Directors That Have Worked With Bud Spencer
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Enzo Barboni (nick name E.B. Clucher) is one of the most representative filmmakers of the last line of the western to Italian thanks to the parodistic and trumpet-like series of Trinity. Born in 1922, Enzo Barboni began operating as a car operator in 1942, only twenty years later, and in 1961 became director of photography with the film The two marshals of Sergio Corbucci. At the same time he began to work as a screenwriter. The passage to the director, with the pseudonym of E.B. Clucher (Clucher was the grandmother's last name) came in 1970 with a "traditional" Western, Ciakmull - The man of revenge that was not very successful. In the same year he directed the cult-movie Called Trinity ... with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, who also wrote the subject and the screenplay. The success of this film went beyond any expectation, resulting in one of the greatest collections of the time. Among the keys to success there is certainly the irony brought to the western rigid and cold gender. So after the first film with Spencer / Hill, Barboni conducted the follow-up in 1971 ... they continued to call it Trinity, which will also be a huge commercial success. Enzo Barboni will lead another three films by Terence Hill and Bud Spencer: The Two Surface Almost Flat (1977), Nati with Shirt (1983) and No Two Without Four (1984). Barboni's production is considered distinct for good and for a "family" cut that the audience showed to appreciate a lot until the early eighties. Certainly the Trinity movie verve was no longer reached and Western spaghetti, both in classical and ironic form, entered a deep crisis from which it has not risen again. Barboni continued to write for other films as well, but then slowly retired: the last films were written by his son Marco Tullio, including the latest in his Trinity & Child Care ... and now it's up to us! in 1995, an unfortunate attempt to recall the historic success of "Trinity" ..., bringing together US actors, Heath Kizzier and Keith Neubert. Enzo Barboni died in 2002, a few days before he was 80 years old.7 films (1970 to 1991)- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steno was born on 19 January 1917 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Execution Squad (1972), Cops and Robbers (1951) and La patata bollente (1979). He died on 12 March 1988 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.5 films and 1 TV series with 5 episodes (1973 to 1988)- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Michele Lupo was born on 4 December 1932 in Corleone, Sicily, Italy. He was a director and assistant director, known for Buddy Goes West (1981), The Master Touch (1972) and Goliath and the Sins of Babylon (1963). He died on 27 June 1989 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.5 films (1978 to 1982)- Writer
- Production Manager
- Director
Giuseppe Colizzi was born on 28 June 1925 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and production manager, known for All the Way Boys (1972), Run, Run, Joe! (1974) and Boot Hill (1969). He died on 23 August 1978 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.4 films (1967 to 1972)- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Bruno Corbucci was born on 23 October 1931 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Django (1966), Peggio per me... meglio per te (1968) and Little Italy (1978). He died on 7 September 1996 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.3 films (1983 to 1986)- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Alessandro Capone was born on 25 July 1955 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Hidden Love (2007), Witch Story (1989) and 2047: Sights of Death (2014).2 TV series with 16 TV episodes (1993 to 2010)- Producer
- Production Manager
- Writer
Italo Zingarelli was born on 15 January 1930 in Lugo, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He was a producer and production manager, known for I'm for the Hippopotamus (1979), A Prostitute Serving the Public and in Compliance with the Laws of the State (1971) and The 5-Man Army (1969). He died on 29 April 2000 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.2 films (1969 to 1979)- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Ruggero Deodato was born on May 7, 1939, in Potenza, Italy, and grew up outside Rome. One of his close friends at the time was Renzo Rossellini, the son of famed Italian director Roberto Rossellini. Knowing Ruggerio's love for the movies, Renzo persuaded him to work as a second unit director on some of his father's productions. From 1958-67 Deodato worked as a second unit director for several cult film directors such as Anthony M. Dawson (Antonio Margheriti), Riccardo Freda and Joseph Losey. Deodato's directorial debut was the action-fantasy Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964), replacing Margheriti who quit the production. Deodato's claim to fame was the spaghetti western Django (1966). His career took off in 1968 when he directed a number of films based on comic-book characters and musicals. It was while shooting one of these films that Deodato met, and later married, Silvia Dionisio.
