Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Nathan H. Juran

 

Nathan Juran was a Romanian-born American film art director and director, best known for his Academy Award-winning contributions to art direction and his later work in science fiction and fantasy cinema.

Born Naftuli Hertz Juran in Gura Humorului, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary on September 9, 1907, to a Jewish family, he immigrated to the United States in 1912 with his parents, settling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Juran earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota and a master's in architecture from MIT, and spent a summer on scholarship at L’École des Beaux-Arts in France, practicing as an architect before entering the film industry in 1937 as an art director at RKO and later 20th Century Fox.

In 1941, Juran shared the Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Black-and-White) for “How Green Was My Valley”, directed by John Ford, and received a nomination for “The Razors Edge” in 1946. He transitioned to directing in 1952 with “The Black Castle” and gained prominence in genre films, collaborating with stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen on “20 Million Miles to Earth” (1957), “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), and “First Men in the Moon” (1964). Other notable directorial efforts include the cult classic “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958, credited as Nathan Hertz) and “Hellcats of the Navy” (1957) starring Ronald Reagan. Juran also worked in television and received a Life Career Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for his enduring influence on the genres.

Juran died in Palos Verdes Estates, California on October 23,2002 at the age of 95.

JURAN, Nathan H. (aka Nathan Hertz, Jerry Juran, Nathan Hertz Juran) (Naftuli Hertz Juran) [9/1/1907, Gura Humora, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary – 10/23/2002, Palos Verdes Estates, California, U.S.A.] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, married to actress Anne Rose Tarnoff [1910-1998] (1930-1937) father of Warren R. Juran [1934-19??], married to Julia Moorer [1907-1992] (1944-1992), married to Catherine W. Davis [1928-2017] (1994-2002) honored with the Lifetime Career Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, U.S.A. [1999].

Land Raiders – 1969

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Enzo Dell Aquila

 

Vincenzo ‘Enzo’ dell Aquila was born in Naples, Italy in 1935. He wrote screenplays for fifteen films between 1964 and 1975 sometimes using the alias Vincent Eagle. He also directed seven films from 1963 to 1988 and was an assistant director on 1965’s “Te lo leggo negli occhi”.

After graduating in 1962 from the Centro sperimentale di cinematografia, where he studied with Fernando Di Leo and directed the short film Un cuore per odiarvi, Dell'Aquila directed an episode of the sketch comedy ‘Gli eroi di ieri, oggi, domani’ in 1963 and then devoted himself mainly to screenwriting. Until 1969, he mainly wrote spaghetti western scripts; One of his two independent productions also falls under this genre in 1967. In the early 1970s, Dell'Aquila moved to television, where he was responsible for the program ‘L'altra domenica’. In 1981, he directed ‘Rosso Tiziano’ for Rai.

Enzo is often given credit for the concept of 1965’s “For a Few Dollars More” directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volonte.

Dell, AQUILA, Enzo (aka Vincent Eagle) (Vincenzo dell’Aquila) [1935, Naples, Campania, Italy -     ] – director, assistant director, writer.

7 Guns for the Mac Gregors – 1965 (co) [as Vincent Eagle]

And Then a Time for Killing – 1966

A Golden Sheriff – 1966 (co)

Up the MacGregors! – 1966 (co) [as Vincent Eagle]

Professionals for a Massacre – 1967 (co)

Bury Them Deep – 1968 (co)

Tequila Joe – 1968 (co)

Sartana the Gravedigger – 1969 (co)

Western Boy’s Story – 196? [film was never made]

I ragazi di Rio Grande – 19?? (co) [film was never made]

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Pietro Noribidelli

Pietro Noribidelli is/was an Italian cameraman and cinematographer. Pietro has been a costume designer for the TV movie ‘Ybris’ in 1984, a cameraman on four films and television shows between 1956 and 1965. He’s best known as a cinematographer working on eight films and TV series between 1962 and 1990.

I can find no biographical information on him.

MORBIDELLI, Pietro (aka P. Morbidelli) [Italian] – cinematographer, cameraman.

Tex and the Lord of the Deep – 1985