Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Alfred Machin

Alfred Machin was a French film director, producer, and cinematographer known for his pioneering contributions to early cinema, including documentary filmmaking in Africa, innovative technical experiments, and progressive narrative works such as the pacifist film Maudite soit la guerre.

Born on April 20, 1877, in Blendecques, Pas-de-Calais, Machin began his career as a cameraman for Pathé Frères at the start of the 20th century. He shot documentary shorts in Central Africa from 1907 to 1909, capturing wild animals and indigenous communities, and later incorporated exotic animals into his work after bringing some back to France. In 1908 he traveled to the Netherlands, where he directed short documentaries and fiction films for Pathé's Dutch subsidiary, often featuring traditional Dutch imagery for export markets. By 1913 he had relocated to Belgium as general manager of Belge-Cinéma-Film, Pathé's local branch, directing the country's first feature film Le Diamant noir and his best-known work, the anti-war drama “Maudite soit la guerre” (1914), which employed early color techniques and aerial filming.

Machin served in the French army during World War I, helping establish the Photographic Service of the French Army and filming front-line footage for Pathé. After the war he founded a production studio in Nice with a private zoo, directing animal-themed comedies and other films until his death on June 16, 192,9 at the age of 52, from injuries caused by a panther during a shoot. His career reflects a rare progressive vision among early French filmmakers, blending technical innovation with humanitarian themes.

Alfred Machin directed on silent Euro-western, “Le cow-boy John cherche un engagement au music-hall” in 1913.

MACHIN, Alfred (Eugène Alfred Jean Baptiste Machin) [4/20/1877, Blendecques, Pas-de-Calais, Nord, France – 6/16/1929, Nices, Alpes-Maritimes, France (embolism)] – reporter, photographer, producer, director, writer, cameraman, married to actress Germaine Lecuyer (Germaine Madeleine Lécuyer) [1886–1947] (1913-1929) father of Freddy Machin [1913-1974], Ginette Machin [1918-1951], actor Claude Machin [1921-1978], founded Hollandiche Film [1911], Belge Film.

Le cow-boy John cherche un engagement au music-hall – 1913

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Claudio Failoni

Claudio Failoni was an Italian screenwriter who was an assistant director on two films from 1969 and 1970 and co-wrote one screenplays for one film and that was also his only Spaghetti western, “Quel caldo maledetto giorno di fuoco” (Gatling Gun) with Paolo Bianchini, Franco Calderoni and José Luis Merino in 1968.

I can find biographical information on him.

FAILONI, Claudio [Italian] – assistant director, writer.

Gatling Gun – 1968 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Joe Rosenthal

Joe Rosenthal was a British director, cameraman and cinematographer born in Whitechapel, London on March 30, 1864. Joseph was the son of Jewish jeweler and general trader Joseph Rosentall and his second wife Matilda Brokenbrow. He worked as a pharmaceutical chemist before he joined the Continental Commerce Company, Edison film agents in London, in late 1897. He had been recommended to its manager Charles Urban by his younger sister Alice Rosenthal, who was the company's sales manager, on account of his knowledge of photography

He was a pioneering British camera operator and film director regarded by film historians as one of the world's first true professional war cinematographers. He began his career capturing early documentary footage and went on to document major global conflicts, including the Second Boer War (1899–1900) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904). The Film “Hiawatha” in 1903, which Rosenthal directed and filmed was also known as “Hiawatha, the Messiah of the Ojibway” It was filmed on location in Ontario, Canada, it is historically significant as the first fiction film ever made in Canada.

Rosenthal filmed in Borneo and India before being dismissed by Charles Urban in 1907. In 1908 he set up his own film company, Rosie Films (his nickname was 'Rosie') in Croydon, being joined in 1909 by his sister Alice as its sales manager. Rosie Films made both comedy and documentary films, but Rosenthal had little gift for fiction, and only one of his travel films made a significant impact, “A Trip to the White Sea Fisheries” (1909), which gained praise for its realism and the difficulties experienced in producing it. The company folded in 1913 and Rosenthal played a diminishing role in film production thereafter. Rosenthal directed twebty-nine films between 1903 and 1914, was a cameraman on two films in 1903 and again in 1935 and was a cinematographer on two hundred ninety-nine films between 1900 and 1931.

He had married Alice Mary Williams in 1893, and their son Joseph Rosenthal Jnr. (1894-1940) became a cinematographer on several British feature films in the 1920s. Joseph Rosenthal died in 1946 in Croydon, Surrey, England. He was 82 years-old.

Joe Rosenthal was a cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “Hiawatha” and “On the Bear River Horse Ranch” both in 1903.

ROSENTHAL, Joe (Joseph Rosenthal) [3/30/1864, Whitechapel, London, England, U.K. – 3/17/1946, Croydon, Surrey, England, U.K.]– director, cinematographer, married to Alice Mary William [1866-19??] (1893-19??) father of cinematographer Joseph Rosenthal Jr. [1894-1940].

founded Rosie Films [1908-1913]

Hiawatha - 1903

On the Bear River Horse Ranch – 1903