Sunday, July 19, 2026
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Ann Collin
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Ann Collin was born Ann Reid on February 9, 1943, in Batavia, New York. She was an American singer, composer, and actress known for her contributions to Italian Spaghetti Western film soundtracks during the 1960s and 1970s. She provided vocals and sometimes compositions to notable soundtracks in the genre.
Collin's career extended beyond film into music performance, composition, and education, including teaching at Genesee Community College from 1996 to 2013 and receiving the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity in 2004, demonstrating versatility across stage, screen, and academia.
Collin died on October 20, 2016, in Buffalo, New York she was 73.
Ann Collin appeared in one Spaghetti western, “Si può fare... amigo” (It Can be Done... Amigo!) as the Sonny’s saloon girl in green dress in 1972.
COLLIN, Ann (aka Ann Reid Collin) (Ann M. Reid)
[2/9/1943, Batavia, New York, U.S.A. –10/20/2016, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.
(leukemia)] composer, songwriter, singer, musician (keyboards), actress,
married to intelligence officer, author Richard Oliver Collin (1962-19??)
mother of engineer Oliver Richard Collin [1963- ].
It Can be Done... Amigo! – 1972 (saloon girl in green
dress)
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
Who Are Those Singers & Musicians? ~ Tony Wendall
Tony Wendell is/was a professional singer and session vocalist who frequently collaborated with the legendary Italian composer and jazz musician Piero Umiliani. They worked together extensively on Piero Umiliani's 1960s and 1970s film soundtracks and lounge music projects, helping to blur the lines between European jazz and pop music.
Wendell provided smooth, lounge-style vocals on a variety of Piero Umiliani's projects, perfectly capturing the mid-century European cinematic and easy-listening aesthetic.
His origin and any other information remain a mystery.
WENDALL, Tony –
singer.
The Road to Fort Alamo - 1964 [Sings: “The Road to Fort Alamo”]
Special Birthdays
Robert Woods (singer, actor) is 90 today.
Hedy Sontag (actress) would have been 85 but died
in 2023.
Saturday, July 18, 2026
RIP Brenda Fricker
Irish actress Brenda Fricker, who became the first Irish
actress to win an Oscar for her turn opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in 1989’s “My
Left Foot” and captured hearts as the Pigeon Lady in 1992’s “Home Alone 2,”
died on Thursday in Dublin. She was 81. Born in Dublin, Ireland on February 17,
1945, to language teacher Bina Murphy and Desmond Frederick Fricker, a
journalist for the Irish Times. Before becoming an actor, she initially wanted
to be a journalist, and worked for the Irish Times as an assistant to the
paper’s art editor. Her first film appearance was when she was 19, in a small
uncredited part in the 1964 drama “Of Human Bondage.” She also had a minor
appearance in the Irish soap opera “Tolka Row” that year. In addition to her
film work, Fricker also had a long career on stage, acting in productions for
the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse.
Fricker appeared in one Euro-western “Painted Angels” as Annie Ryan in 1998.
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Judith Dornys
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Judith Dornys was a Hungarian actress and dancer known for her roles in German-language films during the 1960s. Born in Budapest, Hungary on February 21, 1941, Dornys took dance and ballet lessons from an early age in Budapest. She danced at numerous events during the late 1950s. In 1959, she became the youngest prima ballerina at the Städtische Oper Berlin (now known as the Deutsche Oper Berlin). That same year, she received the Berlin Critics' Prize for her achievements in dance as the young and most prominent member of the ballet ensemble. At age 18, she became the youngest prima ballerina at the Städtische Oper Berlin in 1959, following early dance and ballet training.
After achieving success as a ballet dancer, Judith Dornys transitioned to acting in the early 1960s. Dornys remained active as an actress from 1960 to 1969, appearing in German-language productions during a period when West German popular cinema flourished through genre films and European co-productions. She appeared often in supporting or "good girl" roles within adventure, comedy, and mystery genres. Notable films include “The Curse of the Hidden Vault” (1964), “Susanne, die Wirtin von der Lahn” (1967), and “Sexy Susan Sins Again” (1968). Her screen career was relatively brief, concluding by the end of the 1960s, after which she stepped away from public performance. Dornys died in Paris, France, at the age of 48.
Judith Dornys appeared in one Euro-western, “Heiß weht der Wind” (Legend of a Gunfighter) as Meg Bradley in 1964.
