Spaghetti
Western Director ~ Omar Hopkins
Siro
Marcellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his
contributions to mid-20th-century Italian genre cinema, particularly in
adventure, peplum, and western films. Born on September 16, 1921, in Genzano di
Roma, Lazio, Italy, he began his career in film as an assistant director and
second unit director on several productions during the late 1940s and early
1950s, including titles such as “Heaven Over the Marshes” (1949) and “Anita
Garibaldi” (1952).
Marcellini
transitioned to directing in the 1950s, often serving as writer or co-writer on
his projects, and occasionally using the pseudonym, Omar Hopkins. His
directorial output includes notable films such as “The Devil's Cavaliers”
(1959), “The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules” (1963), “Black
Tigress” (1967), and “Gangsters' Law” (1969). His work reflects the prolific
output of Italian popular cinema during that era, spanning historical epics,
crime dramas, and international co-productions.
Siro
died in Rome on March 21, 2013, at the age of 91.
Siro
Marcellini as Omar Hopkins directed two Spaghetti western “L’uomo della velle
maledetta” (The Man from the Cursed Valley) with Primo Zeglio in 1964 and using
his real name “Lola Colt” (Black Tigress) in 1967.
HOPKINS,
Omar (aka S. Marcellini) (Siro
Marcellini) [9/16/1921, Genzano di Roma, Lazio, Italy – 3/21/2013, Rome,
Lazio, Italy] – director, assistant director, writer.
The Man from the Cursed Valley – 1964 (co) [as Omar
Hopkins]
Black Tigress – 1967
Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Marco Ferreri
Marco Ferreri was an Italian film director, screenwriter,
and actor whose career spanned four decades, marked by over thirty features
that blended absurdist humor with biting social satire to expose the
absurdities of modern bourgeois life and human alienation. Born in Milan May
11, 1928, to a banking family, he initially worked as a production assistant
for directors like Luchino Visconti and Dino Risi before launching his
directorial debut in Spain amid Italy's post-war censorship constraints. Ferreri's
early films, such as “El Písamo” (1955), established his penchant for surreal
narratives challenging conventional morality, evolving into provocative works
that frequently clashed with authorities and audiences over depictions of
excess, sexuality, and existential despair.
His most emblematic films include “Dillinger Is Dead”
(1969), an enigmatic domestic odyssey critiquing consumerist ennui through a
protagonist's aimless disassembly of a gun amid marital malaise, and “La Grande
Bouffe” (1973), a grotesque feast portraying four men's suicidal gluttony as an
indictment of capitalist indulgence and hedonistic self-destruction, which
ignited scandals at Cannes for its unflinching visceral imagery.
These and others, like “The Ape Woman” (1964), earned
Ferreri a reputation as a cinematic provocateur, with eight premieres at Cannes
and awards such as the Golden Bear for “The House of Smiles” (1991) at Berlin
and a Special Jury Prize for “Seeking Asylum” (1979) at the same festival,
alongside a Best Actress win for “The Conjugal Bed” (1963).
Despite recurrent censorship hurdles and booing at
screenings—reflecting resistance to his raw dissections of societal
hypocrisies—Ferreri's oeuvre persisted in influencing arthouse cinema by
prioritizing unvarnished causal critiques of human folly over palatable
narratives.
Ferreri died in Paris, France from a heart attack on May
9, 1997 at the age two days before his 69th birthday.
Marco Ferreri directed one Euro-western, “Non toccare la
donna bianca” (Don’t Touch the White Woman!) with Rafael Azcona in 1973.
FERRERI,
Marco [5/11/1928, Milan, Lombardy,
Italy – 5/9/1997, Paris, Île-de-France, France (heart attack)] – producer,
production manager, director, writer, actor, married to producer, assistant
director, actress Jacqueline Ferreri (Jacqueline
Lamothe) [1936-2008] (19??-1997).
Don’t Touch the White Woman! – 1973 (co)
Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Manuel Hernández
Sanjuán
Manuel Hernández Sanjuán'' was a Spanish filmmaker,
cinematographer, director, and photographer known for his prolific work in
documentary shorts and feature film cinematography during the mid-20th century.
Born on May 2, 1915, in Madrid, he built a career spanning several decades,
contributing to 90 productions as director of photography and directing 45
short films, many of which were documentaries exploring Spanish culture,
history, art, and international expeditions.
His early career included participation in the 1944
Hermic Films expedition to Spanish Guinea, where he produced photographic and
film documentation of the colonial territory, material later referenced in
contemporary works on African history.
Notable among his
directed shorts are ''Herencia Imperial (África y los Reyes Católicos)''
(1952), ''Los desastres de la guerra'' (1953), ''A Rapa das bestas'' (1961),
and ''La paleta de Velázquez'' (1962), often blending artistic and promotional
elements characteristic of the era. As cinematographer, he worked on titles
including ''Piedra de toque'' (1963) and various Spanish genre films of the
1960s and 1970s.
Hernández Sanjuán's output reflected a focus on cultural
documentation and visual storytelling in Spain's film industry under the Franco
regime, earning him recognition in the field before his death on January 28,
2008, in Aguadulce, Almería at the age of 92.
Was a cinematographer on six Spaghetti westerns: “Torrejón
City” in 1962, “Billy le Kid” (Billy the Kid) in 1963, “Tre dollari di piombo”
(Thee Dollars of Lead) and “I gemelli del Texas” (The Twins from Texas) both in
1964, “Joe Navidad” (The Christmas Kid” in 1966 and “7 cabalgan hacia la Muerte”
(7 Hours of Death) in 1979.
SAN
JUAN, Manuel Hernández (aka
Manuel Hernandez-Sanjuan, Frank Humphreys, Manuel Hernandez San Juan, Manuel
Hernández San Juan, Manuel Hernández Sanjuán) (Manuel Hernández Sanjuán y Gómez Figueroa) [5/2/1915, Madrid, Madrid, Spain – 1/28/2008, Aguadulce, Almeria,
Spain] – director, writer, cinematographer, painter, married to Doña María
Asunción March Martínez-Gil, father of Carlos San Juan, Juan San Juan, África
San Juan, founded Hermic Films [1940].
Torrejón City - 1962
Billy the Kid – 1963 [as John Pitcher]
Three Dollars of Lead – 1964
The Twins from Texas – 1964
The Christmas Kid – 1966
7 cabalgan hacia la muerte – 1979
