Remembering Marino Girolami

Marino Girolami was born on February 1, 1914 in Rome, Italy. He was the head of a family of filmmakers, being the brother of Romulus Guerrieri [1931- ], uncle and father Enzo Girolami [1938- ] Renzo G. Castellari [1939-2000], all directors and father of actor Enio Girolami [1935-2013], grandfather of actress Stefania Girolami Goodwin [1963-    ], actor Andrea Girolami, uncle of actor, stuntman Massimo Vanni [1946-    ]. Marino joined the faculty of Medicina, but abandoned his studies to pursue a career as a boxer. He had a very promising start which reached its climax with the conquest of the European featherweight title. Selected to participate in the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, it was abandoned at the last moment due to the discovery of a mild cardiac arrhythmia.

 
Abandoning the sport, he began attending the Experimental Center of Cinematography, making his debut as an actor in the film "Villa da vendere" directed in 1941 by Ferruccio Cerio. Two years later he gained some success as an author by writing the story for the film "Campo de  'Fiori," directed by Mario Bonnard and starring Aldo Fabrizi and Anna Magnani.
 
Intending to go behind the camera, he worked for years as an associate of well-known writers and directors, including Mario Soldati, Marcello Marchesi and Vittorio Metz. His directorial debut dates back to 1949, when he directed the Italian version of “La strada buia” an Italian co-production directed by American Sidney Salkow, His directorial debut was in 1953 with the film "Canto per te", played by the famous tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano. Since then he directed nearly eighty films until his last in 1982 “Giggi il bullo”. He was also a screenwriter for nearly forty films and appeared in five films as an actor in the 1940s. He produced a dozen films, mostly in the sixties.
 
In 1950 he edited the film Miss Italy directed by Duilio Coletti .
 
Marino was involved with seven Euro-westerns: producing “Few Dollars for Django” (1966) and “Reverend Colt” (1970). Writing the story for “Payment in Blood” (1967). Directing “The Magnificent Brutes of the West” (1964) as Fred Wilson, “Two R-R-Ringos from Texas” (1967), “Between God, the Devil and a Winchester” (1968) as Dario Silvestri and “Reverend Colt” (1970). He wrote screenplays for “Bullets and the Flesh” (1964), “The Magnificent Brutes of the West” (1964) as Fred Wilson, “Between God, the Devil and a Winchester” (1968) and “One by One” (1968).
 
His effigy still lives in a statue of the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome as a boxer, for which the posed as a

model.

 
Today we remember Marino Girolami on what would have been his 100^th birthday.