Riz Ortolani
Sound
Born: March 25, 1926 · Pesaro, Marche, Italy
Died: January 23, 2014 (aged 87)
Highest Rated
Biography
Riziero "Riz" Ortolani (25 March 1926 – 23 January 2014) was an Italian film composer. Ortolani scored over 300 films working mostly within the Italian genres of Mondo, Giallo, and the Spaghetti Western. Ortolani also scored many Hollywood films and has had some of his compositions reused in films like Drive and Django Unchained. Ortolani's most famous composition is More, which he wrote for the infamous film Mondo Cane. It won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Theme and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 36th Academy Awards. The song was later covered by Frank Sinatra, Kai Winding, Andy Williams, Roy Orbison, and others. Ortolani was born on 25 March 1926 in Pesaro, Italy. He was the youngest of six children. Ortolani's father, a postal worker, gave his son a violin at age 4. Ortolani later switched to flute after injuring his elbow in a car accident. He studied at the Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini" in his hometown of Pesaro before moving to Rome in 1948 and finding work with the RAI orchestra. Though the chronology is unclear, he also likely served as a musician in the Italian Air Force orchestra, formed a Jazz ensemble, and came to the United States as a Jazz musician in Hollywood, all before scoring his first film. Ortolani married Katyna Ranieri in 1956. In the early 1950s, Ortolani was founder and member of a well-known Italian jazz band. One of his early film scores was for Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti's 1962 pseudo-documentary Mondo Cane, whose main title-song More earned him a Grammy and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best Song. The success of the soundtrack of Mondo Cane led Ortolani to score films in England and the United States such as The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) and Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968). He also scored the 1972 film The Valachi Papers, directed by Terence Young and starring Charles Bronson. Ortolani scored all or parts of over 200 films, including German westerns like Old Shatterhand (1964) and a long series of Italian giallos, Spaghetti Westerns, Eurospy films, Exploitation films and mondo films. These include Il Sorpasso (1962), Castle of Blood (1964), Africa Addio (1966), Day of Anger (1967), Anzio (1968), The McKenzie Break (1970), The Hunting Party (1971), A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1972), Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), The Fifth Musketeer (1979), From Hell to Victory (1979), the controversial Ruggero Deodato films Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and The House on the Edge of the Park (1980), and the first series of La piovra (1984). In later years he scored many films for Italian director Pupi Avati. His music was used on soundtracks for Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1999), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), Drive (2011) and Django Unchained (2012). In 2013, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Academy. Ortolani died on 23 January 2014 in Rome, aged 87. Source: Article "Riz Ortolani" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Photos (1)
Movies (2)
Self / Appearances (6)
Other Crew (209)
The Octopus
Original Music Composer
Cannibal Holocaust
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The Voyeur
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Africa Blood and Guts
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Miranda
Music
The Yellow Rolls-Royce
Conductor
The Yellow Rolls-Royce
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Anzio
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The Corruption
Music
Old Shatterhand
Music
First Love
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On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...
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The Hunting Party
Music
The Hunting Party
Conductor
Mean Frank and Crazy Tony
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Don't Torture a Duckling
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Don't Torture a Duckling
Conductor
Un matrimonio
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War Goddess
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Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye
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House on the Edge of the Park
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The Girl from Trieste
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Il Sorpasso
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Beyond the Law
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Beyond the Law
Conductor
Goodbye Uncle Tom
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Christopher Columbus
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Day of Anger
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Hospitals: The White Mafia
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Web of the Spider
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Ghost of Love
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A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die
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A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die
Conductor
Killer Crocodile 2
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The Glory Guys
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The Valachi Papers
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Emma Hamilton
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The Inquiry
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Warriors of the Year 2072
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Rings of Fear
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The 7th Dawn
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Woman Times Seven
Conductor
Woman Times Seven
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Honey
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Knights of the Quest
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Knights of the Quest
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Love & Passion
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That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
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Cyclone
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Submission
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The Dead Are Alive
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Mimi
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Mondo Cane
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Casanova & Co.
