Saturday, May 31, 2014

Happy 30th Birthday Philip Attmore


Phillip A. Attmore was born on May 31, 1984 in Pasadena, California. Phillip began his career at the age of three. He attended Broadway workshops and has appeared in a number of Broadway and Off Broadway plays and shows. He was a contestant on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Season 6 in 2010. He appeared in one Euro-western “Silent Tongue” (1993) as a tap dancer in the travelling medicine show.
 
Today we celebrate Phillip Attmore’s 30th birthday.

Happy 65th Birthday Tom Berenger


Tom Berenger was born Thomas Michael Moore on May 31, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. Tom was raised along with his sister, in a working class home headed by a father who worked as a printer for The Chicago Sun-Times. After graduating Rich East High School in 1967, he attended the University of Missouri to study journalism, but tried his hand at acting on a whim because of a bet he lost. He picked "Berenger" as his professional name, after a school friend, because there was already a "Tom Moore" in the Actors' Equity Association
 
Berenger made his debut in a college production of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" before moving on to regional theater following graduation. This move changed his career path forever.
 
Berenger 1st established himself in aggressive, brooding roles. He first came to the public's attention as the self-effacing Tom Selleck-like television star in Lawrence Kasdan's iconic drama,"The Big Chill"(1983). But it was his hard-edged turn as the Vietnam War-scarred Sergeant Barnes in "Platoon" (1986) that turned the relatively unknown actor into a bona fide star.
 
From that point on, Tom gained notice and continued appearing in unpredictable roles and cameos. He was nearly in one film or TV movie every year up until the present. He won an Emmy for his performance as Jim Vance in the mini-series ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ (2012).
 
Berenger has appeared in two Euro-westerns: “Rustlers’ Rhapsody” (1984) and “One Man’s Hero” (1998).
 
Today we celebrate Tom Berenger’s 65th birthday.

Happy 85th Birthday Manfred Ensinger

Manfred Ensinger was born in Germany on May 31, 1929. He is a German Director of Photography, known for “Allotria in Zell am See” (1963), “Bei mir liegen Sie richtig” (1990), “Bastard” (1988), “Kommissar Klefisch - Ein Fall für Onkel” (1989), “Tatort - Gefährliche Freundschaft” (1993). His career started in 1954 as an assistant cameraman to Ekkehard Kyrath on the film “Ein Leben für Do”. His first work as a cinematographer was on the TV short ‘Echo’ in 1963. His last work was for the TV movie ‘Die Superbullen’ in 1997. Ensinger turned his hand to directing on the 1979 TV series ‘Der ganz normale Wahnsinn’. His only Euro-western was as cinematographer on “Bandits of the Rio Grande” (1965).
 
Today we celebrate Manfred Ensinger’s 85th birthday.

Remembering Mario Migliardi


Mario Migliardi was born on May 31, 1919 in Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy. A pianist, organist and conductor, Migliardi was always at the forefront of pop music. He also did experiments in radio broadcasting electronic music. From 1955 he was part of the Sextet Blue RAI, directed by Alberto Semprini, where he played the Hammond organ. In 1956 at the IV Festival of Neapolitan Song he directed the Orchestra on "Full Moon" made ​​up of male and female voices in replacement of musical instruments (importing the style of Ray Conniff ). The other orchestra was conducted by Luigi Vinci.
 
In 1958 he returned with the Sextet Blue RAI directed by Alberto Semprini with the execution of the songNel blu dipinto di blu’ sung by Domenico Modugno. In 1962 he participated in the Xth Festival of Neapolitan song along with other famous conductors: Eduardo Alfieri , Gino Conte Carlo Esposito, Marcello De Martino, Luciano Wonder, Gino Mix , Fluffy Piero and Luigi Vinci.
 
His tape library, consisting of over 600 magnetic tapes containing experimental music, soundtracks, and music for the radio dramas and performances on Rai, and MICS are preserved in the museum of Rome.
 
Mario composed the soundtracks for three Euro-westerns: “Matalo”, “Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead” (both 1970) and “The Price of Death” (1971).
 
Migliardi died on August 9, 2000 in Rome, Italy.
 
Today we remember Mario Migliardi on what would have been his 95th birthday.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Guess Who I Am



I’m an American actor and director born in Hereford, Texas in 1938.
 
I ‘m a former Tarzan who appeared in over 40 films and TV appearances.
 
I appeared in two Euro-westerns.
 
Today I’m a mystery novel writer today living in Santa Barbara, California.
 
Guess who I am.

Bill Connolly and garfer both correctly named Ron Ely as this week's photo.

TRINITY IS STILL MY NAME


...continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità – Italian title
Trinity Ainda é o Meu Nome – Brazilian title
Jeg hedder stadig Trinity – Danish title
De vier vuisten van de duivel – Dutch title
Trinity ratsastaa jälleen – Finnish title
…On continue à l'appeler Trinita – French title
Der Kleine und der müde Joe – German title
Vier Fäuste für ein Halleluja – German title
2 Trinita… dernoume xana! – Greek title
Me lene akoma Trinita – Greek title
Mas lene akoma Trinita – Greek title
Az ördög jobb és bal keze 2. – Hungarian title
Trinity slår til igjen – Norwegian title
Me siguen llamando Trinity – Peruvian title
Continuaram a Chamar-lhe Trinitá – Portuguese title
Le seguían llamando Trinidad – Spanish title
Trinity - klipper till igen – Swedish title
Trinita Kardesler – Turkish title
Vrnitev moza z imenom Trinita – Yugoslavian title
All the Way Trinity – English title
Trinity is Still My Name – U.K. title
Trinity is STILL My Name – U.S.A. title
 
A 1971 Italian production [West Film (Rome)]
Producer: Italo Zingarelli
Director: E.B. Clucher (Enzo Barboni)
Story: Enzo Barboni
Screenplay: E.B. Clucher (Enzo Barboni)
Cinematography: Aldo Giordani [Eastmancolor, Technochrome]
Music: Guido & Maurizio De Angelis
Songs: “Trinity Stand Tall”, “Remember” sung by Gene Roman (Patrizio Sandrelli)
Running time: 128 minutes
 
