Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Spaghetti Western location – “Once Upon a Time in the West”

 The Flagstone saloon located in La Calahorra, Granada, Spain.was designed and constructed under the direction of Carlo Simi. As show below it was first used in Sergio Leone’s 1968 “Once Upon a Time in the West."

In 1973 Leone revisited the site and used the same saloon in “My Name is Nobody”.




 

Who Are Those Gals? ~ Maria D’Incoronato

 

Maria D’Incoronato is an Italian actress whose career spanned a 20+ film career from her first appearance in the Spaghetti western “The Forgotten Pistolero” in 1969 and so far ended with the role of Paola Ferri in the 2007 TV series ‘Incantesimo’. I can find little biographical information on her and no definitive birthdate. I did find out she attended the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art and was instructed by great masters such as Orazio Costa for acting, Alba Maria Setaccioli for diction and Angelo Corti for mime. She later made her theater debut with Thomas Mildton's “The Chess Game,” based on a translation by Ugo Tessitore and directed by Luca Ronconi in the role of the White Queen alongside Remo Girone.

She was engaged by the Stabile di Torino to play the leading role alongside Giulio Brogi in two works on the drama of the Resistance by Beppe Fenoglio, or Act One and Tentative Theatrical directed by Roberto Guicciardini. She then alternated between television dramas and theatrical films with other theater engagements.

Among the screenplays interpreted by the actress we remember “Rosso Veneziano”, directed by Marco Leto, “Le origini della mafia”, “La Medea di Porta Medina”, alongside Giuliana De Sio and Christian De Sica, directed by Piero Schivazappa, then “Incantesimo”, in the role by Paola Ferri.

For the big screen, however, she appeared in “The Sheriff of Rockspring”, alongside Cosetta Greco, "They Called Him Veritas”, “Signori e signore, Buonanotte”, by Ettore Scola, in the role of a TV presenter, Sweet Dreams by Nanni Moretti, “L'altro Dio”, by Elio Bartolini, for which she received critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival, then “Vai Gorilla” by Tonino Valeri and “Un uomo, una città”. In 1974 she appeared in the Hong Kong film “Xiangang xiao jiao fu” where she was credited under the alias Ma-Li-Ya.

In all she appeared in four Spaghetti westerns in supporting roles and is still listed as a client with e-Talenta talent agency.

D’INCORONATO, Maria (aka Maria Morgan, Ma-Li-Ya) [194? Abruzzo, Italy -    ] – theater, film, TV actress.

The Forgotten Pistolero - 1969

Blazing Guns – 1971 (saloon girl)

The Sheriff of Rock Springs – 1971 (Julie) [as Maria Morgan

They Called Him Veritas - 1972 (Paquita)

Special BirthdaysSpecial Birthdays

 Edmund Hashim (actor) would have been 90 today but died in 1974.







Nevenka Dundek (actress) is 70 today.









Lucas Black (actor) is 40 today.



Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Por un puñado de westerns

 








Por un puñado de westerns – Spanish title

 

A 2007 Spanish documentary [Francisco Herrera Productions (Madrid)]

Producers: Francisco Herrera, Arturo Marcos, José Ulloa

Director: Frank Willis (Francisco Herrera)

Story: Frank Willis (Francisco Herrera)

Photography: Frank Willis (Francisco Herrera) [color]

Music: Luis Jimenez

Running time: 99 minutes

 

Cast:

Narrator – Claudio Rodriguez

Craig Hill (Craig Fowler), Charles Quiney (Carlos Alfonso Lodos), Joaquín Romero Marchent, Juan Bosch, José Ulloa, Arturo Marcos, Víctor Israel (José Vilanova), Joaquín Blanco (Joaquín Blanco Calvache), Juan Torres, Angela Ots, José Luis Merino, Anthony Steffen (Antonio De Teffè von Hoonholtz), Peter Lee Lawrence (Karl-Otto Hyrenbach), Fernando Sancho, Richard Harrison (Richard Harrison Jr.), Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari)

 

A Spanish documentary on Spaghetti westerns.

 

Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wPqdx1ZGfE

Darío Corral, the promising child of Almeria cinema

 The actor is the child most demanded by the cinematographic fiction of Tabernas to embody its characters.

