Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Franco Antonelli

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Franco Antonelli is/was an Italian costumer and wardrobe supervisor but was credited as an actor in “California” starring Guliano Gemma. His career began in 1962 with his participation as a costume designer on “Black Invaders” with Amedeo Nazzari and his last credit was as a wardrobe coordinator on 1987’s “The Last Emperor” with Peter O’Toole. Antonelli also worked on “Flash Gordon” in 1980, “Conan the Barbarian” 1982 and “Red Sonja” in 1985.

ANTONELLI, Franco (aka Antonelli) [1907, Campobasso, Italy - 1988, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – costumer, master of arms, stuntman, film actor, married to ? father of Roberto Antonelli, Mathilde Antonelli.

Cjamango - 1966 [master of arms]

Face to Face – 1967 [costumer]

Little Rita in the West – 1967 [costumer]

Viva Django -1968 [costumer]

A Long Ride from Hell – 1968 [costumer]

Halleluja to Vera Cruz – 1973 [wardrobe]

California – 1977

New Italian CD “L'uomo della valle maledetta”

 







“L'uomo della valle maledetta”

(Man of the Cursed Valley)

(1964)

 

Composer: Francesco De Masi)

Country: Italy

Label BEAT

#CDCR149

Tracks: 25

Listening time: 48:58

Extras: 12-page booklet

Available May 31, 2023

 

Beat Records is glad to present the expanded original motion picture soundtrack by Francesco de Masi for the Western movie “L'uomo della valle maledetta”, one of the very first Italian productions inspired of the super popular Hollywood cinematic genre.

Already available in the CDCR series with the code 47, a selection of this score made part of a trio of soundtracks together with the OSTs of “La sfida dei MacKenna” and “…e venne il tempo di uccidere”, a long time sold out.

Transferring the first generation tapes it has been possible to prepare a single CD featuring a lot of unreleased material which will excite all Francesco de Masi and Western symphonic soundtracks fans, it will be a precious complement for all of those who missed the old edition too.

The CD is proposed in a transparent jewel case with a 12 pages colored booklet, graphic layout by Daniele De Gemini, liner notes by Filippo de Masi and mastering by Enrico de Gemini.

Tracklist

1 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 1 1:34

2 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 2 1:58

3 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 3 1:37

4 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 4 2:12

5 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 5 * 2:29

6 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 6 * 2:44

7 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 7 * 2:32

8 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 8 * 1:45

9 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 9 2:23

10 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 10 1:59

11 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 11 * 0:48

12 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 12 * 2:35

13 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq. 13 * 1:09

14 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.14 2:28

15 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.15 2:00

16 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.16 2:07

17 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.17 1:31

18 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.18 3:20

19 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.19 0:48

20 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.20 2:12

21 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.21 1:49

22 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.22 1:14

23 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.23 # 1:36

24 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.24 # 1:09

25 L'uomo della valle maledetta – Seq.25 # 1:35

Who Are Those Guys ~ Xan das Bolas

 

Tomás Ares Pena was born in La Coruña, Galicia Spain on October 30, 1908. He was the son of Tomás Ares Alonso [1883-1962], by profession an industrialist, and Ángela Pena Valiño [1888-1938]. He began his acting career in the theater in the 1930s as a comedian and variety actor. After the Spanish Civil War, he began his film career beginning with with “Salomé” (1940).

In the following years he became one of the secondary actors with the longest career in the history of Spanish cinema. His filmography exceeds two hundred and forty titles, and he worked under the direction of some of the most distinguished national filmmakers such as Florián Rey, Luis Lucía, José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, Juan de Orduña, Luis García Berlanga or Juan Antonio Bardem.

On television he worked on the series ‘Crónicas de un pueblo’ and co-starred with Fernando Fernán Gómez in ‘El pícaro’ (1974).

Bolas appeared in 30 European westerns beginning with a role as a beggar in 1954’s “The Coyote” and ending 20 years later as Sam in “Spaghetti Western”.

Xan das Bolas was married to artist Lina Chiverto [1905-19??] (193?-1977)and was the father of  three children. He died on October 13, 1977, in the Clinical Hospital of Madrid.

das BOLAS, Xan (aka Fernando Tomás Ares, Tomas Ares, Tomás Ares, Xan D'as Bolas, Xan Das Bolas, Xan dax Bolas, Xandas Bolas, Xan-Das-Bolas, Xan de Bolas) (Tomás Ares Pena) [10/30/1908, La Coruña, Galicia, Spain – 10/13/1977, Madrid, Madrid, Spain] – theater, film, TV actor, married to artist Lina Chiverto [1905-19??] (193?-1977) father of  three children.

The Coyote – 1954 (beggar)

Three Were Three - 1954

Savage Guns – 1961 (Pedro)

Shadow of Zorro – 1962 (John)

The Sign of Zorro – 1962 (Mexican)

The Terrible Sheriff – 1962 (wagonloader)

Welcome Padre Murray – 1962 (Lopez)

Torrejón City – 1962 (Hawkeye)

Zorro the Avenger – 1962 (soldiers)

Gunfight at Red Sands – 1963 (barber)

Gunfighters of Casa Grande – 1963 (Vasco)

Heroes of the West – 1963 (doctor)

The Implacable Three – 1963 (postmaster)

Relevo para un pistolero – 1963 (hotel desk clerk)

Shoot to Kill – 1963 (Pedro)

Cavalry Charge – 1964 (settler)

Gunmen of the Rio Grande – 1964 (Mexican peon)

In a Colt’s Shadow – 1965 (doctor)

7 Guns for the Mac Gregors – 1965 (barman)

Clint the Stranger – 1967 (Simpson)

Two Crosses at Danger Pass – 1967 (bartender)

Villa Rides! – 1967 (telegrapher)

Between God, the Devil and a Winchester – 1968 (Hoagie)

One by One – 1968 (Ben)

Death on High Mountain – 1969 (saloon waiter)

Garringo – 1969 (Potter)

A Talent for Loving – 1969 (Molina soldier)

Cut-Throats Nine – 1970 (Buddy)

Sabata the Killer – 1970 (telegrapher)

Spaghetti Western – 1974 (Sam)

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Filippo Antonelli

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Italian actor Filippo Antonelli is credited with only five films from 1964 to 1975. They are all Spaghetti westerns. He played henchmen in four of the films and was credited with the character name of Henry in his last film “The Tiger from the River Kawi” with Gordon Mitchell and George Eastman. I can find no other information on him.

