Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Milano Caiano
[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.]
Milano Caiano was an Italian character actor. His only film credit and only Spaghetti western role was in 1974’s “Che botte ragazzi!” (The Return of Shanghai Joe) directed by Mario Caiano which leads me to believe he was a relative of the director.
CAIANO, Milano [Italian] – film actor.
The Return of Shanghai Joe - 1974
Wirral film maker Alex Cox looking for funding for his 'last movie'
Wirral Globe
By Jamie Bowman
July 17, 2024
Director Alex Cox, from Bebington, found fame in the 1980s with Repo Man, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez and Sid and Nancy, featuring Gary Oldman.
The former Wirral Grammar School pupil then went on to make a series of independent films as well as becoming the much-loved presenter of BBC Two's cult movie series, Moviedrome, from 1988-1994.
Now approaching his 70th birthday, Cox, who lives in Oregon, is looking to partly fund a new project via Kickstarter and is asking fans for their help.
Cox said: "I'm hoping I can ask you to join me on this journey which I'm calling 'My Last Movie'.
"It's a Western adaptation of of Nicolai Gogol's Dead Souls which I want to shoot this November in Almeria, Southern Spain and in the Saguaro Desert outside Tuscon, Arizona.
"It's the story of the mysterious Strindler who pays top dollar for the names of dead Mexicans and the use to which he puts them.
"You remember Mel Brooks - the author of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein? He thought Dead Sould was the greatest book he ever read. He said: 'It was a revelation. I had never read anything like it, It was a life changing gift and I still read it once a year to remind myself of what great comic writing can be'.
"I can't promise you great comic writing like Dead Souls or a masterpiece like Blazing Saddles but I will do my best."
So far, the Kickstarter has received over £97,000 with around 750 backers behind the project.
"The more we raise the more we can shoot, and the better the finished film will be," added Cox.
To donate to the project go to: kickstarter.com/projects/alexcoxfilms/my-last-movie
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
RIP Teresa Gimpera
Spanish model and actress Teresa
Gimpera died in Barcelona, Spain on July 23rd she was 87. Born on
September 21, 1936, in Igualada, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In 1965 she
debuted as an actress in the film ' Fata Morgana', by Vicente Aranda, and
during the 1960s and 1970s she participated in other films filmed in Spain,
France and Italy. She was married to American actor Craig Hill [1926-2014] from
1990-2014. In 1984, she began a career as a businesswoman and founded the
Gimpera Models School in Barcelona, while only occasionally returning to
acting. The Catalan government awarded her de Sant Jordi (St. Geroge’s Cross)
in 2017. Gimpera appeared in four Spaghetti westerns: “Wanted” (1967) as Evelyn
Baker), “Kidnapping! Paga o uccidiamo tuo figlio” ($20,000 for Seven) in 1968 as
Jane, “Les pétroleuses” (The Legend of Frenchie King) in 1971 as Caroline and “Campa
carogna... la taglia cresce” (Those Dirty Dogs) in 1973 as Melissa Adams.
RIP Arnaldo Dell'Acqua
Italian stuntman, stunt coordinator, actor and member of the Dell’Acqua circus family died in Rome on July 22. He had just turned 85 two weeks ago. Born in Campobasso, Molise, Italy on April 8, 1938, he started his entertainment career as a circus acrobat and then entered films as a stuntman and then character actor. He was the brother of Alberto and older brother to Roberto, Fernanda and Ottaviano. Having worked in the circus as a youngster along with his brothers, Arnaldo began his film career in the early 60's with appearances in a few peplums. He then worked steadily in stunt roles and behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator for the next 40 years. Unlike brother Alberto, the majority of Arnaldo's film appearances were uncredited bit parts. He was often credited as Aldo Dell’Acqua.