Diario de Almeria

By Ruben Garcia Felices

November 13, 2022

Darío Corral Hernández, nicknamed "Darío Peter", is only 11 years old, and was born on November 29, 2010, in Almería. His young age can lead to misunderstandings, but this young performer, who found his vocation among the bushes and the stage of Tabernas de Almería, has chained projects tirelessly since his beginnings with 5 years of age in cinematographic audiovisual productions: “Morgan, él vino de lejos” (a short film directed by Toni Carre) was his debut in 2017; then came “La vaca moteada” (Anders Gullberg) and “Dollars de sangre” (José Corral Martínez and Didier Methivier) in 2018, a short and a feature film with a western theme filmed in Tabernas, Gérgal and Almería and; already after the pandemic, he has premiered in this 2022 (practically simultaneously) two new productions: “Frontera” (Martin Michiels and José Corral Martínez), a short film shot in Rancho Corral (also called OK Corral), a farm owned by his father converted into a town in the West; and a feature film: “A Bastard, a City and the Dead”, by the German Dirk Roche, which premiered for the first time this year at the Municipal Theater of Tabernas. In the same way, he has also participated in the film “A Dream Come True” (2022), by the Almeria director and actor Toni Carre, which will soon see the light. He is currently studying 1º of ESO at the IES Manuel de Góngora de Tabernas, and when he finishes his studies he wants to learn acting and English with the purpose of becoming a professional actor. Her favorite subjects are physical education and technology, because he likes his technology teacher and likes the topics covered in class. As for his hobbies, Darío likes to play Soccer and go to the villages of Tabernas characterized as a gunman, and now he is learning to ride a horse.

R. G. F.: How did your desire for acting come about?

Darius: I remember that my father always took me with him to his shootings and his visits to the film villages of Tabernas. A friend of his, José Antonio Carreño (Toni Carre), observed me and saw that I had self-confidence, so he gave me a small role for his short film Morgan, he came from afar. And this is how my adventure and passion for the world of acting began. I have to say that Toni Carre was the first one who believed in me at 5 years of age, for which I am eternally grateful.

R. G. F.: Do you come from a family of artists?

Darius: Yes, I come from artist parents. My father, Jose Corral Martinez (Joe Conrad), is the co-director of Frontera and Blood Dollars. He worked as part of the figuration in a series about Jesus Christ that was filmed in Sierra Alhamilla (Almería). Recently, he has worked as an extra in the film Eureka (2022), by Lisandro Alonso, alongside Viggo Mortensen, who starred in one of the main roles. His latest work as an actor has been in the feature film Un bastardo, una ciudad y los muertos (2022). My father's love for cinema comes as a child (as does me), because he lived in a farmhouse in Tabernas that was very close to the towns and went to the spaghetti western shoots that took place there in the early 70s. As for my mother, Mayra Hernández Gaytan (born in the Mexican state of Jalisco), daughter of a Spanish father and Mexican mother, I remember very well that a year ago she participated as an extra in a film that was entitled1000 lines, and that has not yet been released. And, on the other hand, my only brother I have, Elias, 8 years old, dreams every day of being a film director (we smile).

R.G. F.: Having the support of your parents is essential...

Darius: Yes, they help me with their unconditional support, day after day, to calm me down and feel confident when I am in front of a camera. Also, when I ride with my father, I have a good time. I really enjoy acting.

R.G. F.: Have you made friends your age in this world of cinema?

Darius: My friends don't like acting, because they're embarrassed. But I have always counted on my friend Eduardo, who is a little older than me, although now I have less contact with him because my family and I moved house and area. He is the son of Eduardo Garrido, a great recreationist, along with his wife Marta. Both are big fans of the western; his entire family participates year after year in the historical recreations of Oasys MiniHollywood. And, of the adult actors, my best friend is Luis Angel Sopa (Luis Clint).

R. G. F.: Why the nickname "Dario Peter"?

Darius: Because of my physical resemblance to German actor Peter Lee Lawrence, who sadly passed away very young at the age of 30.

R.G. F.: In 2018 you were given a role in La vaca moteada, a professional production created for a foreign television. How was this possible?

Darius: The Spotted Cowis the title of the second western-style episode of the television seriesIgnite the Tizonazo. It turns out that one day his director and teammates came to Oasys MiniHollywood looking for people who wanted to participate in a shoot and hired my father. Then they asked him if he knew a child actor and he introduced me to them, and they liked me. That's how I got my little role in this short film made in different locations of Tabernas and Gérgal.

R. G. F.: What has been the production in which you have enjoyed the most?

Darius: Without a doubt, Border. Because I had a great time shooting with my father's friends and I really liked the role they gave me. I played Pedro, the son of Anna, the protagonist, who was played by the Biscayan actress Isabel Rebolledo.

R.G. F.: You met the Italian actress Claudia Cardinale in person. How was it and what dealt with her?

Darius: I met her at the eighth edition of the Almería Western Film Festival (AWFF), when she received the "Tabernas de Cine" award, in 2018. Well, my father, who is a painter, fond of drawing (who works with materials and techniques of charcoal, graphite and oil), made a portrait of Claudia Cardinale as a gift and, of course, I had the great honor of delivering it in person to her in hand at the Municipal Theater of Tabernas, where she received this award.

