Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Joë Hamman

Joë Hamman was the grandson of the Belgian painter Edouard Hamman (1819-1888), his Belgian-Dutch father is one of the best experts in paintings and his grandmother was a maid of Empress Eugenie's company. He rubs shoulders in his childhood with many writers (Dumas son, Maupassant, Feydeau). He studied in London and Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. It is thus that he will become a remarkable watercolor artist illustrating including Balzac, Perrault, Edgar Poe, The Satyricon, The Tales of a Thousand and One Nights ...

At 21, on a business trip with his father to the United States, he meets his idol William Frederic “Buffalo Bill” Cody. He rides with him in the plains of Nebraska and meets the Indians and cowboys who will exert a boundless fascination on him. He began riding on a Montana ranch and during this long stay, young Joe entered the Pine Ridge Sioux Game Reserve in Dakota and met the Indian leader Red Cloud. Back in France, he started writing scripts and drawing the characters. He becomes a director, screenwriter, actor, and stuntman.

Few people know that westerns were shot in France at the same time as the Americans, in the 1910s in the Camargue, and Joe Hamman was the protagonist. He started in 1906 with a short movie, “Cowboy”, which was a huge public success. The company Eclipse then ordered the series “Arizona Bill”. With Jean Durand, Gaston Roudès and others. It met such great success that he will shoot an impressive number of films (nearly 200) on for companies such as Lux, Eclipse, Eclair, Pathé.

In 1921, he created "The Films Joe Hamman". His film career will continue with Henri Fescourt, Jean de Baroncelli, (Mireille), the Ciné-Romans series (Rouletabille), etc. These drawings by Joe Hamman will complete a background already rich in the career of this great filmmaker. In fact, in 1946, Henri Langlois and Musidora agreed with the Cinémathèque française in the framework of the Commission for Historical Research to collect his memories. His testimony is preciously preserved in the archives as well as posters, a cowboy costume, a manuscript script and many films including “Hanging at Jefferson City” (1911), “Calino Wants to be Cowboy” (1911) and “The Monts en flamme” (1931).

In 1962, he publishes his memories in a book prefaced by Jean Cocteau, From Far West to Montmartre, edited by the French Publishers.

Hamman died in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France on June 30, 1974 at the age of 90.

Joë Hamman directed eleven Euro-westerns: “Cow-boy” (Cowboy in 1907, “Un cow-boy a Paris” (A Cowboy in Paris) in 1908, “Les aventures de Buffalo Bill” (The Adventures of Buffalo Bill) and “Un drame au Far West” (A Drama in the Far West) both in 1909, “Les aventures d’Arizona Bill” (The Adventures of Buffalo Bill) with Jean Durand and Gaston Roudès 1911-1913, “Les diables rouges” (The Red Devils) and “L’oiseau de proie” both in 1911, “Les mystere de la banquet d’el city” (The Mystery of the Elk City Bank) and “La ville souterraine” (The Subterranean City), “210 contre 213” (210 vs 213) all in 1913 and “Le coeur d’un pere” in 1914.

HAMMAN, Joë (Jean Paul Arthur Hamman) [10/26/1883, Paris, Île-de-France, France – 6/30/1974, Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France] – production manager, director, assistant director, writer, stuntman, film actor, grandson of the Belgian painter Edouard Hamman [1819-1888], married to actress Vesta Harold (19??-19??).

Cowboy – 1907

A Cowboy in Paris - 1908

The Adventures of Buffalo Bill – 1909

A Drama in the Far West – 1909

Les aventures d’Arizona Bill – 1911-1913 (co)

Les diables rouges – 1911

L’oiseau de proie – 1911

Les mystere de la banquet d’el city - 1913

The Subterranean City – 1913

210 contre 213 - 1913

Le coeur d’un pere -1914

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Alex Cox

Alexander B. H. Cox was born in Bebington, Merseyside, England, a on December 15, 1954, and is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor, non-fiction author, and broadcaster, best known for his early cult classics “Repo Man” (1984) and “Sid and Nancy” (1986).