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The Fight for Rome
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Tigers in Lipstick
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Revenge of the Dead
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David Copperfield
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The Fifth Musketeer
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Horror Castle
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Ride and Kill
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Tuareg: Desert Warrior
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Tuareg: Desert Warrior
Conductor
Fear in the City
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Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
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From Hell to Victory
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Ritratto di Donna Velata
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Lightning Bolt
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The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
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The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
Conductor
Secret Fantasy
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Le vacanze del Sor Clemente
Music
Magnificat
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Seven Blood-Stained Orchids
Conductor
Seven Blood-Stained Orchids
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Spy in Your Eye
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Castle of Blood
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I Am Afraid
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The Biggest Bundle of Them All
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How to Kill a Judge
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The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal
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Madhouse
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Red Dragon
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Confessions of a Police Captain
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So Sweet... So Perverse
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The Counsellor
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The Warning
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The Statue
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Paprika
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One on Top of the Other
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Incantato
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Valentina
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Via Panisperna Boys
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Via Panisperna Boys
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Sahara Cross
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The Spy with a Cold Nose
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The Adventures of Gerard
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The Adventures of Gerard
Conductor
Un caso di coscienza
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Say Hello to Yesterday
Music
Sardinia Kidnapped
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Kill and Pray
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The Return of Casanova
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Grandes ocasiones
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The McKenzie Break
Music
The Pitiless Three
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Killer Crocodile
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Tiffany Memorandum
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Brothers and Sisters
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Where the Bullets Fly
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The Pyjama Girl Case
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Dear Parents
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The Dove Must Not Fly
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Double Murder
Conductor
Double Murder
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A Season of Giants
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The Heroes
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Il figlio più piccolo
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The Lovemakers
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Impiegati
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Holiday Hookers
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The Unholy Four
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The Girl Who Couldn't Say No
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Night of the Serpent
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The Story of Boys and Girls
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One Russian Summer
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Hour of Death
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No, the Case Is Happily Resolved
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Ursus in the Valley of the Lions
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Ma quando arrivano le ragazze?
Music
Ma quando arrivano le ragazze?
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The Angel with the Gun
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In The Rose Garden
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Girolimoni, the Monster of Rome
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The Car That Became a Star
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Christmas Present
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Atrocious Tales of Love and Death
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Giovanna's Father
Music
The Second Wedding Night
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A Girl Called Jules
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Women of the World
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Maria - Nur die Nacht war Zeuge
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Blonde in Black Leather
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Mondo candido
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The Devil Also Cries
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Mafia Junction
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Holy Cow
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Gegè Bellavita
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The Hideout
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Graduation Party
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A Season of Giants
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The Dark Sun
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In the Jungle - The Making Of Cannibal Holocaust
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Sposi
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Do Not Commit Adultery
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Mediterranean Holiday
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Il corpo della ragassa
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A Dinner for Them to Meet
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Teresa the Thief
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Shadows Unseen
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Soldier's Girl
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Una fredda mattina di maggio
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A Hole in the Windshield
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Brutes and Savages
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The Fall of Rome
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A Second Childhood
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Salt in the Wound
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Mimì Bluette... Flower of My Garden
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Bootleggers
Music
The Violent Four
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Più bello di così si muore
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Vieni, vieni amore mio
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Very Important Person
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Nobody's Perfect
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The Last Minute
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With What Love, With How Much Love
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Paolo Barca, Elementary School Teacher, Practically a Nudist
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The Best Man
Music
The African Deal
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Viva Cangaceiro
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Le ore nude
Compositor
To Love Ophelia
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Massacre Play
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One Way
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I camionisti
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The Three of Us
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Make Love, Not War
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Christmas Rematch
Music
The Burning Years
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The Ravine
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Disperatamente l'estate scorsa
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Death Steps in the Dark
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Ecco
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La coppia
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Midsummer Night Dance
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Jus primae noctis
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Help Me Dream
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Madron
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Con rispetto parlando
Music
A School Trip
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Special Code: Assignment Lost Formula
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Chocolate
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Le braghe del padrone
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Brothers in Blood
Music
Fangio: Una vita a 300 all'ora
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Una domenica sì
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Processo all'amore
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Andrea Doria -74
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Terrore sulla città
Music