R. G. F.: Speaking of the AWFF, have you ever had the opportunity to participate in the activities carried out by this festival?

Darius: Every year I participate in the AWFF in the Tabernas parade, I do it walking while doing pirouettes with my revolver (I am good at handling it). Already within the programming of the festival, not long ago I participated in the recreation of a scene of Until his time came, which my colleagues and I made in Western Leone (the original setting of the film). I played one of the McBains' three children. Specifically, it is the scene in which some outlaws come home and shoot with my family. I leave the house last, and they shoot me dead.

R. G. F.: Who makes you the gunslinger's clothes? And where do you get the rest of the outfit and accessories?

Darius: My gunslinger clothes are ordered by my parents from a seamstress friend of theirs in Malaga. The Mexican clothing, hats, boots, spurs and ponchos we bring from the State of Jalisco, Mexico, when we go to visit my cousins who live there. We buy the revolvers in the shops of the villages of Tabernas; I use piston revolvers (for my own safety), and my father blanks and imitations.

R. G. F.: Who are your favorite actors?

Darius: I really like Clint Eastwood, he's my favorite actor. Also, Peter Lee Lawrence.

R. G. F.: And to finish something else to add?

Darius: A few years ago, I participated in one of the video clips of the Almeria musical group The Wanders, under the direction of Benaducense director Andrés Macho and I did it dressed in a Mexican poncho and carrying a rifle. In his next film, Los silenciados, which will be the second part of Bendición, sangre y nácar(not yet released), Andrés is going to give me an important role.


Special Birthdays

 Joe Elvin (actor) would have been 160 today but died in 1935.









Roberto Camardiel (actor) would have been 110 today but died in 1986.









Pierre Gaspard-Huit (director, screenwriter) would have been 110 today but died in 2017.









Pedro Damian (actor) is 70 today.









Eddie Spears (actor) is 40 today.



Monday, November 28, 2022

English Voices of the Spaghetti Westerns – Marc Smith

 

Marc Smith was born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 21, 1945 who’s career in films was mainly as a voice dubber beginning in 1957 with “The Seventh Seal” where he voiced Plog the blacksmith. He had over 40 film acting credits and 16 dubbing credits. Later in his career he was a dubber for several Japanese animated cartoons. He had one credit as a director for 1985’s “Space Warriors 2000”.  

SMITH, Marc (aka Marc Smith/Michael Simpson, Michael Simpson, Mark Smith) [1/21/1945, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. – 12/24/2006, London, England, U.K.] – director, radio, film, voice actor.

Marc Smith’s English dubbed westerns:

They Call Me Trinity – 1970 [English voice of ?]

Viva! Django – 1971 [English voice of Anthony Steffen]

The Spikes Gang – 1974 (Abel Young)

4 of the Apocalypse – - 1975 [English voice of Fabio Testi]

European Western Comic Books - Albi Mira: Falco d’Argento

 








Albi Mira: Falco d’Argento

Four unique issues published by Edizioni Mira di Piacenza. Undated, they advertise the sticker album "All footballers - 1966-67 Championship". The "Selima" book is designed by Gaspare De Fiore. Images provided by Franco Guerra and Sergio Morello. The comic books were published in 1966 by Edizioni Mira and each issue consisted of 16 black and white pages with color covers.

Titles

(01) (00.00.66) - "Falco d'Argento"

(02) (00.00.66) - "Missione nel Mar di Giava"

(03) (00.00.66) - "Selima"

(04) (00.00.66) - "Gli Uomini Pantera"

Special Birthdays

 Jorge Eras (composer) would have been 95 today but died in 2012.

Cesare Gelli (actor) would have been 90 today but died in 2016.








Emilia Schüle (actress) is 30 today.



Sunday, November 27, 2022

Gabriel Rueda: "Playing bad for me costs me a lot, because I am very good"

 "Spaghetti feminist western". Actor, musician and horse whisperer. The next film in which Rueda acts is another short by Enrique Novials

Diari de Tarragona

May 8, 2021


Q: Gabriel Rueda, are you a cowboy?

A: Of course... at specific times. When I come down to reality, I see that no, I am not in the West, ha, ha, ha. But yes, being a cowboy is in my DNA.

Q: Do you identify with the stereotypical cowboy character?

A: No. Stereotyped, no. I identify with a unique, unrepeatable cowboy character that nobody has seen, and that nobody knows, and that is me.

Q: Very nice! And you're about to participate in the shooting of a new movie, a short film by Enrique Novials, called 'Kill them and don't come back alone', right?

A: We are going to shoot it in July in Tabernas, Almería. Indeed, it is a project of Enrique Novials, who is the director, and who may also participate as an actor. The title is a nod to Kill them and come back alone, a classic that was shot in 1968 in Almeria. Kill them and don't come back alone is a spaghetti feminist western.