Arnaldo Dell’Acqua’s westerns – actor:
Death at Owell Rock – 1966 (Lester
henchman)
Days of Vengeance – 1967 (soldier)
Poker With Pistols – 1967 (guard at
Masters’ ranch)
7 Pistols for a Massacre – 1967
(drummer) [as Aldo Dell’Acqua]
Turn… I’ll Kill You – 1967 (Davis
brother)
Two R-R-Ringos from Texas – 1967
(Sentenza Jane henchman)
Wanted – 1967 (saloon patron)
The Man Who Cried for Revenge – 1968
(Jack’s henchman [as Aldo Dell’ Acqua]
No Graves on Boot Hill – 1968
(Fletcher henchman)
Boot Hill – 1969 (Fisher henchmen) [as
Aldo Dell’ Acqua]
Death on
Sartana the Gravedigger – 1969 (Baxter
Red henchman)
The Stranger’s Gundown – 1969
(dynamite game player)
The Unholy Four – 1969 (saloon
brawler)
Shango – 1970 (rebel soldier)
They Call Me Trinity – 1970 (Mormon)
The Ballad of Ben and Charlie – 1971
(brawler)
Bullet for a Stranger – 1971 (brawler)
Django… Adios! – 1971 (Holy
Ghost/Spirito Santo henchman)
Guns for Dollars – 1971 – (laundry
worker)
Trinity is STILL My Name – 1971
(saloon patron) [as Aldo Dell’Acqua] [stunts]
Alleluia and Sartana, Sons of God –
1972 (McGregor brother) [as Aldo Dell’ Acqua]
Man of the East – 1972 (saloon
brawler) [as Aldo Dell’ Acqua]
They Call Me Providence – 1972 (James’
henchman)
Trinity & Sartana Those Sons of
Bitches – 1972 (Joe) [as Aldo Dell’Acqua]
Another Try, Eh
Karate, Fists and Beans – 1973 (duck
hunter)
The Man Called Invincible – 1973
(monk)
The Crazy Adventures of Len and Coby –
1974 (bandit)
Red Coat – 1974 (trapper)
The White, the Yellow, the Black –
1974 (soldier) [as Aldo Dell'Acqua]
Keoma – 1975 (
Zorro – 1975 (Huerta guard)
California – 1977 (soldier shot by Whitaker)
A Man Called Blade – 1977 (Valler
henchman)
Silver Saddle – 1977 (saloon employee)
Buddy Goes West – 1981 (Colorado Slim
henchmen) [stunts] [as Aldo Dell’Acqua]
Django Strikes Again – 1987 [stunt
coordinator]
Buck at the Edge of Heaven – 1991
(Cotton)
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ André Cagnard
[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.]
André Cagnard was a novelist, writer, SFX, stuntman, master of arms, theater, film, TV actor. He was born in Avignon, Vaucluse, France on March 21, 1953. During his film career he doubled actors, set the staging of the stunts and prepared special effects. He was also a fencing master who specialized in horse riding and fencing.
His only western was in 1973’s “Touche pas à la femme blanche” (Don’t Touch the White Woman!) where he was the stunt coordinator.
CAGNARD, André [3/21/1953, Avignon, Vaucluse, France – ] – novelist, writer, SFX, stuntman,
master of arms, theater, film, TV actor, married to ? father of jouster William
Cagnard.
Don’t Touch the White Woman! –
1973 [stunt coordinator]
Salvation: Danish western about revenge and the price it takes
Cronica de Cinema
By Fabio Belik
June 21, 2022
HUMAN NATURE BARRING THE CIVILIZING PROCESS
To talk about Salvation, a western directed in 2014 by Kristian Levring, it may be more prudent to start by mentioning Dogma95, a cinematographic movement of which the director was a member. Not that there are aesthetic parallels between the canons created by Danish filmmakers in 1995 and this dark film, inspired by great classics of an American genre par excellence. What stands out are precisely the differences! It was to be expected that a Danish production, scripted by Anders Thomas Jensen – another exponent of Dogma95 who recently directed the film Crazy for Justice – would follow the "vows of chastity" agreed between him, Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg and Kristian Levring: no technological special effects, no sticking to a specific genre, no deviating from the fundamental values of the story, No underestimating the importance of performances, no producers and studios usurping creative power and making aesthetic decisions... The goal of the movement was to purify cinema and give back to directors the aura of artists they should proudly display.