DORNYS, Judith (aka Judith Dornis, Fru Jørgen Hempel)
[2/21/1941, Budapest, Budapest, Hungary – 4/26/1989, Paris, Île-de-France,
France] – ballet dancer, film, TV actress, married to industrialist Jørgen
Hempel (1959-1989).
Legend of a Gunfighter – 1964 (Meg
Bradley)
Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers
Spaghetti Western Director ~ Roberto E. Guzmán
Roberto Eugenio Guzmán was a Mexican actor and director. He debuted as an actor in Ángel Ernesto Álvarez's first film, “El secreto de un pecado” in 1923. He left for Hollywood where he joined the American film industry, as one of the most outstanding actors and technicians of Hispanic cinema. In 1929, Roberto Guzmán appeared in the film “The Desert Song” by Ray de Ruth. In “Monsieur Le Fox” (Men of the North) by Hal Roach, he is responsible for the Spanish adaptation and direction of dialogue. In 1930 he continued as a actor in “Del mismo barro” (Common Clay) by David Howard. In 1931 he was cast in “The Impostor” (Scotland Yard) by Lewis Seiler.
In Mexico, Roberto Guzmán appeared in “Juárez and Maximiliano” by Miguel Contreras Torres 1933, and participated in the 1934 American production: “Un capitán de cosacos” by John Reinhardt.
He returned to Mexico and directed two films: Alma norteña/1938, a melodrama that he produced, wrote and adapted, about a married couple who owned a ranch in the Chihuahuan desert where some artists arrived who suffered a plane crash; a meeting that leads to a romance between the ranch boss and singer Laura. With Anita Campillo, Víctor Manuel Mendoza, Irma Allende, Rafael Burgoa and Gilberto González, among others. It was filmed from September 16, 1938 in the studios of the Cinematographic University and premiered on June 24, 1939 at the Imperial, Universal and Cartagena cinemas, where it remained for a week.
“About Northern Soul]” Thus, the pioneering spirit is located in an environment close to the western, where the North fights against the Center at the same time as virtue against vice, shaving against natural beauty, entrepreneurial work against showbiz apathy and the director of the film with his complete ignorance of what cinema is: Almost the entire film takes place in a distant shot that makes the reactions of the characters imperceptible.
Roberto E. Guzmán died in Mexico City from a heart attack on February 7, 1967. He was 68.
Roberto E. Guzmán directed two Euro-westerns: “El hombre malo” with William C. McGann and “Monsieur Le Fox” with Hal Roach both in 1930.
GUZMAN, Roberto E. (Roberto Eugenio Guzmán)
[1/30/1899, Puebla, Puebla, Mexico – 2/7/1967, Mexico City, Federal
District, Mexico (heart attack)] – director, writer, singer, actor, married to María Cristina Caso Marshall (1918-1965).
El hombre malo –
1930 (co)
Monsieur Le Fox (Men
of the North) – 1930 (co)
Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Maurizio Costanzo
Maurizio Costanzo was an Italian journalist, television host, screenwriter, and director who pioneered the modern talk show format in Italy. Born in Rome on August 28, 1938, as the only child of a transportation ministry employee and a homemaker, he entered journalism at age 18 by contributing to the newspaper Paese Sera.
Costanzo's television career, beginning in the 1960s with radio and progressing to screenwriting for films like “A Special Day” (1977), culminated in hosting ‘The Maurizio Costanzo Show’ from 1982 onward, a program that aired over 4,000 episodes and featured in-depth interviews with politicians, celebrities, and public figures, reshaping Italian broadcast entertainment. He also directed films and wrote screenplays, earning a Nastri d'Argento award for best screenplay in 1978. Costanzo survived a Mafia car bomb attack in 1993 near Rome's Teatro Parioli, an assassination attempt linked to his on-air campaigns against organized crime in Sicily, which injured him and his then-wife but underscored his role in public advocacy against corruption. Earlier, in 1980, he interviewed Licio Gelli, the controversial head of the Propaganda Due Masonic lodge implicated in political scandals, drawing criticism amid investigations into the group's influence. In his personal life, Costanzo was married four times, including to television producer Maria De Filippi from 1995 until his death from complications following surgery, and they collaborated professionally. He died in Rome on February 24, 2023, at age 84.
Maurizio Costanzo co-wrote one Spaghetti western, “I quattro del Pater Noster” (In the Name of the Father) with Augusto Finocchi, Luciano Ferri in 1969.