From 1971-75 Deodato worked in television, directing the series All'ultimo minuto (1971) as well as TV commercials, including ones for Esso Oil, Band-Aid and Fanta. Deodato returned to filmmaking with an erotic melodrama and a police thriller. At the same time his marriage fell apart. In 1977 Deodato directed the notorious Last Cannibal World (1977) and later Cannibal Holocaust (1980). Deodato traveled to New York City and directed the disturbing thriller House on the Edge of the Park (1980), a semi-follow-up to Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972). Deodato made House on the Edge of the Park (1980) in just 19 days on a tiny budget. He then returned to directing action and horror flicks.
Deodato lives in Rome with his current partner, Micaela Rocco, and still works in movies and occasional TV series. He is rumored to be planning a sequel to "Cannibal Holocaust".1 film and 1 TV series with 6 episodes (1997 to 2002)- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Sergio Corbucci was born on December 6, 1926, in Rome, Italy. He entered grade school with thoughts of becoming a businessman, but after earning a college degree in economics he took an abrupt detour into the world of cinema. Corbucci began his career as a film critic, first for the Italian film journal magazine "Schermi del Mondo" and later for the US Army newspaper "Stars and Stripes" during World War II.
Corbucci made his directorial debut with Salvate mia figlia (1951) and quickly made a name for himself as a capable and efficient filmmaker. His ability to make large-scale action sequences with a minimal budget kept him in demand as an assistant director as well. It was on one such assignment, while filming with a second unit in Spain for friend and director Sergio Leone on The Last Days of Pompeii (1959), that Corbucci claims that the idea for the so-called "spaghetti western" was born. Seeing the landscape of Spain with its wild horses, extraordinary canyons and semi-desert landscapes--which looked a lot like Mexico or Texas--Corbucci suggested making an American Wild West-themed film in Spain. He then directed his first western in Spain just before Leone completed the ground-breaking A Fistful of Dollars (1964).
Corbucci found early success in Italy by directing films in a number of different genres, as disparate as Totò, Peppino e... la dolce vita (1961)--a slapstick comedy spoof of Federico Fellini's box-office hit La Dolce Vita (1960)--as well as Duel of the Titans (1961) (aka "Duel of the Titans") and Goliath and the Vampires (1961). He also wrote screenplays for a few seminal horror films, such as Castle of Blood (1964) starring Barbara Steele, which he also co-directed. However, it was his Massacre at Grand Canyon (1964) that began a new path to his career to direct more spaghetti westerns. "Massacre at Grand Canyon"--which Corbucci co-directed, under the pseudonym Stanley Corbett. with Albert Band--differed little from the American westerns of that time, but his subsequent films would set a new and bold standard for on-screen violence and establish him as one of the most influential Italian directors of the Spaghetti Western.
Minnesota Clay (1964), starring Cameron Mitchell, was Corbucci's next film in the genre and and his first Spaghetti Western to be distributed in the US under the director's own name. It was a moderate success, but Corbucci's next Spaghetti Western would break box-office records worldwide and brand his name in Western history alongside Sergio Leone. "A Fistful of Dollars' may have sparked the international popularity of the Spaghetti Western, but Corbucci's Django (1966) brought an entirely new level of style to the genre. The ultra-violent masterpiece not only signaled a move toward an even grittier and more nihilistic brand of Western, but it picture established a lasting relationship between Corbucci and the film's star, Franco Nero.
After the success of "Django", Corbucci embarked on a trail of directing more Italian Western films and quickly became one of the more prolific filmmakers in the genre. His subsequent Spaghetti Westerns, Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966) (Johnny Oro), The Hellbenders (1967) (Hellbenders) and Navajo Joe (1966) were filmed and released in quick succession to great success in Italy. His next Western was The Great Silence (1968), which referred to Django as an "anti-Western" with the hero moving through cold rather than heat and fighting in the mud and snow rather than sweat and dust. It starred Jean-Louis Trintignant as a mute gunslinger and Klaus Kinski as a sadistic bounty hunter. The innovative script, which was co-written by Corbucci, makes great use of mountain locations (it was filmed in northern Italy in the snow-covered area of Cortina), and showed Corbucci edging close to the new type of political Westerns he is best known for.
His next Western film was The Mercenary (1968), which would began his semi-genre with what he called the "Zapata-Spaghetti Westerns" or proletarian fables, where the bad guys are on the right and the good guys are on the left. By setting the story in Mexico and fleshing out his characters with political awareness, Corbucci's intent became more clear and his left-wing political statements became more explicit. After directing the semi-successful The Specialists (1969), Corbucci re-teamed up with Franco Nero again with Compañeros (1970), which was his last box-office success and stands as one of the most accomplished Spaghetti Westerns, with a combination of humor, pathos, comic book-style action, and political commentary.
