Daylight Savings Time Ends 2026

 

From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Paul Ellis

[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.]

Paul Ellis was an alias used by Benjamin Italo Jose Ingenito Paralupi O'Higgins an Argentine actor who appeared in American, Spanish, Argentine and Mexican films. For the first half of his career, he worked under the names Paul Ellis and Manuel Granado.

He was born in Buenos Aires on November 6, 1896. He made his film debut in the Metro-Goldwyn film “The Bandolero” in 1924 under the name Manuel Granado. He was signed to a contract by Louis B. Mayer and listed as a Metro-Goldwyn principal player in the same year. An April 1925 article by Harry Carr for Motion Picture dubbed him 'Hollywood's New Sheik.' Like other Latino actors in silent-era Hollywood, he had adapted a WASPy screen name, which stood in contrast to his dark features, a look that was popular at the time. Despite this, he was still cast almost exclusively as secondary ethnic characters, unlike his contemporaries in silent-era Hollywood like Gilbert Roland and Barry Norton (a fellow Argentine). He was singled out for praise by The Los Angeles Herald Examiner and other Los Angeles newspapers after the 1926 premiere of “The Dancer of Paris”.

The coming of sound found Paul Ellis relegated to bit parts, though he did secure some substantial roles in Spanish-language versions of English-language films such as “La Voluntad del muerto” (1930). In 1930, he also wrote and appeared in the film “Alma De Gaucho”. Ellis also appeared in “Charros, gauchos y manolas”, a musical directed by Xavier Cugat. These films were usually released in Spanish-language territories only. He continued to appear in American films for another ten years, mostly in brief uncredited roles, though he is remembered by some for his appearance in “Marihuana” (1936), which retains a small cult following. He made his last American film, “Whistling in the Dark”, in 1941.

Still using the name Paul Ellis, he next shows up in films in 1947 in Argentina, and continued to appear in films in Argentina. He appeared in the Mexican/Argentine co-production “La Tierra del Fuego se apaga”. He died in Mar del Plata, Argentina on January 30, 1974 at the age of 77.

As Paul Ellis ha appeared in one Spaghetti western, “Rebeldes en Canada” (Rebels in Canada) as Maurice Touret in 1965.

ELLIS, Paul (aka Manolo Granada, Manuel Granada, Manuel Renaldo Granado, Manuel Granado) (Benjamin Italo Jose Ingenito Paralupi O'Higgins) [11/6/1896, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 1/30/1974, Mar del Plata, Argentina] – producer, writer, film, TV actor.

Rebels in Canada – 1965 (Maurice Touret)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent

Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent was a Spanish film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his pioneering contributions to Spanish westerns and the Spaghetti western genre during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Madrid on August 26, 1921, he began his career in the late 1940s as an assistant director before making his directorial debut with “Juzgado permanente” in 1954. He became particularly recognized for directing a series of Eurowesterns, including “La venganza del Zorro” (1962), “Tres hombres buenos” (1963), “Antes llega la muerte” (1964), and the cult classic “Condenados a vivir (Cut-Throats Nine”, 1972), which blended western conventions with graphic horror elements.

His work extended beyond feature films, as he also directed episodes of the acclaimed television series ‘Curro Jiménez’ during the late 1970s and contributed to its 1995 special ‘Curro Jiménez: El regreso de una leyenda’. Active from the 1940s through the 1990s, Romero Marchent collaborated frequently with family members in the industry and helped shape the development of popular adventure and genre cinema in Spain during the mid-20th century. He died in Madrid on August 16, 2012 from lung cancer ten days before his 91^st birthday.

Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent directed eleven Spaghetti westerns: “El Coyote” (The Coyote) with Fernando Soler and “La justicia del Coyote” (The Judgment of the Coyote” both in 1954, “Cabalgando hacia la Muerte” (Shadow of Zorro) in 1962, “La venganza del Zorro” (Zorro the Avenger) both in 1962, “El sabor de la venganza” (Gunfight at High Noon) and “Tres hombres buenos” (The Implacable Three) both in 1963, “Camino del sur” (Seven from Texas) in 1964, “$100,000 par el Lassiter” (Dollars for a Fast Gun) and “Aventuras del Oeste” (7 Hours of Gunfire) both in 1965, “Fedra West” (I Do Not Forgive... I Kill!) in 1967 and “Cut-Throats Nine” in 1970.

MARCHENT, Joaquín Luis Romero (aka Jose Hernandez, J.R. Marchen, Paul Marchenti) [8/26/1921, Madrid, Madrid, Spain - 8/16/2012, Madrid, Madrid, Spain (lung cancer)] – producer, director, writer, actor, son of producer, writer, film editor Joaquin Romero Marchent Gómez de Avellaneda [1899-1973], brother of director, assistant director, writer, actor Rafael Romero Marchent [1926-2020], film editor Ana Maria Romero Marchent [19??-2015], actor Carlos Romero Marchent [1944-2013], married to actress Ángela Caballero, father of Nuria Romero (Nuria Marchent), founded Centauro Films.

The Coyote – 1954 (co)

The Judgment of the Coyote – 1954 [as J.L. Romero Marchent]

Shadow of Zorro – 1962

Zorro the Avenger – 1962

Gunfight at High Noon – 1963 [as J.R. Marchent]

The Implacable Three – 1963 [as J.L. Marchent]

Seven from Texas – 1964 [as Paul Marchenti]

Dollars for a Fast Gun – 1965 [as J.R. Marchent]

7 Hours of Gunfire – 1965 [as Jose Hernandez]

Soltanto il diritto di morire – 16?? [as José Romero Marchent] [film was never made]

I Do Not Forgive... I Kill! – 1967 [as J. L. Romero Marchent]

Cut-Throat Nines – 1970

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Giorgio Ferroni

Giorgio Ferroni was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and occasional producer known for his versatile contributions to cinema across multiple genres, including documentaries, historical dramas, peplum adventures, horror, and spaghetti westerns, from the 1930s through the 1970s. Born in Perugia, Umbria on April 12, 1908, he began his career in the mid-1930s directing short documentaries such as “Pompei” (1936), which showcased his early interest in historical subjects. Ferroni gained initial experience at Rome's Cines Studios, where he worked as an assistant director to prominent filmmakers Gennaro Righelli and Carmine Gallone, honing his skills in narrative filmmaking during Italy's fascist-era cinema boom. His directorial debut in feature films came with aviation-themed works like “The Thrill of the Skies” (1939), marking his transition from shorts to dramatic storytelling amid World War II constraints. Postwar, he explored a range of genres, directing romantic dramas such as “Ritorno al Nido” (1946) and “Senza Famiglia” (1946), before venturing into mythological epics in the 1950s and 1960s. Among his most notable works are the peplum films “The Lion of Thebes” (1964) and “Hercules vs. the Moloch” (1963), which exemplified the sword-and-sandal cycle popular in Italian cinema, as well as the Gothic horror classic “Mill of the Stone Women” (1960), praised for its atmospheric tension and literary adaptations. Later in his career, Ferroni entered the Spaghetti western genre with films like “Blood for a Silver Dollar” (1965) and “Wanted” (1967, credited under the pseudonym Calvin Jackson Padget), blending action with moral complexities typical of the subgenre. Married to actress Nada Fiorelli from the 1940s until his death in Perugia on August 17, 1981, at age 73, leaving a legacy of over 20 directorial credits that reflected evolving trends in Italian popular cinema.

Giorgio Ferroni wrote screenplays for two Spaghetti westerns: “Il fanciullo del West” (The Kid of the West) with Gian Paolo Callegari, Vittorio Metz and Vincenzo Rovi and “Un dollaro bucato” (Blood for a Silver Dollar) with Giorgio Stegani in 1965.