Q: A feminist spaghetti western? Can you explain?

A: That in a western it is the woman who takes the chestnuts out of the fire and kills the bandits and rescues the prisoner, and is the heroine of the movie, is rarely seen. With Enrique Novials we already made Calamity Jane 1882, a short film based on the letters that this outlaw, which really existed, and who drank whiskey and cheated poker, wrote to his daughter.

Q: 'Calamity Jane 1882' won last year many recognitions and awards at national and international festivals, right?

A: Yes, all last year we have been receiving news of nominations and awards at festivals around the world: India, Greece, Turkey, Uruguay, Japan, in many US cities such as Texas, Oklahoma, Los Angeles... In Arizona we have won the awards for best director, best supporting and best actress. It's been like an invasion of prizes, up to 14. Now Calamity Jane 1882 is competing in Houston, in the official section of a festival.

Q: What role do you play in 'Calamity Jane 1882'?

A: Bad gunman. I kidnapped Calamity Jane's girlfriend, because in the movie they are both lesbians.

Q: I see that the argument is innovative.

A: It turns out that we are part of the sheriff's gang, but we are corrupt, and we do all kinds of misdeeds. And we learn that Calamity Jane has cheated in the game, in poker, and that she has won $ 20,000, and then, we go to a brothel to find Calamity Jane's girlfriend to kidnap her.

Q: Hell.

A: Yes, what a fabric. We kidnapped her, and we asked for a ransom. Then Calamity Jane comes, peels us all and takes the bride. Very briefly, the argument is like this.

Q: And in the short film you're going to shoot in the summer, 'Kill Them and Don't Come Back Alone', what is your character?

A: Again, I play the outlaw, the bad guy. I start by robbing a bank.

Q: How do you feel in these types of roles?

A: Man, it's hard for me to play bad, because I'm very good. So, you see, I have to work a lot. And I don't play bad things around, because that's dangerous for one's psychology. You can deviate from yourself and from real life. In order not to get into those problems, I avoid playing with it.

Q: You speak like a person already used to acting. Do you have many years of experience?

A: Well, yes. I studied theater. In fact, as a child we played theater with my friends, between six and eight years old. I was born in Barcelona and at the age of 17 I came to Tarragona. I started with the theater officially at the Escola Josep Ixart. I was also at the Escola d'Art. I set up several companies.

Q: Did you set up several theater companies? Which?

A: Cerebral Light, of happenings and performances; Those of the Cosmos, of mime and pantomime; Plis Plas, children's theatre... I was also at La Fura dels Baus. Then I went to Nicaragua and set up a circus school. It was a project of the Associació Nou Barris and the Committee of Solidarity with Nicaragua. I was at the circus school in Barcelona doing clown, clown, juggling and fixed trapeze and acrobatics classes. My entire career in the world of theater, circus and horse can be seen in https://gabriel-rueda.wixsite.com/actor/biografia.

Q: In the world of the horse?

A: That's how I met director Enrique Novials, because he came to our equestrian because he wanted to ride a western and wanted to learn to ride a horse.

Q: Wait a minute: what does an actor paint in an equestrian?

A: About ten years ago I began to lower the piston of my most theatrical, performer and cirquera part, and I dedicated myself more to horses. I met Anna Salas. She is a horse tamer who has dedicated her entire life to this. For me Anna Salas is an eminence in natural dressage and in everything related to horses. Respect for the animal, how to tame without violence, the connection with the horse... I learned all this from her. It was when the crisis of 2008. Then there were many people who could not support their horses, and we set out to rescue those who were abandoned or abused.

Q: In an equestrian?

A: They donated us a farm in La Nou de Gaià and we set up an outdoor horse riding. We had the horses there loose, and we taught to ride without bite, with respect, to learn how to approach a horse and get hold of it little by little, until the horse trusts you and you trust him, to make the union of natural dressage, and many things.

Q: So you're an actor and a horse tamer.

A: Horse whisperer. And musician since life. I play guitar and mouth harp and give lessons, I write lyrics and music, and I sing. At the Mostra de Músics de Tarragona in 1990 he played with Los Enigmáticos. I also played with Blue Bus, Simago Boys, Absentha Brothers, Los Leonardos and Los Kiroga. Now I play with the Dalton Paints and Los Siderales.

Q: And you told me that one day the director Enrique Novials appeared for the equestrian.

A: Yes. I wanted to set up a western and I wanted to learn how to ride. It's a long process, and more complicated than it seems. I was dedicated for five years and I still have to learn a lot.

Q: What did you discover thanks to horses?

