RIP Bruno Battisti D’Amario

 

Italian classical guitarist, teacher and composer Bruno Battisti D’Amario died in Italy on August 5, 2026. he was 88. Considered one of the leading exponents of the guitar both nationally and internationally, Bruno Battisti D'Amario was born in Rome on October 5, 1937. Coming from a family of musicians he received his artistic training at the Conservatorio Musicale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he studied under Maestros Benedetto Di Ponio and Mario Gangi. In 1960, he met Ennio Morricone, who involved him in many collaborations as lead guitarist (classical and electric) in the soundtracks of his films. He also took composition lessons from him, thus creating a solid working relationship that lasted more than 20 years. He has collaborated with composers such as Nino Rota, Armando Trovajoli, Luis Bacalov, Nicola Piovani and others. D'Amario knows the guitar perfectly, exploring all its timbres and colors, creating fantastic soundscapes, sophisticated harmonies and flowing melodies. Guitarist Adriano Sebastiani is a pupil and now close friend of D'Ammario, his playing shows deep knowledge and close affection for the idiom of this wonderfully original music. For years he was Professor of classical guitar at the Conservatorio "S. Cecilia" in Rome and held numerous training courses in Italy and abroad. His guitar work can be heard on several Spaghetti western soundtracks including: “Fistful of Dollars” in 1964, “For a Few Dollars More” in 1965, “A Bullet for the General” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” both in 1966, “Once Upon a Time in the West” in 1968, “Duck You Sucker” in 1972 and “My Name is Nobody” in 1973.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Dorin Dron

[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.]

Dorin Dron was born in Cernesti, Romania on February 27, 1920. He was an athlete who was a goalkeeper on several Romanian hockey teams. With the Romanian Team he participated in the World Ice Hockey Championship in 1947. For a time, he was a translator of the anthological texts of international dramaturgy, which were mounted on the stages of theatres in Romania.

In the 1940s he attended the Faculty of Law and the Commercial Academy in Bucharest and in 1942 he held a Doctorate in Legal Sciences at the Faculty of Law in Milan, after which he returned to Bucharest, where he practiced law for a short time.

Dron performed on the stage of the Lucia Sturdza Bulandra Theatre and at the National Radiophonic Theatre, but also sporadically, in television shows. He was an assistant director with Liviu Ciulei.

His debut film came in 1957, was the “Eruption”, following this role Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra, employed him at the Municipal Theatre, where he worked permanently.

In Bucharest, Dorin Dron was the adept and promoter of Malagamist fashion, characterized by the jacket in specific plaid, the costume launched by the drummer and orchestra chief Sergiu Malagamba.

In early 1960 he joined some intellectuals who believed that translations from Western literatures were a "breech" to be exploited, later making translations from American dramaturgy.

Between 1957 and 1987 he appeared in over 35 Romanian artistic films and cinematographic co-productions with international participation.

Dorin Dron died in Bucharest on April 30, 1994, at the age of 74.

Dorin Dron appeared in three Euro-westerns: “Aventurile lui Tom Sawier” (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) and “Moartea lui Joe Indianul” (Death of Injun Joe) both in 1967. He also appeared in the Euro-western TV miniseries “Lockruf des Goldes” (Burning Daylight) as Doygt.

DRON, Dorin [2/27/1920, Cernesti, Romania – 4/30/1994, Bucharest, Romania] – director, theater, film, TV actor.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - 1967

Death of Injun Joe – 1967

Burning Daylight (TV) - 1975 (Doygt)

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ David Howard

David Howard (born David Paget Davis III; was an American film director renowned for his work in the B-western genre during Hollywood's Golden Age. Specializing in low-budget action films for studios such as RKO Pictures and Republic Pictures, he helmed 37 feature films between 1930 and 1941, with 14 of them being westerns starring George O'Brien, including the acclaimed “Mystery Ranch” (1932).Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 6, 1896, Howard began his career as an assistant director on silent films in the 1920s, contributing to projects like “The Big Parade” (1925) in an uncredited capacity, before transitioning to directing talkies.

Throughout his career, Howard demonstrated a knack for efficient storytelling in the fast-paced world of Poverty Row productions, often blending elements of adventure, mystery, and frontier justice. Key films under his direction include “The Mystery Squadron” (1933), a serial he also co-wrote; “Triple Justice” (1940); and his final work, “Dude Cowboy” (1941). In addition to directing, he occasionally served as a screenwriter and second-unit director, notably on “They Met in Argentina” (1941). Howard's contributions helped sustain the popularity of the western genre amid the economic constraints of the era, though his output remained largely within the realm of programmers rather than prestige pictures. He passed away in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 45 on December 21, 1941, shortly after completing his last film.

David Howard co-directed two European westerns: “Horizontes Nuevos” (The Big Trail) with – Samuel Schneider and Raoul Walsh in 1930 and “El último de los Vargas” (The Last of the Vargas) both in 1930.

