Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Joe Elvin

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Joe Elvin was born Joseph Keegan Jr on November 29, 1862 in London. He was an English comedian, music hall entertainer, and founder of the Grand Order of Water Rats, a charitable organization supporting show business professionals formally established in 1890. He performed as a comic singer and dancer, contributing to the early variety theatre scene, and later appeared in pioneering silent films such as “The Rats” (1900) and “Burlesque Attack on a Settler's Cabin” (1900). His establishment of the Water Rats, initially comprising twelve members including fellow entertainers like Wal Pink and the Griffiths brothers, laid the groundwork for one of the entertainment industry's oldest mutual aid societies, emphasizing camaraderie and welfare among performers.

Elvin died in Hampstead, London on March 3, 1935 at the age of 72.

Joe Elvin appeared in one silent Euro-western, “Burlesque Attack on a Settler’s Cabin” in 1900.

ELVIN, Joe (Joseph Keegan Jr.) [11/29/1862, London, England, U.K. – 3/3/1935, Hampstead, London, England, U.K.] – film actor, brother of entertainer Frank Keegan [19??-1951], married to actress Mrs. Joe Elvin (Charlotte Keegan) [18??-1916] (18??-1916), half of the comedy team of ‘Keegan and Elvin’, founder of the Grand Order of Water Rats.

Burlesque Attack on a Settler’s Cabin – 1900

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Paul Martin

Paul Martin was born on February 8, 1899, in Koloszvar, Transilvania, Austria-Hungary. He was a producer, production manager, director, assistant director, writer, cameraman. Martin worked for many years in the German film industry. He directed 60 films between 1932 and 1967. He was romantically involved with the film star Lilian Harvey and directed her in a number of films until he left her in 1938 for the actress Frauke Lauterbach. They made one final film “Woman at the Wheel” together during the filming of which their relationship remained cold.

Martin died in West Berlin on January 26, 1967 at the age of 67.

Paul Martin directed two Spaghetti westerns: “Die Goldsucher von Arkansas” (Massacre at Marble City) with Alberto Cardone in 1964 and “Graf Bobby, der Schrecken des wilden Westens” (Count Bobby, the Terror of the Wild West) in 1965.

MARTIN, Paul (aka Paul A. Martin) [2/8/1899, Koloszvar, Transilvania, Austria-Hungary – 1/26/1967, West Berlin, Berlin, West Germany] – producer, production manager, director, assistant director, writer, cameraman, married to actress Frauke Lauterbach [1913-2004] (1939-1967).

Massacre at Marble City – 1964 (co)

Count Bobby, the Terror of the Wild West - 1965

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Augusto Finocchi

Augusto Finocchi is/was an Italian writer of which almost nothing is known. Amazingly he co- wrote screenplays for nineteen films between 1966 and 1998, fourteen of which were for Spaghetti westerns, yet is not even mentioned in Italian Film:A Who’s Who, what an injustice as I can find no biographical information on him.

Augusto Finocchi wrote and co-wrote fourteen screenplays for Spaghetti westerns: “Per pochi dollari ancora” (Fort Yuma Gold) with Massimiliano Capriccioli, Sandro Continenza, Remigo Del Grosso, Gilles Maurice Dumoulin, Ettore Giannini, Leonardo Martín, “Sugar Colt” with Giuseppe Mangione, Franco Giraldi, Fernando di Leo and Sandro Continenza, “Per il gusto di uccidere” (A Taste for Killing) with Víctor Auz, Remigio Del Grosso, Sandro Continenza, Massimo Capriccioli and Leonardo Martin and “La più grande rapina del west” (The Greatest Robbery in the West” with Augusto Caminito in 1966, “L’ ultimo pistolero” (Django, the Last Killer) with Augusto Caminito, “Wanted” with Remigio Del Grosso and Fernando Di Leo in 1967, “Black Jack” with Gianfranco Baldanello, Augusto Finocchi, Mario Mattei, Luigi Ambrosini, “Vado, vedo e sparo” (I Came, I Saw, I Shot) with Vittorio Metz, José Maria Rodriguez Mendez, Enrique Llovett, “Carogne si nasce” (Lynching) with Aldo Lado, “Il pistolero segnato de Dio” (Two Pistols and a Coward) with Remigio Del Grosso all in 1968, “I quattro del Pater Noster” (In the Name of the Father) with Luciano Ferri and Maurizio Costanzo in 1969, “Los amigos” (Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears) with Oscar Saul, Harry Essex, Paolo Cavara and Lucia Brudi and “Una Colt in mano del diavolo” (When the Devil Grips a Colt) both in 1972 and “El Macho” (Macho Killers) in 1977.

FINOCCHI, Augusto [Italian] – writer.

Fort Yuma Gold – 1966 (co)

Sugar Colt – 1966 (co)

A Taste for Killing – 1966 (co)

The Greatest Robbery in the West – 1966 (co)

Django, the Last Killer – 1967 (co)

Wanted – 1967 (co)

Black Jack – 1968 (co)

I Came, I Saw, I Shot – 1968 (co)

A Cry of Death – 1968 (co)

Lynching – 1968 (co)

Two Pistols and a Coward -1968 (co)

In the Name of the Father – 1969 (co)

Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears – 1972 (co)

When the Devil Grips a Colt – 1972 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Domenico Scala

Domenico Scala was an Italian cinematographer whose career spanned from the early sound era of the 1930s to the mid-1960s, contributing to over 50 films across genres including drama, comedy, and adventure.Born in Turin on March 26, 1903 he began as a camera operator during the transition to sound cinema and later directed photography for numerous productions noted for their artistic quality.

Scala's postwar work highlighted his technical expertise and artistic sensitivity, especially in films aligned with "minor neorealism," such as “Sotto il sole di Roma” (1948), “Fuga in Francia”, “Una domenica d'agosto” (1950), dir. Luciano Emmer), Il sole negli occhi (1953), and “Un eroe del nostro tempo” (1960), the latter considered his most significant achievement. He also collaborated on notable comedies like “Totò e Carolina” (1955) and adventure films such as “Colossus and the Headhunters” (1962).1 In 1947, Scala shared the Nastri d'Argento award for best cinematography for “Daniele Cortis”, recognizing his contributions to Italian cinema during its neorealist peak.

Domenico Scala was a cinematographer on one Spaghetti western, “El hombre que mató a Billy el Niño” (A Few Bullets More) with Miguel F. Mila in 1967

SCALA, Domenico [3/26/1903, Turin, Piedmont, Italy – 12/25/1989] – cinematographer, cameraman.

A Few Bullets More – 1967 (co)

Pinocchio

 

Pinocchio

 

Pinocchio – Talian title

Le avventure di Pinocchio – Italian title

Pinocchio Acchiappacitrulli – Italian title

Hippeltitsch- German title

Piñoncito, Aventuras de un Títere – Spanish title

Pinocho – Venezuelan title

The Adventures of Pinocchio (US)

 

A 1911 Italian film production [Società Italiana Cines (Rome)]

Producers: Filoteo Alberini & Dante Santoni

Director: Giulio Antamoro

Story: Le avventure di Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Screenplay:

Cinematography: black & white

Running time: 53 minutes

 

Cast

Pinocchio - Ferdinand Guillaume

Geppetto - Augusto Mastripietri

Lucignolo – Natalino Guillaume

Fata - Lea Giunchi

The old carpenter Geppetto manufactures in his workshop a wooden puppet that will soon come alive. For an hour the doll will live a thousand and one adventures: he will be judged, hanged, swallowed by a whale, taken prisoner by the Indians, saved by Canadian soldiers and, even, returned home mounted on a cannonball that flies through the sky.

The first film adaption of Carlo Collodi's book "The Adventures of Pinocchio". For a long time, it was believed that only about six minutes of this film existed. However, in 2018 the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana found a nearly complete nitrate negative from which it restored the film including the original hand tinting.

[Submitted by Michael Ferguson]

 

Special Birthdays

Paul Ellis (actor) would have been 130 today but died in 1974.

Adriano Bernacchi [cinematographer] would have been 95 today but died in 2014.

RIP Tinto Brass

 

The master of Italian erotic cinema Tinto Brass died in Rome on November 4th he was 93. The author who more than any other has tied his name to the desire on the big screen, transforming it into a recognizable, provocative language, often desecrating (and almost always, like it or not, scandalous). Irony, sensuality and freedom of the body: these are the cornerstones of an unmistakable aesthetic, which challenged taboos and moral conventions making him one of the most well-known Italian directors abroad. Born Giovanni Brass in Milan on March 26, 1933, he grew up in Venice, in a family where art and law have been living together for generations. His grandfather Italico, a Gorizian by birth, had settled in the lagoon by purchasing the Abbey of Mercy, transformed into a sort of private gallery for his own works and others. His father, Alessandro, is one of the city's most established criminal lawyers. So, the young Tinto enrolled in Law, first in Padua and then in Ferrara, where he graduated in 1957. The thesis, however, already betrays the vocation: the working relationships with the companies of film production. A pure cinephile training, in short, that those who have dismissed it as a simple craftsman of eros have always preferred to forget. The debut came in 1963 with “In capo al mondo”, an anarchist apologist and mocking about the discomfort of a young man who cannot integrate into society, presented at the Venice Film Festival. His most memorable works followed “Those Who Work are Lost” (1963), “With the Heart in Their Throat” (1967), “The Scream” (1968), “Nerosubianco” (1969), “The Holiday” (1971), “Salon Kitty” (1976), “Caligula” (1979), “Action” (1980), “The Key” (1983), “Miranda” (1985), “Capriccio” (1987), “Snack Bar Budapest” (1988), “Paprika” (1991), “Così fan tutte” (1992), “The Man Who Looks” (1994), “Monella” (1998), “Senso ’Fallo!” (2003) and “Monamour” (2005). His only Spaghetti western was “Yankee” in 1966 which he was director, writer and editor.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Federico Elvezi

[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Federico Elvezi was an Italian director and actor born sometime in the late 19^th century. He directed fourteen films between 1915 and 1923 and appeared in twenty-one between 1912 and 1922.

He began his career as an actor in short films and dramas before transitioning into directing feature-length silent films, often collaborating with production companies in major early Italian film hubs like Turin and Milan.

A close friend of director Roberto Roberti the father of Sergio Leone, he appeared in at least ten films directed by him.

Federico Elvezi appeared in one silent Euro-western, “La vampira Indiana” (The Vampire Indian) in 1913.

ELVEZI, Frederico (Federico Helveti) [Italian] – director, actor.

The Vampire Indian – 1913

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Eugenio Martin

Eugenio Martín was a Spanish film director and screenwriter known for his contributions to the fantaterror genre and cult classic horror films of the 1960s and 1970s. His most celebrated work, “Horror Express” (1972), blends horror and science fiction in a style that earned it enduring cult status among genre enthusiasts.

Born on May 15, 1925, in Ceuta, Spain, Martín began his career in the 1950s and achieved prominence through low-budget productions that showcased inventive storytelling across diverse genres, including spaghetti westerns such as “The Ugly Ones” (1966), thrillers like “The Fourth Victim” (1971), and additional horror titles including “It Happened at Nightmare Inn” (1973) and “Aquella casa en las afueras” (1980).

He often worked in international co-productions and demonstrated versatility by directing films in comedy, science fiction, and musical formats while maintaining an auteur sensibility within the constraints of commercial cinema. Regarded as one of the last surviving figures of Spain's fantaterror generation, he received the Nosferatu Award at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in 2010 in recognition of his legacy.

Martin was married to actress Lone Fleming (Lone Faerch) from 1970 until his death on January 23, 2023, in Madrid, Spain at the age of 97.

Eugenio Martin directed four Spaghetti westerns: “El precio de un hombre” (The Ugly Ones) in 1966, “Requiem per un Gringo” (Duel in the Eclipse) in 1968, “Pancho Villa” in 1971 and “E continuavano a fregarsi il milione di dollari” (Bad Man’s River) in 1972.