A: I discovered that I had advantages to ride, because as I had done a lot of theater, mime, pantomime and acrobatics, I dominated my body, I had a sense of balance, I had awareness of all the parts of my body and movement, and an agility and a preparation that gave me a lot. With the students, what I did was teach them to become aware of their body – "foot to ground", "I am a horse" – because you can feel very insecure when you do not know anything about the horse, nor its psychology, nor its behavior, nor its way of being, nor its thoughts, nor its emotions.

Q: And talking to Enrique...

A: I told him I wanted to be in the western. In the end, I starred in the teaser of The Crossing, which was sent to the Almería Western Film Festival. And we were able to see it on the big screen, at the Oasys Minihollywood, which has a Western room that is where very good films have been shot. Where with Enrique we are going to shoot in July, Sergio Leone filmed, with Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef...

Q: What is it about westerns that hook you so much? Could it be that they give room for a little crazy creativity, because the Wild West is outside civilization?

A: Yes, it's fun because there's a lot of freedom and you can do almost anything you want. It's like living in a time when everything is allowed.

Q: When you told Enrique that you wanted to go out in the western, he must have said yes right away, right? Because I have you in front of me and the truth is that it costs me nothing to see in you an outlaw.

A: The bag or life! Ha ha ha. Well, that's what everyone tells me. I don't get it.

 

Who Are Those Singers & Musicians ~ Tony Del Monaco

 

Antonio ‘Tony’ Del Monaco was born in Sulmon, Abruzzo, Italy on December 27, 1935. He started in show business as an actor, appearing in the 1961 musical comedy “L'adorabile Giulio”, starring Carlo Dapporto and Delia Scala. In 1965, he performed on the TV show ‘Campioni a Campione’ with the song "Vita Mia", which he'd composed, and which entered the Italian pop charts.

In 1959, he debuted at the Vibo Valentia song festival, ranking 3rd with the song "Al ciel manca un angelo". In 1967, he participated in the Sanremo Festival with "È più forte di me", paired with Betty Curtis, and released "Una spina e una rosa" the same year. Del Monaco competed in Sanremo again in 1968, paired with Dionne Warwick, with the song "La voce del silenzio "; in 1969, with "Un'ora fa" paired with Fausto Leali; and in 1970, with the Claudio Villa song "Serenata".

In the 1960s and 1970s, Del Monaco composed many songs that were covered by star singers of that era, such as "L'ultima occasione" by Mina and Tom Jones.

Tony died of cancer on May 27, 1993, in a clinic in Ancona, Marche, Italy. He was 58.

Del MONACO, Tony (Antonio Del Monaco) [12/27/1935, Sulmona, Abruzzo, Italy – 5/27/1993, Ancona, Marche, Italy] – actor, songwriter, singer.

A Fistful of Songs – 1964 [sings: “Il silenzio”]

Special Birthdays

 Jirí Holý (actor) would have been 100 today but died in 2009.








Jacqueline Alexandre (actress) is 80 today.







Kaspar Eichel (actor) is 80 today.



Saturday, November 26, 2022

The Tabernas Desert becomes a true 'European Film Treasure'

 


interalmeria

11/21/2022


 The Tabernas Desert becomes an authentic 'European Cinematographic Treasure'. The president of Diputación and the representative of the 'European Film Academy' inaugurate the monolith that accredits this denomination and places this immense outdoor set in the 'Treasure Map' of the filmmakers

It's official. November 19, 2022, will go down in the history of cinema in the province as the date on which the Tabernas Desert became an authentic 'European Film Treasure'. This prestigious, and select, denomination granted by the European Film Academy (EFA) has been made official with the inauguration of the monolith that accredits it and that places this immense outdoor set in the 'Treasure Map' of the filmmakers.

The president of Diputación, Javier A. García, and the representative of the EFA, Antonio Saura, have been in charge of discovering the monolith accompanied by the representatives of the film academies of the different autonomous communities, as well as the director of FICAL, the deputy of Culture and Cinema, the accidental mayor of Tabenas, councilors and those responsible for Oasys Mini Hollywood.

With the characteristic landscape of the only desert on the European continent as a backdrop, Javier A. García and Antonio Saura have been excited to witness a "transcendental" day for the history of European cinema.

The Almerienses should feel proud that the Tabernas Desert is the second European cinematographic treasure of Andalusia (The first is the Plaza de España in Seville). This means that the 6,800 scholars have recognized this environment as one of the most wonderful and prolific sites for filming and for the talent of the authors to be manifested." There are currently only 12 cinematic treasures in the world.



Spaghetti Western Locations “The Mercenary”

 We continue our search for filming locations for “The Mercenary”. After Kowalski’s trial the scene shifts to Paco’s wedding to Columba. Kowalski is scene bound and gagged while Paco and Columba consummate their marriage.

