00:09I'm Ben Mankiewicz.
00:10Thanks for watching TCM
00:11and tonight's slate of movies
00:12enhanced by the work
00:13of a prolific
00:14and prodigious composer,
00:16Ennio Morricone.
00:17Known best for scoring
00:19spaghetti westerns
00:20and for the majestic themes
00:21behind ambitious films
00:23like The Mission,
00:24The Untouchables,
00:25Days of Heaven,
00:25and Once Upon a Time in America
00:27with roughly 450 screen credits,
00:31Ennio Morricone
00:31was hardly a genre composer.
00:33Known for enhancing
00:35the often intense drama
00:36and suspense of the movies
00:38I mentioned,
00:39Morricone could keep it light
00:40when he needed to.
00:41Some of his earliest scores
00:43were Italian light comedies
00:44and costume pictures
00:46where he learned the effectiveness
00:47of simple, memorable themes.
00:49We have perhaps
00:50his most notable comedy score next.
00:53From United Artists in 1978,
00:55it's the hit French comedy
00:57La Cage aux Folles.
00:58Based on a long-running play
01:00by Jean Poiré,
01:02La Cage aux Folles
01:03is the story
01:03of a gay couple
01:04that owns a nightclub
01:05celebrated for its flamboyant
01:07drag queens
01:08and cabaret shows.
01:09When the son
01:10of one of the men
01:11gets engaged,
01:12the couple is asked
01:13to try to pass as straight
01:15all to avoid alienating
01:17their politically connected
01:19and conservative
01:19future in-laws.
01:21If the story
01:22sounds like
01:23the memorable
01:241996 American film
01:25The Birdcage
01:26with Robin Williams,
01:27Nathan Lane,
01:28Gene Hackman,
01:29and Diane Wiest,
01:29it ought to.
01:30In case you didn't know,
01:32The Birdcage
01:32is an English-language
01:33remake of La Cage aux Folles.
01:36The gay couple
01:37in La Cage aux Folles
01:38is played by
01:38prolific French actor
01:40Michel Sereau
01:40and veteran Italian actor
01:42Ugo Toniazzi.
01:44Toniazzi insisted
01:45on delivering his lines
01:47in Italian,
01:48forcing director
01:49Edward Molinaro
01:50to rewrite Toniazzi's
01:52French dialogue
01:53to match his lips
01:55speaking in Italian
01:56and then using
01:56a French voice actor
01:57to re-dub the lines.
01:59While the story
02:00is undeniably funny,
02:02a big reason the film
02:03and the play before it
02:04was so groundbreaking
02:05and so honest
02:06and human
02:07was the loving way
02:08it depicted
02:09the couple's relationship.
02:10They weren't caricatures,
02:12they bicker like a couple
02:13with 20 years
02:14under their belts,
02:15but they clearly
02:16care about each other
02:17and tolerate
02:18each other's eccentricities.
02:20Here's the film
02:20from 1978,
02:21nominated for three Oscars
02:23including Best Director,
02:24Adapted Screenplay
02:25and Costume Design,
02:26as well as a Golden Globe win
02:28for Best Foreign Film,
02:30La Cage aux Folles.
02:39Thanks for listening.
02:40Bye.
02:41Cheers.
02:41Cheers.
02:42Cheers.
02:42Entonces,
