A HOLE IN THE FOREHEAD

Un buco in fronte - Italian title
Quand je tire c’est pour tuer - French title
Ein Loch in der Stirn - German title
O horos ton epikirygmenon - Greek title
Son Kursun - Tuekish title
A Bullet Between the Eyes - English title
A Hole in the Forehead - English title

A 1968 Italian production [Tigielle 33 (Rome)]
Producers: Antonio Lucatelli, Francesco Giorgi
Director: Joseph Warren (Giuseppe Vari)
Story: Adriano Bolzoni
Screenplay: Adriano Bolzoni
Cinematography: Amerigo Gengarelli [Technicolor, Techniscope]
Music: Robert Pregadio
Running time: 91 minutes

Cast:
Billy/John Blood - Anthony Ghidra (Dragomir Bojanic)
General Munguja - Robert Hundar (Claudio Undari)
Adelita - Rosy Zichel
Placida - Corinne Fontaine
Miguel - Jhon Bryan
Encarnacio - Elsa Janet Waterston
Tedder - Giorgio Gargiullo
Padre Blasco - John McDouglas (Giuseppe Addobbati)
Murienda - Bruno Cattaneo
Epifani - Mario Darnell (Mario Dardanelli)
Garrincha - Luigi Marturano
padre - Giuseppe Castellano

In the Sierra Nevada Mountains there is a hidden treasure stolen from the army of Santa Ana hidden in a secret place. In order to locate the treasure one has to locate three cards on which a map is drawn, each of which is owned by a different person: one is the army deserter Munguja, the second is in the hands of the bandit named Murienda, the third one is owned by Garrincha, another outlaw. Murienda, becomes aware of the fact that Munguja has one of the cards. Needing help he contacts gunslinger Billy Blood and makes a rendezvous at the mission of San Juan. Unfortunately Murienda is killed before arriving at mission San Juan where the monks have buried him. During the night, four henchmen of Munguja exhume the body of Murienda and take the card. Blood intervenes and eliminates the bandits and then forces the rest of the gang to take him to Los Cerritos, Munguja’s lair. Here, the gunslinger also takes possession of the second card, but the outlaw chases and recaptures him. Blood manages to escape, with the help of two Mexican girls and reaches the mission of San Juan, only to discover that Munguja and his men have killed all the monks and found the treasure. Garrincha has set a trap for Munguja and Blood. The three meet at the mission where the treasure is hidden and face a final showdown.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2EqIbSIwUg

Spaghetti Western Locations

Spaghetti western locations for "Duck You Sucker". The opening scene shows Juan waiting for a stagecoach. This location although easy to find the area was difficult to find the exact hill as there is nothing left of the buildings here but there are other hills and deserted buildings in the area that confuse the explorer. The location is northeast of Tabernas approximately 2.3 km. north of the solar generating plant, the rambla is called Rambla del Saltador. It is next to an agricultural test area and you will see posting as you drive up and down the many dirt roads in the area. As you drive into the area the hill is the closest hill on your left to the main road. Look for the ring of trees that surround the base of the hill.

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi ‘Garringo’ Yasuda’s excellent website: http://y-yasuda.net/

Happy 85th Birthday Lina Wertmuller

Lina Wertmuller was born on August 14, 1926 in Rome, Italy to descendants of a wealthy Swiss family. At 17 she enrolled at the Theatre Academy directed by Peter Sharoff. For several years she worked as an animator and director of puppets for Maria Signorelli. She then moved to stage work assisting such directors as Guido Salvini, Giogio De Lullo and Garinei & Giovannini. Lina then began working in television as a writer and director. She was an assistant director on Virna Lisi’s first film "E Napoli canta" (1953). She worked as an assistant director under Federico Fellini on "La dolce vita" (1960) and "8 ½" (1963). Her directing debut took place in 1963 with "I basilischi" which earned a Silver Sail award at the Locarno Film Festival. During the 1970s she collaborated with Giancarlo Giannini on a number of films such as "Mimi metallurgico ferito nell’onore" (1972) to "Pasqualino Settebellezze" (aka "Seven Beauties") (1975) which had great success in the U.S.A. and for which she became the first woman to be nominated and win a Best Director Award. In the 1980s she started directing operas before returning to film direction in the 1990s with "Ferdinando and Carolina" (1999) and "Francesca and Nunziata" (2001) with Sophia Loren. Today Lina continues to direct and write occasionally. Wertmuller under the alias Nathan Witch is the only woman to direct a Spaghetti western, "The Belle Starr Story" starring Elsa Martinelli, Robert Woods and George Eastman which she also wrote using the alias George Brown. Lina is the mother of actress Maria Zulima Job [1991- ] Today we celebrate Lina Wertmuller’s 85^th Birthday.