This scene was filmed in Nuevo Baztan, Madrid, 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 and Captain Douglas Film Locations http://www.western-locations-spain.com/

Special Birthdays

 Joco Turc (actor) would have been 110 today but died in 1991.









Don Medford (director) would have been 105 today but died in 2012.



Friday, November 25, 2022

Spaghetti Western Trivia – Sal Mineo’s unfinished Spaghetti western.

 

The Akron Beacon Journal

May 6, 1968

 

All right, you’ve been wondering and worrying about Sal Mineo. He was in town briefly last week on promotion business for Cinerama’s “East of Java,” then flew to London for arrangements o the first picture for his own recently formed independent company, “The Flower Children,” after which he will be off to Italy to star in a spaghetti-Western with the unlikely title “Gomorrah”.

Additional information from Mike Ferguson

Gladiole Films (for Anglo-EMI)... Avianca's Maurice Stanton to Israel re coproduction of "Magnificent Mexicans" and "The Wrong People" latter with Sal Mineo directing.

     Correcting an earlier report, I's Murray Smith, not Robin Estridge, who has scripted "Wrong and Fran Avianca and Jack Gross Jr. who wrote "Mexicans" Estreidge screenplayed Avianca's upcoming "God Protect Me From My Friends"... Producer Ewan Lloyd due in Hollywood.


 

 

Spaghetti Western Location – “Valdez is Coming”

 The Plain of Trujillo, Gador, Almeria was used for a seen in 1971’s “Valdez is Coming”

The same Rambla location as seen in 2022.




Remembering the Canary Islands’ Santiago Rivero

 


November 14, 1999

 

Perhaps that name says little, or perhaps nothing, to the youngest, nor to the credit titles of movies and television productions. However, the definitive absence of Santiago Rivero from the Canary Islands was noted because he was an excellent actor in theater, film and television.

Seventeen years have passed since his death, which occurred in Madrid on August 5, 1982, and memory alerts us to his good interpretative trace from his happy interventions as a notable fan in this his hometown: “Mariane-la, El Nido or El conflicto de Mercedes”, for example, with Conchita Ricolfi, Maria Luisa Marquez, Conchita Rodriguez, Manuel Romero...”'Cuadro Galdos”, under the direction of Sebastian Suarez Leon, also our teacher in “The Mayor of Zalamea”.

In the days when he, granted a scholarship by the Island Council, went to the Insular Conservatory of Dramatic Art, a beautiful tribute was paid to him at the Perez Galdos theater, and it did not take long for him to become the leading man-leader in the company of Fulgencio Nogueras and Carmen Ortega. The night that the group debuted with El Famoso Carballeira in our coliseum, when Santiago Rivero burst onto the scene, his friends started a round of applause that suddenly turned into a warm and extensive ovation. In Madrid, longing for the land, he came to tell us,

I can't remember that applause without getting angry. My countrymen...

Because Santiago was very Canarian. And he has not forgotten the lares of him. He liked to refer to them because they consoled him -he said- in the forced distance from him. He kept a lot of history of Spanish cinema and theater. His last film was “Seven Women”, with Nadiuska as the protagonist.

He would also be an indisputable value in dubbing movies, lending his ringing voice and remarkable diction to several of the "stars" in vogue. The list in which he took part is endless -more than two hundred-, several of them, such as “Raza and Los ultimos de Filipinas”, with the character of blockbusters and the leading role.

He appeared frequently on the small screen and in the 'Western' films shot in Almeria we used to see him appearing as a judge, head of rural areas, bank manager or father of the lady in love. We do not remember him incarnated as ignoble or harsh characters, because those characters did not suit his comedy actor fiber.

We have remembered a dead person who still seems to be alive.

 

RIVERO, Santiago (aka Santiago Ribero) (Santiago Rivero Marrero) [1917, Arucas Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain – 8/5/1982, Madrid, Madrid, Spain] – theater, film, TV, voice actor.

The Coyote – 1954 (Captain Pots)

Welcome Padre Murray - 1962

Heroes of the West – 1963 (Jonathan)

The Implacable Three – 1963 (Don Julio Benavente)

Shoot to Kill – 1963 (George Taylor)

The Sign of the Coyote – 1963 (Doctor Valdez)

Three Swords of Zorro – 1963 (governor)

Charge of the 7th – 1964

Massacre at Fort Grant – 1964 (prosecutor)

The Son of Jesse James - 1964 (O’Connor)

A Coffin for the Sheriff – 1965 (banker)

Legacy of the Incas – 1965 (Minister Ruiz)

A Place Called Glory – 1965 (Roy)

Rebels in Canada – 1965 (James Sullivan)

7 Hours of Gunfire – 1965 (Senator Russell)

Django Does Not Forgive – 1966 (Indian agent)

Dynamite Joe – 1966 (Senator Senneth/Stinson)

Rebels on the Loose – 1966 (Colonel Martin)

For a Few Bullets More – 1967 (Silver City Sheriff)

Rattler Kid – 1967 (prosecuting attorney)

Zorro the Conqueror – 1968 (cantina waiter)

Zorro the Dominator – 1969 (treasurer)

Another Dollar for the McGregors – 1970 (poker room host)

[Remarkable actor, participated in more than two hundred films.]