During the 1970s Corbucci made three more Spaghetti Westerns, but the popularity of the genre began to die out. Of the three, only Sonny and Jed (1972) stands out as one of the best in the late series genre Italian Westerns as a Bonnie & Clyde type fable. What Am I Doing in the Middle of a Revolution? (1972) is almost a parody of his Zapata-Spaghetti Westerns, while The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975) is married by racial stereotypes of Japanese characters and was not well received.
By the late 1970s, with the era of Spaghetti Westerns over, Corbucci turned his film making career to comedy and found some success with, The Con Artists (1976) and Super Fuzz (1980). He continued to work off and on during the 1980s with comedies, until his death from a sudden heart attack on the late evening of December 1, 1990 at age 63. His last film was the made-for-Italian-TV-movie Donne armate (1991), which was completed a few months before his death as his health was starting to fail. Sergio Corbucci is remembered for revolutionizing the Spaghetti Western genre which was popularized by his friend Sergio Leone, who passed away a little over a year before Corbucci.2 films (1978 to 1981)- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Marcello Fondato was born on 8 January 1924 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for I protagonisti (1968), Ninì Tirabusciò, la donna che inventò la mossa (1970) and Watch Out, We're Mad (1974). He died on 13 November 2008 in San Felice Circeo, Lazio, Italy.2 films (1974 to 1977)- Director
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Enzo G. Castellari was born on 29 July 1938 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and actor, known for Light Blast (1985), Warriors of the Wasteland (1983) and The Big Racket (1976). He has been married to Mirella since 17 December 1961. They have two children.1 TV series with 6 episodes (1991)- Director
- Writer
- Art Department
Sebastian Niemann was born in Lüneburg, Germany. He is a director and writer, known for Hui Buh und das Hexenschloss (2022), Jack the Ripper: The London Slasher (2016) and Hui Buh: Das Schlossgespenst (2006).1 film (2009)- Producer
- Director
Giampaolo Sodano was born on 24 October 1942 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a producer and director, known for Anthrax (2001), Una grande fortuna (2002) and Tra cielo e terra (2010).1 film (2008)- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Ermanno Olmi was born on 24 July 1931 in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988) and Il posto (1961). He was married to Loredana Detto. He died on 5 May 2018 in Asiago, Veneto, Italy.1 film (2003)- Producer
- Director
- Writer
José Miguel Juárez is known for Cosa de brujas (2003), Hijos del viento: Entre la luz y las tinieblas (2000) and Dile a Laura que la quiero (1995).1 film (2000)- Producer
- Director
- Writer
A Pioneer Member of the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts (AFI/AACTA), Franco's early works, 'Waiting 'Round Wynyard', 'La Scala Lo Scalone' (Stairs and Staircases) and 'Bad News Bachelors' screened at film festivals in Sydney, San Francisco, London and Edinburgh and sold to SBS, TV1 Sweden and NOS The Netherlands. He directed 'The Artist, The Peasant' and 'The Joys of the Women' for the ABC, the latter of which was released theatrically and nominated for an Australian Film Critics Circle Award. He was producer on the groundbreaking series 'A Change of Face' which challenged notions of Australian identity and ethnic stereotyping on the screen. It was nominated in the BANFF Television Awards and UN Media Peace Awards. His film 'Pipe Dreams' was one of ABC's highest rating programs for the year. Other ratings successes include SBS productions 'No Milk No Honey', 'Who Do You Think Are?', 'Hoover's Gold' and 'The Fabulous Flag Sisters' also screened on Fox Italy and won the Jury Prize at Rome Fiction Fest. Franco directed the mini-series 'Three Forever' (Tre per sempre), starring Bud Spencer and produced by Domenico Procacci of Rome-based company Fandango. The series screened on SBS and RAI in Italy where it attracted over 7 million viewers. It also sold to France and Germany. His 'Death of the Megabeasts' screened in the U.S., France and Australia and won a Gold Remi Award at Worldfest - Houston International Film Festival. His 'Skin Deep' was presold to SBS and Arte France and produced by Venice Gold Lion Award winner Marco Visalberghi. His 'Jack the Ripper - Prime Suspect' was broadcast on Network 7 in Australia and UK-TV. Distributed by BBC International, it also sold to Netflix U.S. He produced the drama series 'Under the Skin', winner of an AFI/AACTA Award for Best Miniseries and two Australian Writers Guild Awards including 'The Long Ride' by Tony Ayers - creator of the worldwide hit, 'Clickbait'. Episode 'Best Wishes' by Monica Pellizzari screened at the Venice International Film Festival. He was SBS Executive on the landmark indigenous package, 'From Sand to Celluloid' and Rolf de Heer's feature film, 'The Quiet Room'. Episode 'No Way To Forget' by Richard Frankland screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and 'The Quiet Room' in Official Competition, respectively. Franco also was EP on 'East Timor - Birth of a Nation' narrated by Academy Award winning actor Cate Blanchett, 'Uncle Chatzkel' with Oscar winning producer Emile Sherman ('The King's Speech') and 'Salvatore Zofrea - Master of Light" with producers Richard Mordaunt, Diana Barbara and Kim Mordaunt ("The Rocket"). Franco directed the romantic comedy 'Big Mamma's Boy,' starring Holly Valance and Frank Lotito. The film screened at CinefestOz, was released nationally in Australia by Madman Entertainment and sold to Fox Movies. He directed 'The New MoMA' for DAM - Design Art Magazine and produced 'Forgiveness Day' for The New York Times. He is writer of the mini-series 'The Rocky Road' and feature film 'Chasing Sophia' and co-writer of the Cold War spy drama, 'Little Europe'.1 film (1998)- Producer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eduardo Campoy was born in 1955 in Valencia, Spain. He is a producer and director, known for Al límite (1997), Copia cero (1982) and Santos (2007). He has been married to Mabel Lozano since 1998. They have two children.1 film (1997)- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Leonardo Pieraccioni was born on 17 February 1965 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for The Cyclone (1996), I laureati (1995) and I Love You in Every Language in the World (2005).1 film (1997)- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Terence Hill was born as Mario Girotti on March 29, 1939 in Venice, Italy to a chemist. His mother was German, and as a child the family lived near Dresden, Saxony, Germany where they survived the Allied bombings of World War II. Italian film-maker Dino Risi discovered him at a swimming meet and he made his first film at the age of 12, Vacanze col gangster (1952) (Holiday for Gangsters). He continued acting to finance his studies and motorcycle hobby. After studying classical literature at the University of Rome for three years, he decided to devote full time to acting. In 1962 he appeared in Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (1963), He then signed a contract for a series of adventure and western films in Germany. In 1967 he returned to Italy to play the lead in God Forgives... I Don't! (1967). While on location in Almeria, Spain, he married an American girl of Bavarian descent, Lori Zwicklbauer, who was the dialogue coach for the picture. The producers of this movie wanted him to change his name. He then got a list with 20 names on it and 24 hours time to choose one of these names. He decided to take Terence Hill cause he liked it the most and it has the same initials as his mother's name (Hildegard Thieme). They only told the public that "Hill" was his wife's name out of publicity reasons. At this time of upcoming feminism a man who took his wife's name was something special. In 1976 Hollywood called and he appeared in March or Die (1977) with Gene Hackman and starred in Mr. Billion (1977) with Valerie Perrine. Since then he has concentrated on action/adventure films starring himself and often working with long time partner Bud Spencer. Terence lives in Massachusetts and is a film producer, as well as talented and respected actor.1 film (1994)- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Maurizio Ponzi was born on 8 May 1939 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for I visionari (1968), The Pool Hustlers (1983) and Son contento (1983).1 TV episode (1988)- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Pasquale Festa Campanile was born on 28 July 1927 in Melfi, Basilicata, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Leopard (1963), Rocco and His Brothers (1960) and The Four Days of Naples (1962). He was married to Anna Salvatore. He died on 25 February 1986 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1976)- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Franco Rossi was born on 28 April 1919 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for The Woman in the Painting (1955), Nude Odyssey (1961) and Smog (1962). He died on 5 June 2000 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1974)- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tonino Valerii was born on 20 May 1934 in Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for My Name Is Nobody (1973), A Girl Called Jules (1970) and Day of Anger (1967). He was married to Rita. He died on 13 October 2016 in Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy.1 film (1972)- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Carlo Lizzani was born on 3 April 1922 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for The Violent Four (1968), Chronicle of Poor Lovers (1954) and Celluloide (1996). He was married to Edith Bieber. He died on 5 October 2013 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1972)- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Maurizio Lucidi was born in 1932 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a director and editor, known for Street People (1976), The Designated Victim (1971) and Probabilità zero (1969). He