige, The Fourth King, and Diee Heiligen vier Koenige), 1998.
Ultimo, 1998.
I guardiani del cielo (also known as Il cielo sotto il deserto, The Sands of Time, La tour secrete, and Tower of the Firstborn), 1998.
Esther (also known as Die Bibel—Esther, Ester, and Ester regina di Persia), PAX, 1999.
Ultimo 2—La sfida, 1999.
Nana, 1999.
Perlasca, un eroe italiano, 2002.
Un difetto di famiglia, 2002.
Il papa buono (also known as The Good Pope: Pope John Paul XXIII and Il papa buono—Giovanni Ventitreesimo), 2003.
Maria Goretti, 2003.
Charlie Chaplin—Les annees suisses (also known as Charlie Chaplin: The Forgetton Years), 2003.
Also wrote score for Octopus 4.
Television Scores; Specials:
Ennio Morricone, 1995.
Padre Pio—Tra cielo e terra (documentary), BBC, 2000.
Television Scores; Episodic:
Space 1999, syndicated, 1974.
"Control," HBO Showcase, HBO, 1987.
Video Game Scores:
Red Dead Revolver, Capcom Entertainment, 2004.
Other Musical Compositions:
Composer of the ballet Requiem for a Destiny.
OTHER SOURCES
Periodicals:
American Film, February, 1991, p. 39.
Guitar Player, April, 1997, p. 57.
Variety, January 22, 1996; March 10, 2003.
Morricone, Ennio
Ennio Morricone
Film composer
Songs for a “Man with No Name”
Ennio Morricone is one of the most eclectic and prolific film composers of the twentieth century. He began composing scores for Italian westerns (often called “spaghetti westerns”) in the 1960s and over the course of his career, has created soundtracks for over 350 films and television productions released in English, Italian, and French. In addition to westerns, he has composed highly melodic scores for mystery thrillers, romantic dramas, comedies, and epics, including The Untouchables, La Cage aux Folles, The Mission, and Disclosure.
In an interview with Fred Karlin, author of Listening to Movies, Morricone discussed his humble beginnings, stating, “My first films were light comedies or costume movies that required simple musical scores that were easily created, a genre that I never completely abandoned even when I went on to much more important films with major directors.”
Songs for a “Man with No Name”
Yet these “simple musical scores” were inherently ingenious, immediately setting Morricone apart from his contemporaries. The compositions were marked by a blend of rock, jazz, folk, blues, and classical music and “found” sounds—birdcalls, gunshots, footsteps, the lash of a whip, rolling baby carriages, animal noises, and most notably, the human whistle. Writing for The Village Voice in 1986, Peter Watrous remarked, “[Morricone] has an acute sense for sound, and if it means using lower-class instruments—electric guitars, cheezo keyboards—to gain a specific effect, he’ll do it.” Morricone’s work with director Sergio Leone on the classic 1960s “man with no name” trilogy vaulted both Morricone and actor Clint Eastwood to instant cult stardom. In scores for A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Morricone mirrored the violence, irony, and campy humor pervading the classic Eastwood western.
Though westerns established Morricone as a “name” in the film-score business, his work with major directors such as Franco Zefferelli, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, and Roland Joffe put him on par with composers like John Williams, the man who dominated film music in the 1980s with memorable themes to Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Star Wars.
In the 1990s, roughly a quarter-century after he first attained prominence, moviegoers would be moved by Morricone’s dramatic swells in big-screen epics such as City of Joy and startled by his jagged strings in thrillers like Wolf. “Morricone, in short, is a postmodernist,” wrote Harlan Kennedy in a 1991 interview in American Film.
For the Record …
Born November 10, 1928, in Rome Italy. Education: Diplomas in trombone, orchestra direction, and composition, Santa Cecilia Conservatory; studied with Goffredo Petrassi.
Composed first film score, for The Fascist, 1961; scored “spaghetti westerns” of Sergio Leone, beginning mid-1960s; has composed more than 350 scores for music and television. Also composer of classical works, chamber music, a ballet, and music for theater, radio, and television. Contributor to periodicals, including Soundtrack!, Positif, Cinefantastique, and Cinema Papers.
Awards: Nominated for five Academy awards for best score; British Academy awards for Days of Heaven, 1979, Once upon a Time in America, 1984, The Mission, 1986, and The Untouchables, 1987; Golden Globe Award, 1986, for The Mission; Top Box Office Film Award from American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for Wolf, 1995.
Addresses: Record company —Rhino Records, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025–4900.
“Every acoustic gewgaw is grist for his mill; every period of musical history may be ransacked for inspiration. No wonder that in the 1990s, at the peak of his form, he’s become the musical general in the Italian invasion of American cinema.” Still, Morricone is loath to define himself in any category of film composers. He said in American Film, “I can’t classify myself. Others must do it. Others, if they wish, can analyze my works.”
“The Musical Sounds of Life”
Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone started writing music at the age of six. He holds diplomas in composition, trombone, and orchestra direction from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, and he still plays trombone with a local music group called Nuova Consonaza. Along with his classical compositions, he has composed a ballet (Requiem for Destiny) but little other non-film music. His first full-length film composition was for Luciano Salce’s II federate (The Fascist) in 1961, though his fame was not established until Leone’s mid-1960s trilogy and 1968’s Once upon a Time in the West, perhaps Morricone’s best-known score.
Morricone has often described his music as being about the pain inside a character. He told American Film contributor Kennedy that the screams, whistles, bells, and whips used in the “man with no name” trilogy were essential because they underlined the quirks of the character played by Eastwood. “I do only what I think is correct,” he said. “A composer has the obligation to ’invent and capture’ noises, the musical sounds of life.”
Perhaps Morricone’s most famous single “invention” is the theme song for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which topped the American charts after it was borrowed and slightly altered by Hugo Montenegro—a slight that still irritates the composer. And though he writes almost exclusively for events onscreen, Morricone’s soundtracks have endured on their own when released separately, often topping album charts.