Cast:
Trinita/Trinity – Terence Hill (Mario Girotti)
Bambino – Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli)
Sheriff Mitch – Enzo Tarascio (Kirsti Somoersalo)
Pa – Harry Carey, Jr. (Henry Carey)
Pearl – Jessica Dublin
Head Monk – Pupo De Luca (Giovanni De Luca)
James Parker – Emilio Delle Piane (Emilio Dellepiane)
Perla/Pearl – Yanti Sommer
Perla’s/Pearl’s father – Enzo Fiermonte (Vincenzo Fiermonte)
Perla’s/Pearl’s mother – Dana Ghia (Felicita Ghia)
Fred/Ebenezer/’Little Windy’ – Jess Hill
Wildcat Hendriks – Tony Norton (Antonio Monselesan)
Denver – Riccardo Pizzuti
Stingary Smith – Benito Stefanelli
Lenny Smith – Artemio Antonini
Parker hnchmen – Fortunato Arena, Furio Meniconi, Angelo Susani, Roberto Messina, Marcello Verziera, Franco Daddi (Francesco Daddi), Oscar Giustini, Osiride Pevarello
Clark Lopert – Gérald Landry (Gérard Langatinerie)
Murdock – Jean Louis
Oscar – Luigi Bonos
Veterinarian – Dante Cleri
Injured peasant – Gildo Di Marco
Deputy – Adriano Micantoni
Poker player with eye patch – Gilberto Galimberti
Dodo – Enrico Chiappafreddo
Maître D – Franco Ressel (Domenico Orobana)
Restaurant patrons – Anna Maria Perego, Filipo Perego, Antonio Anelli, Lidia Zanusi, Nancy
Lecchini, Domenico Ravenna, Vezio Natili, Ettore Geri, Giulio Bottoni
Waiters – Giuseppe Marrocco, Angelo Casadei
Gentleman – Nestore Cavaricci
Monk – Omero Capanna
Wanted Outlaw – Mario Dionisi
Saloon patrons – Roberto Dell’Acqua, Angelo Boscariol, Roberto Alessandri, Giancarlo
Bastianoni, Franco Ukmar, Giovanni Ukmar, Paolo Figlia, Roberto Messina, Osiride Pevarello, Renzo Pevarello, Pietro Torrisi, Aldo Dell’Acqua (Arnaldo Dell’Acqua), Roberto Dell’Acqua, Rinaldo Zamperla, Marcello Verziera, Romano Puppo
With: Vittorio Fanfoni, Bruo Boschetti, Edgardo Siroli, Rocco Lerro, Tony Casale (Antonio Casale)
Stunts: Roberto Alessandri, Artemio Antonini, Giancarlo Bastianoni, Enrico Chiappafredo, Franco Ukmar, Giovanni Ukmar, Paolo Figlia, Lorenzo Fineschi, Roberto Messina, Osiride Pevarello, Renzo Pevarello, Angelo Susani, Pietro Torrisi, Marcello Verziera, Aldo Dell’Acqua (Arnaldo Dell’Acqua), Roberto Dell’Acqua, Romano Puppo, Omero Cappana, Franco Daddi, Oscar Giustini, Rinaldo Zamperla, Mario Dionisi


Light-hearted Trinity and his rough but good-natured brother Bambino, try to perform feats as bandits but are not very successful. Parker, who traffics in arms for the rebel Mexicans is buy guns for dollars. The two brothers penetrate the convent that Parker, after threatening the brothers, has transformed into a warehouse where he deposits and exchanges the procured arms. The brothers impersonate federal agents and convince the men to give them fifty thousand U.S. dollars which the Mexican rebels have just shelled out in exchange for a load of weapons. Parker suddenly arrives with dozens of his men. Trinity and Bambino stand up against the band in a furious but bloodless struggle, which also involves the brothers. Trinity and Bambino manage to get the better of the outlaws. However, they remain empty-handed as the fifty thousand U.S. dollars end up in the hands of rangers which were called in by the monks.

 
YouTube trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRwKywm7qh4
 

Happy 75th Birthday Michael J. Pollard


Michael J. Pollard was born Michael John Pollack, Jr. on May 30, 1939 in Passaic, New York. Pollard has been acting since 1958. A character actor, he has accumulated almost a hundred appearances in movies and television series since then. An early career break occurred when Pollard was brought in as a replacement during the first season of TV's "Dobie Gillis." Co-star Bob Denver, who was stealing the show as Dobie's beatnik buddy Maynard G. Krebs, was going to be drafted into the Army and had to exit the series. When Denver was classified "4-F" due to a longstanding neck injury and returned, Pollard's character of weird cousin Jerome Krebs was quickly written out.
 
Pollard played the role of "Hugo" in the original Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie" (costarring with Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Paul Lynde, and Dick Gautier) in the early 1960s.
 
In 1967, Pollard earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role of C.W. Moss in the film “Bonnie and Clyde”. He also earned two Golden Globe nominations for that role, one for Best Supporting Actor and one for Most Promising Newcomer. In addition, his performance in Bonnie and Clyde won Pollard a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.
 
Michael appeared in two Euro-westerns: “The Legend of Frenchie King” (1971) as Marshal Jeffords and “Four of the Apocalypse” (1974) as Clem.
 
Still acting today we celebrate Michael J. Pollard’s 75th birthday.

Remembering Mario Costa


Mario Costa was born on May 30, 1904 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. Mario is the brother of director, screenwriter Piero Costa [1913-1975] Still a young man he was introduced to the world of cinema, where he worked first as an editor, scriptwriter, dubbing director, writer and organizer of production in some films made between 1936 and 1938. He enrolled at the Istituto Luce, a short time after his debut as a director of short films, revealing excellent communication skills, he made the documentaries “Fontane di Roma” (1938) and “I pini di Roma” (1939) both with music by Ottorino Respighi, which won prestigious awards. In 1943 he directed his first feature film, “La sua strada”, with wide acclaim from critics and audiences. Immediately after World War II he distinguished himself in a genre of great success, the transposition of operas. In more recent years he devoted himself to historical and mythological genre and adventures; among other things, he was a director of one of the earliest spaghetti westerns, “Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far West”, 1964 and signed with a pseudonym that says it all, John W. Fordson. He al;so directed and wrote the screenplay for “The Beast” (1970) starring Klaus Kinski. Mario is the father of director Massimo Costa [1951-2004]. Costa died in Rome, Italy on October 22, 1995.
 
