(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Chicago’s Music Box Theatre begins a film festival this week that honors composer Ennio Morricone, the “Maestro” whose work gave a lift to even the most mediocre of films.
Morricone (1928-2020) first gained international fame for his eerie and exhilarating scores for Sergio Leone’s “Dollar Trilogy,” the quirky, blood-soaked westerns that catapulted American Clint Eastwood into world stardom in the 1960s.
But Morricone scored more than 400 films, from low-budget genre flicks to Hollywood showcases. His work enjoys an afterlife today in part through the soundtracks that are reissued on vinyl LPs.
The Music Box and sponsor MUBI will put the films front and center, beginning Thursday with Brian De Palma’s “Mission to Mars” from 2000 and ending with “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966) on March 28. In between are offerings ranging from a John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic, “The Thing,” to the 1985 sword-and-sorcery adventure “Red Sonja.”
For a complete schedule of "Cinema Morricone," click here.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok