From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Sarah Berg

[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.]

Sarah Berg is an American costume designer, make-up artist, and theater and film actress. She was born in 1990 and raised in Tucson, Arizona and studied at Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics.

Sarah co-starred in her only Euro-western as Eve Lockhart in “Vermijo” (Bloody Spur) in 2016.

BERG, Sarah (Sarah A. Deardoff) [1/?/1990, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. -     ] – costume designer, make-up artist, film, actress.

Bloody Spur – 2016 (Eve Lockhart)

50th anniversary of the release of “Bad Kids of the West”

 

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the release of “Kid il monello del West” (Bad Kids of the West) directed by Tonino Ricci and starring Andrea Balestri, Mirko Ellis and Franco Ressel. It’s a Spaghetti Western rip-off of “Bugsy Malone”. A kid with a wild imagination overhears the plan of a gang of bandits who intend to hold up the River City bank. He decides to beat them to it and with a gang of other kids robs the bank. When the outlaws try to get the money, he sets a trap for the outlaws with the local sheriff.

The film ranks 387^th and brought in 121,867 lira at the Italian box office.

 

Kid il monello del West – Italian title

Kid el travieso del oeste - Argentinian title

Vestens Skræk - Danish title

Western Kid – Dutchn title

Kid het tereur von het Westen – Dutch title

Kid Westerns Skrack – Finnish title

Kid-Lannen Kauhu – Finnish title

Little Kid und seine kesse Bande – German title

Mikroi diavoloi... o tromos tou West – German title

Mikroi diavoloi...o tromos tou West - Greek title

Los pequeños coyotes de Kid O'Hara – Spanish title

Western Kid – Swedish title

Westerns skräck – Swedish title

Kid, el travieso del oeste - Uruguain title

Kid, Terror of the West – U.S.A. title

Bad Kids of the West – U.S.A. title

Western Kid – U.S.A. title

 

A 1973 Italian film production [Ramofilm (Rome)]

Producer: Roberto Amoroso

Director: Tony Good/Serrando Gonzales (Tonino Ricci)

Story: Roberto Amoroso

Screenplay: Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Roberto Amoroso

Cinematography: Silvio Fraschetti [Technicolor, Panoramico]

Music: Enrico Simonetti

     Song: “La banda del west” sung by Renata Cortiglioni

Running time: 90 minutes

 

Cast:

Kid ‘Terror of the West’ O’Hara - Andrea Balestri

Mary Ann/Sciantosa – Cristiana

Captain Sydney Fordice – Mirko Ellis (Mirko Korcinsky)

Wilson - Franco Ressel (Domenico Orabona)

Wilson henchman - Nestore Cavaricci, Alberigo Donadeo

Montana Jim – Ray O’Connor (Remo Capitani)

Noah McKenzie - Attilio Dottesio

Sheriff Stone - Fortunato Arena

Little Wart - Salvatore Furnari

Tuppet - Flavio Colombaioni

Farmer - Sisto Brunetti

Shadow - Gianclaudio Jabes (Jean-Claude Jabes)

Comanchero - Gaetano Scala

Keaton - Pippo Tuminelli (Giuseppe Tuminelli)

River City Townswomen - Lina Franchi, Dolores Calò

Awakened man - Mario Donatone

Brawlers - Bruno Ariè, Roberto Messina, Enrico Chiappafreddo

With: Walter Battistelli, Carlo Carloni, Maurizio Fiori, Barbara Fiorini, Clara Park, R. Gallozzi (Roberto Gallozzi), Rinaldo Ballanti, Claudio Cinquepalmi, Giuseppe Monte, Alberto Allegrezza, Carla Mancini, F. Migliosi (Fabio Migliosi), Fabio Muscara, I. Pizzoferrato (Isabella Pizzoferrato), Bruno Corbucci, Rosa Toros (Rosita Torosh)

Who Are Those Singers & Musicians ~ Norma Jordan

 

Norma Jordan is an American born showgirl, actress and singer, who made a name for herself in Italian showbiz from late 1960s to mid-1980s. She is the daughter of an insurance company director and a language teacher. An article on La Stampa, dated November 11,1977, describes her as a "28 Detroit-born black girl who arrived in Italy in 1971" but according to The Pittsburgh Courier (5.5.1973) she was native of Norfolk, Virginia. Norma was already known in Italy in late 1960s: in 1969 the Italian-Spanish Spaghetti Western "Il prezzo del potere" (The Price of Power, 1969) was released and she appeared as Annie Goddard. The film starred Van Heflin, Giulinao Gemma and Ray Saunders and introduced Norma as supporting actress and singer (her song was called "Catch a Star from the Sky" and was included in the soundtrack of the film). In 1971 she was involved as a witness in a crime case, the double murder of a young black American actress (Tiffany Hoyveld a former roommate of Norma) and her Italian boyfriend Giuliano Carabei, that took place between 15 and 16 of December 1971 on Marignano lake, near Rome.