Today we remember Mario Costa on what would have been his 110th birthday.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Who Are Those Guys? - Joaquin Blanco



Joaquín Blanco Calvache was born in Almeria, Andalucia, Spain on June 21, 1938. Joaquín grew up without a father and moved as an infant with his mother to Terrassa. At eight, he worked with his mother in a hosiery mill. As a teenager he tried, among other things bring a bullfighter and an insurance agent. At18 years-old, he was working in commercial art and comics. During a six-year-long stay in Rome, he met his wife Sandra Blanch, with whom he had a daughter.
 
His acting career began in 1964 with a small role in “Paths of Glory” 1964 and thus began a career of 21 film and television appearances put them with occasional appearances until a final video appearance in 2002’sSoul Man”. Blanco often appeared in spaghetti westerns, even erotic films; two of which he directed in 1983 and 1991, and wrote his own screenplays for such films he chose the pseudonym J. White and John Russell.
 
Blanco was a student of the martial arts and practiced karate. He died of complications from liver cancer on Febraury 28, 2011 in Barcelona, Cataluna, Spain. He was 72 years-old.


BLANCO, Joaquín (aka John Russell, J. White) (Joaquín Blanco Calvache) [6/21/1938, Almeria, Andalucia, Spain - 2/28/2011, Barcelona, Cataluna, Spain (liver cancer)] - director, screenwriter, TV, voice actor, married to Sandra Blanch, father of a daughter.
Epitaph for a Fast Gun - 1965
Heroes of the West - 1965 (Fred)
Django Kill – 1966 (Oaks’ gang member)
God Forgives... I Don’t! – 1966 (San Antonio henchman)
Gentleman Killer - 1967 (Sam)
And God Said to Cain - 1969
Dig Your Grave Friend... Sabata’s Coming - 1971 (Murdy)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

TRINITY & SARTANA THOSE SONS OF BITCHES


Trinità e Sartana figli di... - Italian title
Trinity ja Sartana – pirun pikkuveljet – Finnish title
Dépêche-toi Sartana, je m'appelle Trinita! – French title
Ein Hosianna fur zwei Halunken – German title
Trinita enantion Sartana – Greek title
Trinitá e Sartana Contra Todos – Portuguese title
Trinidad y Sartana dos angelitos… - Spanish title
Trinity och Sartana rider tillsammans – Swedish title
Trinity and Sartana are Coming – English title
Trinity vs Sartana – English title
Relax Sartana, They Call Me Trinidad – English title
Trinity and Sartana… Those Dirty S.O.B.s – English title
Trinity and Sartana Sons of Bitches – English title
Trinity & Sartana Those Sons of Bitches – English title
 
A 1972 Italian production [Metheus Film (Rome)]
Producers: Nino Milano, Mario Siciliano
Director: Mario Siciliano
Story: Adriano Bolzoni
Screenplay: Adriano Bolzoni
Cinematography: Gino Santini [Technicolor, Techniscope]
Music: Carlo Savina
Running time: 103 minutes
 
Cast:
Trinita/Trinidad/Trinity – Harry Baird
Alleluia/Sartana Smith – Robert Widmark (Alberto Dell’Acqua)
Burton/Barton – Stelio Candelli
Bud Burton – Dan May (Dante Maggio)
El Tigre/Tiger – Alan Abbott (Ezio Marano)
Clyde – Lars Bloch
Maribel – Beatrice Pellh (Beatrice Pellegrino)
Maribel’s brother – Enzo Andronico (Vincenzo Andronico)
Mascara’s wife – Carla Manicini
Martha – Daniela Giordana
Willie – Gilbero Galimberti
Timothy – Raimondo Penne
Jeremiah – Enzo Maggio (Vincenzo Maggio)
Sheriff – Fortunato Arena
‘El Tigre’ henchmen – Nello Pazzafini (Giovanni Pazzafini), Osiride Pevarello, Renzo Pevarello, Andrea Scotti
Clyde henchmen – Riccardo Petrazzi, Claudio Ruffini, Sergio Testori
Captain Bill McCorney – Romano Puppo
Incipit Sheriff – Dino Cassio (Leonardo Cassio)
Henchmen – Pietro Torrisi, Franco Ukmar
With: Nino Nini, Franco Daddi, Aldo Dell’Acqua (Arnaldo Dell’Acqua), Ninetta Punturi


Trinity and Sartana commit a bank robbery. They are good friends and robbers, which always end with them giving away or losing all the loot. They take refuge in the small village of Quintana. There they must contend with the overbearing Barton who wants to take over the land of the farmers. Also against them is the Mexican bandit El Tigre. The two outlaws are able to steal two million pesos in gold, but of course, by the time of their departure they will again have empty pockets!

Happy 70th Birthday Jean Pierre Léaud


Jean Pierre Léaud was born on May 28, 1944 in Paris, Île de France, France. He is the son of actress and writer Jacqueline Stony Pierre Léaud [1923-2005]. If the French New Wave has a face, it might be the beaky, piercing-eyed visage of Jean-Pierre Léaud. In 1959, at age fifteen, Léaud made his debut as Antoine Doinel in François Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows”; over the next two decades, he would play alter ego not only to Truffaut, but to a generation that grew up (or failed to) in parallel with him. For Jean-Luc Godard, he was one of the ‘children of Marx and Coca-Cola’ in films like “Masculine Feminine” (1966) and “La Chinoise” (1967). Later, Léaud worked with Jacques Rivette in the epic “Out 1” (1972) and stalked through the wreckage of the late-sixties dream in Jean Eustache’s anti-epic “The Mother and the Whore” (1973), a film and a performance that obliterate sentimentality. The effect of all these collaborations is cumulative: when Léaud appears in a film by Aki Kaurismäki or Olivier Assayas, his history appears with him.
 
“Léaud is an anti-documentary actor,” Truffaut said. “He has only to say ‘good morning’ and we find ourselves tipping over into fiction.” Or, in Godardian terms, a Léaud film is Léaud, twenty-four frames per second. Not one to disappear into a role, Léaud brings a defining set of gestures to each performance; Manny Farber wrote, “Léaud’s acting trademark is a passionate decision that peaks his frenzied exasperation, physical compulsiveness.” Declaiming his lines with solemn clarity or demented enthusiasm, Léaud can be compelling or brilliantly comic, sometimes strange, always iconic.
 
Jean-Pierre appeared in only one Euro-western “A Girl is a Gun” (1971) as William ‘Billy’ Bonney.
 
Today we celebrate Jean-Pierre Léaud’s 70th birthday.

