Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Paolo Cavara

Paolo Cavara was born in Bologna, Italy on July 4, 1926. He was a director, assistant director, writer, cinematographer and cameraman. He directed sixteen films between1962 and 1988. He also stories and screenplays for eleven films during this same period and was an assistant director on “The Naked Maja” in 1958.  

Cavara was known for co-directing the influential 1962 shockumentary “Mondo Cane” and for his later contributions to the giallo genre of Italian thrillers.

Cavara collaborated with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi on “Mondo Cane”, a controversial film that presented a series of bizarre and shocking vignettes from around the world, establishing the mondo film style and achieving international notoriety. Following this, he transitioned to directing narrative features, including “The Wild Eye” (1967), a pseudo-documentary exploration of war reporting, and several gialli such as “The Black Belly of the Tarantula” (1971) and “Plot of Fear” (1976), which blended suspense, eroticism, and mystery in the tradition of the period's popular Italian thrillers. His career also included works like “Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears” (1973) and the drama “Atsalut pader” (1979), showcasing his versatility across genres.

In March of 1961, after filming scenes of his documentary “A Dog's Life” (1962) in Las Vegas, Cavara and his fellow Italian writer/director Gualtiero Jacopetti, along with Jacopetti's paramour actress Belinda Lee traveled by car from Las Vegas to Los Angeles for more filming. Near San Bernardino, California, on US 91, their Italian driver, who was driving too fast, lost control on a winding road after blowing a tire. The car flipped, killing actress Lee immediately when she was thrown from the vehicle and fractured her skull and broke her neck. All the others escaped with minor injuries.

Paolo died in Rome on August 7, 1982, a month after turning 56.

Paolo Cavara directed only one Spaghetti western, “Los amigos” (Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears) in 1972.

CAVARA, Paolo [7/4/1926, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy – 8/7/1982, Rome, Lazio, Italy] - director, assistant director, writer, cinematographer, cameraman,

Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears – 1972

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Richard Blasco

Ricardo Blasco Laguna was born in Valencia, Spain on April 30, 1921. Ricardo was a Spanish film director, screenwriter, assistant director, poet, essayist, and television director active primarily in the mid-20th century Spanish cinema.

Blasco's early professional life was rooted in the post-Civil War Spanish film scene, where he worked with prominent studios like Cifesa, starting as a script reader and progressing to writing and assisting on dubbing projects. His directorial output reflected the era's trends, incorporating musical comedies, dramas, and action-oriented stories that occasionally crossed into European genre cinema, such as his sole venture into the spaghetti western subgenre with Gunfight at Red Sands, which he also scripted. Notable collaborations included frequent work with actors like Agustín González and composers such as Juan Quintero, contributing to films that highlighted Andalusian themes in works like Sighs of Triana (1955). By the late 1960s, his directing career tapered off, though his contributions to Spanish cinema during the Franco era remain a footnote in the transition toward more international influences.

He began his career in the film industry during the 1940s and 1950s, contributing as a screenwriter and assistant director to various productions before making his directorial debut. Blasco is best known for his work in adventure and western genres, including directing the spaghetti western “Gunfight at Red Sands” (1963), starring Richard Harrison, as well as Zorro-themed films such as “The Three Swords of Zorro” (1963) and “Behind the Mask of Zorro” (1965). Over his career, he directed around seven feature films, often blending Spanish cultural elements with international co-productions, and collaborated on screenplays for titles like “Amor bajo cero” (1960) and “Autopsy of a Criminal” (1963). Later, he worked as a television director for Televisión Española and as a historian, editing the Gran Enciclopedia de la Región Valenciana in 1973. He passed away in Madrid at the age of 72.

Richard Blasco co-wrote the screenplay for one Spaghetti western which he also directed, “Duello nel Texas” (Gunfight at Red Sands) with Albert Band in 1963.

BLASCO, Richard (aka Richard Blasco) (Ricardo Blasco Laguna) [4/30/1921, Valencia, Valencia, Spain – 2/8/1994, Madrid, Madrid, Spain] – director, assistant director, writer, composer, actor.

Gunfight at Red Sands – 1963 (co)

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Edoardo De Fecci

Edoardo De Fecci is a Italian cinematographer, cameraman, film editor. He’s been involved in

fifty-seven films as a cinematographer, four as a cameraman and one as a film editor beginning in 2008 and continuing to this day.

De Fecci was the cameraman on two Spaghetti western documentaries: “Profession: Acrobat – an Afternoon with Riccardo Pizzut’” in 2008 and “Once Upon a Time in Texas” in 2015.

De FECCI, Edoardo [Italian] – cinematographer, cameraman, film editor.

Profession: Acrobat – an Afternoon with Riccardo Pizzuti – 2008

Once Upon a Time in Texas - 2015