ANTONELLI, Filippo [Italian] – film actor.

Minnesota Clay – 1964 (Fox henchman)

The Stranger Returns – 1967 (En Plein henchman)

No Graves on Boot Hill – 1968 (Fletcher henchman)

The 4 Gunmen of the Holy Trinity – 1970 (henchman)

The Tiger from the River Kwai – 1975 (Henry)

New Japanese Blu-ray, DVD “いとこのためのジャンゴ”

 









いとこのためのジャンゴ

(Django Shoots First)

(1966)

 

Director: Alberto De Martino

Starring: Glenn Saxson, Fernando Sancho, Evelyn Stewart, Nando Gazzolo

 

Country: Japan

Label: Eizō bunka-sha / ORUSTAK SOFT

Bulu-ray / DVD combo and DVD

Region A

Aspect ratio: 16:0 (4k remastered)

Languages: DTS-HDMA 2.0 Italian

Subtitles: Japanese

Running time: 96 minutes

Release date: May 30, 2023

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Alex Antonelli

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Italian actor Alex Antonelli is credited as appearing in 1967’s “Lola Colt” (Black Tigress) starring Lola Falana and Peter Martell. He’s not credited with a named character and he’s not appeared in any other films that I can find.

ANTONELLI, Alex [1922, Italy - 1973, Italy] – film actor, brother of Mario Antonelli.[1928-    ]..

Black Tigress – 1967

New Spanish CDs “Extraña forma de vida”, “Hannie Caulder”, “Requiem per un Gringo”

 








“Extraña forma de vida”

(Strange Way of Life)

(2023)

 

Composer: Alberto Iglesias

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal

 

Country: Spain

Label: Quartet Records

#QR524

Tracks: 6

Limited edition 500 copies

Total listening time: 1827

Extras: ?

Available: May 26, 2023

 

Track list:

Arrebato (2:02)

El despertar (1:22)

Las segundas intenciones (4:40)

En una bodega mejicana (0:47)

El hijo asesino (4:53)

Los caballos retozan al anochecer (4:37)

 

Alberto Iglesias has composed a memorable, nostalgic and crepuscular symphonic score for orchestra and male choir—music that shows the fatalistic nature of the story and its impossible love.

Although it’s a short piece—barely 20 minutes long—this score is of such quality and importance that we believe it should be digitally released, in a strictly limited CD edition of 500 units.









Hannie Caulder

1971

 

Composer: Ken Thorne

Director: Burt Kennedy

Starring: Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, Strother Martin

 

Country: Spain

Label: Quartet Records

#QR515

Tracks: 29

Limited edition 1000 copies

Total listening time: 40:44

Extras: ?

Available: May 26, 2023

 

Track list:

1. Main Title / Bank Raid (3:42)

2. Chase From Bank (1:31)

3. Caulder Killed / Rape Of Hannie (1:46)

4. Hannie Leaves (2:34)

5. Hannie Takes Gun (1:22)

6. Thomas Rejects Hannie (1:37)

7. Mexican Chase (0:38)

8. Riding To Town (1:18)

9. Hannie Takes Bath (0:51)

10. Riding To Mexico (2:41)

11. Thomas And Bailey Talk (1:32)

12. Gun Montage (1:50)

13. Preacher Visits (1:32)

14. Beach Scene (2:24)

15. Mexican Raid (2:20)

16. Hannie Shoots Bandit (1:01)

17. Quitting Ranch (1:51)

18. Brothers Into Town (1:10)

19. Shotting Thomas (1:16)

20. Death Of Thomas (2:06)

21. Killing Of Frank / Killing Of Rufus / Old Prison / Killing Of Emmett (2:17)

22. Finale (1:16)

23. Life’s Never Peaceful (2:07)

Bonus Tracks

24. Saloon Band (2:17)

25. Rape Of Hannie (Alternate) (1:17)

26. Finale And End Title (Orchestral Version) (2:07)

27. Hannie Takes Bath (Alternate) (0:50)

28. Mexican Raid (Alternate) (2:21)

29. Finale And End Title (Film Version) (2:10)

 

An intended LP mock-up was previously released on an unauthorized promotional mono CD. This premiere CD includes the complete score—almost entirely in expansive stereo—restored and mastered by Chris Malone from pristine master tapes vaulted at Paramount. The lavishly illustrated 12-page liner notes by Gergely Hubai discuss the film and the score with a cue-by-cue breakdown, explaining every step of the rebuilding process.









Requiem per un Gringo

(1968)

 

Composer: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Directors: Eugenio Martin, José Luis Merino

Starring: Lang Jeffries, Fernando Sancho, Femi Benussi

 

Country: Spain

Label: Quartet Records

#QR521

Tracks: 32

Limited edition 300 copies

Total listening time: 61:29

Extras: ?