It is true that the filmmakers of the Dogma95 movement never said that the so-called "vows of chastity" would be forever. It was just to detox! The important thing is creative freedom and the desire to make quality cinema. And that's what Kristian Levring showed in Salvation. His film comes as a tribute to the western, telling a story of revenge, loaded with violence and written in full compliance with the conventions of the genre – characters in search of justice, remote and grandiloquent landscapes, remnants of civilization trying to mediate the clashes between individuals...
For those who consider the Danish western an oddity or eccentricity, the director recalls that the genre has enough multicultural elements to gain universal reach. In the second half of the nineteenth century, during the conquest of the American West, half of the people who circulated there did not even speak English. Indians, Mexicans and immigrants from all over Europe infested the prairies and provided a pretext for the stories that made the party of directors such as John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, John Sturges, Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone, for example. And Levring goes further: he recalls that the Danes were not left out. There were countless people who emigrated to America and assumed the new nationality as a path of no return. The story he filmed speaks of revenge, but shows that there is a price to be paid for the killing it unleashes. Let's look at a synopsis of Salvation:
The film tells how Jon (Mads Mikkelsen), a Danish settler who has settled in the West, finally manages to bring his wife Marie (Nanna Øland Fabricius) and their 10-year-old son Kresten (Toke Lars Bjarke) to America. They arrive by train only to embark on a stagecoach and be brutally murdered by two criminals fresh out of prison. Jon kills the killers, but burns in pain for the lacerating loss – all in the opening sequence of the film. It turns out that one of the bandits killed by Jon is the brother of Colonel Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a land baron who leads a large gang of outlaws. To complicate matters, the bandit also left a widow, the mute Madelaine (Eva Green), whose thirst for revenge is gigantic. Jon will have to facethe insane fury of this violent duo and the connivance of a cowardly city, manipulated by Mayor Keane (Jonathan Pryce). By his side, he will only have the loyalty of his brother Peter (Mikael Persbrandt), his skill with weapons and the certainty that he has nothing left to lose.
Starting from this believable and engaging plot, Anders Thomas Jensen and Kristian Levring wrote a laconic script, with very few dialogues and a lot of action, as is customary in western classics. Without the need to establish expository scenes, the director indulged in the bold look, sometimes exploring the imperative of the landscape, sometimes framing the expressive faces that enriched his cast. Of course, the highlight goes to Mads Mikkelsen, an impressive actor, who manages to be Danish without losing his American cowboy features – or vice versa! But Eva Green, without speaking a word, also managed to build a powerful character.
Filmed in South Africa, by a troupe led by Danes, Salvation seems to deny the principles of Dogma95. The locations are not real, the lighting is artificial, the shots are well studied, the camera movements are calculated... But there is a lot of truth in the scene. Kristian Levring has made a dark film, unconcerned with the psychological layers of his characters. It was at the level of primary emotions, because the story it tells us is about revenge. Hammering the theme, he takes the opportunity to show us the dark side of human nature and the difficulty that this imposes on the civilizing process. Here is a movie worth checking out!
Original title: The Salvation
Year of production: 2014
Director: Kristian Levring
Screenplay: Anders Thomas Jensen and Kristian Levring
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan,
Eric Cantona, Mikael Persbrandt, Douglas Henshall, Michael Raymond-James,
Jonathan Pryce, Alex Arnold, Nanna Øland Fabricius, Toke Lars Bjarke, Sean
Cameron Michael, Carl Nel, Sivan Raphaely, Grant Swanby, Robert Hobbs, Adam
Neill and Langley Kirkwood
Who Are Those Guys? Bruno Di Luia
Bruno Riccardo Di Luia was born in Rome on April 4, 1943. He was an Italian actor, stuntman and former rugby union player in Serie A in CUS Rom
Di Luia he a militant of Avanguardia Nazionale; his older brother, Serafino Di Luia, was one of the founders of the movement with Stefano Delle Chiaie.