FERRONI, Giorgio (aka Calvin J. Badget, C.J. Padget, Calvin J. Padget, Calvin Jackson Padget, Calvin Jakson Padget, Jackson Padget) [4/12/1908, Perugia, Perugia, Umbria, Italy – 8/17/1981, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, film editor, actor, married to actress Nada Fiorelli [1919–1984] (194?-1981).

The Kid of the West – 1942 (co)

Blood for a Silver Dollar – 1965 (co) [as Calvin Jackson Padget]

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Giampaolo Santini

Gian Paolo Santini is/was an Italian producer, director, editor writer, cameraman and cinematographer, SFX expert and actor.

He produced, directed and edited one film “Un viaggio di paura” in 1992, directed another “Cronaca” in 1969, acted in two films “Il lungo giorno della violenza” in 1971 and dabbled in SFX and edited while spending the majority of his career as a cameraman on five films and mainly as a cinematographer on twelve films between 1962 and 1992.

Giampaolo Santini was a cinematographer on one Spaghetti western “Il lungo giorno della violenza” (The Bandit Malpelo) in 1971 where he also had a part as the guerilla commander.

SANTINI, Giampaolo (Gian Paolo Santini) – director, writer, cinematographer, cameraman, SFX, actor.

The Bandit Malpelo – 1971 (guerilla commander)

New western film “A Prayer for the Dying”

Roger Ebert.com

By Brian Tallerico

September 20, 2026

Dara Van Dusen’s “A Prayer for the Dying” is one of the bleakest Westerns ever made. Not only is it thematically and textually brutal, it’s washed in such a dust-brown color palette that you almost want to cough while you’re watching it. The overwhelming misery of Van Dusen’s film leads to some stretches that pull on the momentum, using pregnant pauses so long that you might think the film has frozen. But the destination is worth the journey as “A Prayer for the Dying” closes with some of the most memorable imagery at this year’s Fantastic Fest, a vision of a man given no options as the fires of Hell swirl around him. Sometimes, prayer just isn’t enough.

While “A Prayer for the Dying” has been in production for over a decade, and while it is based on a 1999 novel by Stewart O’Nan, it’s quite impossible to not read COVID allegories into this story of a small town beset upon by Diphtheria, which leads not only to lockdowns but battles of science vs. faith. If someone told me it was written directly as a response to the chaos and divisions of the 2020s, I would believe it.

“A Prayer for the Dying” takes place in 1870s Wisconsin in a town called, believe it or not, Friendship. It will be anything but friendly for Sheriff Jacob Hansen (Johnny Flynn), who also happened to be the town priest and undertaker. He will have to fulfill all of his job duties when disease comes to Friendship. The town doctor (John C. Reilly) has immediate, unshakeable advice: Block passage in and out of town and lock it down. Jacob’s wife insists that they leave, taking their vulnerable baby daughter away from all of this, but he refuses to leave his people behind. He’ll regret that decision. As plague rolls into town, another threat surfaces on the horizon as smoke fills the air. A forest fire is headed toward these dying people in lockdown and if disease doesn’t get ‘em then the flames probably will.

To her credit, Van Dusen doesn’t soften the horrors of the plot description above. Men, women, and children die in this film in ugly, horrible ways, and it’s a movie that never shies away from the misery that covers the setting like a cloud of dust. One could read it as a commentary on the futility of prayer in that it can only do so much when the planet seems to be actively trying to kill you. It leads to a film that can be emotionally draining, and it often doesn’t quite have the cinematic depth to offset the nonstop nihilism. Even Flynn and O’Reilly seem almost in a daze, zombies in a movie that’s really about the inevitable dead.

And then Van Dusen and her cinematographer Kate McCullough get to their final act, which climaxes in a stunning sequence of shots aboard and around a train. As smoke and dirt fill the air, “A Prayer for the Dying” becomes almost Boschian, a journey into Hell on Earth that is jaw-dropping in concept and execution. There’s a version of the film that builds to this 15 minutes more eloquently, but it’s the rare time when the final act overcomes the previous two to such a degree that the flaws will fade away in memory.