Musical Solutions
Director Leone once told Kennedy that in the beginning of their collaboration, he would invite Morricone to his house and have him work on a piano that was out of tune because “if a score is good, it must rise above a bad instrument.” For the most part, Morricone begins his work on a film score by consulting the director about problem spots in the film and suggesting musical solutions. Only after this collaboration takes place does Morricone begin his work with an orchestra. The Village Voice ’s Watrous explained of his signature style, “Where Morricone comments on the action, it’s wildly imaginative kitsch…. Even without the visuals, the soundtracks are perfectly formed, if small, bits of music reeking sleaze.” This down-and-dirty aspect of his work has attracted a devoted following among other musicians, including experimentalist John Zorn, who made his own “cover” versions of some of Morricone’s work in the 1980s.
Despite the suggestion that Morricone’s music needs no visual accompaniment, the composer told Listening to Movies author Karlin, “Actually, people are little concerned with the musical element if they are watching a film, except when the music is… particularly emphasized.” In fact, Morricone is usually brought in only after a film is completed. Because at this point it is effectively too late to alter the look of the film, some directors rely on the score to smooth over any weak points in the drama. Many films depend heavily on music to establish suspense, for example. Ultimately, the composer is confronted with having his score cut to fit precise moments of the film. (To counter this, Morricone has become active in the release of his works as they were initially conceived, the composer personally overseeing selection and arrangements.)
Musically enhanced cinematic moments, nonetheless, can carry a film. In a 1992 review of the movie Bugsy, an Entertainment Weekly reviewer stated, “Morricone achieves something here that [very few] even try: music that’s as integral to the movie’s very conception as the dialogue, camera work, and performances.” In American Film, Morricone supports this statement by insisting that music in a film add depth to the story and characters; it must “say all that the dialogue, images, effects, etc., cannot say.”
If Morricone has a weakness, it is his incredible productivity, which inevitably leads to the occasionally listless score; this was the critical consensus about his work on the generally forgettable films So Fine, Butterfly, and The Thing. Writing for Melody Maker, Frank Owen found the soundtrack to The Mission “just plain dull,” calling it a “post-dinner aid to digestion. The sonic equivalent of a… mint.”
Rising at five every morning, Morricone locks himself in his room to keep from becoming distracted by the hubbub of his Italian household. Alluding to his massive body of work, Kennedy asked the composer, who often publishes music under the pseudonym Loe Nichols or Nicola Piovanti, if he ever grows weary of scoring film after film. To this Morricone responded, “I’m not tired of writing music. It’s the only thing that I know how to do.”
Selected scores
Italian titles translated into English
The Fascist, 1961.
Crazy Desire, 1962.
The Little Nuns, 1963.
A Fistful of Dollars, 1964.
Before the Revolution, 1964.
Nightmare Castle, 1965.
Fist in his Pocket, 1965.
For a Few Dollars More, 1965.
The Hawks and the Sparrows, 1966.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 1966.
The Battle of Algiers, 1966.
The Hills Run Red, 1966.
Navajo Joe, 1966.
Wake Up and Die, 1966.
The Witches, 1967.
The Girl and the General, 1967.
Death Rides a Horse, 1967.
The Big Gundown, 1967.
Dirty Heroes, 1968.
Come Play with Me, 1968.
A Fine Pair, 1968.
Once upon a Time in the West, 1968.
The Mercenary, 1968.
Dirty Angels, 1968.
Brief Season, 1969.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, 1969.
Hornet’s Nest, 1970.
Two Mules for Sister Sara, 1970.
Lulu the Tool, 1971.
The Burglars, 1971.
Devil in the Brain, 1972.
Duck You Sucker, 1971.
Far West Story, 1972.
Hearts and Minds, 1973.
Revolver, 1973.
The Devil Is a Woman, 1974.
Night Caller, 1974.
A Thousand and One Nights, 1974.
Space 1999, 1974.
The End of the Game, 1975.
Salo—the 120 Days of Sodom, 1975.
The Sunday Woman, 1975.
1900, 1976.
The Inheritance, 1976.
Down the Ancient Stairs, 1976.
Exorcist II, 1977.
The Heretic, 1977.
Orca—Killer Whale, 1977.
La Cage aux Folles, 1978.
Days of Heaven, 1978.
Bloodline, 1979.
The Meadow, 1979.
The Thief, 1979.
Windows, 1979.
So Fine, 1980.
The Island, 1980.
So Fine, 1980.
The True Story of Camille, 1980.
The Professional, 1981.
The Thing, 1982.
Butterfly, 1983.
The Scarlet and the Black, 1983.
Order of Death (Cop Killer), 1983.
A Time to Die, 1983.
Once upon a Time in America, 1984.
The Seven, 1984.
The Trap, 1985.
Red Sonja, 1985.
Fred and Ginger, 1986.
Good Morning Babylon, 1986.
The Untouchables, 1987.
Frantic, 1987.
Cinema Paradiso, 1988.
Casualties of War, 1989.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, 1989.
State of Grace, 1990.
Hamlet, 1990.
Voices of the Moon, 1990.
Money, 1991.
Bugsy, 1991.
City of Joy, 1992.
In the Line of Fire, 1993.
Wolf, 1994.
Disclosure, 1994.
A Pure Formality, 1995.
Selected discography
The Good, toe Bad, and the Ugly, EMI, 1966.
Once upon a Time in the West, RCA, 1968.
Sacco and Vanzetti, Omega, 1971.
Sahara, Intrada, 1983.
The Untouchables, A&M, 1987.
Hamlet, Virgin, 1990.
State of Grace, MCA, 1990.
Bugsy, Epic, 1991.
City of Joy, Epic, 1992.
In the Line of Fire, Epic, 1993.
Movie Music, Sony Music Italy, 1993.
Wolf, Sony, 1994.
Disclosure, Virgin, 1995.
A Fistful of Film Music: The Ennio Morricone Anthology, Rhino, 1995.
Film Music, Vol. 1, Virgin.
Film Music Vol. 2, Virgin.
Ennio Morricone: His Greatest Themes, Accord.
Legendary Italian Westerns, RCA.
Sources
Books
Karlin, Fred, Listening to Music, Schirmer, 1994.
Periodicals
American Film, February 1994.
Billboard, April 4, 1993.
