Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

 Spaghetti Western Director - Ken Annakin

Kenneth Cooper Annakin was born in Beverley, Yorkshire, England on August 10, 1914. He was a former salesman and journalist; Ken got into the film industry making documentary shorts. His feature debut, “Holiday Camp” (1947), was a comedy about a Cockney family on vacation. It was made for the Rank Organization and was a modest success, spawning three sequels, all of which he directed. He worked steadily thereafter, mainly in light comedies. One of his more atypical films was the dark thriller “Across the Bridge” (1957), it boasted an acclaimed performance by Rod Steiger as the villain and a distinct "noir" feel to it, unlike anything Annakin had done before.

In the 1960s he was one of several British directors who specialized in turning out all-star, splashy, big-budget European/American co-productions, shot on the Continent. He was one of the directors of the epic World War II spectacle “The Longest Day” (1962) and went solo on “Battle of the Bulge” (1965), both of which were financial--if not exactly critical--successes. He also directed “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes” (1965), which was less successful. His final film was “Genghis Khan: The Story of a Lifetime” (1992), a film that was started in 1992 under Annakin's direction but never completed. In 2009 it was restarted again and Annakin was hired to assemble the existing footage for release but died before completing the job. Italian director Antonio Margheriti finished up and the film was released in 2010.

Ken Annakin died in Beverly Hills, California on April 22, 2009, at the age of 94.

Annakin’s only Euro-western was 1972’s “The Call of the Wild” starring Charlton Heston, Michèle Mercier and Raimund Harmstorf.

ANNAKIN, Ken (Kenneth Cooper Annakin) [8/10/1914, Beverley, Yorkshire, England, U.K. – 4/22/2009, Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A. (complications from heart attack, stroke)] – journalist, producer, director, writer, actor, married to secretary Blanka Kovanda Muller[1912-2000] (1944-19??) father of agent Jane Carol Annakin [1943-1997], married to Pauline M. Carter [1930-    ] (1960-2009) father of publicity consultant Deborah Mary Annakin-Peters [1967-    ], named a Disney Legend [2002], awarded OBE [2002].

The Call of the Wild – 1972

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter – Grigoriy Aleksandrov

Grigoriy Vasilyevich Aleksandrov was born on January 23, 1903, in Yekaterinburg, Russian Empire. The original family name was Mormonenko. He was a prominent Soviet film director who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1947 and a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1973. He was awarded the Stalin Prizes for 1941 and 1950.

Initially associated with Sergei Eisenstein, with whom he worked as a co-director, screenwriter and actor, Aleksandrov became a major director in his own right in the 1930s, when he directed Jolly Fellows and a string of other musical comedies starring his wife, Lyubov Orlova.

Though Aleksandrov remained active until his death, his musicals, amongst the first made in the Soviet Union, remain his most popular films. They rival Ivan Pyryev's films as the most effective and light-hearted showcase ever designed for Stalin-era USSR.

Aleksandrov died in Moscow on December 16, 1983, from pyelonephritis. He was 80.

Grigoriy cp-wrote the screenplay with Sergei M. Eisenstein and Ivor Montago for 1930’s “Sutter’s Gold”.

ALEKSANDROV, Grigoriy (aka G. V. Aleksandrov, G.V. Aleksandrov. G. Aleksandrov, Gr. Aleksandrov, G. V. Alexandroff, Gregory Alexandrov, Grigori Alexandrov, Grigoriy Mormonenko) (Grigori Vasilyevich Marmonenko) [1/23/1903, Yekaterinburg, Russian Empire – 12/16/1983, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R. (pyelonephritis)] - producer, assistant director, writer, film editor, actor, married to actress Olga Ivanova [19??-1941] (1925-1933) father of Duglas Aleksandrov [1926-1978], married to actress Lyubov Orlova (Lyubov Petrovna Orlova) [1902-1975] (1934- 1975), married to Galina Krylova (1979-1983), grandfather of writer Grigoriy Aleksandrov [1954-2012], People's Artist of the USSR in 1947 and a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1973

Sutter’s Gold – 1930 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer – Henri Alékan

Henri Alékan was born in Montmartre, Paris, Île-de-France, France on February 10, 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he started work as third assistant cameraman at the Billancourt Studios. He then spent a short time in the army, returning to Billancourt in 1931. He graduated from the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers and the Institut d'optique Graduate School

In the late 1930s he was the camera operator to Eugene Shufftan on Marcel Carné's “Quai des Brumes” and “Drôle de drame”. He was greatly influenced by Schufftan's non-naturalistic style. His first success as a director of photography was René Clément's realistic war drama “La Bataille du Rail” in 1946. In the same year he worked on Jean Cocteau's fable “La Belle et la Bête.”

He found himself out of sympathy with the French New Wave cinema which emerged in the late 1950s and Alekan shot some rather conventional films in Hollywood. A new generation of directors appreciated his visionary style, however, and he worked with Raúl Ruiz on “The Territory” and “On Top of the Whale”, with Joseph Losey on “Figures in a Landscape” and “The Trout”, and with Wim Wenders on “The State of Things” and “Wings of Desire”. His last films were made with the Israeli director Amos Gitai.

Alékan wrote one of the best books about cinematography Des lumières et des ombres in 1984

Henri Alékan died of leukemia on June 15, 2001, in Auxerre, Bourgogne, France. He was 92.

ALEKIN, Henri (Henri Alékan) [2/10/1909, Montmartre, Paris, Île-de-France, France – 6/15/2001, Auxerre, Bourgogne, France (leukemia)] – author, cinematographer, cameraman, married to script supervisor, assistant director Nadia Starcevic (19??–2001).

Red Sun - 1971