COSTANZO, Maurizio [8/28/1938, Rome,
Lazio, Italy – 2/24/2023, Parioli, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – director, writer,
songwriter, married to photographer Lori Sammartino [1924-1972] (1963-19??),
married to writer Flaminia Morandi [1947-
] (1973-1984) father of director, assistant director, writer, Camilla
Costanzo [1973- ], director, writer,
cinematographer, cameraman, actor Saverio Costanzo [1975- ], married to television presenter Marta
Flavi [1951- ] (1989-1995), married to
TV producer Maria De Filippi [1951- ]
(1995-2023) adoptive father of Gabriele Costanzo [1992- ].
In the Name of the
Father – 1969 (co)
Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Jiří Macháně
Jiří Macháně was born in Nové Mesto nad Metují, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia on December 27, 1940 and was a Czech cinematographer. Macháně graduated in cinematography at FAMU in 1964 and started working as a cameraman with the Czechoslovak Army Film production company. He made his debut as a cinematographer in 1969, in Jan Schmidt's Czech-Soviet co-production “The Lanfier Colony”.
Macháně's filmography consists of over 50 films and a number of television series. He is best known for his association with director Juraj Herz, with whom he worked in 15 films. His last work was the mystery-horror film “T.M.A.”, released in 2009. n 2015, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Czech Cinematographers. Macháně died on January 20, 2023, at the age of 82.
Jiří Macháně was a cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “Claim na Hluchém potoku” (The Claim at Deaf Creek) in 1971 and “Poslední výstrel Davida Sandela” (David Sandel’s Last Shot) in 1972.
MACHANE, Jiří (aka J. Macháně) (Jiří Macháně) [12/27/1940, Nové Mesto nad Metují, Protectorate of Bohemia and
Moravia – 1/20/2023, Prague, Czech Republic] – cinematographer, cameraman,
actor, awarded Lifetime Achievement Awar [2015].
The Claim at Deaf
Creek – 1971
David Sandel’s Last
Shot – 1972
Spaghetti Western Locations for “Companeros”.
We continue our hunt for filming locations for “Companeros”. The Penguin is buried up to his neck in a hole and El Vasco’s men prepare to ride over him. He tells Vasco he has the right as a Swedish citizen to ask for the protection of his ambassador Vasco tells him no. Penguin asks if General Mongo has arrived yet and is told no. Vasco tells him “The time that has arrived is the moment of his death.” Penguin tells Vasco he’s making a mistake that the general is a friend of his and is waiting for him. Vasco tells the Penguin that he is more a friend of Mongo and he is his representative. Everything he does is law. He bends down to Yodlaf and tells him to tell him why he gave him a dollar and he will make sure the Peguin will die on the first charge. He ignores him an Vasco prepares the men for the charge. Penguin asks for a drop of champagne but is ignored by Vasco who lites a cigar and climbs onto a platform to overlook the field, He addresses the crowd and tells them they are about to witness the squashing of the head. Vasco orders the charge and as the men ride their horses across the field an automobile drives up an General Mongo steps out. He cusses at Vasco and strips him of all rank and that he should be thankful he’s not stripping him his jackass head from his stupid shoulders. He asks where is the Swede and right below him the Swede answers that he loves Mongo.
This scene was filmed on the outskirts of El Argamasón, Carboneras, Spain.
Friday, July 17, 2026
Spaghetti Western Trivia – “Magnificent Brutes of the West” Rome Premier
At the Rome, September 1965, premier of “I magnifici
brutos del West” (The Magnificent Brutes of the West) a magnificent display of
props, including a stagecoach that was used in the film were on display for the
general public to draw attention and interest to the film’s showing.
[submitted by Michael Ferguson]
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Günter Dornag
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Günter Dorniag is/was a character/stuntman of unknown origin. He has only one film credit which was his only Euro-western as Günter Dornag in “Chingachgook, die große Schlange” (Chingachgook, the Great Snake) as a rider in 1967.
I can find no biographical information on him.
DORNAG, Günter (Günter Dorniag) [German] – film actor.
Chingachgook, the Great Snake – 1967
(rider)
Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers
Spaghetti Western Director ~ Anders Gullberg
Sven Anders Gullberg was born in Enskede, Stockholm, Sweden on August 4, 1947. He studied theatre, film and philosophy in Stockholm, National Film School, Beaconsfield, UK. Work with short-term engagement at SVT, RAI and ZDF. Has been making short films since 1972.