Entertainment Weekly, February 7, 1992; July 21, 1995.
Film Review, September 1976.
Melody Maker, November 8, 1986.
Newsweek, July 2, 1993.
Village Voice, November 18, 1986.
—Sarah Messer
Morricone, Ennio
MORRICONE, Ennio
Composer. Nationality: Italian. Born: Rome, 10 November 1928. Education: Studied with Goffredo Petrassi; Santa Cecilia Conservatory, Rome, diploma in composition, in trombone, and in orchestra direction. Career: Composer of symphonic and chamber works, and for theater, radio, and television; also songwriter and arranger; 1961—first film score, for Il federale; 1975—music for TV mini-series Moses the Lawgiver, and for Marco Polo, 1982. Awards: British Academy Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, for Days of Heaven; British Academy Awards, for Days of Heaven, 1980, Once upon a Time in America, 1985, The Mission, 1987, and The Untouchables, 1988, Cinema Paradiso, 1991; Golden Globe awards, for The Mission, 1987, La Leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, 2000; Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Awards for Best Score for Per un pugno do dollari, 1965, Metti una sera a cena, 1970, Sacco e Vanzetti, 1972, Once Upon a Time in America, 1985, The Untouchables, 1988, Special Silver Ribbon for research for La Leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, 1999; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Once Upon a Time in America, 1984; Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television for The Untouchables, 1988; Locarno International Film Festival, Leopard of Honour, 1989; Venice Film Festival Career Goldn Lion, 1995; David di Donatello award "David," for La Leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, 1999; European Film Awards Life Achievement Award, 1999. Address: c/o General Music, Viale Leigi 41, 00198 Rome, Italy.
Films as Composer:
- 1961
Il federale (The Fascist) (Salce)
- 1962
Diciotteni al sole (Eighteen in the Sun) (Mastrocinque); La voglia matta (Crazy Desire) (Salce); La cuccagne (Salce)
- 1963
Il successo (The Success) (Morassi and Risi); Le monachine(The Little Nuns) (Salce); I basilischi (The Lizards) (Wertmüller); Le ore dell'amore
- 1964
Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars) (Leone) (credited as Leo Nichols); I malamondo (Malamondo) (Cavara); Prima della revoluzione (Before the Revolution) (Bertolucci) (co)
- 1965
Amanti d'oltretombo (Nightmare Castle) (Caiano); I pugni in tasca (Fist in His Pocket) (Bellocchio); Una pistola per Ringo (A Pistol for Ringo) (Tessari); El Greco (Salce); Il trionfo di Ringo (Tessari); Per qualche dollaro in più (For a Few Dollars More) (Leone)
- 1966
Sette pistole per i MacGregor (Seven Guns for the MacGregors) (Giraldi); Uccelacci e uccellini (The Hawks and the Sparrows) (Pasolini); Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) (Leone); La battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers) (Pontecorvo); Un uomo a metà (De Seta); Un fiume di dollari (The Hills Run Red) (Lizzani); Svegliati e uccidi (Wake Up and Die) (Lizzani);Un dollaro a testa (Navajo Joe) (Corbucci) (credited as Leo Nichols); Sette donne per i MacGregor (Up the MacGregors) (Giraldi); Matchless (Lattuada)
- 1967
Le streghe (The Witches) (Visconti and others) (co); Il giardino delle delizie (Agosti); La Cina è vicina (China Is Near) (Bellocchio); La ragazza e il generale (The Girl and the General) (Festa Campanile); Ad ogni costo (Grand Slam) (Montaldo); Da uomo a uomo (Death Rides a Horse) (Petroni); O.K. Connery (Operation Kid Brother) (De Martino) (co); Arabella (Bolognini); La Bataille de San Sebastian (Guns for San Sebastian) (Verneuil); La resa dei conti (The Big Gundown) (Sollima); L'Harem (Ferreri);Faccia a faccia (Sollima); I crudeli (Corbucci) (credited as Leo Nichols)
- 1968
Dalle Ardenne all'inferno (Dirty Heroes) (De Martino) (co);Galileo (Cavani); Escalation (Faenza); Teorema (Theorum) (Pasolini); Diabolik (Danger: Diabolik) (Bava); Partner(Bertolucci); Grazia, zia (Come Play with Me) (Samperi);Ruba al prossimo tuo (A Fine Pair) (Maselli); C'era una volta il west (Once upon a Time in the West) (Leone); Scusi, facciamo l'amore? (Listen, Let's Make Love) (Caprioli);Un tranquillo posto di campagna (A Quiet Place in the Country) (Petri); Un bellissimo novembre (That Splendid November) (Bolognini); Il mercenario (The Mercenary) (Corbucci); Fräulein Doktor (Lattuada); Vergogna schifosi(The Dirty Angels) (Severino); La monaca di Monza (The Lady of Monza) (E. Visconti); Comandamenti per un gangster (Caltabiano); Il grande silenzio (Corbucci); Roma come Chicago (Banditi a Roma) (De Martino) (co); H. 2 S.(Faenza); L'alibi (Lucignani, Gassman, and Celi); Et per tetto un cielo di stelle (Petroni); Corri uomo corri (Sollima)
- 1969
Gli intoccabili (Machine Gun McCain) (Montaldo); Metti, une sera a cena (Patroni Griffi); Una breve stagione (Brief Season) (Castellani); Le Clan des Siciliens (The Sicilian Clan) (Verneuil); Un esercito di cinque uomini (The Five Man Army) (Taylor); Queimada! (Burn!) (Pontecorvo);L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) (Argento); Metello (Bolognini); Tepepa (Petroni);La stagione dei sensi (Franciosa); Cuore di mamma(Samperi); L'assoluto naturale (Bolognini); Mangiala(Casaretti); Ecce Homo—I soparavvissuti (Gaburro); Sai cosa faceva Stalin alle donne (Liverani); La donna invisible(Spinola); Senza sapere niente di lei (Comencini)
- 1970