Available: May 26, 2023

 

Track list:

The Original Album

1. Sandstorm (2:18)

2. Twilight (2:15)

3. The moon and you (1:51)

4. Trouble in Store (0:59)

5. Fear and Pleasure (1:47)

6. Feather weight heart (1:40)

7. Pistols Galore (1:55)

8. Don’t look now (1:31)

9. Moody mountain (1:01)

10. Take that (1:38)

11. Far from now (0:38)

12. Single handed (1:01)

13. The Price of a Gun (1:00)

14. Heartbeat (1:47)

15. Cloudy Prairy (1:39)

16. Follow me (1:46)

17. Thoughtless Greenery (1:38)

18. Misty tree (2:56)

Bonus tracks

19. Requiem per un gringo (Nocturne) (2:57)

20. Requiem per un gringo (Waiting) (1:49)

21. follow me (Film version) (1:01)

22. Requiem per un gringo (Cavalcade) (1:48)

23. Requiem per un gringo (Cavalcade #2) (1:06)

24. Requiem per un gringo (Ambush) (1:32)

25. Requiem per un gringo (Fear in the night) (2:36)

26. Requiem per un gringo (Guitar cantina) (3:01)

27. Requiem per un gringo (Western story) (1:33)

28. Requiem per un gringo (Bandidos) (1:55)

29. Requiem per un gringo (Nostalgic moment) (1:58)

30. Requiem per un gringo (Before the attack) (2:13)

31. Requiem per un gringo (Gringo) (2:29)

32. Requiem per un gringo (Suite in stereo) (4:11)

 

A selection of 18 tracks was issued on LP by Cinevox when the film came out, and the same program (plus an 11-minute suite with unreleased cues and takes) was reissued in a Lavagnino western compilation on Saimel in 2006. This new CD, produced by Claudio Fuiano and mastered by Chris Malone from first-generation master tapes courtesy of Cinevox, features the original program augmented with previously unreleased cues and a bonus suite of surviving stereo cues. The lavishly illustrated 12-page liner notes by Gergely Hubai discuss the film and the score.


European Western Comic Books - Albo d'Oro Western American Magazine

 






Albo d'Oro Western American Magazine

This comic book series consisted of only two albums with "The Devil of the Prairie" (BIG BILL) by Raffaele Paparella and "I dominatori dell'abisso" by Antonio Canale. The stories had previously appeared in the weekly Cow Boy. They were presented under various names: American Magazine, Far West, Western Magazine, Albi Western and Albo d'Oro Western.

The series was published in 1946 by Far West Edition and the two issues were released in November 1946 and January 1947. They contained 16 black and white pages with color covers.  

 

Titles

1 (00.11.46) - "Il diavolo della prateria" (The Prairie Devil)

2 (00.01.47) - "I dominatori dell'abisso" (The Rulers of the Abyss)

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Jack Anton

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Jacques Anton was born in Paris, France on October 28, 1941. Anton would appear in 10 films as an actor from 1971-1986 and as a stuntman and coordinator from 1967-1990 in both films and television. His only Euro-western appearance was in 1971’s “In the Dust of the Sun” where he was credited as Jack Anton. He played the role of Flynt and also acted as stunt coordinator.

ANTON, Jack (aka Jacques Hantonne) (Jacques Anton) [10/28/1941, Paris, Île-de-France, France -     ] – stunt coordinator, stuntman, film, TV actor.

In the Dust of the Sun – 1971 (Flynt) [stunt coordinator]

Esplugus remembers its golden years as a set of 'Spaghetti Westerns' [archived newspaper article]

 The Balcázar Film Studios hosted fifty shootings of western films in the 1960s, until a Francoist minister ordered their demolition

La Vanguardia

By Mari Carmen Gallego

1/20/2014

    [Image of the filming of 'Pistoleros de Arizona' in the Esplugas City]

Almeria was not the only home of the Spanish Spaghetti Western. In Catalonia it also had its small set, located in the middle of the first metropolitan crown, although there is almost no trace of it. Neither in physical space nor in collective cultural memory. “Gunmen of Arizona”, “A Pistol for Ringo” and “Now They Call Him Sacramento” are some of the western films that were shot during the 1960s in the town known as Esplugas City, a large set built by the Balcázar Film Studios in Esplugus de Llobregat. The company, one of the most important of the time, already had some filming studios in the same city, playing Cornellà, and looked for a plot in which to record the exteriors.

"The western was a genuinely American genre, but those responsible for Balcázar had a vision and detected that the genre would grow in Europe," recalls Juan Salvador, a resident of Esplugus who knew the town firsthand and author of the book Más allá de Esplugas City. Those responsible for Balcázar Film Productions, the brothers Alfonso, Francisco and Jaime Jesús, detected the importance of having a stage to shoot films known as Spaghetti Westerns, set in the Far West but shot in Europe, since it would lower recording costs.

Time proved them right and in fact after Esplugas City the three villages of the West were built in the desert of Tabernas de Almeria: Fraile (1965), Juan García (1966), and in Gérgal the town of Tecisa (1966).

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the town’s construction. “We want to remember it from a playful point of view,” explains the Councilor for Culture, Eduard Sanz, who recalls that the consistory has commissioned the Consell de Nens to propose activities to publicize this heritage of the city.

Studios and exteriors

The Balcázars had no relationship with Esplugus but the fire of the facilities they used on the mountain of Montjuïc in Barcelona and the impossibility of restoring them made them look for a new space in the Barcelona area. "The place chosen was Esplugus where they placed the studios, with more than 5,500 square meters of sets, and the sets in which the exteriors were recorded, with more than 10,000 square meters that were previously fields," recalls Juan. In the Esplugas City more than forty buildings were recreated, from the saloon to the sheriff's office through the warehouse, the barbershop, the blacksmith shop, the hotel, the bank or the church. Most of the buildings were complete although others had only built the façade and there was nothing inside.