HOWARD, David (David Paget Davis III) [10/6/1896, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. – 12/21/1941, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.] – writer, assistant director, director.

Horizontes Nuevos – 1930 (co)

El último de los Vargas – 1930

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Pompeo De Angelis

Basically nothing is known about Italian writer Pompeo De Angelis. He was born in Terni, Umbria, Italy on November 10, 1933 and died there on March 16, 2019. He’s credited for co-writing one screenplay and that was for his only Spaghetti western, “Corri uomo corri” (Run, Man, Run) with Sergio Sollima in 1967.

De ANGELIS, Pompeo [11/10/1933, Terni, Umbria, Italy - 3/16/ 2019, Terni, Umbria, Italy] – writer, married to Battaglia Isidora [19??-20??]

Run, Man Run – 1967 (co)

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Olivier Merckx

After having spent three years in photography and film school in Brussels, he saw a Steadicam demo on an exhibition and fell in love with this great invention. In 1991 he was invited by Nicolas Pecorini to join him and other great Steadicam operators such as Anastas Michos ASC, Marc Konninckx AFC and Giovanni Gebbia for the 6th European Steadicam workshop supervised by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown.

He spent the next year working as camera and Steadicam assistant with different operators in Belgium.

In 1993 he decided to become a full-time Steadicam operator and purchased his first Steadicam rig. He made his way up from small films to big international features and has the chance to collaborate with many talented directors and cinematographers around the world. In 2011 he followed cinematographer Tiago Mesquita in Los Angeles to work on two independent features with great actors like Malcolm MC Dowell, Billy Zane, Michael Gladis and Alan Arkin. He met there actor and stuntman Steve Tartalia and hired him to play the lead he his first film as director “Resistance” an action and Sci-Fi short film. The film was a great homage to John Carpenter and B movies from the eighties. The film was a big success at the Brussels Fantastic Film Festival and was released on DVD on a fantastic film compilation.

In 2012 he had the opportunity to shoot his first feature as second unit director and cinematographer “The Monkey’s Paw” a horror movie starring Stephen Lang and Charles S Dutton. His passion for the western genre led him to be the cinematographer for the award-winning feature “Six Bullets to Hell” a real spaghetti western shot in Almeria and directed by Tanner Beard and Russell Cummings. His last credits include camera work on “The Exception” starring Christopher Plummer and Lily James, the acclaimed Ethiopian film “Lamb”, the third season of the tv series ‘Versailles’ and the upcoming thriller “Beirut” directed by Brad Anderson an photographed by Bjorn Charpentier SBC.

Olivier is an active member of the SOC and one of the founders of the French Steadicam operator association (AFCS).

Olivier Merckx was a cinematographer on two Spaghetti westerns: “¡Seis balas al infierno!” (6 Bullets to Hell) in 2013 and “Asesino de alquiler” (Bullets for the Bad) in 2017.

MERCKX, Olivier (aka Olivier Merch, Olivier Mercks) [Belgium] – producer, director, assistant director, cinematographer, cameraman, actor.

6 Bullets to Hell – 2013

Bullets for the Bad – 2017

“Clint Spain Connection”, the documentary that tells the story of Clint Eastwood's 'spaghetti' passage through Spain

Víctor Matellano (“Call me Paul”, “My beloved Monster”) directs this film about the legendary actor and director, who in the 1960s shot in Spain the famous “dollar trilogy” by Sergio Leone

Cineconn

By Arturo Tena

July 28, 2026

Clint Spain Connection, a documentary by Víctor Matellano (Call me Paul, My Beloved Monster) about actor and director Clint Eastwood's time in Spain, where he would shoot the famous 'dollar trilogy', the spaghetti westerns “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964), “For a Few Dollars More” (1965) and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966), all by Sergio Leone.

Co-written by Matellano, Juan Gabriel García and Antonio Durán – who already collaborated on the western “Parada en el Infierno” (Stop Over in Hell) (2016) – Clint Spain Connection will tell in what context, professional and personal, Eastwood's arrival in Spain took place and how he acted in the filming of Leone's westerns. Its official trailer could be seen for the first time during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” in the cemetery of Sad Hill (Burgos).

The documentary will feature the presence and testimony of Julio Sempere, assistant director of “A Fistful of Dollars” and “For a Few Dollars More”, and with the voices of the voice actors Camilo García, Juan Antonio Bernal and Miguel Ángel Jenner. The production of the film has been handled by José Frade PC —the company with the rights to “For a Few Dollars More”—, Alda Productions and 39 Escalones Films.

Synopsis of the documentary

Spring 1965. Actor Clint Eastwood is coming to Madrid for the launch of the sequel to “A Fistful of Dollars”, which here will be called “For a Few Dollars More”, a Spanish-German-Italian co-production, which will be the film with the most viewers in Spanish cinema for decades.