Hornets' Nest (Karlson); Two Mules for Sister Sara (Siegel); I cannibali (Cavani); Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion)(Petri); La califfa (Bevilacqua); Gott mit uns (Montaldo);Maddalena (Kawaletowicz); La moglie più bella (Damiani);Città violenta (Sollima); Quando le donne avevano la coda(Festa Campanile); Uccidete il vitello grasso ed arrostitelo (Samperi); Vamos a matar, companeros (Corbucci); Giocchi particolari (Indovina)
- 1971
Krasnaya palatka (La tenda rossa; The Red Tent) (Kalatazov);Sacco e Vanzetti (Montaldo); L'istruttoria è chiusa, dimentichi! (Damiani); Le Casse (The Burglars) (Verneuil);La classe operaia va in paradiso (The Working Class Goes to Heaven; Lulu the Tool) (Petri); Forza G (Tessari);Oceano (Quilici); Quattro mosche di vellato grigio (Argento);La tarantola dal ventro nero (Cavara); Veruschka—Poesia di una donna (Rubartelli); Addio fratello credele (Patroni Griffi); Incontro (Schivazappa); Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (Fulci); Tre nel mille (Indovina) (co); Il gatto a nove code (Argento); Gli occhi freddi della paura(Castellari); Le foto proibite de una signora per bene(Ercoli); Il Decameron (The Decameron) (Pasolini) (co);La corta notte della bambole di vetro (Lado); Lui per lei(Rispoli)
- 1972
Il diavolo nel cervello (Devil in the Brain) (Sollima); Sans mobile apparent (Without Apparent Motive) (Labro); Giù la testa (Duck, You Sucker!) (Leone); Barbe-Bleue(Bluebeard) (Dmytryk); L'Attentat (The French Conspiracy) (Boisset); Le Serpent (The Serpent) (Verneuil); Anche se volessi lavorare che faccio? (Mogherini); Il Maestro e Margherita (Petrovic); Correva l'anno di grazio 1870 . . .(Giannetti); Questa specie d'amore (Bevilacqua); Violenza: quinto potere (Vancini); Quando le donne persero la coda(Festa Campanile); Cosa avete fatto a Solange (Dallamano);Les Deux Saisons de la vie (Pavel); Giornata nera per l'Ariete (Bazzoni); Mio caro assassino (Valeri); La banda J & S (Cronaca criminale del Far West; Far West Story) (Corbucci); La vita, a volta è molto dura, vero Provvidenza(Petroni); I bambini chiedono perchè (Zanchin); D'amore si muore (Carunchio); I raccoti di Canterbury (The Canterbury Tales) (Pasolini) (co); Chi l'ha vista morire? (Lado);Quando l'amore è sensualità (De Sisti); L'ultimo uomo di Sara (Onorato); Il retorno di Clint il solitario (Martin)
- 1973
Un uomo di rispettare (Hearts and Minds) (Lupo); La propietà non è più un furto (Petri); Rappresaglia (Massacre in Rome) (Cosmatos); Giordano Bruno (Montaldo); La cosa buffa (Lado); Libera amore mio (Bolognini); Il mio nome e nessuno (Valeri); Sepolta viva (Lado); Crescete e moltiplicatevi (Petroni); Revolver (Sollima); Spogliati, protesta, uccidi? (De Sisti); Che c'entriamo noi con la rivoluzione? (Corbucci); Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza?(De Martino); Fiorina la vacca (De Sisti)
- 1974
Le Trio infernal (Girod); Allonsanfan (P. and V. Taviani); Le Secret (Enrico); Mussolini: Ultimo Atto (Lizzani); Fatti di gente perbene (La Grande Bourgeoise; The Murri Affair;Drama of the Rich) (Bolognini); Il sorriso del grande tentatore (The Devil Is a Woman) (Damiani); Peur sur la ville (Night Caller) (Verneuil); Il fiore delle mille et una notta (A Thousand and One Nights) (Pasolini); L'anticristo(De Martino); Il giro del monde degli innamorati di Paynet(Perfetto) (co); Macchie solari (Crispino); Space 1999(Katzin, Austin, and Tomlin—from TV eps.); Sesso in confessionale (De Sisti); La cugina (Lado); Spasmo (Lenzi);Milano odia: la polizia no puo sparare (Lenzi)
- 1975
Der Richter und sein Henker (The End of the Game) (Schell);Salo, o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salo—the 120 Days of Sodom) (Pasolini); La donna della domenica (The Sunday Woman) (Comencini); Divina creatura (Patroni Griffi); Un genio, due compari, un pollo (Damiani); La faille (La smagliature) (Fleischmann); Storie di vita e malavita (Lizzani); Attenti al buffone (Bevilacqua); Leonor (J. L.Buñuel); Human Factor (Dmytryk); L'ultimo treno della notte (Lado); Gente di rispetto (Zampa)
- 1976
Novecento (1900) (Bertolucci); L'eredità Ferramonti (The Inheritance) (Bolognini); René la Canne (Girod); Per le antiche scale (Down the Ancient Stairs) (Bolognini); Labbra di lurido blu (Petroni); San Babila ore 20: un delitto inutile(Lizzani); Per amore (Giarda); Todo modo (Petri)
- 1977
Le désert des Tartares (Il deserto dei tartari; The Desert of the Tartars) (Zurlini); L'Agnese va a morire (Montaldo); Exorcist II: The Heretic (Boorman); Il prefetto di ferro (Squitieri);La orca (Orca; Orca—Killer Whale) (M. Anderson); Pedro Peramo (Velo); Holocaust 2000 (De Martino); Il gatto(Comencini); Una vita venduta (Florio); Stato interessante(Nasca); Il mostro (Zampa); Autostop rosso sangue (Festa Campanile)
- 1978
Le mani sporche (Petri); La Cage aux Folles (Molinaro); Days of Heaven (Malick); Corleone (Squitieri); Viaggio con Anita (Travels with Anita) (Monicelli); Forza Italia!(Faenza); 122 rue de Provence (Gion); Cosi comme sei(Lattuada); "Saro tuto per te" ep. of Dove vai in vacanza?(Bolognini); L'immoralità (Pirri)
- 1979
Bloodline (Young); Il prato (The Meadow) (P. and V. Taviani); I . . . comme Icare (Verneuil); La luna (Bertolucci); Ogro(Operation Ogre) (Pontecorvo); Le buone notizie (Petri);Un sacco bello (Verdone); Il ladrone (The Thief) (Festa Campanile); Il giocattolo (Montaldo); L'umanoide (Lado and Lewis); Dedicato al mare Eglo (Ikeda); Windows(Willis)