Juan Salvador recalls that the town operated at full capacity between 1964 and 1967. "It was filmed throughout the day and even at night," he recalls, and points out that "the construction of the B-23 motorway meant the expropriation of the town and the construction of a much smaller one on the other side of the highway, where the school of La Mallola is currently located."

Although the village was in the center of the town, it was a closed space that could not be accessed by neighbors. "The relationship more than economic was anecdotal," explains the Councilor for Culture. "I entered once thanks to the mediation of the guard of the enclosure, a retired civil guard," explains Juan. The actors and workers also did not relate to the neighbors. The expert Juan Salvador recalls that "the company had a hotel in Barcelona where the actors stayed, who were transferred to the Esplugues studios to make them up and then to Esplugas City to shoot".

The operation of the installation did involve a certain relationship with some company in the city, such as the Fíguls pastry shop that made the candy with which the windows of the living room were built so that they could be broken without the actors suffering damage. "The students of the Isidre Martí school when they left class went to collect the remains of caramel crystals and ate them like lollipops," explains Juan, who remembers that some neighbors had also collaborated as extras in some of the productions. The neighbors of the area also lived with the noise of the shots coming from Esplugas City.

The artistic director of the town, Juan Alberto Soler, also had to look for resources to prevent the reality of the city from sneaking into the shootings. To do this, for example, he placed a tower with a large water tank to cover the antennas of the buildings or a chimney two meters high to make sense of the smoke coming out of the Pujol i Baussis ceramics factory, which had two chimneys that worked alternately.

From theme park to pasture of the flames

The move to the new location, at the end of the sixties, coincided with the decline of the genre, which revived with the saga “Now They Call Him Sacramento”. At the beginning of the seventies, the Balcázar brothers, seeing the decline of the genre, tried to convert the space into a theme park, which would have been the first in Spain. They got the permits but couldn't make it happen.

If a fire took away the studios of the Balcázar in Barcelona, another did it with those of Esplugus, although for different reasons. The Francoist Minister of Information and Tourism Alfredo Sánchez Bella discovered the town one day when he was driving into the city of Barcelona from El Prat airport. He considered that it "gave a bad image" to Barcelona and decreed its dismantling. Faced with the high cost of demolishing the village, those responsible for the company decided to record one last film, “Now They Call Him Sacramento”, which ends with a fire that destroys the entire town. "It was a spectacular fire that was recorded with three cameras, in case one failed, because it could not be repeated," recalls Juan, who believes that in this way there was a dignified exit to Esplugas City.

On the occasion of the half century of the launch of the town, the city council also proposes activities to publicize this past of the city. In this way, for example, the medieval market that is organized within the framework of the festival will be this year a western market and an exhibition with images of the time is also prepared.

[Image of the arson that destroyed the town in 'Now They Call Him Sacramento']


Who Are Those Singers & Musicians ~ Lynne Frederick

 

Lynne Maria Frederick was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, England on July 25, 1954. While she was very young, her father abandoned the family, and she was brought up by her mother and maternal grandmother. Lynne never knew or met her father and had no personal relationships or connections with his side of the family. Although her mother was employed as a casting director for Thames Television, they often lived a frugal lifestyle. In her work, her mother Iris gained a reputation for being a stern and imposing individual.

Frederick was discovered at the age of 15 by Hungarian American actor and film director Cornel Wilde, who was a friend and colleague of her mother. Wilde had been looking for a young, unknown actress to star in his film adaptation of the bestselling post-apocalyptic science fiction novel “The Death of Grass”. Wilde first saw her when she came to work with her mother to pose for some test shots and was immediately smitten by her beauty, charisma, and bubbly personality. Despite her having no previous experience in theatre, films, or commercials, Wilde offered her the role without an audition. When “No Blade of Grass” (1970) was released, the film received mixed reviews from critics. Notwithstanding the lukewarm reception of the film, Frederick became an overnight sensation, and her career quickly took off. Her next and more prestigious role came as Tsar Nicholas's second eldest daughter, Tatiana, in the 1971 Oscar-winning British biographical film, “Nicholas and Alexandra” (1971). In her next film, “Henry VIII and His Six Wives” (1972), she played another royal figure, the ill-fated fifth wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard. Her adaptation of Howard made Tudor cinema history as Frederick was the first actress to portray Howard from a historically accurate and sympathetic point of view.

Represented by the talent agency, Hazel Malone Management, Frederick became a teen idol among the British public in the early 1970s and was seen as the next Hayley Mills and Olivia Hussey. She was regularly featured in newspaper articles and fashion magazines as a model and cover girl.

Frederick co-starred with the Italian Casanovian actor Fabio Testi in two films back-to-back as his love interest. The first was the very graphic Italian spaghetti western “The Four of the Apocalypse” (1975) which was followed by “Red Coat” (1975). Because of her celebrity status she was given the opportunity to lend her voice to the main theme song “Day After Day” in “Redcoat”

In 1977 she married actor Peter Sellers and would make her final theatrical role alongside him in “The Prisoner of Zenda” (1979). The marriage lasted until Sellers’ death in 1980. Six months later she married producer, writer, actor David Frost but the marriage last only one year. In 1982 she married surgeon Barry S. Unger and they had a daughter Cassie born in 1983. The marriage lasted until 1991.

After he divorce from Unger, Frederick moved to Los Angeles, California, where she lived in a spacious house with her daughter, of whom she had joint custody, and they spent most of their days hanging out by the family pool or cooking meals together.