 
By Juliet Clark

Happy 80th Birthday Riccardo Pizzuti


Riccardo Pizzuti was born on May 28, 1934 in Cetraro, Calabria, Italy. Pizzuti became the poster boy for symbol of the Italian bad guy and was a constant presence in the films of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. He was an outstanding stuntman with a great propensity for acting, often playing the leader of the henchmen who serves the lead villain. In many of his roles he finds himself downsized by the films hero. Much has been made about his constant participation in the films of Hill and Spencer which has reached twenty. In some cases, he was given a major role as in “Man of the East” (1972) as Morton and in others he’s a minor character as in “They Call Me Trinity” (1970) as Jeff.
 
The Roman actor also took part in numerous westerns (30) in the 1960s and 1970s, and even in a few films by Enzo Barboni (EB Clucher ) without Hill and Spencer, such as “Deguello” (1965) as Tom, “The Man from Nowhere” as Corporal Wilson and “Sugar Colt” (both 1966) playing a soldier. Pizzuti also used the pseudonyms Rick Piper and Richard Stark.
 
Today Riccaro is retired and living in Saint-Jean France, near Toulouse.
 
Today we celebrate Riccaro Pizzuti’s 80th birthday.

Remembering Horst Frank


Horst Bernhard Wilhelm Frank was born on May 28, 1929 in Lubeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The son of a porcelain painter. Horst Frank financed his acting studies by working part-time as a babysitter and night watchman. He actually failed his final exams at the Musikhochschule Hamburg, but nonetheless managed to secure an acting position in his home town. For some time after, his work was primarily confined to small parts on stage and in radio. His first screen role saw him as a cowardly pilot in “The Star of Africa” (1957). Frank then won a critic's award for his next role as member of a U-Boat crew in the war drama “Sharks and Little Fish” (1957).
 
Of athletic, lithe build and owner of a somewhat cold, hypnotic gaze (with a voice to match), Frank soon found himself typecast to disturbingly good effect as psychotic murderers in German and international productions “The Black Panther of Ratana” (1963), “Das Mädchen vom Moorhof” (1958), “The Copper” (1958). Alternatively, he proved an ideal henchman for spaghetti westerns “Bullets Don't Argue” (1964), “Johnny Hamlet” (1968) and “Django, Prepare a Coffin” (1968). Frank didn't seem to mind turning out copies of the same negative in a seemingly endless gallery of ruthless killers and impassive assassins. He did so with relish well into the 1980's and 1990's, enjoying guest spots on popular TV crime time shows like “Tatort” (1969) and “Derrick” (1974). If Horst Frank was in the cast, you knew pretty much from the start 'whodunnit'.
 
Behind the menacing heavy, there was a family man and author of poems and chansons. In addition to his screen acting, Frank lent his voice to dubbing work (for the likes of fellow tough guys Jack Palance, Ernest Borgnine and Chuck Connors); and to radio, where he voiced Captain Nemo in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island".
 
Likely because of his lack of work in major American or British productions, Frank never quite achieved the international recognition he undoubtedly deserved. He died quite suddenly on May 25 1999 of a brain hemorrhage, just short of his 70th birthday.
 
Today be remember Horst Frank on what would have been his 85th birthday.

 
By: I.S.Mowis

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Happy 75th Birthday Klaus Gehrke


Klaus Gehrke was born on May 27, 1939 in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Gehrke graduated in 1963 from the Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg. He then performed in engagements at theaters in Frankfurt / Oder Schwerin, Dresden and Brandenburg. In addition, he worked as a supporting actor in DEFA productions, such as 1962 in “Ach, du fröhliche …”, before joining the ensemble cast of the German Television (DFF) in 1970. He embodied during this time more than 150 different roles, such as the first engineer in the successful series ‘Zur See’ (1976) or the investigator in the TV series ‘Police 110’ until the network was terminated during reunification.
 
Klaus appeared in two Euro-westerns: “Tecumseh” (1972) and “Ulzana” (1974).
 
Since 1992, Gehrke has worked as a freelance actor primarily for television productions, and has appeared in the ZDF television series ‘Der Landarzt.
 
Today we celelbrate Klaus Gehrke’s 75th birthday.

Remembering Paolo Solvay


Paolo Solvay was born Luigi Batzella on May 27, 1924 in San Sperate, Sardinia, Italy. Paolo was an Italian Z-movie director, writer and former actor who used numerous pseudonyms. Some of them were Ivan Kathansky, A.M. Frank, Gigi Batzella, Paul Hamus, Dean Jones, Paul Selway and several others.
 
Although his films were generally inept, Solvay did get to work with a number of established B-actors of the time like Richard Harrison, Gordon Mitchell, Brad Harris, Rita Calderoni and Mark Damon. There is some conflicting information on whether his real name was Paolo Solvay or Luigi Batzella. According to the IMDb it's Batzella, according to Gordon Mitchell and Richard Harrison, it's Solvay.
 
Solvay was essentially a hack-of-all-trades, working in a variety of genres, directing Spaghetti western “Even Django has His Price” (1971), war films “When the Bell Tolls” (1970), erotic horror “Nude for Satan” (1974), and politically very incorrect Nazi-exploitation “Achtung! The Desert Tigers” (1977), and “Beast in the Heat” (1977). He became notorious for working with very low budgets, using stock footage and recycling scenes from one film to another. Both “Achtung! The Desert Tigers” and “Beast in the Heat” feature footage from “When the Bell Tolls”.
 
Solvay's directing career ranged from the late 1960's to the late 1970's, after which he seems to have retired from film. Today, he's remembered mostly for the Nazi-exploitation films and being an Italian version of Ed Wood.
 
His films numbered 15, of which he also edited and wrote himself, all of them were very low budget, his first three films were westerns, shot in the same town, featuring scenes from each other inserted into the narrative and stock footage. He produced three war films, several years later, these all contain footage from each other, SS Hell Camp consisting of much stock footage, and shot in a single lab set. The rest of his films, were either shot on preexisting sets or with even more minimal budgets.
 
Solvay died on November 18, 2008 in his home town of San Sperate.
 
Today we remember Paolo Solvay on what would have been his 90th birthday.