- 1980
La Cage aux Folles II (Molinaro); The Island (Ritchie); So Fine (A. Bergman); La vera storia della signora della camelie (The True Story of Camille) (Festa Campanile);Uomini e no (Orsini); Stark System (Balducci); Si salvi chi vuole (Faenza); Professione Figlio (Buzie Bianche) (Rolla)
- 1981
La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo (The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man) (Bertolucci); Le Professionnel (Lautner); Bianco, rosso, e verdone (Cerdone); Espion, lève-toi (Boisset);Occhio alla penna (Lupo); La disubbidienza (Lado)
- 1982
The Thing (Carpenter); Nana (Wolman); Butterfly (Cimber);Le Ruffian (Giovanni)
- 1983
Hundra (Cimber); The Scarlet and the Black (London); La chiave (The Key) (Brass); Order of Death (Cop Killer) (Faenza); A Time to Die (Cimber) (co); Treasure of the Four Crowns (Baldi)
- 1984
Once upon a Time in America (Leone); The Seven Magnificent Gladiators (Mattei); Sahara (McLaglen)
- 1985
La gabbia (The Trap) (Griffi); La Cage aux folles III (Elles se marient) (Lautner); Kommando Leopard (Commando Leopard) (Dawson) (co); Il pentito (Squitieri); Die Einsteiger (Götz); Via mala (Toelle); Le due vite di Mattia Pascal (The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal) (Monicelli); Die Forstenbuben; The Link (De Martino); La messe e finita; Il pentito (Squitieri); Red Sonja (Fleischer)
- 1986
Il cammorista; Ginger e Fred (Fellini); Good Morning Babylon (P. and T. Taviani); The Mission (Joffé); Pourvue quece soit une fille (Let's Hope It's a Girl) (Monicelli); La Venexiana (Bolognini)
- 1987
Il giorno prima (The Day Before; Control) (Montaldo); Mosca addio (Bolognini); Quartière (Agosti); Rampage (Friedkin);The Untouchables (De Palma); Frantic (Polanski); Les Exploits d'un jeune Don Juan (Mingozzi); Intervista (The Interview) (Fellini); Gli occhiali d'oro (Montaldo); La sposa era bellissima (Gábor); Strana la vita (Bertolucci)
- 1988
A Time of Destiny (Nava); Cinema Paradiso (Tornatore); I cammelli (Bertolucci); Domani accadra (Luchetti); Drole d'endroit pour une rencontre (A Strange Place to Meet) (Dupeyron) (song); Manifesto (Makavejev); La soule (Sibra);Strange Life!; Young Einstein (Roach) (song)
- 1989
Gli indifferente (A Time of Indifference) (Bolognini—for TV); Casualities of War (De Palma); Fat Man and Little Boy (Shadow Makers) (Joffé); I promessi sposi (The Betrothed) (Nocita—for TV); ¡Atame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) (Almodovar); Tempo di uccidere (The Short Cut;Time to Kill) (Montaldo); Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair (Negrin—for TV); The Endless Game (Forbes— for TV); Dimenticare Palermo (To Forget Palermo; Oublier Palerme; The Palermo Connection) (Rosi); L'appassionata(Mingozzi); Australia (Andrien); La cintura (Gamba);Disamistade: O Re (Magni); Palombella Rossa (Moretti)
- 1990
Stanno tutti bene (Everybody's Fine) (Tornatore); State of Grace (Joanon); Tre colonne in cronaca (Vanzina); Mio caro Dr. Gräsler (Dear Dr. Gräsler; The Bachelor) (Faenza);The Big Man (Crossing the Line) (Leland); Il principe del deserto (Lion in the Desert; The Law of the Desert) (Tessari— for TV); Hamlet (Zeffirelli); Il male oscuro (Obscure Evil) (Monicelli); Il sole anche di notte (The Sun Also Shines at Night) (Taviani); Tracce di una vita amorosa (Del Monte);Le voce della luna (Voices of the Moon) (Fellini)
- 1991
La Domenica specialmente (Especially on Sunday) (Tornatore, Tognazzi, Guiseppe Bertolucci, Barilli, and Giordana);Money (Stern); Deutsches Mann Geil! Die Geschichte von Ilona und Kurti (Schwabenitzky); Bugsy (Levinson); La Villa del Venerdi (Husbands and Lovers) (Bolognini)
- 1992
City of Joy (Joffé); Beyond Justice (Tessari); Rampage(Friedkin)
- 1993
In the Line of Fire (Petersen)
- 1994
Disclosure (Levinson); Love Affair (Caron); La Scotta (The Escort) (Tognazzi); White Dog (Fuller); Wolf (Nichols);The Long Silence (Von Trotta)
- 1995
Joseph (Young—for TV); Pasolini, un delitto italiano (Who Killed Pasolini) (Marco Tullio Giordana); L'Uomo delle stelle (The Star Maker) (Tornatore)
- 1996
Ninfa plebea (The Nymph) (Wertmüller); Marianna Ucrìa(Faenza); I Magi randagi (We Free Kings) (Citti); Afirma Pereira (According to Pereira) (Faenza); Nostromo (Reid— mini for TV); La Sindrome di Stendhal (Stendhal's Syndrome) (Argento); Moses (Young—for TV) (title music);Vite strozzate (Strangled Lives) (Tognazzi); La Lupa (Lavia);Samson and Delilah (Roeg—for TV)
- 1997
Naissance des stéréoscopages (Marty); In fondo al cuore(Perelli—for TV); David (Markowitz—for TV); Con rabbia e con amore (Angeli); La Casa bruciata (Spano—for TV);Cartoni animati (Franco Citti and Sergio Citti); U Turn(Stone); Lolita (Lyne); Solomon (Young—for TV)
- 1998
Ultimo (Reali—for TV); Il Fantasma dell'opera (The Phantom of the Opera) (Argento); Bulworth (Beatty); La Leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (The Legend of 1900) (Tornatore)
- 1999
Esther
- 2000
Vatel; Mission to Mars; Canone inverso (Tognazzi); La Tour Secrète (for TV)
Films as Musical Director:
- 1965
Centomila dollari per Ringo (De Martino)
- 1966
Quien sabe? (A Bullet for the General) (Damiani)
- 1967
Gentleman Jo . . . uccidi (Finley)
- 1972
Giù la testa (A Fistful of Dynamite) (Leone and Santi)
- 1975
Per le antiche scale (Down the Ancient Stairs) (Bolognini)
Publications
By MORRICONE: articles—
Soundtrack! (Hollywood), March 1978.