In the final years of her life, Lynne Frederick's health spiraled downward as she struggled with alcoholism and bouts of depression. Rumors of chronic drug addiction, clinical depression, failed rehab treatments, and suicide attempts were common news and tabloid reports of Frederick in her later years. The wear and tear of the struggles in life took an obvious toll on her appearance as her weight ballooned, her face became sunken and bloated, and her hair now cropped short and vitiated. Rumor has it that when the paparazzi stood outside her house attempting to get photos of Frederick, there were several occasions where she would walk past them unnoticed as the photographers did not recognize her drastically different appearance in contrast to that of the beautiful English rose that once stole the scenes of films in which she starred.

On the morning of April 27, 1994, Frederick's lifeless body was discovered by her mother, Iris, in her home. Although the exact cause of Frederick's death has never been disclosed to the public, the common belief is that she died of alcoholism. She was 39 years old.

FREDERICK, Lynne (Lynne Maria Frederick) [7/25/1954, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, U.K. – 4/27/1994,  Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (alcoholism)] –model, producer, film, TV actress, singer, married to producer, director, writer, film editor, actor, singer Peter Sellers (Richard Henry Sellers) [1925-1980] (1977-1980), stepmother of actor Michael Sellers (Michael Peter Anthony Sellers) [1954–2006], actress Sarah Sellers (Sarah Jane Sellers) [1957-    ], actress Victoria Sellers [1965-    ], Sarah Sellers. married to producer, writer, actor David Frost (David Paradine Frost) [1939-2013] (1981-1982), married to surgeon Barry S. Unger [1944-    ] (1982-1991) mother of Cassie Cecilia Unger [1983-    ].

Red Coat – 1974 [sings: “Day After Day”]

Saturday, May 27, 2023

RIP George Maharis

 


George Maharis, who starred as the brooding Buz Murdock on Route 66 before he quit the acclaimed 1960s CBS drama after contracting hepatitis, has died. He was 94. Born George Maharias on September 1, 1928, in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York, one of seven children to Greek immigrants. He attended Flushing High School and spent 18 months with the U.S. Marines. He aspired to become a singer but became interested in acting and studied with Sanford Meisner and Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio, then did a parody of fellow Method actor Marlon Brando on the NBC comedy Mister Peepers in 1955. Maharis died May 24th at his home in Beverly Hills. George appeared in only two westerns both Spaghetti westerns in 1969: “The Desperados!” as Jacob Galt and “Land Raiders” as Pablo Cardenas.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Guillermo Anton

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Guillermo Anton is a Spanish producer, actor and singer. He’s appeared in 29 films since 1979. He’s sometimes credited as William Anthony. Among those29 films were two Spaghetti westerns “Chicano” 1980 as Chicano/Jonathan) [as William Anthony], “Al este del Oeste”1983. In 2004 he married singer Helena Bianco whose real name is Elena Vázquez Minguela born in 1948. Anton is a member of the singing trio ‘Los Mismos’.

ANTON, Guillermo (aka William Anthon, William Anthony, Guillemo Anton, Guillermo Anton, William Anton) (Guillermo Antón) [Spanish] – producer, actor, singer, married to singer Helena Bianco (Elena Vázquez Minguela) [1948-    ] (2004-    ), member of the singing group ‘Los Mismos’.

Chicano - 1980 (Chicano/Jonathan) [as William Anthony]

Al este del Oeste – 1983

 

Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, two giants on whom cinema still rides

 El Debate

By César Wonenburger

May 16, 2023

[Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, in an interview on Italian television in the 60s] 

A new documentary recovers the figure of the director who for Spielberg made films "like nobody else", together with the influence of the composer without whose music would not be understood For a Fistful of Dollars or Once Upon a Time in America.

When Clint Eastwood agreed to dedicate the vacation left by his job on television in his country to shoot, between Rome and Almeria, Death had a price, second installment of the so-called Dollar Trilogy, in exchange for fifty thousand dollars, only had one request. He wanted his laconic character, with those dry and ironic drops of humor, a kind of James Bond of the Far West, to give up tobacco. But Sergio Leone, the director who had first recruited him for his previous film, For a Fistful of Dollars, while the actor was just an unknown who made a living working on a modest series, was adamant. That cylinder of nicotine eternally perched between his lips had come to acquire a prominence of its own, essential. So he stayed. For something in Italy, Eastwood, one of the most popular personalities among the clients of the glamorous terraces of the Via Veneto of the 60s, was known as "Il Cigarrillo".

[Clint Eastwood with his famous cigarillo between his lips in the movie ‘For a Fistful of Dollars’]

Leone always had very clear ideas, despite his nervous tics typical of the insecurities of genius. He knew perfectly well that in Art commitments, however small, often lead to enormous disappointments. After having reached maximum glory with his personal and risky turn of the screw to the western, allowing himself to reject juicy commissions such as The Godfather in the meantime, it took him almost three decades to set up his definitive work, Once upon a time in America. And once he finally managed to capture it true to his vision, shooting almost for twelve intense months of repeated shots until exhaustion to fix his daydreams as the imagination, and the experience of a lifetime, had dictated it, the bosses of the Hollywood studio decided to massacre it to make it “more accessible”.

They cut his assembly in more than an hour until it was unrecognizable to him, who never wanted to get personally involved with that pickle. He never recovered from the blow. He would not shoot again, not even that Leningrad for which Gorbachev had promised to give him all the troops of the Soviet army, including tanks, and whose opening scene began with Shostakovich’s hands on the keyboard of a piano composing the symphony that would serve as the soundtrack of hope against the Nazi siege of the city. In one of the most epic and bloody episodes of World War II. Leone would live even a little longer, he said goodbye in 1989, but who knows if that upset precipitated his early end with 60 years.

Leone, true to his principles

His widow later confessed sometime later that the producers had never been too conducive to them. Loyal to his principles, that Neapolitan Grimaldi – famous surname of a lineage of pirates who settled among the rocks of Monaco, until today – had tried to fleece him several times on the occasion of the filming of his "spaghetti-westerns". Be that as it may, Leone achieved his purpose, the one that gives meaning and fullness to a life: against all odds he succeeded in making several of his childhood dreams come true, prolonging those of his father, Vincenzo, an actor and director retired before his time.