died in 2005 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1972)- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Dario Argento was born on September 7, 1940, in Rome, Italy, the first-born son of famed Italian producer Salvatore Argento and Brazilian fashion model Elda Luxardo. Argento recalls getting his ideas for filmmaking from his close-knit family from Italian folk tales told by his parents and other family members, including an aunt who told him frighting bedtime stories. Argento based most of his thriller movies on childhood trauma, yet his own--according to him--was a normal one. Along with tales spun by his aunt, Argento was impressed by stories from The Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen and Edgar Allan Poe. Argento started his career writing for various film journal magazines while still in his teens attending a Catholic high school. After graduation, instead of going to college, Argento took a job as a columnist for the Rome daily newspaper "Paese Sera". Inspired by the movies, he later found work as a screenwriter and wrote several screenplays for a number of films, but the most important were his western collaborations, which included Cemetery Without Crosses (1969) and the Sergio Leone masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). After its release Argento wrote and directed his first movie, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), which starred Tony Musante and and British actress Suzy Kendall. It's a loose adoption on Fredric Brown's novel "The Screaming Mimi", which was made for his father's film company. Argento wanted to direct the movie himself because he did not want any other director messing up the production and his screenplay.
After "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage" became an international hit, Argento followed up with two more thrillers, The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971), starring 'Karl Madlen' (qv" and 'James Fransiscus', and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) ("Four Flies On Black Velvet"), both backed by his father Salvatore. Argento then directed the TV drama Testimone oculare (1973) and the historical TV drama The Five Days (1973). He then went back to directing so-called "giallo" thrillers, starting with Deep Red (1975), a violent mystery-thriller starring David Hemmings that inspired a number of international directors in the thriller-horror genre. His next work was Suspiria (1977), a surreal horror film about a witch's coven that was inspired by the Gothic fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson, which he also wrote in collaboration with his girlfriend, screenwriter/actress Daria Nicolodi, who acted in "Profondo Rosso" ("Deep Red") and most of Argento's films from then to the late 1980s. Argento advanced the unfinished trilogy with Inferno (1980), before returning to the "giallo" genre with the gory Tenebrae (1982), and then with the haunting Phenomena (1985).
The lukewarm reviews for his films, however, caused Argento to slip away from directing to producing and co-writing two Lamberto Bava horror flicks, Demons (1985) and Demons 2 (1986). Argento returned to directing with the "giallo" thriller Opera (1987), which according to him was "a very unpleasant experience", and no wonder: a rash of technical problems delayed production, the lead actress Vanessa Redgrave dropped out before filming was to begin, Argento's father Salvatore died during filming and his long-term girlfriend Daria broke off their relationship. After the commercial box-office failure of "Opera", Argento temporarily settled in the US, where he collaborated with director George A. Romero on the two-part horror-thriller Two Evil Eyes (1990) (he had previously collaborated with Romero on the horror action thriller Dawn of the Dead (1978)). While still living in America, Argento appeared in small roles in several films and directed another violent mystery thriller, Trauma (1993), which starred his youngest daughter Asia Argento from his long-term relationship with Nicolodi.
Argento returned to Italy in 1995, where he made a comeback in the horror genre with The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) and then with another version of "The Phantom of the Opera", The Phantom of the Opera (1998), both of which starred Asia. Most recently, Argento directed a number of "giallo" mystery thrillers such as Sleepless (2001), The Card Player (2003) and Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005), as well as two gory, supernatural-themed episodes of the USA TV cable anthology series Masters of Horror (2005).
Having always wanted to make a third chapter to his "Three Mothers" horror films, Argento finally completed the trilogy in 2007 with the release of Mother of Tears (2007), which starred Asia Argento as a young woman trying to identify and stop the last surviving evil witch from taking over the world. In addition to his Gothic and violent style of storytelling, "La terza madre" has many references to two of his previous films, "Suspiria" (1997) and "Inferno" (1980), which is a must for fans of the trilogy.