Anders Gullberg directed six Euro-westerns: “Encendero el tizonazo” in 2014, “La voluntad mas oscula” in 2015, “El palacio blanco de la reina” and “Rua raha” in 2017, “La vaca monteado” in 2018 and “Duelo en el saloon de una puerta abatable” in 2019.
GULLBERG, Anders (Sven Anders Gullberg) [8/4/1947,
Enskede, Stockholm, Sweden - ] –
producer, director, cinematographer, film editor, composer, musician.
Encendero el
tizonazo – 2014
La voluntad mas
oscula - 2015
El palacio blanco de
la reina – 2017
Rua raha - 2017
La vaca monteado -
2018
Duelo en el saloon
de una puerta abatable – 2019
Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Mario Costa
Italian production manager, director, assistant director, writer, film editor, actor was born in Rome on May 30, 1904. Costa’s work can be divided into two basic themes, first it was film versions of famous operas, later adventure films. He started working in films in his twenties, originally, he was an editor, production assistant, also involved in dubbing, and in the late thirties he also began writing scripts. His first film was the documentary film “Fontane di Roma” (1938), and his next short film “Pini di Roma” (1941) won an award at the Venice Film Festival. Mario Costa's feature directorial debut was the melodramatic story “La sua strada” (1943), for which he wrote the script himself and also edited it. After the war, Mario Costa focused on film adaptations of famous operas. After leaving the world of opera in the early 1950s, Mario Costa began making films of various genres, achieving another commercial triumph with the drama “Perdonami (1952) with Raf Vallon in the lead role. At the end of the 1950s, Mario Costa focused on adventure stories set in various historical periods, achieving wider acclaim with the film “I reali di Francia” (1959) starring Cuban star Chelo Alonso, and he also skillfully responded to the incipient interest in pirate stories with “La venere dei pirati” in 1961. Like other adventure filmmakers, he then switched to spaghetti westerns “Buffalo Bill” (1965). The last entry in Costa's filmography is the western “La Belva” (1970) with Klaus Kinski in the lead role.
COSTA, Mario (aka J.W. Fordson)
[5/30/1904, Rome, Lazio, Italy – 10/22/1995, Rome, Lazio, Italy] – production
manager, director, assistant director, writer, film editor, actor, married to ?
father of production manager, director, assistant director, writer, Massimo Costa
[1951-2004]
The Beast – 1970
(co)
Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Tonino Maccoppi
Antonio “Tonino” Maccoppi is/was an Italian cameraman and cinematographer. He worked as a cameraman on six films between 1968 and 1991. He then turned to cinematography and worked on thirty-two films from 1968-1993. He was sometimes credited using the alias, Tony Hasler.
Tonino Maccoppi was a cinematographer on two Spaghetti westerns: “Un dólar para Sartana” (Raise Your Hands Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest) in 1971 and “Spirito Santo e le cinque magnifiche canaglie” (Gunmen and the Holy Ghost) in 1972.
MACCOPPI, Tonino (aka Tony Hasler)
(Antonio Maccoppi) [Italian] – cinematographer, cameraman.
Raise Your Hands
Dead Man, You’re Under Arrest – 1971
Gunmen and the Holy
Ghost – 1972
Red Sun 4K UHD Review
Genre Grinder Cares
By: Gabe Powers
July 8, 2026
Label Arrow Video
4K UHD Release: July 14, 2026
Video: 1.85:1/2160p (HDR10/Dolby Vision)/Color
Audio: English LPCM 1.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Run Time: 115:04
Directors: Terence Young
Note: This review recycles aspects of my review of Cauldron Films’ release of Shanghai Joe (1973).
A ceremonial samurai sword intended as a gift to the U.S. President from the Japanese ambassador is stolen by the devilish rogue, Gauche (Alain Delon). To restore their honor and return the sword to its rightful owner, disgraced samurai Kuroda Jubei (Toshiro Mifune), double-crossed bandit Link Stuart (Charles Bronson), and femme fatale Christina (Ursula Andress) must set aside their differences and hunt down the merciless Gauche across the beautiful vistas of the American west. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
The so-called spaghetti westerns were a series of European films set largely in the American west, made mostly by Italians, shot in Spain, and often co-financed by West Germans. They were designed for multiregional release and utilized international casts to aid sales in other countries. These efforts ensured that the spaghettis were popular across Europe, North America, and Asia, especially in Japan, where the genre’s connections to samurai cinema weren’t forgotten, and in Hong Kong, where the style and mythical revisionism of the spaghettis inspired pioneering wuxia filmmakers.