TRINITY, THE CLOWN, THE GUITAR


Prima ti suono e poi ti sparo – Italian title
Johnny Chitarra – Italian title
Vier Engel mit Pistolen – Austrian title
Der kleine schwarze mit dem roten hut – Austrian title
Sheriffen gar fra snovsen – Danish title
Johnny – lannen lokari – Finnish title
Trinita, une cloche et une guitar – French title
Zwei toller Hechte – Wir sind die Grossten – German title
Johnny, lad’ mal die Gitarre durch – German title
Johnny, o tsaboukas tou Texas – Greek title
Det Dajavlas For Sheriffen – Swedish title
Break You First, Kill You Later – English title
Trinity, First to Draw and First to Shoot – English title
Trinity Plus the Clown and a Guitar – English title
Trinity, the Clown, the Guitar – English title
 
A 1974 Italian, Austrian co-production [Gloria (Rome), Neue Delta (Vienna)]
Producer: Franz Antel
Director: Francois Legrand (Franz Antel)
Story: Joshua Sinclair (John Loffredo), Oreste Coltellacci, Michele Massimo Tarantini, Heinz
Orthofer
Screnplay: Joshua Sinclair (John Loffredo), Oreste Coltellacci, Michele Massimo Tarantini, Heinz
Orthofer
Cinematography: Mario Caprioti [Eastmancolor]
Music: Guido & Maurizio De Angelis
Running time: 95 minutes
 
Cast:
Trinity/Johnny Chitarra/Guitar – George Hilton (Jorge Acotsa y Lara)
Nick – Rinaldo Talamonti
Minstrel/El Moro – Piero Lulli (Giusva Lulli)
Reverend Innocent – Pedro Sanchez (Ignazio Spalla)
Jonathan - Hans Terofal (Hans Seitz)
Gold sisters – Alena Penz, Sonja Jeanine, Marie-Luise Zehetner, Christa Linder (Crista Linder)
Mamy – Carmen Silva
Mr. Walker – Dante Cleri
Blondie – Katty Santos
Bandit leader – Herbert Fux
Croupier – Ennio Colaianni
Barman – Mimmo Poli
Outlaw – Ettore Arena
El Moro henchman – Benito Pacifico
Speaker for the townsmen – Antonio Gradoli
Townsman – John Bartha (János Barta)
Stunts: Ottaviano Dell’Acqua


Little Lake, a small village in the American West, is threatened by a bandit known as ‘Il Moro’ who, in the shadows, slaughters and plunders it’s good citizens. The community, determined to defend itself, hires the famous gunslinger Red Jack, who, however, is killed by an unknown assailant. Coincidentally, however, arriving in the country a drifter wearing a red hat and is mistaken for Red Jack and elected mayor: a cheater and adventurer is actually Johnny Guitar, who along with the four Gold Sisters, buy the local saloon and begin to battle against ‘Il Moro’, supported by the new sheriff. After adventures of all kinds, the new arrivals show that the ‘Il Moro’ is nothing but an alias for Reverend Innocent and reveal the reasons for his oulaw businesses.

Happy 65th Birthday Pam Grier

Pamela Suzette ‘Pam’ Grier was born on May 26, 1949 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She became famous in the early 1970s after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films like “The Big Bird Cage” (1972), “Coffy” (1973), “Foxy Brown” (1974) and “Sheba Baby” (1975). Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film “Jackie Brown”, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for a SAG Award as well as a Satellite Award for her performance in “Jackie Brown”. Grier is also known for her work on television, for 6 seasons she portrayed Kate 'Kit' Porter on the television series ‘The L Word’. She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work in the animated program ‘Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child’. Director Quentin Tarantino remarked that she may have been cinema's first female action star.
 
Pam has appeared in only one Euro-western “Posse” (1992) playing the role of Phoebe.
 
Today we celebrate Pam Griers 65th birthday.

Remembering Mike Bongiorno


Michael Nicholas Salvatore ‘Mike’ Bongiorno was born on May 26, 1924 in New York City, New York. Mike moved to Turin (his mother's native city), when he was young. His father was a Sicilian American lawyer. During World War II Mike abandoned his studies and joined a group of Italian partisans. He was captured and spent seven months in the San Vittore prison in Milan and was then deported to a German concentration camp. He was liberated before the end of the war due to a prisoners of war exchange between the United States and Germany. He returned to New York and in 1946 started work at the radio headquarters of Il Progresso Italo-Americano (The Italian-American Progress) newspaper.
 
Bongiorno returned to Italy in 1953. He appeared in the program ‘Arrivi e partenze’ on the TV channel RAI on the very first day of official public TV transmissions in Italy. From 1955 to 1959 he hosted the quiz show ‘Lascia o raddoppia?’, the Italian version of USA's The ‘$64,000 Question’. This was the first successful quiz show on Italian TV, and became one of the most famous Italian TV programs ever. This led to a career of hosting Italian TV shows including ‘Campanile Sera’ (1959-1962), ‘Caccia al numero’ (1962), ‘La Fiera dei Sogni’ (1962–1965), ‘Giochi in Famiglia’ (1966–1969),Rischiatutto’ (1970–1974), ‘Ieri e Oggi’ (1976), ‘Scommettiamo?’ (1976-1978),I sogni nel cassetto’ (1979-1980), ‘Flash’ (1980–1982), ‘Bis’ (1981–1990), ‘Superflash’ (1982–1985), ‘Pentathlon’ (1985–1987), ‘Telemike’ (1987–1992), ‘Tris’ (1990–1991), ‘Tutti per uno’ (1992) and from 1989 to 2003 ‘La ruota della fortuna’.
 
Mike appeared in seven films during his career one being a cameo as Mike Goodmorning (the English translation of his name) in “The Call Me Providence” (1972), starring Tomás Milián.
 
From 1991 to 2001 he hosted Bravo, Bravissimo, a festival featuring preteen musicians, dancers and singers from all over the world. He won 24 Telegatto, the Italian TV prize.
 
Until 2005 he hosted ‘Genius’ on Rete 4. In 2006 and 2007 he hosted the prime-time quiz show ‘Il Migliore’. On December 13, 2007, Mike Bongiorno was awarded an honorary degree Honoris Causa by IULM University of Milan. On 26 March 2009 Bongiorno signed for SKY Italia after Mediaset decided not to renew his contract, where he planned to host a new game show on SKY Uno called RiSKYtutto (a modern edition of his popular show Rischiatutto), which had been scheduled to air in the autumn of 2009.
 
On September 8, 2009, at the age of 85, Mike Bongiorno died of a heart attack, while leaving Metropole Hotel in Monte Carlo after a short holiday with his wife Daniela.
 
