Mr Ugly comes to town! This 1968 recording from United Artists Records to the 1966 Lee Van Cleef (“The Good, The Bad, The Ugly”) Spaghetti Western picture, co-starring Tomas Milan (“Traffic”), and directed by Sergio Sollima (“Revolver“), is one of Morricone’s most fun, and surprisingly emotional scores.
Listen to the album here:
The soundtrack to “The Big Gundown.”
Listen to the standout track, “Run Man Run (Main Theme)” here:
Main theme “Run Man Run.”
Watch the trailer for “The Big Gundown” here:
Trailer for “The Big Gundown” on YouTube.”
Watch the full movie here:
Full film available on YouTube.
Watch the original 1973 trailer for “Revolver,”* also directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Fabio Testi and Oliver Reed, here:
I have a real soft spot for this picture, and it features another stand-out Morricone soundtrack. Expect a future post on this album.
Surf guitar, strings, vocal melodies, pop, classical, and jazz, Morricone’s 1964 score to Paolo Cavara’s mondo youth picture, “i Malamondo,” contains a wide range of sounds, moods, and passions, befitting the soundtrack to an anthology picture of such varied episodes as Italian students butchering a pig; teenagers skiing nude in Switzerland; a Parisian “happening”; Swedish students contemplating suicide; a nighttime orgy in a graveyard; a performance from the male Royal Ballet, etc. There are moments that suggest Morricone’s later work on Spaghetti Westerns, a little James Bond vibe here and there (as there will be on Morricone’s score for “Slalom,” a year later), and some of the dark, dissonant sounds of Morricone’sgiallo scores.
This 2021 release from CAM Sugar and Decca Records features nine bonus tracks, and striking artwork by Eric Adrian Lee. It is the second in CAM Sugar’s Morricone Segreto series, celebrating the “secrets (sogretto is Italian for “secret”) of Morricione’s genius.”
Inner-gatefold album artwork by Eric Adrian Lee.
Fans of Wes Anderson may already be familiar with the standout track L’ultima Volta (The Last Time), which was featured in “The French Dispatch” (both the film and the trailer).
Featuring 9 bonus tracks, this 2018 Dagored limited edition (500 copies) of Morricone’s score to the 1966 Italian crime thriller “Svegliati E Uccidi” (aka “Wake Up & Die,” aka “Wake Up & Kill,” aka “Too Soon To Die”) is the first time the complete soundtrack has been available on vinyl. Described as “dark and powerful,” this early work from Morricone showcases his mastery of not just film scores, but pop songs, too, as evidenced by the stirring, mournful opening track “Una Stanza Vuota” (“An Empty Room”) sung by the film’s lead actress, Lisa Gastoni, who also starred in the Morricone-scored films “Grazie Zia,”“Maddalena,” and “I Pugni In Tasca” (aka “Fists In The Pocket”).
Although CamSugar pressed a new LP in 2021, as the third in their “MorriconeSegretto” collection, I sourced the original 1982 vinyl from Discogs, primarily for the excellent cover art.
Italian theatrical poster.The Maestro in 1980, the year he composed the score for “The Blue-Eyed Bandit.“
Released in 1980, The Blue-Eyed Bandit (aka Il Bandito Dagli Occhi Azzurri) is an amusing Italian poliziottesco picture. Written and directed by Alfredo Giannetti, it stars Franco Nero and Dalila Di Lazzaro, and features Morricone’s jazziest score.
The Maestro’s screen credit 1.Screen credit 2.
The Album:
Cover-art for “The Blue-Eyed Bandit“
Side 1.
Side 2.
Reverse album cover.
Other Editions:
2013 Italian CD release.2021 CAMSUGAR release.Lato B.Inner-sleeve.Reverse inner-sleeve.Reverse album cover.
The Film:
From MUBI.com:
The male-pattern baldness bandit.
Franco Nero stars as a mild mannered, elderly bank clerk, who shuffles in and out of the bank everyday, unnoticed by his co-workers, or anyone else for that matter.
Franco Nero disguised as an old, balding, dark-eyed bank clerk.
But this is quickly revealed to be a facade. The balding hairline is a wig. The dark eyes, contact lenses. The shuffle, an affectation.
Some hairpiece.The bandit’s bald wig.His dark eyes……are contacts.
The disguise is in aid of Nero’sreal job, robbing banks as “The Blue-eyed Bandit” of the title.
Not Sean Connery in “The Untouchables.”
Complicating things at work is his attraction to (and attention from) his beautiful co-worker, played by DalilaDi Larraro, who also starred in the Morricone-scored “StarkSystem” the same year (co-starring GianMariaVolonte, star of many Morricone-scored films himself).
“StarkSystem” album cover art.
The Director:
Giannetti with the Oscar he won for his screenplay for “Divorce Italian Style.“Giannetti with Italian film icon, AnnaMagnani.
One of my most prized records is this original 1972 vinyl for the soundtrack to the crime film “Un Uomo Da Rispettare” (aka “A Man To Respect,” aka “The Master Touch”) directed by Michele Lupo, starring Kirk Douglas and Florinda Bolkan and Giuliano Gemma.
The Maestro’s on-screen credit.
With stunning cover art by Ermanno Iaia, Morricone’s moody, atmospheric, trumpet-infused score greatly enhances an otherwise mediocre Italian crime picture.
The Album:
Other Editions:
1973 French pressing.Face 1.Face 2.1995 Japanese CD release.U.S. 2017 pressing front album cover.Inner sleeve.Side 1.Side 2.Reverse album cover.
The Film:
Posters:
German theatrical trailer.U.S. theatrical poster.DVD cover art.
Lobby Cards:
Ermanno Iaia Posters:
Italian “Serpico” poster.Italian “Psycho” poster.“The Fury” poster {detail).Italian theatrical poster for “TheFifthCord.”Alternate Italian poster for “TheFifthCord.”French poster for “TheConformist.”Alternate poster for “TheConformist.”“BillyJack” poster.“The Marseille Contract” poster.“The Master & Margaret” poster (detail).“Un Ragazzo di Calabria” poster. “L’idolo della città” poster (detail).Italian theatrical poster for “DeathWish3.”“DELITTO IN SILENZIO” poster (detail).Italian poster for BillyWilder’s “AceInTheHole,” also starring KirkDouglas.Poster detail for Walter Hill’s “TheDriver.”Alternate poster (detail) for “TheDriver.”Italian poster for “Badge373.”“Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry” Italian theatrical poster.“DIrty Mary, Crazy Larry” poster (detail).“The Nada Gang” Italian poster.“The Nada Game: poster (detail.)“Una stagione all’inferno” poster (detail).