Remembering René Goscinny

René Goscinny was born into a Jewish-Polish family in Paris, France on July 14, 1926. During World War II the family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. After his father’s death from a brain hemorrhage he returned to France and in 1946 joined the French Army. After the war he went to New York where his mother was living with her brother and his family. René found work in an advertising company where he met Harvey Kurtzman the future founder of Mad magazine. Goscinny published his first children’s book Playtime Stories in 1948. He returned to Paris on vacation and met Morris (Maurice de Bevere) who was the creator of Lucky Luke. The two became friends and he became a writer for the comic strip while he continued to release his own children’s books. In 1959 René created his most famous character Asterix. Goscinny has written under several pseudonyms such as René Maldecq, René Macaire, Agostini, and Liliane d'Orsay. In 1967 he married Gilberte Pollaro-Millo and in 1968 his daughter Anne is born, who also became a writer. Goscinny's work on the Lucky Luke comic strip was the basis for 10 Euro-westerns from "Judge Roy Bean" (1971) to "Lucky Luke" (2009). René died from a heart attack on November 5, 1977. Today we remember René Goscinny on what would have been his 85^th birthday.

HIS NAME WAS POT... THEY CALLED HIM ALLEGRIA

Il suo nome era Pot - Italian title
Il suo nome era Pot... ma... lo chiamavano Allegria! - Italian title
Lobo the Bastard - Australian title
Lobo o bastardo - Brazilian title
Zijn Naam was Pot - Dutch title
Mon nom est Pote - French title
Seine Name war Pot - aber sie nannten ihn Halleluja - German title
Seine Waff was Dynamit - German title
His Name was Pot... They Called Him Joy - English title
Django Always Draws Second - U.K. title
A Hero Called Allegria - U.S.A. title
His Name Was Pot... They Called Him Allegria - English title

A 1971 Italian production [Elektra Film (Rome)]
Producers: Massimo Bernardi, Diego Spataro
Director: Dennis Ford/Slim Alone (Lucio Dandolo). Demofilo Fidani
Story: Lucio Giachin (Lucio Dandolo), Diego Spataro
Screenplay: Lucio Giachin (Lucio Dandolo), Diego Spataro
Cinematography: Mario Mancini [Eastmancolor, widescreen]
Music: Nico Fidenco (Dominic Colarossi)
Running time: 95 minutes

Cast:
Kid ‘Pot’ Potter/Allegria - Peter Martell (Pietro Martellanza)
Ray Potter - Gordon Mitchell (Charles Pendleton)
Steve - Lincoln Tate
Damon - John Deker
girl at fiesta – Erika Blanc (Enrica Colombatto)
saloon patron - Elio Angelucci
with: Sterling Ross, Frankie Coursy (Franco Corso), Custer Gail (Amerigo Leoni), Daniela Girodana, Marcel McHoniz (Marcello Maniconi), Lucky McMurray (Luciano Conti), Xiro Papas (Ciro Papas), Joseph Scrobogna (Giuseppe Scrobogna), Rick Boyd (Federico Boido), Claudio Ruffini, Carla Mancini

Pot, a light-hearted outlaw with sarcastic ways, carries out a bank robbery with the help of his brother Ray, a former undertaker, and a ferocious bandit named Steve. Steve is determined to keep for himself all of the loot. He kills Ray, but becomes in turn a prisoner of Lobo, a Mexican bandit, who also wants to take the stolen money. Lobo faces Pot, who kills him and frees Steve who he is unaware of the assassination of his brother. Then, with the evidence of the crime committed by Steve beats him to death, riding away with the loot. Stopping to take a bath in a pond, a peon robs him of everything. Without losing his usual cheerfulness, Pot, completely naked, resumes its journey towards new adventures.

Guess Who I Am

My sister and I were born in 1947 and are singers, dancers and actresses. Guess who we are.

We run a boutique in London today. Guess who we are.

Smjango correctly identified this week's photo as that as half of the twin sister act Pili & Mili.

Healtwatch Jon Lord

Former Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, who was a founding member of
the band, has revealed that he is suffering from cancer. Lord, 70, did
not reveal what type of cancer he is afflicted with, but he did post a
statement on his blog, which read as follows:

"I would like all my friends, followers, fans and fellow travelers to
know that I am fighting cancer and will therefore be taking a break
from performing while getting the treatment and cure.

"I shall of course be continuing to write music – in my world it just
has to be part of the therapy – and I fully expect to be back in good
shape next year."

Lord co-wrote with the late Tony Ashton the score for "The Last Rebel" (1971) starring Joe Namath.