Bruno’s Roman, grim gaze and the flattened nose of a boxer, he appeared in more than fifty films he played in supporting and leading roles, but more than anything else that of a henchman or gang member especially in the films of Tomas Milian and in several crime films. However, he had the opportunity to play some relevant parts, such as that of the antagonist in “A pugni nudi” of 1974 and that of the tax collector who persecutes Enrico Montesano in “Grandi magazzini” in 1986. Bruno also participated in several television series. He was part of the cast of the religious film The Passion of the Christ. In all he’s appeared in over 90 films and television series from 1971 to 2021. In some films, such as “Porci con la P.38”, he was also a master of arms.
Bruno appeared in six Spaghetti westerns in small roles, but his face made him easily recognizable and memorable.
Di LUIA, Bruno (Bruno Riccardo Di Luia) [4/4/1943, Rome, Lazio, Italy - ] – rugby player, director, assistant director, writer, stuntman, master
of arms, film, TV actor.
Finders Killers – 1971
A Genius – 1975 (soldier)
Macho Killers – 1977 (Gunner/Gonzalez)
A Man Called Blade – 1977 (stagecoach
guard)
Buddy Goes West – 1981 (saloon patron)
Special Birthdays
Nerio Bernardi (actor) would have been 125 today but died in 1971.
Lou Seitz (actress) would have been 125 today but
died in 1985.
Suzanne Christy (actress) would have been 120 today
but died in 1974.
Massimo Franciosa (writer) would have been 100
today but died in 1998.
Monday, July 22, 2024
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Gino Cagna
[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.]
Eugenio ‘Gino’ Cagna was born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. He was a member of the cover band of Crosby, Stills & Nash called Old Tennis Shoes which were composed of Cagna on guitar, Bruno Zanotto, Mike, Alberto Rossotto and Mike Bongiorno, which performed at the Black Sun in San Pietro Val Lemina.
He later co-founded Klinmak floor scrubbers. Today Gino lives in Castellinaldo, Piedmont, Italy.
Gino appeared in one film which was a Spaghetti western “...e alla fine lo chiamarono Jerusalem l'implacabile” (Panhandle Caliber .38) – 1971 where he plays a priest.
CAGNA, Gino (Eugenio Cagna) [19??,
Turin, Piedmont, Italy - ] – film
actor, singer, musician, member of the band “Old Tennis Shoes”, co-founded
Klinmak floor scrubbers.
Panhandle Caliber .38 – 1971 (priest)
Spaghetti Western Locations Then and Now – “Once Upon a Time in the West”
In 1968’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” Jill and her hired driver Sam stop at a wayside station on the way to the Sweetwater Ranch. The ranch was built by Carlo Simi and his crew in Monument Valley.
Today little is left of the location except for some
remains of the hitching posts and foundation blocks. The cement blocks were the
same type as I saw when I visited Spain and the Leone location of Flagstone,
Arizona. This location is not on any of the tourist trails and only a few of
the guides know where it is located. The road seen in the photo is actually a
dry wash.
European Western Comic Books – Big Davy
Big Davy
This Western comic book series is based on the figure of Davy Crockett. Due to the simultaneous publication of the Davy Crockett series in the Belle Avventure series by Edizioni Alpe, the Publisher changes the title of the magazine to Big Davy. Texts were by Gian Luigi Bonelli; drawings and covers were by Renzo Calegari. The appendix presents some stories previously published by the same publisher: “The Traitor” by Mario Faustinelli and Hugo Pratt (# 1/15), “Il prof. Distrattoni” by Guido Da Passano (#15) and “Gli adoratori del Diavolo” by Gian Luigi Bonelli and Enrico Bagnoli (# 16/21).