Cox's films are characterized by an anarchic punk aesthetic, anti-authoritarian themes, and a rejection of conventional Hollywood narratives, often blending satire, genre elements, and historical revisionism. After initial commercial success with “Repo Man”—a punk-infused sci-fi comedy that won the Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival—and the biopic “Sid and Nancy”, which earned Gary Oldman a BAFTA nomination for portraying Sid Vicious, Cox's career pivoted following the critical but box-office flop “Walker” (1987), an anti-imperialist take on the 19th-century filibuster William Walker that alienated studios and prompted his self-exile to independent and international productions.

Subsequent works like “Highway Patrolman” (1991), filmed in Mexico and praised for its gritty portrayal of corruption, reflect Cox's shift to low-budget filmmaking outside the U.S., where he has directed, written, and acted in projects emphasizing outsider perspectives and critiques of power structures. Despite mainstream marginalization—attributed by Cox himself to his uncompromising style and refusal to conform—his influence endures in indie cinema, with recent reflections underscoring a deliberate farewell to Hollywood's commercial constraints.

Cox is married to Tod Davies, an American writer, producer, publisher, and founder of Exterminating Angel Press. The couple has collaborated professionally on several projects, including script revisions for films such as “Three Businessmen” (1998), where Davies contributed uncredited work alongside Cox. They reside in Colestin, Oregon, a rural area near the California border, where they have lived for over several decades.

Alex Cox wrote screenplays for four Euro-westerns: “The Black Hills” in 1976, “Once Upon a Time...” in 2005, “Eventos en el campo” in 2022 and “Dead Souls” with Gianni Garko in 2024.

COX, Alex (Alexander B.H. Cox) [12/15/1954, Bebington, Merseyside, England, U.K. -     ] – producer, director, assistant director, author, writer, songwriter, cameraman, film editor, married to producer, actress Tod Davies [1955-    ] (2000-    ).

The Black Hills - 1976

Once Upon a Time... – 2005

Eventos en el campo – 2022

Dead Souls – 2024 (co)

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Charles Magnusson

Charles Magnusson was a Swedish film producer and studio executive known for his leadership in shaping the Golden Age of Swedish silent cinema during the early 20th century. Widely regarded as the "grand old man" of Swedish film production, he played a central role in elevating Swedish cinema to international prominence through strategic vision and key artistic decisions.

Born on January 26, 1878, in Gothenburg, Sweden, Magnusson initially worked as a professional photographer and newsreel cameraman starting in the early 1900s, capturing significant events and operating cinemas before transitioning to film production. In 1908, he became managing director of AB Svenska Biografteatern (Svenska Bio), where he relocated the company to Stockholm in 1911, constructed studios on Lidingö, and recruited exceptional talents including cinematographer Julius Jaenzon and directors Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, whose works became cornerstones of Swedish film history.

Under his guidance, Svenska Bio produced acclaimed silent films such as “A Man There Was” (1917), “The Outlaw and His Wife” (1918), “Sons of Ingmar” (1919), and “The Phantom Carriage” (1921). In 1919, he orchestrated the merger of Svenska Bio with Skandia to form Svensk Filmindustri (SF), expanding production facilities and establishing international offices. He continued in his executive role until 1928, leaving a lasting legacy on Swedish cinema through his administrative skill, artistic intuition, and forward-thinking approach.

He also served as cinematographer and producer on early short films and actualities, including “Resa Stockholm-Göteborg genom Göta och Trollhätte kanaler” (1908), “Göta elf-katastrofen” (1908), “Krigsbilder från Bohuslän” (1907), and “Bilder från Fryksdalen” (Gösta Berlings land) (1907).

Magnusson died on January 18, 1948, in Stockholm week prior to turning 70.

Charles Magnusson was a cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “Cowboy John dans le Rôle du Garçon de Course de la Modiste” and “Cowboy John Postule pour un emploi à l'émission de Variétés” both in 1912.

MAGNUSSON, Charles (Charles Fredrik Magnusson) [1/26/1878, Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden – 1/18/1948, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden] – producer, director, writer, co-founded Svenska Biografteatern AB [1906-1919].

Cowboy John dans le Rôle du Garçon de Course de la Modiste – 1912

Cowboy John Postule pour un emploi à l'émission de Variétés - 1912