Today we remember Mike Bongiorno on what would have been his 90th birthday.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Sergio Leone film honored at Cannes

For a Fistful of Dollars given special showing in foreclosure
 
Jornal de Commercio - Brazil
By Ernesto Barros
5/25/2014


The western, American genre par excellence, as defined by the theorist André Bazin, had a high profile at 67th Cannes Film Festival. In the Official Selection, two films have turned to the roots of the genre. The American Tommy Lee Jones had his second feature film as director, The Homesman, teasing in Competition. Danish director Kristian Levring brought the talented Mads Mikkelsen as a lone avenger in The Salvation, which was exhibited at Midnight Session .
 
But the big honoree was Italian Sergio Leone, regarded as the father of the Spaghetii western. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the explosion of the sub-genre - which has become a genre of its own - the festival organizers exhibited the dollar trilogy. In section Cinema de la Plage, won the open view on the beach of Cannes, For a Few Dollars more and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. However, the apotheosis was expected to submit a Fistful of Dollars, the film that opened the trilogy, at the end of the festival, on Saturday night (May 24).
 
It was the film that marked the beginning of the Italian bang-bang, as the genre became known in Brazil . To live up to the anniversary, the guest session was presented by the American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. In fact, he was in Cannes for a double anniversary. Pulp ficction, which gave him the Palme d'Or in 1994, turned 20, and the film had a special exhibition programming of Cinema à la Plage. Pulp fiction was the only film shown throughout the festival, on 35mm film.
 
At the press conference, held on the afternoon of Friday May 23rd, Tarantino explained why he was honoring the film in spite of his most famous film. "Cinema I know no more. The DCP equals you watch in on public TV. The cinema is dead", declared the filmmaker. About Sergio Leone, he was clear in saying that the Italian director is one of the great influences of his work." Leone brought to the movies a great novelty, the use of music in the foreground, not as background" he explained.
 
Tarantino said that he does not use original tracks because he does not trust a person you barely know to compose the music for his films." I use what has already been done, for example, Ennio Morricone. But I do not steal, the songs are very well paid", he said. He said he watched the films of Leone too early. "I was between four and five at his first viewing “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Even today, I show these movies in the evening to my actors and their children when they are on set," he confided.
 
For a fistful of dollars was responsible for leveraging the career of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood, who was known by the nickname of "the man with no name". Eastwood is a stranger who comes to town of San Miguel, on the border between Mexico and the United States, and engages with two gangs fighting for local power. For money, he accepts the two proposals, playing a double game and ruining the bandits. The Italian actor Gian Maria Volonte was also showcased in the movie.
 
RESTORATION
 
A new copy of A Fistful of dollars just been restored by Cineteca di Bologna and Unidis Jolly Film, the original producer and distributor of the film, with the participation of the Foreign Press Association of Hollywood and the Film Foundation, Martin Scorsese. The work was developed in the restoration lab Immagine Ritrovata, considered the most important in the world.
 
The original negative was scanned Techniscope in 4K resolution, under the supervision of cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri. For sound, the laboratory had access to the original tapes that are still the original pre-mixed sound, with the soundtrack and effects separately.

News out of Rome on Morricone's condition


Here’s the first news out of Rome on composer Ennio Morricone’s condition.
 
Il Messaggero
May 25, 2014
 
Ennio Morricone’s medical condition, stops his participation at concerts but will continue working for the cinema .
 
A stop has been put in to all concerts and tours for Ennio Morricone. The maestro explains to his lawyer George Assumma, "I have been suffering for some months from a boring herniated disc that precludes me from the job of conductor and the long trips it entails." Morricone, ensures the legal firm, the he will continue his commitment to compose soundtracks for film.
 
On "mandatory orders of his doctors," explains lawyer Giorgio Assumma, Morricone has had to refuse the many job offers made ​​by Italian and foreign businessmen. The maestro, however, ensures the legal firm, however, he will continue his commitment in the composition of film scores, "hoping that a restoration of his health, which, however, is not expected in the short term, will enable his future participation in three concerts, to be held in the city of Rome."

New Film Release - A Night in Old Mexico


Una noche en el viejo México – Spanish title
A Night in Old Mexico – English title
 
A 2013 Spanish, U.S.A. co-production [Globomedia Cine (Madrid), VT Films (U.S.A.)]
Producers: Emilio Aragón, Rob Carliner, Robert Duvall, J. Ethan Park, Sunmin Park, César Vargas,William D. Wittliff, Daniel Écija
Director: Emilio Aragón (Emilio Álvarez)
Story: William D. Wittliff (William Dale Wittliff)
Screenplay: William D. Wittliff (William Dale Wittliff)
Cinematography: David Omedes (David Regas)
Music: Emilio Aragón (Emilio Álvarez)
Song: “Aqui Sigo” sung by Julieta Venegas
Running time: 103 minutes
 
Cast:
Red Bovie – Robert Duvall
Gally – Jeremy Irvine
Patty Wafers - Angie Cepeda (Angélica Jiménez)
Panama - Luis Tosar
Cholo - Joaquín Cosio
Booster - Javier Gutiérrez (Javier Alvarez)
Driver - Rene Rhi
Moon - Jim Parrack
J.T. - James Hébert
Hector - Michael Ray Escamilla
Big Roscoe Hammil - Abraham Benrubi
Inez Claypeck - C.K. McFarland (Cynthia McFarland)
Brothel Patron - Jonathan Cuellar
Ramond – Eric A. Williams (Eric Austin Williams)
Man at the table – Toby Metcalf
Beggar – Ray Perez
Federale #1 - Pepe Poeta Solis (José Solís, Jr.)
Airport employee - José D. Cantú
Augie – Sonny Carl Davis
Federale – Gilberto Flores
Waitress - Viridiana Garza
Stunts: Marque Ohmes, Gabriel Peña, Bayland Rippenkroeger, Larry Rippenkroeger


Forced to abandon his ranch and land, Red Bovie rejecting the impulse to become complacent in his old age, hops in his Cadillac and hightails it to Mexico while Gally, Red's grandson which he has just met, sits shotgun on his grandfather's brash adventure to learn more about him. Grandfather and grandson start a journey through their respective dreams with a frenzied stop in a Mexican town where they meet Patty Wafers, who sees in them the hope for a better life. All of them are accidentally involved in the lives of some shady men. A road-trip, a story about the virtue of surviving and the right of each individual to choose their own ending.