Special Birthdays

 Sergio Pastore (director, screenwriter) would have been 90 today but died in 1987.



Thursday, November 24, 2022

RIP Antonio de Cunha Telles

 


Portuguese producer, director, writer and actor Antonio de Cunha Telles died in Lisbon, Portugal on November 23, 2022. He was 87. Born on February 26, 1935, in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. He studied Medicine in the University of Lisbon. He went to Paris around 1956, studying filmmaking at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques (IDHEC), graduating in 1961. Back to Portugal, he ran a newspaper called Imagens de Portugal (Images of Portugal) and assumed leading functions at the Cinema Services of State Entities. His directing debut was made with the documentary “Os Transportes” (1962), and started activity as a producer, becoming one of the essential names of the Portuguese New Cinema (Novo Cinema) movement. He produces “Os Verdes Anos” (1963) by Paulo Rocha and “Belarmino” (1964) by Fernando Lopes. The most recent films directed by Cunha Telles are Vidas (1984), Pandora (1996) and, more recently, Kiss Me (2004), the first and only cinematic experience of the top model Marisa Cruz. Telles was executive producer on the 1994 TV Euro-western “El águila y el caballo” starring David Carradine.

Thanksgiving 2022

 


Voices of the Spaghetti Westerns ~ “Gunfight at High Noon”

 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 these actors are as well-known as the actors they voiced.








Today we’ll cover “Gunfight at High Noon”

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


Jeff Walker – Richard Harrison (I) Giuseppe Rinaldi, S) Ángel María Baltanás, (G) Klaus Kindler

Pedro Ramirez – Fernando Sancho (I) Giorgio Capecchi, (S) Vicente Bañó, (G) Werner Lieven

Louise Walker – Gloria Milland (I) Rosetta Calavetta, (S) Celia Honrubia, (G) ?

Chet Walker – Robert Hundar (I) Nando Gazzolo, (S) Simón Ramírez, (G) Gert Günther Hoffmann

Brad Walker – Miguel Palenzuela (I) Sergio Graziani, (S) José Guardiola, (G) Manfred Andrae

Susannah Westfall – Gloria Osuna (I) Fiorella Betti, (S) Josefina de Luna, (G) ?









CAPECCHI, Giorgio  (1901 – 1968)

Giorgio Capecchi was born in Livorno, Italy on August 7, 1901. He was an Italian theater, film, voice actor and dubber. He was the son of the photographer Eugenio Capecchi and older brother of the baritone singer Renato Capecchi, he began his artistic career at a very young age with the theater company of Lyda Borelli, debuting in the role of Armando in “La signora delle camellie” by Dumas. During a break in the theatrical activity of touring, he stopped for a year in his city because of the death of his father and founded the "Filo drammatica Labronica", which he directed for some years with considerable success in the splendid setting of the Teatro San Marco, proposing works such as “The Merchant of Venice”, “Murder in the Cathedral” and “Resurrection”.

In the autumn of 1934, called on by Giovacchino Forzano, he landed at the cinema, shooting inside the Tirrenia establishments the film “Maestro Landi”, with Odoardo Spadaro, released in theaters at the beginning of 1935, and in “Campo di Maggioand Thirteen Men and a Cannon. He was married to Elba Gragnani and  at the end of 1937 they moved to Rome, where he continued his film activity, collaborating, among others, with Mario Bonnardin Jeanne Doré in “Il ponte dei sospiri”. He was relegated to only character roles, despite the remarkable temperament that could have allowed him even more important parts.

Endowed with a warm and well-set voice, after acting on the radio with “Il signore delle ore 13”, Capecchi was invited by Mario Almirante, dubbing director at Scalera, in the synchronization rooms, and so he began to dub Tom Tyler in “Red Shadows”, Samuel S. Hinds in “The Eternal Illusion” and Melville Cooper in “Rebecca - The First Wife”. Later he lent his voice with deep tones to such great international actors, as Louis Calhern, Eduardo Ciannelli, Karl Malden and George O'Brien, and early actors, such as Charles Laughton, Jack Palance, Broderick Crawford, Edward G. Robinson, Orson Welles and Spencer Tracy. A founding member of CDC, he became one of the industry's strengths, returning only sporadically in front of the camera. Between 1952 and 1954 he filmed, with Raffaello Matarazzo, “Chi è senza peccato..., Torna!”, “Vortex”, “La nave delle donne male dette” and “La schiava del peccato”.