His movies may be regarded by some critics and opponents as cheap and overly violent, but second or third viewings show him to be a talented writer/director with a penchant for original ideas and creative directing.1 film (1971)- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Lorenzo Gicca Palli is known for Blackie the Pirate (1971), The Price of Death (1971) and Liebes Lager (1976).1 film (1971)- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Born in 1930 in Genoa. Still a young student in 1950 when director Carlo Lizzani gave him a role in the film Achtung Banditi!. Following this experience he traveled to Rome where, after acting in film and theater, he became the assistant director to Lizzani, Gillo Pontecorvo, Sergio Leone, Francesco Rosi. In 1960 he made his debut as a Director with Pigeon Shoot, a film about the Partisan Resistance, on competition at the 1961 Venice Film Festival. In 1964 he directed La Moglie Svedese, an episode of the film Extramarital. His second movie, The Reckless, won the special prize of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival in 1965; it's about a social climber in Italy during the time of the economic miracle. That year he also directed the second unit of Pontecorvo's masterpiece The Battle Of Algiers.
After having filmed for Paramount the heist movie Grand Slam (1967) and the gangster film Machine Gun McCain (1969) in the US, Montaldo returned to Italy to direct The Fifth Day of Peace (1970), Sacco and Vanzetti (in competition at Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Actor 1971) and Giordano Bruno (1973). These films received great recognition and were widely appreciated at various film festivals around the world. The theme of the Resistance underlined And Agnes Chose to Die (1977).
In 1980 the director engaged in the production of a television series about the exploration of Marco Polo, an international co-production with RAI, BBC and NBC. It was filmed in Italy, the Middle East, Tibet, Mongolia and China. It was shown in 76 nations, and won 4 Emmy Awards. Other awards worldwide for cinematography, production design and costumes were received. Montaldo's experience with China reveals a turning point in his work.
Other films he directed are Closed Circuit (in competition at the Berlinale in 1978 and in permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art), A Dangerous Toy (1979), The Gold Rimmed Glasses (1987), Control (1987), and Time to Kill (1989).
Always worked with an international cast. Some of the actors that worked with him are: Burt Lancaster, Rupert Everett, Nicolas Cage, Philippe Noiret, Janet Leigh, Edward G. Robinson, John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Rade Serbedzija, Charlotte Rampling, Ingrid Thulin, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, F. Murray Abraham, Leonard Nimoy.
Some of his usual collaborators have been score composer Ennio Morricone and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.
Montaldo is also internationally recognized as a Opera director, directed commercials, documentaries and experimental film technology projects. From 1999 he was president of RAI Cinema, a major film production company, for 5 years in which the movies he produced became box office hits, won awards all over the world and formed a new generation of Italian directors.
In 2001 he was appointed Cavaliere di Gran Croce by the president of Italy, one of the top honors of the Republic.1 film (1970)- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Born in Freeport, Pennsylvania, Don Taylor studied law, then speech and drama at Penn State University, where as a freshman he began taking part in college stage productions. Hitchhiking to Hollywood in 1942, the youthful Taylor screen-tested at Warner Brothers but was rejected because of his draft status. MGM, not as fussy, signed him to a contract and immediately put him to work, assigning him the minuscule role of a soldier in director Clarence Brown's sentimental slice of Americana, The Human Comedy (1943). More minor roles followed before Taylor enlisted in the Army; but even there he continued to act: Playwright/screenwriter Moss Hart chose him to play one of the leads in the United States Army Air Forces' production of Hart's play, "Winged Victory." Taylor met his first wife, actress Phyllis Avery, when she was also in Winged Victory. Returning to civilian life, Taylor resumed his work in pictures with a top role in the trend-setting crime drama The Naked City (1948). In later years Taylor became a film and TV director, being nominated for an Emmy for his direction of an episode of The Farmer's Daughter. Taylor met his second wife Hazel Court when he directed her in a 1958 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955).1 film (1969)- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giorgio Stegani was born on 13 October 1928 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Ypotron - Final Countdown (1966) and Golden Chameleon (1967). He died on 20 February 2020 in Rome, Italy.1 film (1968)- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Tonino Cervi was born on 15 June 1929 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was a producer and writer, known for Il quaderno della spesa (2003), Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! (1968) and The Girls Who'll Do Anything (1975). He died on 1 April 2002 in Siena, Tuscany, Italy.1 film (1968)- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia was born on 8 July 1894 in Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for Amore (1935), Barbablù (1941) and La vita è bella (1943). He died on 3 January 1998 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1959)- Director
- Writer
- Art Department
Edgar G. Ulmer was born on 17 September 1904 in Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]. He was a director and writer, known for The Naked Dawn (1955), The Black Cat (1934) and Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943). He was married to Shirley Ulmer and Joan Warner. He died on 30 September 1972 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.1 film (1959)- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Hungarian-born Karoly Vidor spent the First World War as a lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian infantry. Following the armistice, he made his way to Berlin and worked for the German film company Ufa, as editor and assistant director. In 1924, he emigrated to the U.S. and, for several years, earned his living as a singer in Broadway choruses and (at one time) with a Wagnerian troupe. While little detail is extant of this period in his career, it enabled him to accumulate the means with which to finance his own project: an experimental short film entitled The Bridge (1929). On the strength of this, he was signed by MGM to co-direct his first feature film The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). For the remainder of the decade, Vidor worked with relatively undistinguished material at various studios, notably RKO (1935) and Paramount (1936-37). In 1939, he joined Columbia, where he remained under contract until 1948.
