Thursday, May 2, 2019

VIII PUNTATA – CIPOLLA COLT



Pianeta Cinema
By Andrea Girolami
4/20/2019

Almeria .... how beautiful you are. I'm having fun like crazy. I practically have a big amusement park all to myself - the western village. Today I return to my father ... only a few days left and I decided that I want to stay on the set all the time, I love the set. The movement of people that creates a certain "chaos". But it is an ordered "chaos" ... from the outside it seems a total disorder but instead everything is in order and prepared. Each department has its equipment in its "place" ... the horses there and the ... the lights there and the ... the chairs for the actors there and the ... the extras there and there. All "them and"


I'm almost there ... now I know the way. Today to reach the village there is a beautiful highway, but in those days there was only one simple country road. At certain points without asphalt. Arriving at the last corner, here I see the bridge !!! The "Cipolla Colt" bridge. We cross the bridge ... I hear the "squeak" of the wood that supports the production car. It causes some fear. But what a thrill. Today the bridge is gone. Indeed ... it has remained a small piece.



I was told during my last visit to "MiniHollywood" (today's name of the village of "Cipolla Colt") that the bridge was so fragile that it was blown up in a scene from a movie ... this little story made me open my little memory drawer ... surely you have seen the western movies of the great and unique Sergio Leone. In two films, Leone explodes a bridge. One of the two explosions, in the film: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" - the bridge ... was blown up by mistake.


Before shooting the scene and giving the "go" - Sergio Leone had decided to deliver the detonator to the Spanish Captain of the Genio Guastatori - out of respect and honor towards the soldiers who carried out the construction work. Explaining that he must only listen to Sergio Leone and wait for his "VIA". All the plug-in machines have been positioned ... at one point an operator screams "READY!" - repeated by many other operators positioned in various strategic positions. The Captain hears "READY" from here - "READY" from the ... he doesn't understand anything anymore ... and pushes the button that makes the wooden bridge explode without having respected the order to follow only Sergio Leone's voice. Perhaps for those unfamiliar with Spanish: "pronto" means "soon" in Spanish. You can imagine the nervousness and the emotion of the Captain ... that at some point you hear from every part of the set "PRESTO!" - "PRESTO!" - "SOON!" - "SOON!". How do you say "come on - get a move on". The bridge was rebuilt and what we see in the film is the second bridge - the new one. Still today I wonder what happened to the Captain ...


Instead for the other film, "Giù la testa" (Duck You Sucker) - the bridge was made of bricks and stone. A real bridge. An impressive explosion. For safety they built mini-forts to cover the cameras. Even today, visiting the place you can see and see what is left of the bridge. Recently, in an archaeological visit, they found one of the military vehicles used during the explosion. As it happens the bridge is located near the village of "Cipolla Colt".


I must say that not only Leo's costume is beautiful. All the costumes in the film are beautiful and special. The film's costume designer was Lina Wertmuller's husband, Enrico Job. A great costume designer and set designer - winner of three "Donatellos".

Guys!!! We don't forget the break time with the "Felix" kitchen. What dishes. I'm always ready with my gun. In those days you could eat "Las Chanquetas" - they are tiny little fish - newborn eels. Fritti. Local specialty: "fried Andalusian little fish". An exceptional goodness. Today I believe it is a forbidden dish like the Bianchetti and the Rossetti of Genoa.

Let's get back to us ...


I'm sorry I didn't have the pleasure of meeting the two children on the set. As far as I know, Fernando Castro has not come a long way in the world of cinema. Indeed, nothing. Instead Duilio Cruciani was already a "famous" child actor. He had appeared in other films. He worked with Fulci, Lenzi, Martino, Tessari, Scavolini in "Cuore". Cruciani already had the experience and knew the times of the cinema well. A little curiosity: in Fulci's film: "Donald Duck is not tortured", Duilio Cruciani uses the sling as in "Cipolla Colt". Too bad he had a bad end. Many years later he was found dead from an overdose in a public toilet. I'm sorry. How many kids took the drugs. Damn drug !!!! I want to dedicate this episode to you, my dear Duilio - even though we've never met. Today, in my small studio I have "your" gun.

Arrival on the set. I greet everyone. I love greeting people. Even today when I go in and out of a club I greet everyone. In the distance I see the special effects truck. I love that department. I love their handmade tricks ... the magic of creating - out of nothing - amazing things! A real show. But today’s show ... there is only one. Mine. I go, take and return with "my" rifle. Yes. Today and for a few days I will be able to use the rifle used by the two children in the film: Duilio Cruciani who plays "Cal‘ Caligola ’Foster and Fernando Castro in the role of “Dutch Foster”. The rifle is not real. It's fake. But it is beautiful. I don't leave it for a second. I go around the whole village ... imagining myself to be "the Good" - or Bud Spencer ... my other great idol. However - now the village is under my control. No one moves without my order. What magic What a gift to be on a western movie set. Then with Leo Anchoriz, who always watches me from afar, and my mother, who doesn't miss me. I love Leo's costume. He's a beautiful sheriff. How much I love him. Today again.


Yes, the one used in the film. After the shooting ended, my father brought the gun home. As a gift. A great gift. For years I played with that gun. It’s next to me now. Every now and then I take it and play ... guard and thieves with my daughter - she always wants to be a policewoman ...

Hi Duilio. Rest in peace.

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