A recurring voice in science fiction films, he was also often used to voice cartoon characters, such as King Hubert in “Sleeping Beauty” and Sir Hector in “The Sword in the Stone”. His last performance at the cinema was in the film “La notte pazza del conigliaccio,” directed in 1967 by his nephew, Alfredo Angeli, which Capecchi brought from Livorno, after obtaining a degreei n law, to make him pursue a career as a screenwriter and director.

Giorgio Capecchi died in Rome on December 2, 1968, at the age of 67.


Special Birthdays

 Raoul Paoli (actor) would have been 135 today but died in 1960.








Anna Maria Polani (actress) would have been 75 today.







José De Negri (actor) – is 75 today.



Wednesday, November 23, 2022

New French Clint Eastwood documentary

 

Clint Eastwood, la dernière légende – French title

Clint Eastwood - Der Letzte seiner Art – German title

Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend – English title

 

A 2022 French television documentary production [Agat Films & Cie, ARTE France,

     Ciné+ (Paris)]

Producers:  Emelie de Jong, Muriel Meynard

Director: Clélia Cohen

Story: Clélia Cohen

Photography: [black & white, color]

Music: Matteo Locasciulli, Andrea Moscianese

Running time: 78 minutes

 

Cast:

Narrators: Sarah-Jane Sauvegrain, Nina Kunzendorf

Clint Eastwood, Michael Cimino, Morgan Freeman, Rock Hudson, Maggie Eastwood (Maggie Johnson), Pauline Kael, Sergio Leone, James Lipton, Sondra Locke, Lee Marvin, Bill McKinney, Vincente Minnelli, Jack Nicholson, Burt Reynolds, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Scorsese, Gene Shalit, Don Siegel, Meryl Streep, Barbara Streisand, Diane Venora, John Wayne, Orson Welles, Forest Whitaker, Ruth Wood.

A portrait of the last cowboy Hollywood legend dives into the 65 years of an extraordinary career in Hollywood, highlighted iconic films like “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, as well as “Million Dollar Baby”, “Mystic River” and “Gran Torino” all the way to “Cry Macho” in 2021. It is no small task to cover more than 60 years of cinema history, especially when it is trying to survey with such breadth and diversity: TV star, international star, controversial icon, contested director, filmmaker with a capital F, Eastwood has been through it all, experienced it all, and it is first of all this romantic trajectory, this true American pastoral that the documentary wants to tell with all the passion it possibly can.

Who Are Those Guys? ~ Franco Cobianchi D’Este

 

Lanfranco Cobianchi D’Este was born in Orbignano, Pistoia, Italy October 3, 1930.He was an Italian character actor, mostly in small parts, who was active in Italian films from the mid-1950's until the end of the 1960's. He also has a number of credits as a screenwriter and one as an assistant director.

He was credited on occasion under variations of his name such as "Franco D'Este", Franco Cobianchi D'Este", "Lanfranco Cobianchi", so from that we can possibly surmise that his full name could be "Lanfranco Cobianchi D'Este". He was also credited in a number of films under the pseudonym "Peter White". In the later years of his career he played a surprisingly large number of Roman emperors in peplums and blue-eyed Mexicans in spaghetti westerns. His career mysteriously ends after 1969.

Why Lanfranco dropped out of the business is unknown but he died in Coccomaro DiCona, Italy on July 12, 2015, at the age of 84.

D’ESTE, Franco Cobianchi (aka F. Cobianchi, Franco D'Este Cobianchi, Franco d'Este Franco D'Este, Peter White) [10/3/1930, Orbignano, Pistoia, Italy – 7/12/2015, Coccomaro DI Cona, Italy] – assistant director, writer, film actor.

The Colt is My Law – 1965 (Henry O’Brien) [as Peter White]

The Brute and the Beast – 1966 (barman) [as Franco Cobianchi]

For a Few Dollars Less – 1966 (Toro)

Long Days of Revenge – 1966 (General Porfirio)

If You Want to Live... Shoot! – 1967 (General Alvarez/Alvera) [as Peter White] [also credited as screenwriter and assistant director]

No Graves on Boot Hill – 1968 (Paco) [as Peter White] [also credited as screenwriter]

Special Birthdays

 Franco Balducci (actor) would have been 100 today but died in 2001.









Susan Anspach (actress) would have been 80 today, but died in 2018.









Ernest Brancussi (dubber) would have been 75 today but died in 2021.

Salli Richardson (actress) is 55 today.