Mutual admiration and the similar box office success of
kung fu and samurai flicks eventually led to a collection of East meets West
spaghettis, in which Japanese samurai and Chinese martial artists had
adventures alongside cowboys in the American Southwest. Early examples were
Enzo Peri’s Death Walks in Laredo (Italian: Tre pistole contro Cesare, 1968)
and Don Taylor & Italo Zingarelli’s The 5-Man Army (Italian: Un esercito di
5 uomini, 1969), but 1973 was the year that the mini-genre broke out with Bruno
Corbucci’s The Three Musketeers of the West (Italian: Tutti per uno... botte
per tutti), Tonino Ricci’s Karate, Fists & Beans (Italian: Storia di
karatè, pugni e fagioli), Alberto de Martino’s Here We Go Again, Eh Providence?
(Italian: Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza?), and Mario Caiano’s Shanghai Joe
(Italian: Il mio nome è Shangai Joe)*.
There were higher-profile examples, too, like The Stranger and the Gunfighter (Italian: Là dove non batte il sole, 1974), which paired Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh, and Take a Hard Ride (1975), a spaghetti-blaxploitation vehicle that teamed-up Van Cleef with Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, and martial arts star Jim Kelly – both directed by Antonio Margheriti – but none had the budget or notoriety of Terence Young’s Red Sun (French: Soleil rouge; Italian: Sole rossois, 1971), which is to The Stranger and the Gunfighter, as Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (Italian: C'era una volta il West, 1968) is to Sergio Corbucci’s Django (1966) – a lavishly produced variation on a theme designed for blockbuster markets and critical praise. It’s not as good as Leone’s film, but it has the same spirit of scale and grandeur, and even shares a cast member in Charles Bronson.
Red Sun’s cultural melting pot is also bigger than its counterparts’. The cast is built around four leads, mirroring that of Once Upon a Time in the West (probably on purpose), right down to the three men to one woman ratio. Instead of blending Hollywood and Italian stars, Red Sun represents four distinct countries – America in Bronson (reportedly, Young wanted Clint Eastwood), Switzerland in Ursula Andress, France in Alain Delon, and Japan with Toshiro Mifune.
Young was a versatile filmmaker who shot thrillers, dramas, musicals, and comedies. He was particularly gifted at staging action, which made him a leading director of war films and scored him the job of bringing the James Bond novel series to the big screen. His greatest claims to fame are Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965) – the first, second, and fourth Bond films, respectively – making him one of the architects of post-war spy cinema. Extremely capable and extremely influential, especially in Italy, where his films spawned a series of 007 knock-offs, if any (currently working) English director could compete with Leone, it would be Terence Young.
Mifune is the centerpiece of the film’s meta-casting. Arguably the biggest jidaigeki star to have ever lived, his storied career included Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961), the film Leone remade as Fistful of Dollars (Italian: Per un pugno di dollari, 1964), and Seven Samurai (1954), the film that John Sturges remade as Magnificent Seven (1960), co-starring Bronson. Red Sun was his only western, but not his first English language movie. Previously, he had a supporting part in John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix (1966), alongside western legend James Garner, and John Boorman’s Hell in the Pacific (1968), alongside western legend Lee Marvin.
Andress and Young had worked together previously on Dr. No, a film that made them stars, but which also pigeonholed their wider careers as Bond Girl and Bond director. Andress had made one other western, Robert Aldrich’s comedy 4 for Texas (1963), which had Bronson in a supporting role. She was such a regular fixture in Italy throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s that she might as well have been considered an Italian star at the time, instead of a Swiss one, for the sake of the box office.
Delon made his Hollywood debut in Ralph Nelson’s Once a
Thief (1965), followed by his first western, Michael Gordon’s Texas Across the
River (1966) with Andress’ 4 for Texas co-star Dean Martin. Like Andress, he
was already very popular in Italy, having worked with Luchino Visconti and
Michelangelo Antonioni. Around the same time as Red Sun, Delon was making crime
movies with known spaghetti western hater Jean-Pierre Melville and transferred
the cool persona he’d cultivated on Le Samouraï (1967), Le Cercle Rouge (1970),
and Un Flic (1972) straight into his role as Red Sun’s main antagonist.