Eastwood had come to Spain on the previous occasion, taking advantage of a break in filming the American series in which he worked and somehow fleeing from a personal issue. He hardly spoke to anyone, except for the assistant director and a friend of the decorator, a merchant marine, who spoke English and who is the one who tells us the ins and outs of the story.

Spaghetti Western Voices - “The Falcon’s Trail”

As we know most of the Euro-westerns were co-productions from Italy, Spain, Germany and France which incorporated British and American actors to gain a worldwide audience. The films were shot silent and then dubbed into the various languages where they were sold for distribution. That means Italian, Spanish, German, French and English voice actors were hired to dub the films. Even actors from the countries where the film was to be shown were often dubbed by voice actors for various reasons such as the actors were already busy making another film, they wanted to be paid additional salaries for dubbing their voices, the actor’s voice didn’t fit the character they were playing, accidents to the actors and in some cases even death before the film could be dubbed.

I’ll list a Euro-western and the (I) Italian, (S) Spanish, (G) German and (F) French, (E) English voices that I can find and once in a while a bio on a specific voice actor as in Europe.

Today we’ll cover “The Falcon’s Trail”

[(I) Italian, (S) Spanish, (G) German, (F) French, (E) English

Farsighted Falcon - Gojko Mitic (G) Karl Sturm

Catherine - Barbara Brylska (G) Annekathrin Bürger

Bluehair - Lali Meszchi (G) Sonja Deutsch

Bashan - Rolf Hoppe (G) Rolph Hoppe

Fletcher - Hartmut Beer (G) Hartmut Beer

Bad Face - Milan Jablonský (G) Lothar Schellhorn

Sonja Deutsch  (1937 -     )

Sonja Stokowy was born in Berlin, Germany on January 14, 1937 and is a German actress and voice actress.

Under the stage name Sonja Deutsch she trained as an actress at the Lackner Studio in Berlin. From 1962 to 1976 she played in theatre in Erfurt, Brandenburg and Potsdam, where she appeared in the title roles of “Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank” and Lessing's “Emilia Galotti” as well as Luise in “Schiller's Kabale und Liebe”. In 1975 and 1979 she appeared in two episodes of the crime series ‘Polizeiruf 110’. In the 1990s, she appeared in a number of television series, such as ‘Im Namen des Gesetzes’ (1995), ‘Lindenstraße’ (1996), ‘’In aller Freundscha’ft (2000) and ‘Unser Charly’ (2001/2009).

Since the end of the 1950s, she has often worked as a dubbing actress and narrator in the fields of film, television and radio plays. She lent her voice to British actress Helen Mirren for the films “The Queen” (2006) and “The Legacy of the Secret Book” (2007), among others. In a re-dubbing of “The Glenn Miller Story” (1953), she voiced June Allyson. She is also the German voice of Yvonne De Carlo in the American television series ‘The Munsters’ (1964–1966) and Mrs. Wolowitz in the sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’. In 2014, she appeared in episode 44 of the radio play series ‘Gabriel Burns’. In September 2021, she received an honorary award for special achievements in the dubbing field from the Synchronverband e. V. – Die Gilde, which was founded in 2011. In 2022, German dubbed Angela Lansbury in her last film, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”.

Special Birthdays

Umberto Lenzi (director) would have been 95 today but died in 2017.

Don Powell (singer) would have been 90 today but died in 1995.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Berta Drews

[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.]

Berta Emilie Helene Drews was a German stage and film actress whose career spanned five decades, with appearances in over 60 motion pictures from 1933 to 1983. Born in Berlin on November 19, 1901, she debuted during the early Nazi era, including in propaganda productions such as “Über alles in der Welt” (1941), which promoted Germany's wartime objectives, and continued performing through the post-war period in both East and West German cinema. Married to prominent actor Heinrich George from 1932 until his death in 1946, Drews was mother to actors Götz George and Jan George, and her family ties linked her to the broader saga of German performing arts under National Socialism and its aftermath, marked by her husband's imprisonment and death in Soviet custody. Among her later notable roles was in Volker Schlöndorff's “The Tin Drum” (1979), an adaptation of Günter Grass's novel that critiqued Nazism and earned the Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Drews' professional longevity reflected the pragmatic adaptations many German artists made amid political upheavals, though her early film work has drawn retrospective scrutiny for alignment with regime-supported projects.

Berta died in West Berlin, Germany on April 10, 1987 at the age of 85.

Berta Drews appeared in on Euro-western, “Der Kaiser von Kalifornien” (The Emperor of California) as Chansonette in 1936.

DREWS, Berta (aka Berth Drews) (Berta Emilie Helene Drews) [11/19/1901, Tempelhof, Berlin, Berlin, Germany – 4/10/1987, West Berlin, Berlin, West Germany] – author, theater, film, TV actress, singer, married to producer, director, actor Heinrich George (Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz) [1893-1946] (1932-1946) mother of director, writer, actor, photographer Jan George [1932-    ], producer, stuntman, actor Götz George [1938–2016].

The Emperor of California – 1936 (Chansonette)