Vidor's career is something of an enigma. Never a particularly prolific filmmaker, his output has been variable. It includes a good-looking, but decidedly stodgy romance, The Swan (1956) (starring Grace Kelly in her penultimate screen role); and the interminably dull remake of A Farewell to Arms (1957). On the other side of the ledger is the lavish showbiz biopic of singer Ruth Etting, Love Me or Leave Me (1955), for which Vidor elicited powerhouse performances from his stars Doris Day and James Cagney. Frank Sinatra, also, gave one of his best performances as nightclub entertainer Joe E. Lewis, descending into alcoholism in The Joker Is Wild (1957). Other Vidor standouts are Ladies in Retirement (1941), a gothic Victorian thriller, tautly directed and maintaining its suspense, despite a relatively claustrophobic setting (among the cast, as Lucy the maid, was actress Evelyn Keyes, who became Vidor's third wife in 1944). Finally, two Rita Hayworth vehicles, the breezy musical Cover Girl (1944), and Vidor's principal masterpiece, the archetypal film noir Gilda (1946). This cleverly plotted, morally ambiguous tale of intrigue and ménage-a-trois was one of Columbia's biggest money-earners to date.
Some of the wittier dialogue in "Gilda" was voiced in re-takes, long after primary filming had been completed. The same applies to the two main musical numbers, the show-stopping "Put the Blame on Mame", and "Amado Mio". Yet, under Vidor's direction, all the dramatic and musical elements blended perfectly. The film has an undeniably electric atmosphere, largely due to the chemistry between the three leads. When the same material was later re-worked as Affair in Trinidad (1952) (with a bigger budget), that chemistry was notably absent.
In 1948, Vidor fell out with studio boss Harry Cohn, taking him to court for alleged verbal abuse and exploitation. He wanted out of his contract. Having just married Doris Warner, daughter of Warner Brothers president Harry M. Warner, Vidor sensed opportunities in working at a more prestigious studio. Cohn wasn't going to let him go quietly. It was pretty much all over, when actor Steven Geray testified, that he had himself been on the receiving end of invective at the hands of Vidor on the set of "Gilda". Glenn Ford, who thought Vidor opportunistic, then went on the stand, relating, that Cohn routinely used foul language on everyone around him, rather than aiming at any individual in particular. The fact that Vidor was not the easiest man to get along with, became evident during filming of the Liszt biopic Song Without End (1960). Both his stars (Dirk Bogarde and Capucine) found him to be ill-tempered and erratic. However, since Vidor died before the film was completed (George Cukor taking over), other factors may have played a part. In the final analysis, for "Gilda" alone, Charles Vidor deserves a niche in Hollywood heaven.1 film (1957)- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Writer
Mauro Morassi was born in 1925 in Trento, Italy. He was an assistant director and director, known for Il cocco di mamma (1957), Juke box - Urli d'amore (1959) and Il successo (1963). He died in August 1966 in Isoka, Zambia.1 film (1957)- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mario Monicelli was born on 16 May 1915 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for The Organizer (1963), Speriamo che sia femmina (1986) and Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958). He was married to Chiara Rapaccini and Antonella Salerni. He died on 29 November 2010 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1955)- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Antonio Leonviola was born on 13 May 1913 in Montagnana, Veneto, Italy. He was a writer and director, known for Angel in a Taxi (1958), Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961) and The Temptress (1951). He was married to Sofia Scandurra. He died on 4 August 1995 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1954)- Writer
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marc-Antonio Bragadin was born on 6 October 1906 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. Marc-Antonio was a writer and production manager, known for Siluri umani (1954), Torpedo Zone (1954) and Hell Raiders of the Deep (1953). Marc-Antonio died on 12 June 1986 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1954)- Director
- Producer
- Actor