The film (not to be confused with Rudolf Thome’s Rote Sonne, also 1970) was co-financed by French, Italian, and Spanish producers and filmed in Almeria, Spain in locations and sets that are familiar to any spaghetti western fan – the opening train heist, for example, was shot in the same La Calahorra rock formation as the opening train heist from Damiano Damiani’s Bullet for the General (Italian: Quien Sabe?, 1966). The supporting cast includes familiar faces, too, including Luc Merenda, Guido Lollobrigida, Hungarian Barta Barri, Spaniard Ricardo Palacios, and Englishman Anthony Dawson (who also worked with Young on Dr. No and From Russia with Love).
Unlike Burt Kennedy’s Hannie Caulder (1971), which was also co-financed by Brits and shot around Almeria with a partially Spanish crew, Red Sun tries too hard to appeal to the broadest possible audience and finds itself lacking core themes and signature images. Making a spaghetti-baguette-paella-beans-on-toast western requires too many cooks in the kitchen, it seems. Still, Young was one of the greatest action directors of his generation and Red Sun is ultimately worth watching for its shoot outs and its novelty casting, especially during the scenes where Bronson, cast somewhat against type as the funny one, and Mifune play odd couple.
Just for fun, here’s a screencap from the beginning of the film. Note that the wanted poster beside Charles Bronson appears to have a picture of Tony Musante’s character, Paco, from Sergio Corbucci’s The Mercenary (Italian: Il Mercenario; aka: A Professional Gun, 1968) on it, albeit with a different name. I don’t believe that this is an intended easter egg, but the result of production designers reusing props.
* On the opposite end of the spectrum is Luigi Vanzi’s The Silent Stranger (Italian: Lo straniero di silenzio; aka: A Stranger in Japan, 1968), which flips the script, sending writer/star Tony Anthony’s titular bounty hunter to Edo Japan.
Video
Red Sun was borderline unwatchable on digital video in the US. There were two pan & scan DVDs from Fox Lorber and UAV, and it never had an official stateside Blu-ray release. Digital streaming or imports from Europe were the only available options. Studio Canal premiered the film on 4K UHD in the UK and France in 2024. At its base, Arrow’s US UHD/BD debut utilizes the Studio Canal’s 4K/HDR master; however, R3Store Studios and Arrow appear to have done their own grading pass, because the color timing is a bit different. The images on this page are taken from Arrow’s Blu-ray edition and I’ve also included some sliders featuring the UK Blu-ray release.
Neither 1080p transfer demonstrates the difference that the 4K resolution and Dolby Vision upgrades give both 2160p UHD transfers, but they do illustrate the subtle color differences. For example, the Arrow transfer corrects Studio Canal’s slightly greenish skies, but also pumps up the redness of the skin tones. What I can’t show you here is that the Arrow disc’s Dolby Vision pass is a bit more impressive than SC’s, but not really enough to garner re-buying the set if you already own the UK or French one. Outside of these very minor differences, both releases look great. I noticed some slightly mushy wide-angle details, but textures are consistent, grain is fine and natural, and there aren’t any major print damage artifacts.
Audio
Red Sun comes fitted with an uncompressed LPCM soundtrack in its original mono sound. Unlike most of the movies that fall under the Eurowestern heading, a lot of scenes appear to have been shot using sync’d sound, which is better for the performance quality, but does lead to issues of volume and clarity inconsistency. The track has a bit more depth than expected and exhibits only minor distortion at high volume. The final ingredient in this Hollywood-tier production crew is legendary composer Maurice Jarre, known best for collaborating with David Lean on Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Jarre doesn’t go full Lean, nor does he mimic Ennio Morricone, which would’ve still been in vogue.
Extras
Commentary by critics C. Courtney Joyner and Henry Parke – Joyner, the author of The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers (McFarland, 2009) and director of Trancers III (1992), and Parke, author of The Greatest Westerns Ever Made and the People Who Made Them (TwoDot, 2024), explore the making of Red Sun, the ins & outs of international financing, connections to other European and American westerns, and the wider careers of the cast & crew
A Global Western (31:54, HD) – Action/Spectacle: A Sight and Sound Reader (BFI, 2000) author Jose Arroyo discusses the film’s production, its mash-up quality, its structure, its release and eventual cult following, and the circular influence shared by European and Hollywood movies.