The comic book was in Milan, Italy by SBE.Audace from June 16, 1957 to November 3, 1957 under the direction of Tea Bonelli
Titles
01
(16.06.57) - “Il segno del corvo” (The Sign of the Raven)
02 (23.06.57) - “Occhio perduto” (Lost Eye)
03 (30.06.57) - “I volontari della morte” (The Volunteers of
Death)
04 (07.07.57) - “Disperata difesa” (Desperate Defense)
05 (14.07.57) - “Pioggia di fuoco” (Rain of Fire)
06 (21.07.57) - “Agguato sul fiume” (Ambush on the River)
07 (28.07.57) - “Sulle tracce dei rinnegati” (On the Trail
of the Renegades)
08 (04.08.57) - “Verso il palo di tortura” (Towards the
Torture Stake)
09 (11.08.57) - “La sfida di Falco Nero” (The Challenge of
Black Hawk)
10 (18.08.57) - “Attacco notturno” (Night Attack)
11 (25.08.57) - “I razziatori” (The Raiders)
12 (01.09.57) - “Ignobile mercato” (Ignoble Market)
13 (08.09.57) - “Il canyon degli agguati” (Ambush Canyon)
14 (15.09.57) - “Sulle tracce dei rapitori” (On the Trail of
the Kidnappers)
15 (22.09.57) - “Una fiesta interrotta” (An Interrupted
Fiesta)
16 (29.09.57) - “Un incontro imprevisto” (An Unexpected
Meeting)
17 (06.10.57) - “Sangue sulla prateria” (Blood on the
Prairie)
18 (13.10.57) - “Attacco a Palo Blanco” (Attack on Palo
Blanco)
19 (20.10.57) - “La danza della scure” (The Dance of the
Axe)
20 (27.10.57) - “Tragica beffa” (Tragic Hoax)
21 (03.11.57) - “Morte all’alba” (Death at Dawn)
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Jack Caffrey
[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.]
John Joseph ‘Jack’ Caffrey was born in Huntington, New York in March of 1935. He went to Huntington High School and then attended C.W. Post.
Jack moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1980. He had been a Marine constable in Huntington, New York and an actor appearing in “Little Abner”, “Anything Goes”, “Oklahoma” and “Guys and Dolls”. In Santa Fe he continued acting in the Santa Fe Community Theater’s presentations of “Cake”, “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Oh, What a Lovely War”. He also appeared in several films and TV series including “Time Rider” and “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez”, “Lonesome Dove”, “Return to Lonesome Dove”, “Lust in the Dust”, “Desperado” and “Silverado”.
When not acting Jack ran the tasting room at the Santa Fe Vineyards at Arroyo Seco.
Jack appeared in the ‘Lucky Luke’ TV series as Bowler in 1990 and the film of the same name as the same character. He later appeared as the judge in 1994’s “Botte di Natale” (Troublemakers).
CAFFREY, Jack (John Joseph Caffrey) [3/?/1935, Huntington, New York,
U.S.A. - ] – producer, director,
writer, stuntman, film, TV actor, married to producer, director, writer, dancer
Karen Kim Caffrey [1939- ] (2015- ), father of Kimmey L. Caffrey [1962- ], stuntman Shawn R. Caffrey [1968- ].
Lucky Luke (TV) –
1990 (Bowler)
Lucky Luke – 1991
(Bowler)
Troublemakers – 1994
(judge)
New German Blu-ray/DVD combo release of “Django - Die Nacht der langen Messer”
“Django - Die Nacht der langen Messer”
(The Unholy Four)
(1970)
Director: Enzo Barboni
Starring: Leonard Mann, Woody Strode, Peter Martell,
George Eastman
Country: Germany
Label: DigiDreams / Astro
BluRay/DVD combo, double-sided poster, three picture
cards, booklet
Limited Mediabook in 8 cover options (limited to 111
copies, two of them without "Django" in the title limited to 66
copies)
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (16:9)
Languages: Dolby Digital 2.0 German, Italian
Subtitles: none
Running time: 94 minutes
Extras: German trailer, picture gallery, several artwork
galleries, Super-8 versions
Available: July 12, 2024
Who Are Those Singers & Musicians? ~ Olivier Milchberg
Olivier Milchberg was born in Paris, November 7th, 1963. He studied piano and guitar, both classical and jazz for 10 years. At 19, he joined the group ‘Los Incas’, founded by his father Jorge Milchberg [1928-2022]. He began as a guitarist, then continued as flute solo.