 
YouTube trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnHfrwTC7Uk

Spaghetti Western Locations

We continue our search for film locations for “Texas Addio” (aka “The Avenger”). After meeting with the lawyer in on a back street and refusing to join his revolutionary group against Cisco Delgado Jim and Burt leave. The lawyer is attacked by the Indian henchman of McLeod for talking with the gringos. When the Indian tries to knife the lawyer he’s shot and killed by Burt. McLeod tells the Alcalde to stop drinking and tells him he’ll send out a party to take care of the Sullivan brothers.
 
As the Sullivan brothers, now on foot, continue their search for Delgado Jim asks Burt about the possibility of arresting Delgado. Burt tells him this isn’t Texas.


The site of their discussion is Sierra Alhamilla, Spain.


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

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Kristian Levring, “The Salvation” Interview


18 May, 2014
By Wendy Mitchell

Kristian Levring tells Wendy Mitchell about the inspiring process of making The Salvation, a ‘Western that’s a myth about Westerns’
 
Making The Salvation, Denmark-born, London-based director Kristian Levring says simply, “is a childhood dream come true… it’s like playing again, being a boy”.
 
He grew up in Denmark watching black-and-white Westerns on Saturday afternoons — films by John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, Howard Hawks and Sergio Leone. “Why on earth do a genre that everyone says is dead?” he says of his new film, which has its world premiere as a Midnight Screening tonight. “It’s to be able to play in the playground of Leone or Ford. Of course the genre’s not dead.”
 
Even though Levring is one of the fathers of the Dogme movement, The Salvation certainly is not a Dogme Western. “I wanted to make a classic Western; to do an arthouse Western wouldn’t make sense,” he says.
 
It has authenticity but feels more inspired by classic films than by realities of the Wild West. “I made a Western that’s a myth about Westerns,” he says proudly, adding that fans of the genre will be able to spot about 70 references to other films.
 
The story, co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen, follows a Danish settler (Mads Mikkelsen) in 1870s America who sets out to avenge the murder of his family and take down a corrupt gang boss (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). And Levring reports: “Writing the script was as fun as shooting it.”
 
The men on the set — Mikkelsen, Morgan, Mikael Persbrandt and Eric Cantona — seemed to also delve into their own childhood cowboy fantasies. “They loved all the boots and guns,” Levring reports. “One actor — I won’t say who — said, ‘now I understand why America won’t get rid of its gun laws’.”
 
Eva Green plays a tough frontier woman who is mute after having her tongue cut out. “She had that strength,” the director says. “It was hard to play someone who can’t speak at all.”
 
The director has worked with a lot of animals on commercials shoots, but he found The Salvation’s equine stars a challenge. Not to mention getting a diverse cast into the saddle. “They did their own riding. Some were better than others,” he adds with a laugh.
 
The film shot on location for eight weeks in South Africa, where Levring’s team constructed their own Wild West towns (interiors and exteriors). The production also shot scenery in Montana and Utah to add more authentic vistas in post-production.
 
The Salvation is mostly in the English language but due to its origins it has been tagged as a “Danish Western”. “The majority of people who survived in the Wild West were European immigrants,” Levring notes. “Mads’ character is Danish but he’s an American character. People like that will never go back [home]. They may have an accent but they’re all American. It’s interesting to remember these Danes were part of American history.”​
 
His past experience, including his Dogme work as well as decades of commercials, brought him to the point of The Salvation. “Your past work is always in you,” he says. “I made a decision to make a clear-cut genre movie. Once you make that decision, it guides you. You have to stay true to the genre.”
 
Levring will again move genres with his next film, Detroit, the horror film Lars von Trier is writing for his old Dogme brother. Details are scant on the Zentropa production so far, only that it is a horror film set in the struggling US city.

 
The Salvation trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCDovRS00QE

Trigger Happy

Triggerhappy – German title
Trigger Happy – English title
 
A 2001German, Swedish production [interfilm Berlin Management GmbH (Berlin), Protoon (Stockholm)]
Producer: Christian Gesell
Director: Klas Jonsson
Story: Klas Jonsson
Screenwriter: Klas Jonsson
Cinematography: Peter Kruse [color]
Music: Stefan Åberg, Håkan Fredriksson
Running time: 4 minutes
 
Cast:
Gunfighter – Tomas Glaving
Bad guy - Sven-Åke Wahlström
Saloon girl – Nathalie Westerlund
Soldier – Patrik Kristoffersen
Bartender – Johan Kekonius
Narrator: Bert Deivert (Bertram Deivert)


The story of a computer game gone wrong.

 
YouTube full film link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS-HXmBNK-g

Happy 90th Birthday José Manuel Martin


José Manuel Martín Pérez was born on May 24, 1924 in Casavieja, Ávila, Castilla y León, Spain. Pérez studied at Madrid's Teatro Español Universitario and the Lope de Rueda, and began working for Radio Nacional de España in 1942, before making his feature film debut in César Fernández Ardavín's 1952 war drama “La llamada de África”. This was followed by minor roles in the Ángel Vilches' adventure film “A dos grados del Ecuador” (1953), the Luis Lucia comedy “Aeropuerto” (1953), and Rafael Gil's religious-themed historical dramas “I Was a Parish Priest” (1953) and “Judas' Kiss” (1954). He received his first supporting role, as Muñoz, in Gil's next film “Murió hace quince años” (1954) appearing alongside Rafael Rivelles, Francisco Rabal and Lyla Rocco. He also started working in television joining the cast of ‘Diego Valor’ in 1958. Pérez continued on in supporting roles for number of other films then being shot in Almería and elsewhere.
 
In the early-1960s, Eurowesterns, which would evolve into the popular Spaghetti Westerns, were being shot in Almería. Pérez was among a number of Spanish character actors to find fame in this new genre. His background playing villains made him ideal for being cast as a Mexican bandit or henchman. Pérez's prolific appearances made him one of the most recognizable Spanish actors involved in the genre, rivaling those of fellow Spaghetti Western regulars such as Aldo Sambrell and Fernando Sancho, and is considered one of the best villains of the era. Martin appeared in over 30 Euro-westerns from “The Savage Guns” (1961) to “Al este del Oeste” (1983).
 
In between Spaghetti Westerns, Pérez also had supporting roles in “The Ceremony” (1963), “Operation Atlantis” (1965), “Fall of the Mohicans” (1965), “Con el viento Solano” (1966), and “Bewitched Love” (1967).
 
