Sunday, March 23, 2025

RIP Gianfranco Barra

 


Italian character actor Gianfranco Barra died in Rome on March 23rd. He was 84. Born in Rome on April 5, 1940, he appeared in more than 80 films, mainly as a character actor. Barra studied at the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts in his hometown. He was first active on stage, then made his film debut in 1968. He was also active on television, in commercials, and as a playwright. Barra appeared in only one Spaghetti western and that was in an uncredited role in 1972’s “Jesse & Lester - Two Brothers in a Place Called Trinity” starring Richard Harrison and Donal O’Brien.

From the WAI! vault

 











Little Known Spaghetti Western actors ~ Mađar Čikoš

[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.]

Mađar Čikoš was a Croatian stuntman and brother of the late Kasim Čikoš who was previously covered on May 29, 2019, under the “Who Are Those Guys” heading.

Madar was not as famous as his brother and finding information on him is nil. I can’t find any filmography on him so I have no idea how many films he may have participated in but it’s probably certain he participated in a number of the German Winnetou and other productions filmed in Croatia during the 1960s.

We do know that Madar appeared in at least one Euro-western, “Der Schatz im Silbersee” (The Treasure of Silver Lake) in 1962 as one of the Gonzles brothers. The other being his real-life brother Kasim.

CIKOS, Mađar (Mađar Čikoš) [Yugoslavian] – film actor, brother of stuntman, actor Kasim Čikoš (19??-deceased).

The Treasure of Silver Lake – 1962 (Gonzales brother)

Spaghetti Western Locations for “The Forgotten Pistolero”

We continue our search for film locations for "The Forgotten Pistolero". A carriage arrives at Tomas’ hacienda with Isabella and take her inside where Tomas is playing the harpsicord. He dismisses the men. He tells Isabella he doesn’t like to use violence, but it was the only way he could get to speak to her. He tells her she must lea Oaxaca as she has poisoned his life with her mother. She tells him he can kill but it won’t change her mother’s feelings as she only used Tomas as a tool to gain what she wanted. He slaps her and the scene ends.


According to Leonard Mann all the interior shots were filmed in Rome.

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi Yasuda’s location site: http://y-yasuda.net/film-location.htm and Captain Douglas Film Locations http://www.western-locations-spain.com/


Special Birthday

Ubaldo Arata (cinematographer) would have been 130 today but died in 1947.







Otto Dierichs (actor) would have been 125 today but died in 1978.









Ugo Sasso (actor) would have been 115 today but died in 1981.









Verónica Miriel (actress) is 70 today.


 

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Spaghetti Western Podcast Season 9, Episode 7 #147

 

Please join me today for another episode of The Spaghetti Western Podcast. We’ll cover in our ongoing series of the History of the Spaghetti Western the 1965 film “Why Go On Killing?” starring Anthony Steffen. Then we’ll discover who stunt actors and actors the Ukmar brothers are. Also, in Whatever Happened to I’ll talk about Luc Merenda. The Film of the Week is “A Bullet for the General” starring Lou Castel and Gian Maria Volonte. I’ll cover the LP/CDs of the week that go with these films. We’ll have some posters and an autograph to show. So please join me at high noon today PST as we kick off another interesting season of podcasts.

From the WAI! vault