The Ghosts of the Samurai (31:12, HD) – Professor of Japanese Films at the University of California San Diego Daisuke Miyao focuses mostly on Mifune, the real history behind the film, the history of samurai fiction, western film influences in Japan, and connections between Mifune and Delon via Melville’s Le Samouraï.
The Man with the Gold Tooth (14:56, HD) – Action Figures: Men, Action Films, and Contemporary Adventure Narratives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) author Mark Gallagher wraps things up with a retrospective look at the career of Alain Delon.
Archival French TV promos:
Pour le cinéma (3:27, SD) – Behind-the-scenes featurette and Terence Young interview.
Un journal du cinéma (2:03, SD) – Press tour interviews with Terence Young and Toshiro Mifune.
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
1968 Classic, Inspired by Real-Life Tragedy, Named Among Best Western Movies of 1960s ‘The Great Silence’ is a hugely underrated classic Western.
Men’s Journal
By Jack Walters
July 1, 2026
By many, the 1960s are widely considered the best decade
for the Western genre. While Hollywood classics like Stagecoach and The
Searchers had already been and gone, this era saw the rise of the so-called
Spaghetti Western—a cinematic movement in Italy that aimed to emulate and
evolve the classic Hollywood style.
Sergio Corbucci was among the most renowned filmmakers of this period, breaking into the scene with 1966’s Django, which became an immediate Western classic. But while Django is still remembered as a staple of the genre today, some of Corbucci’s lesser-known films have slipped through the cracks.
According to a ranking by Collider, Corbucci’s best film was actually The Great Silence, which he made just two years after Django. The Western stars Jean Louis Trintignant as a mute outlaw tasked with protecting a group of outlaws from the dangerous bounty hunters looking to take them down.
It’s a classic story of power, conflict, and sacrifice that clearly drew inspiration from many other Westerns that preceded it, but The Great Silence also garnered attention for its original, powerful screenplay that was reportedly influenced by several real-life events.
Corbucci claimed that The Great Silence was conceived as a political allegory following the deaths of Che Guevara and Malcolm X. The film intended to subvert typical tropes of the Western genre to provide a modernized, destabilizing Western that forced audiences to confront the real dangers of society in the 1960s.
While The Great Silence is now viewed as one of Corbucci’s greatest movies, and perhaps his strongest writing accomplishment, the film wasn’t an immediate success when it was first released in Italy. Its dark, bleak story was offputting to many contemporary critics, but the film was thankfully reevaluated in the years that followed with the benefit of hindsight.
Critics saw just how much Corbucci’s film had influenced
the genre and finally respected the brave storytelling decisions he’d taken to
subvert the traditional Hollywood tropes and build something much more socially
relevant. Today, it’s viewed as a shining jewel in the Spaghetti Western
movement, with many modern critics putting it on par with Django as Corbucci’s
magnum opus.
Special Birthdays
Piero Umiliani (composer) would have been 100 today but died in 2001.
Thomas Keck [voice actor] would have been 95 today
but died in 2015.
Thursday, July 16, 2026
RIP Margarita Andrey
Spanish actress Margarita Andrey died in Madrid at the
age of 99 on July 15 in Madrid, Spain, the management entity AISGE reported on
Wednesday. Born in Madrid on September 19, 1926, she achieved fame in just a
decade of profession in films such as “Historias de la Radio” and “Aeropuerto”,
before retiring from the profession after marrying in 1956 and having two
children. Andrey appeared in one Euro-western, “El sobrino de don Buffalo Bill”
(The Nephew of Buffalo Bill) as Mariana Sheriff in 1944.
Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Marie Dorly
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Marie Dorly was a French actress who was born sometime in the late 1800s. She was probably a stage actress who also made over 50 films between 1909 and 1917. Marie was highly active in the 1910s and she is best remembered for her collaborations with legendary directors like Louis Feuillade and Léonce Perret, often playing supporting roles such as mothers, maids, or housekeepers in early cinema classics. There were a number of actors, actresses and singers named Dorly who were active during this period but their relationships to one another is unknown.
Marie Dorly appeared in on Euro-western, “Calino Wants to be a Cowboy) as a saloon patron in 1911.
DORLY, Marie [French] – film actress.
Calino Wants to be a Cowboy – 1911
(saloon patron)
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