He conceived a handful of films like those that had fed his main happy hours in those years spent in Roman Trastevere, but enriched with his personal touch, fruit of that style that began to be forged through the viewing of the great titles of Walsh, Hawks or Ford, to which surely we should add a very solid knowledge of the expressive ways of silent cinema. of masters such as Griffith or Murnau, and even of his own father, who signed his contributions as Roberto Roberti.

The cinema is a choral, collective endeavor, but in the end the one who signs is god, as the figure of the director is known in the shootings. Some of the collaborators who worked with him, especially a couple of screenwriters, were never very happy with the fact that the glory fell almost entirely on his oronda figure, attributing a kind of narcissism and egomania consubstantial to every creator, however minor he may be, much more when it comes to someone who has managed to taste the honeys of that multitudinous success, with clear influence on the current account, which in the case of Leone was also reflected in several succulent episodes.

           [The film 'Once Upon a Time in America', by Sergio Leone]

Like the time in which in a Florentine cinema they had to warn the police because a large group of exalted spectators tried to enter the room, already occupied to the very brim, because they refused to stop attending one of their best known films, in which both doubting and melancholy heroes and unscrupulous ruffians exhibited a mutant morality that brought them closer to their audience in a way rarely shown.

The modernity of the director born in 1929, so suggestive, consisted in not establishing simple distinctions between the just and sinners: both could constitute the reverse of the same worn coin according to the circumstances. As in life itself, in that dusty and sweaty universe of urgent passions gray predominated. But served not with the crudeness of a neorealism that aspired to capture and serve a crude picture of existence without attachments, with the right means. The sense of spectacle was non-negotiable, the basis of its communion with the public for a filmmaker raised in the Eternal City, where in each new walk the greatest pleasures destined to one of the essential senses for artistic delight, sight, are offered without reservation.

The arrival of Morricone

Hegel restricted the sensibility of art to "the theoretical senses", sight, of course, but also hearing. Both would shake hands in an almost unexpected way when Leone began working with one of his former classmates, who had lost track, the composer Ennio Morricone. "Leone had the eyes and Morricone the sound," summarizes Steven Spielberg in the documentary Sergio Leone: the Italian who invented America, presented last summer at the Venice Film Festival and incorporated into the SkyShowtime platform offer these days. The most outstanding pupil of the Italian director, Quentin Tarantino, insists on the same idea: "Morricone is the co-author of Leone's films, to the point that you cannot imagine them without his soundtrack."

In this joint work both restored to the cinema values that were believed to have already been overcome through a literary conception that held it tightly to the novel, such as in most current series. As in those films of the silent era to which his father had contributed so much, from Italy, the author of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly restored to the pure image, in absolute connivance with the sound (Morricone, connoisseur of musique concrète, former student of Cage, gave it an essential value), a mode of expression clearly superior to the mere illustration of a text. Beyond serving as a complement that elevates emotion, the music of his films informs, dialogues, suggests and discovers.

[Poster of the documentary 'Sergio Leone: the Italian who invented America', by Steven Spielberg]

The conception of work that Morricone had begun to develop in other film works, but also in the skillful transformation of the popular music of his time, arranging melodies sweetened with subtle dressings of ironic distancing directly related to the resources proposed by the musical avant-garde, acquired its full meaning in the collaborations he developed together with Leone. That surprising onomatopoeic parade, the bold mixture, not without wisdom, of the howl of a coyote with the ringing of a bell, a guitar riff and the impossible vocalizations of a soprano, the penetrating sound of the harmonica or a whistle to the fullness of a symphonic ensemble at the service of a melodic discovery constituted no longer a simple accompaniment, A filler with which to put the emphasis on this or that emotion.

All this fascinating hybrid and synthetic fabric managed to overlap in the development of the story and the characters, sometimes promoting unexpected meanings, associations, nuances. As in Wagner's operas, beneath the mask, music could serve to reveal the real thought, the hidden intentions of the protagonist or any of the secondary, beyond the surface of the actions. In this way, what Morricone himself defined as "the abstract interpretation of words", their opaque meaning, was verified.

Such was the importance that Sergio Leone attached to the work of his old friend that in his last collaborations he established a method that Herbert von Karajan would adapt, in some way, for several of his operatic productions in Salzburg. Karajan first recorded the music with the same performers who months later would bring it to the stage. In this way, at the time of rehearsals, the sound previously recorded with their own vocal cords was heard through speakers, allowing the artists to concentrate during that moment only on the acting movements, at least until the last tests.

For the filming of that immense ode to the Seventh Art that is Until its time came, Leone led the composer to previously record the entire soundtrack, so that it was always heard on the set, during each scene. Beyond Karajan's perfectionism, which also sought the greatest concentration of efforts, Leone intended to convey to his interpreters the overall dramatic sense of his intentions, to capture the full atmosphere, something that for him was only possible if they managed to impregnate themselves with the music. A unique method that gave Morricone's work its absolute letter of nature.