MARTIN, Eugenio (aka Gene Martin, Jacinto Martin) (Eugenio Martín Márquez) [5/15/1925, Ceuta, Spain – 1/23/2023, Madrid, Madrid, Spain] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, songwriter, film editor, actor, married to actress Lone Fleming (Lone Faerch) [1945-    ] (1970-2023), founded Granada Films, awarded the Nosferatu Award [2010].

Musarra – 1964 [film was never made.]

The Ugly Ones – 1966

Duel in the Eclipse – 1968

Pancho Villa – 1971 [as Gene Martin]

Bad Man's River - 1972 [as Gene Martin]

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Pavel Finn

Pavel Finn was a Russian screenwriter and actor known for his extensive career in Soviet and Russian cinema and television, spanning more than five decades as both a performer and a prolific writer of scripts for historical dramas, literary adaptations, and popular productions.

Born on June 28, 1940, in Moscow, he is the son of writer Konstantin Yakovlevich Finn and began his professional life in acting before shifting focus to screenwriting.

Finn made his early screen appearances in notable Soviet films, including acting roles in “I Am Twenty” (1964) and the widely beloved children's fantasy “New Year's Adventures of Masha and Vitya” (1975). His transition to screenwriting yielded credits on a wide range of projects, such as “Declaration of Love” (1977), the long-running historical television series ‘Secrets of Palace Coups’ (2000–2011), ‘The Gift to Stalin’ (2008), and ‘The Role’ (2013).

His body of work reflects a consistent engagement with dramatic narratives, period pieces, and adaptations drawn from Russian literature and history, contributing to both popular and critically regarded productions across several eras of Russian filmmaking.

Pavel Finn co-wrote screenplays for two Euro-westerns: “Всадник без Rоловы” (The Headless Rider) with Vladimir Vladimirov in 1972 and “Bооружён и очень опасен” (Armed and Dangerous) with Vladimir Vladimirov in 1977.

FINN, Pavel (Pavel Konstantinovich Finn-Khalfin) [6/28/1940, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R. -     ] – producer, writer, actor, son of writer Konstantin Yakovlevich Finn (Konstantin Yakovlevich Finn-Khalfin) [1904-1975].

The Headless Rider – 1972 (co)

Armed and Very Dangerous – 1977 (co)

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Edward Scaife

Edward Grenville Scaife was a British cinematographer renowned for his technical expertise in capturing atmospheric visuals in mid-20th-century cinema, particularly in adventure, war, and noir genres.

Born in London on May 23, 1912, Scaife began his film career as a sound assistant in 1940 before transitioning to camera operations in the 1940s. He contributed to iconic productions in supporting roles early on, including camera department work on Carol Reed's “The Third Man” (1949), a seminal film noir noted for its innovative low-angle shots and shadowy Vienna settings, and John Huston's “The African Queen” (1951), where he assisted in filming the challenging African river sequences. Scaife advanced to director of photography on major features in the early 1950s, collaborating with Huston on five projects overall, including “The List of Adrian Messenger” (1963) and “A Walk with Love and Death” (1969). His most celebrated work came with Robert Aldrich's “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), a gritty World War II action film for which he served as cinematographer, earning praise for the dynamic battle sequences and realistic combat photography.

Troughout his career, Scaife worked with esteemed directors such as John Ford, Basil Dearden, and George Cukor, contributing to over 50 films until the late 1970s. Notable later credits include “Khartoum” (1966), a historical epic starring Charlton Heston, and “Sitting Target” (1972), a tense crime thriller. A member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC), Scaife's versatility spanned studio work and location shooting, often under demanding conditions; he won Best Cinematography at the Fantafestival in 1981 for “The Water Babies” (1978).1 He passed away in November 1994 in Chichester, West Sussex, at the age of 82

Edward Scaife was a cinematographer on two Spaghetti westerns: “Hannie Caulder” in 1970 and “Catlow” in 1971.

SCAIFE, Edward (aka E. Scaife, Ted Scaife) (Edward Grenville Scaife) [5/23/1912, London, England, U.K. – 11/?/1994, Chichester, West Sussex, England, U.K.] – cinematographer, cameraman.

Hannie Caulder – 1970

Catlow – 1971 [as Ted Scaife]