In the late-1960s and 1970s, Pérez starred in Spanish horror films such as Sax Rohmer's “The Castle of Fu Manchu” (1969), “The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff” (1973), “Count Dracula's Great Love” (1974), and “Curse of the Devil” (1974). An author of numerous poems, he occasionally tried his hand at screenwriting. His first script was for Rafael Romero Marchent's “The Student Connection” (1974), co-written with Luciano Ercoli, José Luis Navarro, and Marchent.
 
In the early-2000s, Pérez made one-time guest appearances on television series ‘Policías, en el corazón de la calle’ and ‘Los Serrano’. He also had a cameo on ‘Dunia Ayaso’ and Félix Sabroso's dramady ‘Descongélate!’ (2003), starring Pepón Nieto, Candela Peña and Loles León.
 
Today we celebrate one of the great character actors of the Euro-western genre, José Manuel Martín’s 90th birthday.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Guess Who I Am



I’m a Spanish actor born in Madrid in 1926.
 
I’ve appeared in over 120 films and TV appearances.
 
I appeared in 14 Euro-westerns.
 
I’m still active today.
 
Guess who I am.

Breccio correctly identified Jesus Guzman as this week's photo.

'The Salvation': Cannes Review


By: Todd McCarthy
5/16/2014
 
Mads Mikkelsen stars as a Danish soldier who moves to America in Kristian Levring's Western.
 
A trunk load of classic Western archetypes (or stereotypes -- take your pick) are given a robust workout in The Salvation, a Danish Western by Dogme charter member Kristian Levring. Employing a strong visual style that evinces a great affinity for the genre, as well as for two of its most prominent practitioners, John Ford and Sergio Leone, the director also supplies a bleak, forbidding -- one might say fundamentalist Nordic -- temperament that well suits the themes of punishment, suffering, vengeance and redemption. Commercially, this falls in a difficult zone between the commercial and art film; some specialized U.S. play could be in the offing -- the film looks great on a big screen -- but prime cable showings, pitched at fans of the stars Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green, could prove a more lucrative and receptive market, at least in North America.
 
The basic plot of the script by Levring and Anders Thomas Jensen owes a great deal to the Fred Zinnemann-Carl Foreman High Noon, in which it falls to a single man to rid the town of a bunch of bad guys who have terrified the populace into submission. In fact, The Salvation is assembled of nothing but the most elemental components of the Western, which gives genre specialists a lot to recognize and analyze and newcomers something to enjoy for its own sake.
 
The one overtly Danish element is introduced at the outset, with protagonist Jon (Mikkelsen), presented as a former Danish soldier who left for America after the 1864 war and has now, after seven years, brought over his beautiful wife (U.S.-based Danish musician Nanna Oland Fabricius) and 10-year-old son (Toke Lars Bjarke). But no sooner have the latter gotten off the train in the far West than they are kidnapped and murdered by two drunken nasties who, in short order, are tracked down and shot by the bereft Jon. Unfortunately for him, one of the two killers was the brother of ruthless local gang leader Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who rules the town of Black Creek so viciously that he randomly kills four innocent locals when his deliberately outrageous demand of finding the killer within two hours is not met.
 
The town’s sheriff (Douglas Henshall) and mayor/undertaker (Jonathan Pryce) cower to the depraved Delarue, who takes advantage of his brother’s demise by having his way with his wife, Madelaine (Green), whose beauty is marred by a large scar across her lips and is mute due to an Indian having cut out her tongue. Once he gets his hands on Jon, he strings him up on a pole like a side of meat to give him time to contemplate his fate, while Jon’s sharp-witted brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt) languishes in jail.


From here on, it’s all a question of how the brothers will escape their extreme jeopardy to exact revenge on Delarue and his gang. As in any classic Western, there are blunt pleasures to be had every time the tables are turned on men in black hats, as well as from direct, threat-loaded dialogue, meaningful looks, geometric arrangements of heroes and villains, and tense hunts for prey that play out both in rugged mountain settings and the tight quarters of buildings.
 
There may be a moment or two when a too-on-the-nose use of a cliche provokes an unwanted laugh but, by and large, Levring employs Western conventions knowingly enough to get a pass. On a straightforward level, his staging of classic standoff and showdown moments is quite good and he achieves the right kind of audience satisfaction when the bad guys eat it.
 
Visually, The Salvation is resplendent in the rich reds and browns of the land and relatively new buildings of the town. But there’s also something a bit unusual about the look of things, the way the full moon floods a nocturnal setting with light and how the unmistakable background of Monument Valley seems a bit soft compared with the vivid foregrounds in numerous scenes. This is because the film was actually shot in South Africa, with some 900 shots visually altered through CGI and various digital and backdrop alterations. The technical work is actually excellent and won’t raise an eyebrow of 99 percent of viewers. But to anyone in the profession or with an eye for such things, the film’s visual aspect represents a clever and quite sophisticated blend of on-location photography and postproduction manipulation.


The actors all seem quite invested in playing archetypal parts in a fun genre that doesn’t present itself with nearly the frequency that it used to. The dazzlingly handsome and physical Mikkelsen splendidly suits the vengeful hero role; the primary requirements for him are to be sweaty, bloody, suffering and cunning nearly all the time and he delivers it all with complete satisfaction. Persbrandt embodies equal Old West aptitude as the hero’s brother, while Morgan registers wonderfully as the deeply cynical, morally void villain. Green’s acting here is done entirely with her eyes, which say plenty.
 
Kasper Winding’s score has a flavor and full feeling of its own, even as certain moments reverberate with distant echoes of Ennio Morricone. The final pull-back shot sends out its own signals in the direction of the early 20th century West of There Will Be Blood.

 
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Midnight -- Out of Competiton)
Production: Zentropa Entertainments 33, Forward Films, Spier Films
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Eric Cantona, Mikael Persbrandt, Douglas Henshall, Michael
Raymond-James, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jonathan Pryce, Nanna Oland Fabricius, Toke Lars Bjarke
Director: Kristian Levring
Screenwriters: Kristian Levring, Anders Thomas Jensen
Producer: Sisse Graum Jorgensen
Director of photography: Jens Schlosser
Production designer: Jorgen Munk
Costume designer: Diana Cilliers
Editor: Pernille Bech Christensen
Music: Kasper Winding
90 minutes