It’s also impossible to shake the vision of this film as a commentary on how the world has struggled 150 years after the time in which it is set. It’s a story about a world that can’t agree on what to do quickly enough to do anything effectively. A religious leader on the edge of town has influence over the townspeople and the storytelling, while Reilly’s give his doctor a sort of resigned awareness that he’s suggesting a sort of suicidal benevolence: Lock ourselves in this petri dish of diseases to avoid it spreading to the rest of the world. Sacrifice, science, religion, disease: This may be a 1999 book set in 1870, but it’s also extremely 2026. Maybe that’s the point? Everything goes in cycles. And sometimes it takes a plague or a fire to start over again. All one can do is pray.

A Prayer for the Dying – International title

 

A 2026 Swedish, British, Greek, Norwegian co-production [Film i Väst, Garagefilm

     International, Tom Wilhelmsens Stiftelse (Stockholm), Anton, The Bureau (London),

     Asterisk, Yafka Studio (Athens), Eye Eye Pictures, Oslo Pictures, Albert Verlinde

     Producties, Talent Norge (Oslo),

Producers: John Baker, Harald Fagerheim Bugge, Charles Dorfman, Jan Kallista, Tom

     Kjeseth, Ketil Lømsland, Marcin Luczaj, Jan Naszewski, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar,

     Sébastien Raybaud, Magnus Thomassen, Marlon Vogelgesang, Dyveke Bjørkly

     Graver, Pavel Bercík, Kristina Börjeson, Fenia Cossovitsa, Jana Garajova, Tristan

     Goligher, Vicky Miha, Mimmi Spång, Zahra Waldeck

Director: Dara Van Dusen

Story: A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O’Nan

Screenplay: Dara Van Dusen

Cinematographey: Kate McCullough [color]

Music: Beata Hlavenkova

Running time: 95 minutes

Cast:

Jacob Hansen – Johnny Flynn

Doc – John C. Reilly

Marta Hansen - Kristine Kujath Thorp

Harlow - Gustav Lindh

Chase - Hilton Pelser

Fenton - Andrew Whipp

Ol Meyer - Daniel Weyman

Bart - David Ganly

John Henry - Peter Adame

Sarah Ramsay - Radka Caldová

Marcus & Thaddeus - Tobias John Coulton-Shaw

Lydia - Dagmar Edwards

Train engineer – Eduard Horvath

Fred Lembeck - Juraj Hrcka

Cyril - Christopher John-Slater

Sylvester - Tadhg Murphy

Bitsi - Nienna Robinsonová

Emil - Christopher Rygh

Singing woman - Monika Stolcova

Amelia - Charlotte Vorobjov

Chase's woman/village girl – Vanessa Weisz

Millard - Leonard Winkler

Dead soldier - Viktor Zorňan

Stunt coordinator - Roman Jankovic

Stunts: Marián Chmelár, Martin Csiaki, Sona Havranova, Milan Hrvol, Denisa Juhos, Matus Lajcak, Stano Satko (Stanislav Satko), Miroslava Slezáková, Michal Vesely

 

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKXdbK8vHBc

 

Spaghetti Western Locations for “Companeros”.

We continue our hunt for filming locations for “Companeros”. Vasco starts another fire on the roof of the stable by throwing another lantern and this time a soldier notices the flames and calls out “Fire!” He calls for the bugler to come and sound the alarm. Meanwhile Vasco starts a third fire in a hay wagon. A soldier alerts Captain Jim and the party breaks up. 

This scene was filmed at film set in Madrid.

 

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi Yasuda’s location site: http://y-yasuda.net/film-location.htm and Captain Douglas Film Locations http://www.western-locations-spain.com/

 

Special Birthdays

Modesto Blanch (actor) would have been 125 today but died in 1990.

Riccardo Garrone (actor) would have been 100 today but died in 2016.