The great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 was a tragedy for Mervyn LeRoy. While he and his father managed to survive, they lost everything they had. To make money, LeRoy sold newspapers and entered talent contests as a singer. When he entered vaudeville, his act was "LeRoy and Cooper--Two Kids and a Piano". After the act broke up he contacted his cousin, Jesse L. Lasky, and went to work in Hollywood. He worked in the costume department, the film lab and as a camera assistant before becoming a comedy gag writer and part-time actor in silent films. His next step was as a director, and his first effort was No Place to Go (1927). He scored an unqualified hit with Harold Teen (1928). Earning $1,000 per week by the end of that year, he was nicknamed "The Boy Wonder" of Warner Bros., where his pictures were profitable lightweights. His motto, to paraphrase William Shakespeare, was "Good stories make good movies." LeRoy rounded out the decade assigned to more lightweights, such as Naughty Baby (1928) (his first talkie), Hot Stuff (1929), Little Johnny Jones (1929) and a primitive but rather inventive musical talkie, Broadway Babies (1929), all of which proved that he was equally adept at constructing a musical as any other genre he worked in.
In the depths of the Depression there was considerable disagreement within the studio on whether audiences wanted escapism or stories addressing issues pertaining to the stark realities of the day. LeRoy sided with studio exec Darryl F. Zanuck's tilt toward realism and threw himself into his next assignment--Little Caesar (1931). This smash hit started the gangster craze and LeRoy gained a reputation as a top dramatic director (although his follow-up assignment was Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)). During the 1930s several of his films dealt with social issues, usually through the eyes of the underdog, the best example of that being I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). However, as one of Warner's war horses in its stable of contract directors, he was also assigned more digestible fare. He followed his landmark gangster picture with Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), although it could be argued that it also contained a remarkable degree of social consciousness. Upon the death of Irving Thalberg LeRoy was picked as head of production at MGM. He produced (and partly directed, without credit) that studio's classic The Wizard of Oz (1939), although it was not a classic at the box office when first released. Its poor reception convinced LeRoy to quit producing pictures and go back to directing them. He always had a good relationship with actors and had discovered a number of people who would go on to become major stars, such as Clark Gable (who was rejected for a role in "Little Caesar" by Jack L. Warner over LeRoy's objections), Loretta Young, Robert Mitchum and Lana Turner.
LeRoy turned out numerous hits for MGM in the 1940s, such as Johnny Eager (1941), Random Harvest (1942) and one of the best patriotic films of the period, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). He spent a year at RKO at the end of the war as a producer and director, but quickly returned to MGM, where he remained until 1954. The collapse of the studio system in the 1950s required him to re-assume a producer's role; along with other Hollywood players of the day, he formed his own production company, which set up camp at Warner Bros., and he produced and directed a number of films for that studio based on successful stage plays. LeRoy had a reputation for taking on different types of films, and he seldom did the same type of picture twice, turning out comedies, dramas, fantasies and musicals. His output declined in the 1960s and he took a working retirement in 1965, disgruntled at the direction the film industry had taken. He was sorely tempted to tackle Pierre Boulle's Planet of the Apes (1968), but declined, deciding that the requirement to put up his own money was too risky for a man in his mid-60s. His last directorial effort was assisting old friend John Wayne for certain scenes in The Green Berets (1968). He took a figurehead position at Mego International in the 1970s and talked of producing westerns, but nothing came of it. However, as talented and successful as LeRoy was as a director over his long career, and considering the number of classic films he was responsible for, the one thing he never managed to successfully get was an Oscar for Best Director. The man who joked he never made a total flop died in 1987.1 film (1951)- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Camillo Mastrocinque was born on 11 May 1901 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was a director and writer, known for I mariti (Tempesta d'anime) (1941), Don Pasquale (1940) and Lost in the Dark (1947). He died on 23 April 1969 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.1 film (1950)