Remembering Osvaldo Civirani

Osvaldo Civirani was born on May 19, 1917 in Rome, Italy. As well as directing about 30 films, Civirani was also a screenwriter and director of photography. He began his career as a director of photography in 1943, working alongside Luchino Visconti at the time he was shooting “Osessione”. Later, he was an assistant to Alessandro Blasetti in “Fabiola” (1949), Federico Fellini “Luci del varieta” (1950) and “Lo sceicco bianco” (1952), Roberto Rossellini “Francesco, giullare di Dio”, (1950) and Carlo Lizzani “Cronache di poveri amanti”, 1954). He made his debut as a director in 1964 shooting in Cinecitta, at the time known as Hollywood on the Tiber, with the peplums “Kindar l’invulnerabile” and “Ercole contro i figli del sole”, both with actor Mark Forest. In 1965, he directed “Tentazioni proibite”, which featured Brigitte Bardot. Civirani directed five Euro-westerns from “The Sheriff With the Gold” (1966) to “The Two Sons of Trinity” (1972). He’s probably best remembered by Spaghetti Western fans for his 1967 film “Son of Django” with Guy Madison and Gabriele Tinti. Between 1971 and 1972 he directed five comedy films with Franco & Ciccio, before concluding his career with the films “Il pavone nero” (1974) and “La ragazza dalla pelle di corallo” (1976). Civirani died on February 20, 2008 in Rome. Today we remember Osvaldo Civirani on what would have been his 95^th birthday.