                ['Once Upon a Time in the West', by Sergio Leone]

That co-authorship claimed by Tarantino was undeniable despite the modesty of the musician, who did not consider himself at the height of a screenwriter, at best, a privileged interpreter of the author's true intentions, of the psychology of the characters. The now deceased composer told a wonderful anecdote, revealing his discreet personality, of Until his time came. During filming, Leone decided to dispense with the music that the composer had created, and recorded, for the opening scene, one of the most iconic in the history of cinema. Far from being enraged, Morricone agreed with him without reservation. Those characteristic sounds, such as the noise of the mill, constituted in their eloquent nakedness the best possible symphony to communicate the anguish of waiting, "an unparalleled music"

Leone and Morricone stayed together until the end, rendering a last joint service to the cinema in that Once Upon a Time America that, according to Robert De Niro, the director almost refused to conclude as if he wanted to stay to live eternally hung in the evocation of some of the memories of his childhood, the time of innocence and discovery, in that first-time kiss that actress Jennifer Connelly, a debutante of just 11 years, had to play in one of her most captivating scenes. La Connelly, who would have loved to be able to treat him as an adult, has never forgotten the experience or the affection with which the director knew how to wrap her in such a delicate moment for her. He still gets excited to evoke it.

According to Spielberg, this testamentary work, crepuscular like the Velazquez tones of the sunsets of those westerns that he wanted to evoke from the distance of his European tradition, impregnating them with thin layers of humor that would file their roughest and most complex contours, but always faithful to a way of fabular that privileges above all the dazzle, The astonishment that fights boredom, is "his best conceived film". A statement that acquires greater emphaticness, meaning and thickness because for the author of Jaws "nobody made films like him, before or after. He found a way to tell stories that no one even came close to."

 


We continue our search for locations for “Bad Man’s River”

 When they reach the ghost town the gang goes in search of the thief but they are in for a surprise as Canales and his men are already there and with the wind and dust blowing they pursue King and his men. Bomba goes in a saloon and is followed by two of Canales’ men. From behind the bar he places a bottle of whiskey and two glasses on top which draws the two men over and they look behind the bar but Bomba has managed to crawl through the shattered bar and shoots one of his pursuers and places his derby on the others head marches him to the door where he’s promptly shot and killed by two other Canales’ henchmen. When the two men enter the bar to examine the body King shoots and kills them. Now Pace is pursued but he disposes of the man. In a comical shootout most of Canales men are eliminated. During the shooting the false Montero is shot and killed by one of Canales’ men. It’s discovered he does not have the million dollars on him.

Holing up in a shack with a wounded Angel the King gang are surrounded by Canales and his gang. Canales brings a Gatling gun into play and levels the shack. The King and the gang managed to move under the floorboards and when Canales’ gang moves into recover the bodies they are shot down. Canales surrenders. Canales’ proposes they join forces, and he wants King to turn over Alicia and he will find out where the money is.

This scene was filmed in Colemenar Viejo, Spain. The same town seen in Clint and Tuco’s shootout with Angel Eyes’ gang in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.


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/


Friday, May 26, 2023

Spaghetti Western Trivia – Death? on “Death at Owell Rock”


 During the filming of “Death at Owell Rock” starring Mark Damon and Stephen Forsyth, Second unit director Yves Boisset stated that a stuntman died during the shooting of the sequence of the wagon explosion. The stunt failed the day before and the director Riccardo Freda insulted the stunt man who did it again the next day, when he died. But after his death Freda sent a big sum of money to the stunt man's family.

Actor Stephen Forsyth had denied any death occurring while filming. Italian film historian Roberto Curti stated that no other sources outside Boisset reported the death.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Amerigo Anton

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Amerigo Anton was born Camillo Tanio Boccia on April 4, 1912. He was an Italian film director and screenwriter active between the 1950s and the early 1970s. From 1960 onwards, he was regularly credited as Amerigo Anton. Born in Potenza, Basilicata, he started as a dancer and choreographer in Rome in the 1930s, later moving on to act in regional, dialectal stage plays. He had a small role in “Variety Lights” (1951) by Alberto Lattuada and Federico Fellini, his first performance as a film actor. Known for his work as a film director, he directed 20 low-budget films in his career. He is best known for his work in the adventure film genre, particularly peplum, in the early 1960s with films such as “Caesar the Conqueror” (1962), “Samson Against the Pirates” (1963) and “Hercules of the Desert” (1964). In 1965 he directed the spy adventure “Agente X 1-7 operación Océano”.

His films, generally rated as B or Z movies, always met negative reception and Boccia was often mocked in the Cinecittà environment, earning the nickname of the "Italian Ed Wood" after his death. However, he has been re-evaluated in recent years, since his works, albeit rather poor, are considered "not at all the kind of cinematic disasters", and he’s appreciated for his creativity in order to solve complicated situations, due to the low budget he had to work with. He was also labeled as the "Italian Roger Corman" for his ability to make a movie in a short time with low financial resources.

His only Spaghetti western was in a cameo role in 1966’s “Kill or Be Killed” starring Rod Dana.

Boccia died on August 1, 1982, in Rome, Italy. He was 69 years old.

ANTON, Amerigo (aka Amerifo Anton, Amerigo Antón) (Camillo Tanio Boccia) [4/4/1912, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy – 8/1/1982, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – director, writer, film editor, theater, film actor.

Kill or be Killed – 1966

New German Blu-ray/DVD, Spanish DVD releases

 








“Scalps”

(1986)

 

Directors: Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso

Starring: Vassili Karis, Mapi Galán, Alberto Farnese, Charlie Bravo

 

Country: Germany

Label: Cinestrange Extreme (Bahnhofskino Edition #9)

Limited edition, Mediabook BluRay/DVD in three cover options (limited to 333/222/111 copies)

Aspect ratio: 1.67:1

Resolution: 1080p

Languages: DD2.0 stereo German, English, Italian

Subtitles: German

Running time: 101 minutes

Extras: 24 page booklet „Ein Blick auf Scalps" by Harald Mühlbeyer; gallery; alternative intro; SD version

Available: May 26, 2023









“Al infierno Gringo”

(Land Raiders)

(1969)

 

Director: Nathan Juran

Starring: Telly Savalas, George Maharis, Irene Dahl, Fernando Rey

 

Country: Spain

DVD

PAL

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Label: RSR Studio

Languages: DD 2.0 English, Spanish

Subltitles: Spanish

Running time: 101 minutes

ASIN: B0C5TW38WL

Available: May 23, 2023


Thursday, May 25, 2023

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Davor Antolić

 [These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]

Davor Antolić was a Croatian film, television actor and production designer. He appeared in 19 films and television series between 1956 and 1998. Of those three were Euro-westerns. Sometime in the 1970s he immigrated to the United States and found work at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California. He returned to Croatia later and appeared in two films in 1982 and 1998.