Soundtrack! (Hollywood), June 1978.
Positif (Paris), April 1983.
Cinefantastique (New York), April/May 1983.
Cinema Papers (Melbourne), December 1984.
Film und Fernsehen (Potsdam), January 1990.
Soundtrack! (Mechelen), June 1990.
Interview with Gianni Bergamino and Dmitri Riccio in Soundtrack, 1 December 1992.
On MORRICONE: books—
Miceli, Sergio, La Musica nel Film: Arte e Artigianato, Florence, 1982.
Lhassa, Anne and Jean Lhassa, Ennio Morricone, Lausanne, 1989.
Miceli, Sergio, Morricone, la Musica, il Cinema, Modena, 1994.
On MORRICONE: articles—
Films in Review (New York), August/September 1970, additions in April 1972.
Image et Son (Paris), January 1974.
Image et Son (Paris), March 1974.
Ecran (Paris), September 1975.
Ciné Revue (Paris), 5 February 1976.
Film Review (London), September 1976.
Soundtrack! (Hollywood), October 1976.
Skoop (Amsterdam), March 1978.
Skoop (Amsterdam), May 1978.
International Filmusic Journal, no. 1, 1979.
Film Français (Paris), 2 February 1979.
Film Français (Paris), 16 January 1981.
Filmusic (Leeds), 1982.
Film Français (Paris), 4 May 1984.
Soundtrack! (Hollywood), December 1987.
Soundtrack! (Hollywood), June 1990.
American Film (Washington, D.C.), February 1991.
Rivista del Cinematografo, vol. 63, December 1993.
Variety (New York), 22 January 1996.
Film Score Monthly (Los Angeles), May 1996.
Film en Televisie + Video (Brussels), January 1997.
Gore, Joe, "Ennio Morricone: Spaghetti Western Maestro," in Guitar Player, 01 April 1997.
Briggs, Nick, review of La Leggenda del pianista sull'oceaneo, in Film Review (London), January 2000.
* * *
Ennio Morricone ranks among the most prolific and imaginative composers of film scores currently working in the field. Born and educated in Rome and initially a composer of traditional classical music, Morricone began scoring Italian motion pictures in the early 1960s. He has since worked internationally as well, with more than 175 films to his credit.
Morricone once referred to film scoring as "one art applied to another," and he effectively uses music as a sort of aural paint to create the proper blend of sound and vision. At his best, he ignores the limits of conventionality; his scores mix-and-match rock, jazz, blues, pop, folk, and classical music with innovative instrumentation and an apt gift for melody. He also makes adventurous use of percussion, brass, vocal/choral, and other sound effects—whips, gunshots, animal and bird calls, and particularly the human whistle.
Often the results are remarkable. Morricone has long and most effectively been associated with Italian director Sergio Leone, headmaster of the "spaghetti Western" school of filmmaking. Morricone's rousing and memorable work for the Leone/Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" trilogy brought him early prominence. The scores—A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly—match ideally the violence, emotion, and black humor inherent in the genre.
His masterpiece, the score for Once upon a Time in the West, is a beautiful complement to Leone's best film. Morricone provides a powerful emotional accompaniment with his accurate, gut-level renderings of the spectacle and myth of the Old West. Also particularly evocative among his credits is the pastorale score for Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (a portrait of farm-workers set in 1916 Texas), which has as its centerpiece a short theme borrowed from the nineteenth-century French romantic composer Saint-Saëns.
Occasionally the eclecticism yields less-than-unified, if still interesting, efforts (such as My Name Is Nobody). Morricone's inevitable weakness, naturally, is his prolificacy, which leads at times to listless scores and a certain repetition of the most facile ingredients of his distinctive style. Some of his more recent aims at the pop mainstream—Bloodline, So Fine, Butterfly, The Thing—miss the mark, serviceable but strictly unmemorable movie soundtracks. Once upon a Time in America teamed him once again with Leone in rather familiar musical territory, which won the composer his second British Academy Award.
In the late 1990s Morricone has shown no sign of reducing his musical output, continuing to turn out a prodigious quantity of scores, including La Leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, which has won several awards, including a Golden Globe, and Bulworth. La Leggenda tells the story of a man born in 1900 who never leaves the boat on which he lives, learning about the world from what people tell him. The score is central to the story: inspired by jazz and ragtime, Morricone has been commended for his careful historical research and painstaking attention to detail.
Morricone's versatile talent has served him well. He has composed for Westerns, romances, epics, thrillers, comedies, dramas. That his best music remains listenable independent of the films for which it was written is a worthy and enduring legacy.
—Richard Sater, updated by Christopher John Stephens and Chris Routledge
Morricone, Ennio
Ennio Morricone
Film composer
Ennio Morricone is one of the most eclectic and prolific film composers in the entire history of the genre. He began composing scores for Italian westerns (often called "spaghetti westerns") in the 1960s, and over the course of his career has created soundtracks for over 400 films and television productions released in English, Italian, German, and French. In addition to westerns, he has composed highly melodic scores for mystery thrillers, romantic dramas, comedies, and epics, including The Untouchables, La Cage aux Folles, The Mission, and Disclosure.
In an interview with Fred Karlin, author of Listening to Movies, Morricone discussed his humble beginnings, stating, "My first films were light comedies or costume movies that required simple musical scores that were easily created, a genre that I never completely abandoned even when I went on to much more important films with major directors."