The international tours and multiple recordings with Los Incas gave him a much experience as a poly-instrumentalist.
He founded Muance Productions in 1988, both as a recording studio and for production of traditional music.
He shares his time between concerts, composition, artistic direction and as producer. From 1998 on, he developed a passion for oriental music. In 1999 he joins the group "Pêcheurs de Perles" as a performer and artistic director, with many international tours and the recording of 3 cds. In 2008 he is hired by Cirque du Soleil to take part of the new show "Zaia" in Macau, China, where he lives for 4 years.
This approach brought him to play numerous instruments traditional or ethnic, like bouzouki (metal strings), Kaval (bulgarian flute), percussions.
His musical research is more than all based on music with soul and roots, in which his inspiration comes for the development of his personal expression.
MILCHBERG, Olivier [11/7/1963, Paris, Île-de-France,
France - ] – composer, musician
(bouzouki), son of composer, musician Jorge Milchberg [1928-2022] member of the
group “Los Incas”, "Pêcheurs de Perles", founded the music production
company Muance Productions [1988] ‘Musavida’.
Blackthorn – 2010 [bouzouki]
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Renzo Caetani
[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.]
Renzo Caetani was an Italian actor. I can find only one film that he was credited in and that was for the Euro-western “Buffalo Bill a Roma” (Buffalo Bill in Rome) in 1949.
CAETANI, Renzo [Italian] – film actor.
Buffalo Bill in Rome – 1949
Nischekino
By Bluntwolf
July 19, 2024
It is four men who brutally murdered Django's brother a long time ago. Four men who are ambushed by the ice-cold, inhuman avenger, whose weaknesses he exploits in a heated game of cat and mouse to send them to the afterlife. Diaz, who leads a reclusive life as a rancher – Montero, a gambler who rules a small town with an iron fist – O'Hara, a white albino from trousers to hair, and Brother Baldwin, a religious fanatic who tortures the rural population in the garb of a priest. None of them stand a chance against Django! (Explosive Media)
Django is Mario Lanfranchi's only Italo Western, as he has made a name for himself with the direction of operas and his work for sophisticated television. According to Lanfranchi, Tomas Milian describes the film as one of the highlights of his career, but Milian stated in an interview with Nocturno magazine that his performance was the only highlight of the film, which is definitely due to Lanfranchi's statement and possibly represent a devaluation of the finished product. With an avenger who is after the four men who killed his brother, Django – Merciless as the Sun reels off one of the most ordinary of all Italo-Western plots. What clearly distinguishes the film from others of its kind, however, is its structure (with four separate acts), which makes it come across as a stage play or an anthology film. American actor Robin Clarke plays our avenger Cash (Django), whose brother was murdered while he was unable to prevent it due to his drunkenness.
In the first act, Cash pursues a rancher named Diaz (Richard Conte) through a desert landscape. Diaz has two pistols at his disposal, but no water, although Cash has water with him, but no weapon, which is why he holds back at first and provokes the dehydrating Diaz with his water supply and finally outplays him. This first act has two flashbacks, one per character: Cash's flashback shows how his brother was practically executed, while Diaz's tells how Cash arrives at his ranch and shoots all his men. Afterwards, the audience is thrown back to the present, where Cash builds a false well out of desert rock at night, which will eventually become Diaz's grave. This first episode represents a wonderful piece of work that proves to be very well told, neatly constructed and very densely laid out, thus representing the best part of the film. Richard Conte actually embodies a quite sympathetic villain who has probably worked hard after his crimes and led an honest life, so that the audience almost feels sorry for him when he is finally sent across the Tiber.