He was married to Anuska B. Antolic and they had two sons, Roman and Alan.

Davor Antolic died in Zagreb, Croatia on September 12, 2004, at the age of 70.

ANTOLIC, Davor (aka D. Antolić, Davor Antolić) [2/22/1934, Bjelovar, Croatia, Yugoslavia – 9/12/2004, Zagreb, Croatia] – production designer, assistant director, film, TV actor, married to Anuska B. Antolić [1944-    ], father of tennis player Roman J. Antolić [1971-    ], Alan Antolić [1975-    ],

Frontier Hellcat – 1964 (Rod)

Rampage at Apache Wells – 1965 (Paddy)

Scalawag – 1973 (Rooster)

New German Blu-ray releases “Ein Dollar zwischen den Zähnen”, “Western-Jack”. “Glut der Sonne”

 








“Ein Dollar zwischen den Zähnen”

(Stranger in Town)

(1966)

 

Director: Luigi Vanzi

Starring: Tony Anthony, Frank Wolff, Raf Baldassarre

 

Country: Germany

Label: Nameless Media / Eurovideo

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p

Languages: DTS-HD MA 2.0German, Italian, English

Subtitles: German

Running time: 87 minutes

Extras: theatrical version (SD); German and English trailer; audio interview with Tony Anthony

ASIN: B0BYGQKRS

Available: May 25, 2023









“Western Jack”

(The Stranger Returns)

(1967)

 

Director: Luigi Vanzi

Starring: Tony Anthony, Dan Vadis, Jill Banner

 

Country: Germany

Label: Nameless Media / Eurovideo

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Resolution: 1080p

Languages: DTS-HD MA 5.1 German, Italian, English

Subtitles: German

Running time: 96 minutes

Extras: German theatrical version (SD); German and English trailer; audio interview with Tony Anthony

ASIN: B0BYGT3BH2

Available: May 25, 2023









“Glut der Sonne”

(The Fury of Johnny Kid)

(1967)

 

Director: Gianni Puccini

Starring: Peter Lee Lawrence, Cristina Galbó, Andrés Mejuto, Piero Lulli

 

Country: Germany

Label: Explosive Media

Region B

Aspect ratio: 16:9, 2/35:1

Resolution 1080p (remastered)

Languages: DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono Italian, German, English

Subtitles: German

Runtime: 89 min

Extras: Italian and German trailer; featurette "Shakespeare in the West"; gallery

ASIN: B0BT6VHSJ1

Available: May 25, 2023


50th anniversary of the premier of “Tequila”

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the premier of “Tequila!” directed by Tulio Demicheli and starring Anthony Steffen, Robeto Camardiel and Eduardo Fajardo. It tells the story of Tequila (Anthony Steffen) and Bobo (Roberto Camardiel) hit the little town of Chedron intending to rob the local bank whose owner, De Koven (Eduardo Fajardo), is trying to freeze out all the ranchers in the area by the simple expedient of foreclosing on the mortgages his bank holds on their land.

The film grossed 182,552 lire and is ranked 349th of the top Spaghetti westerns.

 

Tequila! – Italian title

Uno, dos, tres… dispara otra vez – Spanish title

Um Colt para Sartana – Brazilian title

Fuzzy, halt die Ohren steif! - German title

Τεκίλλα, το πρώτο πιστόλι του Ουέστ! – Greek title

Τεκίλλα – Greek title

Tequila – Portuguese title

Förbannade prärieråttor - häng dom – Swedish title

Tequila - mannen med den snabba revolver – Swedish title

Fuzzy the Hero – U.S.A. title

Shoshena – U.S.A. title

Tequila – U.S.A. title

 

An Italian, Spanish film co-production [Tritone Cinematographica (Rome), Mundial Film

     (Madrid)]

Producers: Norberto Solino, José Luis Galicia

Director: Tulio Demicheli

Story: Miguel Iglesias, Enrique Jose

Screenplay: Miguel Iglesias, Enrique Josa, Nino Stresa

Cinematographer: Memmo Mancori (Guglielmo Mancori) [Technicolor, Cinemascope]

Music: Lallo Gori (Coriolano Gori)

Running time: 87 mnutes


Cast:

Shoshena – Anthony Steffen (Antonio De Teffè von Hoonholtz)

Giaguaro/Fuzzy/Bobo/Jaguar – Roberto Camardiel (RobertoEscudero)

Beatrice Lohsman – Maria Elena Arpon

DeKovan – Eduardo Fajardo

Ingris DeKovan - Ágata Lys

Rush Lohsman – Jose L. Zalde (José Luis Lizalde)

Sheriff Paul – John Bartha (János Barta)

O'Connor/Don Lápiz – Mirco Ellis (Mirko Ellis)

Miss Watson - Juanita Jiménez

Bob – German Grech

DeKovan – Eduardo Fajardo

DeKovan henchman - José L. Chinchilla (José Luis Chinchilla)

Sampson brothers Joaquin Solis

Bartender – Pablo Blanco

Saloon patron - Manuel Guitian

ranchers - Agustin Bescos, Antonio Orengo

With: Juan Amigo, Mario Sanz, Julio Milian, Fabian Conde