Yet these "simple musical scores" were inherently ingenious, immediately setting Morricone apart from his contemporaries. The compositions were marked by a blend of rock, jazz, folk, blues, classical music, and "found" sounds—birdcalls, gunshots, footsteps, the lash of a whip, rolling baby carriages, animal noises, and, most notably, the human whistle. Writing for the Village Voice in 1986, Peter Watrous remarked, "[Morricone] has an acute sense for sound, and if it means using lower-class instruments—electric guitars, cheezo keyboards—to gain a specific effect, he'll do it." Morricone's work with director Sergio Leone on the classic 1960s "man with no name" trilogy vaulted both Morricone and actor Clint Eastwood to instant cult stardom. In scores for A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Morricone mirrored the violence, irony, and campy humor pervading the classic Eastwood westerns.
Though westerns established Morricone as a "name" in the film-score business, his work with major directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, and Roland Joffe put him on par with composers like John Williams, the man who dominated film music in the 1980s with the memorable themes to Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Star Wars.
In the 1990s, roughly a quarter-century after he first attained prominence, moviegoers would be moved by Morricone's dramatic swells in big-screen epics such as City of Joy, and startled by his jagged strings in thrillers like Wolf. "Morricone, in short, is a postmodernist," wrote Harlan Kennedy in a 1991 interview in American Film. "Every acoustic gewgaw is grist for his mill; every period of musical history may be ransacked for inspiration. No wonder that in the 1990s, at the peak of his form, he's become the musical general in the Italian invasion of American cinema." Still, Morricone is loath to define himself in any category of film composers. He said in American Film, "I can't classify myself. Others must do it. Others, if they wish, can analyze my works."
Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone started writing music at the age of six. He holds diplomas in composition, trombone, and orchestra direction from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, and he long played trombone there with a local music group called Nuova Consonanza. Along with his classical compositions, he has composed a ballet (Requiem for Destiny) but little other non-film music. His first full-length film composition was for Luciano Salce's Il federale (The Fascist) in 1961, though his fame was not established until Leone's mid-1960s trilogy and 1968's Once upon a Time in the West, perhaps Morricone's best-known score.
Morricone has often described his music as being about the pain inside a character. He told American Film contributor Kennedy that the screams, whistles, bells, and whips used in the "man with no name" trilogy were essential because they underlined the quirks of the character played by Eastwood. "I do only what I think is correct," he said. "A composer has the obligation to 'invent and capture' noises, the musical sounds of life."
Perhaps Morricone's most famous single "invention" was the theme song for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which topped the American charts after it was borrowed and slightly altered by Hugo Montenegro—a slight that still irritates the composer. And though he writes almost exclusively for events onscreen, Morricone's soundtracks have endured on their own when released separately, often topping album charts.
For the Record . . .
Born on November 10, 1928, in Rome Italy. Education: Santa Cecilia Conservatory, diplomas in trombone, orchestra direction, and composition; studied with Goffredo Petrassi.
Composed first film score, for The Fascist, 1961; scored "spaghetti westerns" of Sergio Leone, beginning mid-1960s; has composed more than 400 scores for music and television; composer of classical works, chamber music, a ballet, and music for theater, radio, and television. Contributor to periodicals, including Soundtrack!, Positif, Cinefantastique, and Cinema Papers.
Awards: British Academy awards for Days of Heaven, 1979, Once upon a Time in America, 1984, The Mission, 1986, and The Untouchables, 1987; Golden Globe Award for The Mission, 1986; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Top Box Office Film Award for Wolf, 1995.
Addresses: Publisher—General Music, Viale Leigi 41, 00198 Roma, Italy.
Director Leone once told Kennedy that in the beginning of their collaboration, he would invite Morricone to his house and have him work on a piano that was out of tune, because "if a score is good, it must rise above a bad instrument." For the most part, Morricone begins his work on a film score by consulting the director about problem spots in the film and suggesting musical solutions. Only after this collaboration takes place does Morricone begin his work with an orchestra. Watrous explained of Morricone's signature style, "Where Morricone comments on the action, it's wildly imaginative kitsch.... Even without the visuals, the soundtracks are perfectly formed, if small, bits of music reeking sleaze." This down-and-dirty aspect of his work has attracted a devoted following among other musicians, including experimentalist John Zorn, who made his own "cover" versions of some of Morricone's work in the 1980s.
Despite the suggestion that Morricone's music needs no visual accompaniment, the composer told Listening to Movies author Karlin, "Actually, people are little concerned with the musical element if they are watching a film, except when the music is ... particularly emphasized." In fact, Morricone is usually brought in only after a film is completed. Because at this point it is effectively too late to alter the look of the film, some directors rely on the score to smooth over any weak points in the drama. Many films depend heavily on music to establish suspense, for example. Ultimately, the composer is confronted with having his score cut to fit precise moments of the film. (To counter this, Morricone has become active in the release of his works as they were initially conceived, personally overseeing the musical selection and arrangements.)
Musically enhanced cinematic moments, nonetheless, can carry a film. In a 1992 review of the movie Bugsy, an Entertainment Weekly reviewer stated, "Morricone achieves something here that [very few] even try: music that's as integral to the movie's very conception as the dialogue, camera work, and performances." In American Film, Morricone supported this statement by insisting that music in a film add depth to the story and characters; it must "say all that the dialogue, images, effects, etc., cannot say."
If Morricone has a weakness, it is his incredible productivity, which inevitably leads to the occasionally listless score; this was the critical consensus about his work on the generally forgettable films So Fine, Butterfly, and The Thing. Writing for Melody Maker, Frank Owen found the soundtrack to The Mission "just plain dull."
Rising at five every morning, Morricone locks himself in his room to keep from becoming distracted by the hubbub of his Italian household. Alluding to Morricone's massive body of work, Kennedy asked the composer, who often publishes music under the pseudonym Loe Nichols or Nicola Piovanti, if he ever grows weary of scoring film after film. To this Morricone responded, "I'm not tired of writing music. It's the only thing that I know how to do."