The villain of the second act, Montero (Enrico Maria Salerno), on the other hand, can be described as a contemptible person, because the professional card player likes to rob his opponents and enjoys being able to humiliate them. Cash uses the man's obsession to his advantage to engage him in a card game where it's literally all or nothing, namely life or death. This second part of the film is not as lively as the first episode, but Salerno embodies the compulsive gambler almost perfectly, while Lanfranchi came up with some remarkable camera angles and movements to keep the viewers interested. He also offers us a rather astonishing jump-cut of the bloodied corpse of a murdered young woman (Eleonora Brown, listed as Eleonor Brown) who had warned Cash about Mendoza's tricks. The director uses the technique of the jump cut more often and not always effectively, but in this scene the whole thing works wonderfully.
There is also nothing wrong with the third act – which is about the pious enforcer Brother Baldwin (Adolfo Celi), who terrorizes the surroundings with his private militia in the name of God – but it differs significantly from the other three, in which Cash exploits the weaknesses of his respective opponents to bring them down. Here he only manages to survive by cutting out the bullet that Brother Baldwin shot him in the leg and loading his empty revolver with it. In addition, the allegorical imagery and the Gothic atmosphere mark a clear change in tone and style. Adolfo Celi represents a Mussolini-like, grotesquely religious maniac, whose black-clad militia most likely alludes to Mussolini's Blackshirts (as do the black-clad homosexual cowboys from Kill, Django, 1967). This divergent, but visually quite convincing episode should work better if you look at it independently of the rest of the film. Perhaps this third act could even have been turned into a stand-alone, feature-length film...
In the fourth act, Tomas Milian plays a character who seems to be the opposite of Brother Baldwin, because it is the albino O'Hara, dressed completely in white, who is not interested in God at all, but only in the vile mammon, money and gold. In fact, he is so obsessed with gold that he can only fall in love with blonde women and freaks out when he spies her Goldilocks even from afar. This last episode is somehow difficult to enjoy. Milian's albino, who is plagued by epileptic seizures, has become too much of a caricature and to make matters worse, the actor also delivers the most exaggerated and outrageous performance of his career. His hydrogen blonde hair and his small nickel sunglasses are reminiscent of the German pop singer Heino, which is not exactly advantageous either. However, there are also people who are more positive about Tomas Milian's appearance in this film.
Django – Merciless as the Sun ultimately proves to be a rather interesting Italo Western, which was excellently filmed by Toni Secchi and can come up with a wonderful costume design as well as some surprising theatrical lighting effects. However, the flick is also quite long-winded at times, whereby the narrative structure of four separate acts doesn't always work to its advantage. In addition, Lanfranchi misses some opportunities regarding the character of the avenger: In the first episode, Diaz comes across with the surprising information that Cash's brother was not an innocent victim but was involved in a bank robbery and was then shot for trying to cheat on his four partners. This could have been the starting point for an exploration of both the revenge theme and Cash's character, but this point is never mentioned again in the further course of the film. Gianni Ferrios Music is very unusually jazzy, atmospheric, with a title song (The Last Game sung by Nevil Cameron), which is also out of the ordinary, but knows how to please.
Spaghetti Western Locations for “Face to Face”
We continue our search for locations for “Face to Face”. As Charlie Siringo prepares to leave town a deputy hurries across the street to see the sheriff to report Beauregard Bennett has broken out of jail. Siringo tells the man not to bother the sheriff he will handle the situation his way.
This scene was
filmed at the Elios town set in Rome, Italy.
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
Tor Isedal (actor) would have been 100 today but died in 1990.
Wilfredo Casado (actor) is 85 today.
Friday, July 19, 2024
Spaghetti Western Trivia – Richard Boone and “God’s Gun”
In May 1976, Richard Boone who was in Israel told interviewer Cleveland Amory: "I'm starring in the worst picture ever made. The producer is an Israeli and the director is Italian, and they don't speak English. Fortunately, it doesn't matter, because the director is deaf in both ears." This is referred to in the biography Richard Boone: A Knight without Armor in a Savage Land (2000) by David Rothel.
