Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Julio Buchs

Julio Buchs García was born on March 10, 1926, in Madrid, Spain. He was the son of José Buchs Echeandía, a pioneering Spanish film director known for his work in the early decades of Spanish cinema.

Buchs was a Spanish film director, screenwriter, and assistant director known for his contributions to genre cinema, particularly westerns and thrillers, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He began his career in the film industry as an assistant director during the 1950s and later transitioned to directing and writing his own projects. His directorial works include notable titles such as “A Bullet for Sandoval” (1969), “Murder by Music” (1969), “Alta tension” (1972), and “El apartamento de la tentación” (1971), reflecting a style marked by technical care and engagement with popular genres of the era.

Buchs’ father’s career influenced his entry into the industry. He directed approximately fifteen films (including shorts) as a director, often handling writing duties as well, before his untimely death from a heart attack on January 20, 1973, in Madrid at the age of 46. His output, though relatively brief, exemplifies the vibrant and diverse landscape of Spanish commercial filmmaking during the Franco era's later years

Julio Buchs directed three Spaghetti westerns: “El Mestizo” (Django Does Not Forgive) in 1966, “El hombre que mató a Billy el Niño” (A Few Bullets More) in 1967 and “Los desesperdados” (A Bullet for Sandoval) in 1969.

BUCHS, Julio (aka J. Buchs, Julio Busch) (Julio Buchs Garcia) [3/10/1926, Madrid, Madrid, Spain – 1/20/1973, Madrid, Madrid, Spain (heart attack)] – director, assistant director, writer, married son of producer, production manager, production designer, director, writer, actor José Buchs (José Buchs Echeandía) [1896-1973].

Django Does Not Forgive – 1966

A Few Bullets More – 1967 [as J. Buchs]

A Bullet for Sandoval – 1969

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Jan Bartošík

Born in Piestany, Slovakia on June 2, 1944, to parents Otto Bartosik and Jolanka Takac, Jan received his master’s degree at the Technical University of Architecture in Bratislava in 1967. After enduring years of Communist oppression and imprisonment for an attempted escape during his college years, Jan, his sister, and nephew departed for Austria on August 20, 1969, one year after Czechoslovakia fell under the “Iron Curtain” and one day before the borders were closed. Immigrating to Seattle, Washington on November 13th, 1969, and later arriving in Los Angeles in the Spring of 1970, Jan began his life in California. Jan died in Manhattan Beach, California on February 9, 2022, from heart failure. He was 77 years old.

Jan Bartošík wrote the screenplay for one Euro-western “Covbojka” in 1967.

BARTOSIK, Jan (Jan A. Bartošík) [6/2/1944, Pieštany, Slovakia, 2/9/2022, Manhattan Beach, California, U.S.A. (heart failure)] – producer, director, writer, cinematographer, composer, married to Carmel C. Brinkman [1961-    ] [1992-    ] father of Blaise Bartošík [1998-    ], Bridget Bartošík [2002-    ].

Covbojka – 1997

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ John Cabrera

John Cabrera Puig was born on January 14, 1925, in Liverpool, England. He was a Spanish-British cinematographer.

Cabrera applied to The Rank Organisation at the age of 16 and got to know the film industry from the ground up. During World War II, Cabrera took part as a photographer in the Allied landing operations in Normandy in 1944 and in 1945 in the invasion of German territory by Allied troops. After the end of the war, Cabrera returned to civilian life, first serving as a material assistant, then as a second and finally as a first camera assistant. In 1952, he returned to his parents' country of Spain, where he initially served as a contact person for the British and American film crews filming here, beginning this year with the costume and romance drama "Boccaccio's Great Love", which was filmed on site, both in English and Spanish. Here, too, Cabrera had to make do with menial jobs, such as as a camera assistant, but also repeatedly served as an intermediary between the foreign film teams and the Spanish authorities or the local extras. In this capacity, Cabrera was also involved in Robert Rossen's colossal ham “Alexander the Great” in 1955 and in David Lean's masterpiece “Lawrence of Arabia” in 1961/62.

Even at the age of more than 40, John Cabrera had not progressed beyond the post of a simple cinematographer and in this subordinate function served second-unit film crews in major international productions produced in Spain in the second half of the 1960s.

In 1970, John Cabrera finally made his debut as chief cinematographer in the British western “Captain Apache”, which was also shot in Spain. Initially, he was allowed to continue photographing internationally produced films (“Call of the Wild”, “The Man Called Noon” and "Paper Tiger"), but then Cabrera was mainly behind the camera for purely Spanish films, which were usually rarely shown abroad. In 1981, he once again took over the second-unit camera role in a Hollywood production made outside the USA, “Conan the Barbarian” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cabrera's last work remained the unfinished, large-scale international production "Genghis Khan" (Genghis Khan), which could not be completed in 1992 due to considerable financing difficulties of the Italian co-producer.

John Cabrera was cinematographer on five Spaghetti westerns: “Capitán Apache” (Captain Apache) in 1970, “The Call of the Wild” in 1972, “The Man Called Noon” in 1973, “Triumphs of a Man Called Horse” in 1982 with John Alcott and “Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold” in 1984.

CABRERA, John (John Cabrera Puig) [1/14/1925, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K. - 4/18/2014, Dénia, Alicante, Spain] – cinematographer, cameraman, photographer, married to Gertrude Leadbetter (1951-19??) married to Irene Cabrera (19??-2014) father of John Cabrera, Edward Cabrera.

Captain Apache – 1970

The Call of the Wild – 1972

The Man Called Noon - 1973

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse – 1983 (co)

Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold – 1984