Indeed, Morricone hardly slowed down at all as he entered his eighth decade of life, remaining active on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He showed his range by writing the score for actor-director Warren Beatty's film Bulworth, and also rejoined Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore in 1998 for The Legend of 1900. Morricone's score for Tornatore's 1988 film Cinema Paradiso has remained one of his most beloved, and the new score was hailed for its musical-historical accuracy and for the research its composer had put into the enterprise.
Tornatore and Morricone teamed up once more in 2000 for the Italian melodrama Malena, whose score brought Morricone his fifth Academy Award nomination to go with a host of other cinematic awards. The first four were for Days of Heaven (1978), The Mission (1986), The Untouchables (1987), and Bugsy (1991). To go with these formal accolades, Morricone notched a more modern kind of honor in 2002 when a group of dance music DJs issued an album, Morricone RMX, devoted to remixes of music from his film scores. A similar effort, Ennio Morricone Remixes, appeared on the German label Compost the following year. "I am honored and surprised that this happens," Morricone told London's Independent newspaper.
Morricone continued writing classical music as well, although it was more often heard in Europe than in the United States. Major validation of his music came from the classical world in 2004, when best-selling cellist Yo-Yo Ma recorded an album of arrangements of Morricone's film music. The 76-year-old composer arranged and conducted the music for the album himself. Asked by the London Sunday Telegraph to look back on his career, Morricone pronounced himself "satisfied with what I've done. But I still think I can improve. You can always do better, you know."
Selected discography
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, EMI, 1966.
Once upon a Time in the West, RCA, 1968.
Sacco and Vanzetti, Omega, 1971.
Sahara, Intrada, 1983.
The Untouchables, A&M, 1987.
Hamlet, Virgin, 1990.
State of Grace, MCA, 1990.
Bugsy, Epic, 1991.
City of Joy, Epic, 1992.
In the Line of Fire, Epic, 1993.
Movie Music, Sony Music Italy, 1993.
Wolf, Sony, 1994.
Disclosure, Virgin, 1995.
A Fistful of Film Music: The Ennio Morricone Anthology, Rhino, 1995.
Film Music, Vol. 1, Virgin.
Film Music Vol. 2, Virgin.
Ennio Morricone: His Greatest Themes, Accord.
Legendary Italian Westerns, RCA.
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone, Sony, 2004.
Selected compositions
Selected scores (Italian titles translated into English)
The Fascist, 1961.
Crazy Desire, 1962.
The Little Nuns, 1963.
A Fistful of Dollars, 1964.
Before the Revolution, 1964.
Nightmare Castle, 1965.
Fist in his Pocket, 1965.
For a Few Dollars More, 1965.
The Hawks and the Sparrows, 1966.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 1966.
The Battle of Algiers, 1966.
The Hills Run Red, 1966.
Navajo Joe, 1966.
Wake Up and Die, 1966.
The Witches, 1967.
The Girl and the General, 1967.
Death Rides a Horse, 1967.
The Big Gundown, 1967.
Dirty Heroes, 1968.
Come Play with Me, 1968.
A Fine Pair, 1968.
Once upon a Time in the West, 1968.
The Mercenary, 1968.
Dirty Angels, 1968.
Brief Season, 1969.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, 1969.
Hornet's Nest, 1970.
Two Mules for Sister Sara, 1970.
Lulu the Tool, 1971.
The Burglars, 1971.
Duck You Sucker, 1971.
Devil in the Brain, 1972.
Far West Story, 1972.
Hearts and Minds, 1973.
Revolver, 1973.
The Devil Is a Woman, 1974.
Night Caller, 1974.
A Thousand and One Nights, 1974.
Space 1999, 1974.
The End of the Game, 1975.
Salo–the 120 Days of Sodom, 1975.
The Sunday Woman, 1975.
1900, 1976.
The Inheritance, 1976.
Down the Ancient Stairs, 1976.
Exorcist II, 1977.
The Heretic, 1977.
Orca–Killer Whale, 1977.
La Cage aux Folles, 1978.
Days of Heaven, 1978.
Bloodline, 1979.
The Meadow, 1979.
The Thief, 1979.
Windows, 1979.
So Fine, 1980.
The Island, 1980.
So Fine, 1980.
The True Story of Camille, 1980.
The Professional, 1981.
The Thing, 1982.
Butterfly, 1983.
The Scarlet and the Black, 1983.
Order of Death (Cop Killer), 1983.
A Time to Die, 1983.
Once upon a Time in America, 1984.
The Seven, 1984.
The Trap, 1985.
Red Sonja, 1985.
Fred and Ginger, 1986.
Good Morning Babylon, 1986.
The Untouchables, 1987.
Frantic, 1987.
Cinema Paradiso, 1988.
Casualties of War, 1989.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, 1989.
State of Grace, 1990.
Hamlet, 1990.
Voices of the Moon, 1990.
Money, 1991.
Bugsy, 1991.
City of Joy, 1992.
In the Line of Fire, 1993.
Wolf, 1994.
Disclosure, 1994.
A Pure Formality, 1995.
Samson and Delilah, 1996.
Lolita, 1997.
Bulworth, 1998.
The Legend of 1900, 1998.
Malena, 2000.
Mission to Mars, 2000.
Ripley's Game, 2002.
Sources
Books
Karlin, Fred, Listening to Movies, Schirmer, 1994.
Periodicals
American Film, February 1994.
Billboard, April 4, 1993.
Chicago Sun-Times, February 16, 2001.
Daily Telegraph (London, England), March 6, 2001, p. 24; November 2, 2003, p. 5.
Entertainment Weekly, February 7, 1992; July 21, 1995; March 23, 2001, p. 52.
Film Review, September 1976.
Independent (London, England), March 11, 2004, p. 11.
Independent on Sunday (London, England), November 9, 2003, p. Features-7; November 23, 2003, p. Features-15.
Melody Maker, November 8, 1986.
Newsweek, July 2, 1993.
Notes, June 2002, p. 906.
Star Tribune, (Minneapolis, MN), October 10, 2004, p. F3.
Village Voice, November 18, 1986.
Online
"Ennio Morricone," All Movie Guide,http://www.allmovie.com (December 19, 2004).
—Sarah Messer andJames M. Manheim