Boone already had health problems, and after a drunken
argument walked off the set, and left the location before he had recorded all
his dialogue, so his voice was dubbed.
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Mégé Cadet
[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.]
Mégé Cadet was a French silent film actor who appeared in only one film that I know of and that was in the Euro-western “Pendaison à Jefferson City” (Hanging at Jefferson City) 1911.
I can find no biographical information about this person.
CADET, Mégé [French] – film actor.
Hanging at Jefferson City – 1911
Manuel Olaya concludes the filming of the short film 'Agnella' at the MiniHollywood
The actors Quique Durio and Pedro López have been joined by the Alicante actress Selena Hurtado de Mendoza and the actor Álex Navarro
Diario del Almeria
By Diego Martínez
June 28, 2024
 |
| [Part of the short film team preparing one of the scenes.] |
A few days ago, the short film Agnella was finished shooting at the MiniHollywood Oasys film set in the Tabernas desert in Almeria. It is now in the post-production phase, in the hands of Gilberto Vilaplana, editor and director of photography of the short film, giving it the final brushstrokes before being able to pass it on to the composer David Miralles, who will be in charge of working on the sound and soundtrack.
Miralles is the composer recently awarded for “Two
Bullets for the Devil”, at the I Blanes Film Festival on the Costa Brava
(Girona), an award that David himself collected, from the hand of the actress
Ruth Gabriel.
 |
| [Selena Hurtado de Mendoza, protagonist of the short film.] |
The short film will have a duration of 20 minutes, to be presented at festivals around the world and a duration of almost 30 minutes, which will be the director's version or editing. For this short film, an old Victorian-style hotel room has been built from scratch.
The story is set in North America at the end of the
nineteenth century (1880), using several locations within the same film set
such as interiors in the General Store, Railroad Station, Yellow Rose Room, or
a house set in a period setting.
 |
[Cristina Gómez has also participated in this filming.] |
The actors Quique Durio and Pedro López were joined by the Alicante actress Selena Hurtado de Mendoza and the well-known actor Álex Navarro, who became known in the series ‘Águila Roja’. Highlight the presence of the great actress Terry Bordiu and the collaboration of the artist Cristina Gómez. As for the costumes, costumes from Leonardo Armory and several private collectors have been used.
 |
[Manuel Olaya, director of the short film.] |
For the poster, based on the photographs of the photographer Andy Arche, the Almansa painter Paulino Ruano, will be in charge of shaping it. By next July, it is expected to have the short film already edited to be able to present it at festivals, we will try to make a screening in Almansa and another in Almeria, if there is a theater that wanted to collaborate pay to screen the preview of it, including if necessary an exhibition with different pieces of props made exclusively for the short film as well as costumes.
We would like to thank the Almeria production company, Un nuevo renacer Producciones to the film set Minihollywood Oasys Studios and to all those who have contributed in one way or another to make this short film.
Agnella – International title
A 2024 Spanish film
production [Lamento Films, Kinedric, Un nuevo Renacer Producciones (Almeria)]
Producer: Manuel
Olaya (Manuel Muñoz)
Director: Manuel
Olaya (Manuel Muñoz)
Story: Manuel Olaya
(Manuel Muñoz)
Screenplay: Manuel
Olaya (Manuel Muñoz)
Cinematography:
Gilberto Vilaplana
Music: David
Miralles
Running time: 20
minutes
Cast:
O’Sullivan - Quique
Durio
Agnella - Selena
Hurtado de Mendoza
El Viejo – Pedro
Lopez
Jericó Deere - Alex
Navarro
Señora Alison -
Terry Bordiú
Mike - Guillermo
Llorente
Tipo Corpulento
Brothel - Antonio Olaya
Madame Kittý - Carol
Sievright
Señora del Bebé -
María Ángeles Montero
Bebé Brothel -
Ulises Ortiz
With: Cristina Gómez
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