Jordan was selected Italy’s television “New Actress of the Year” in 1970 for her series of TV performances in musicals and films. Norma appeared in Italian films such as Federico Fellini’s “Satyrician”, “Roma Bene” with Virna Lisi and “The Olympics: with Ryan O’Neal. Denmark in the musical “Annie Get Your Gun” and German TV productions of “The Greatest Thief” with Kurt Jurgens and Biography” with Paul Hubschmid.

She was a model for men's magazines as a cover girl in the Italian edition of Playboy (June 1975, February 1978) and also appeared in Playmen (in issue #3 of 1977).

At the end of the 1970s she was launched a solo career as a singer of disco music by releasing the albums ‘Feel Me’ (Ciao Records, 1979), recorded between Munich and the "Stone Castle" in Carimate, with the successful 45 rpm Disco Beat, conceived by the same arranger as Donna Summer, and ‘No Obligations’ (Ciao Records, 1980), produced by Thor Baldursson. The year before (1978) she wrote the song "Dreaming My Life Away" for jazz musician Jimmy Owens. In 1980 she participated in the "Girofestival della canzone" conducted by Awana Gana.

After 1983 her name disappeared from the news.

JORDAN, Norma [1949, Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. -     ] – model, stage, film, TV actress, songwriter, singer.

The Price of Power – 1969 [sings: “Catch a Star from the Sky”]

From the WAI vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Mihai Berechet

[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.]

Mihai Berechet was born Berechet Ionescu in Brăila, Romania on November 7, 1927. He graduated from "Nicolae Bălcescu" High School in Brăila (1942-1946), Royal Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Bucharest - Marioara Voiculescu class (1946-1949), Faculty of Law in Bucharest (1946-1949), "I. L. Caragiale" Theatre Institute in Bucharest (UNATC) - Directing (1949-1953).

He was a Romanian actor beginning in 1947 and theatre director since 1967 and memoirist. As director at the National Theatre of Bucharest and Nottara Theatre, he staged plays of great success and longevity, including "A Woman with Money" by G. B. Shaw, "" and "The Carriage with Sequins" by M. Stefanescu, "Old Fashioned Comedy", by A. Arbuzov.

Mihai published two volumes of memoirs: "9 Blue Notebooks" (1983), "Other Blue Notebooks" (2000).

Berechet was married to actress Anca Șahighian daughter of director Ion Șahighian [1897-1965].

Mihai Berechet died in Fayence, Provența-Alpi-Coasta de Azur, France on December 16, 1991, at the age of 64.

Berechet appeared in two Euro-westerns: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Death of Injun Joe” both in 1967.

BERECHET, Mihai (aka Michael Berechet) (Berechet Ionescu) [11/7/1927, Brăila, Romania – 12/16/1991, Fayence, Provența-Alpi-Coasta de Azur, France] – author, director, film actor, singer, married to actress Anca Șahighian (1952-1991).

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - 1967

Death of Injun Joe – 1967

50th anniversary of the release of “Fast Hand is Still My Name”

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the release of “Mano rápida” (Fast Hand is Still My Name) directed by Mario Bianchi and starring William Berger and Alan Steel. It tells the story about after the end of the Civil War some of the rebels refuse to surrender: Their leader Machedo (William Berger) picks a fight with Yankee captain Jeff Madison (Allan Steel). The captain was jointly responsible for the hanging of Machedo’s brother. Machedo wants to destroy Madison’s military camp and kill the whole garrison. Madison himself is tortured, highlighted by the destruction of his gun hand. A group of Indians save Madison and tend to his wounds. The captain returns two years later, seeking revenge. To lure Machedo for the final duel, Madison steals the gold from a successful bank robbery by the bandits and hides himself in a ghost town.

 

Mano rápida - Spanish title

Mi chimavano ‘Requiescat’... ma avevano sbagliato - Italian title

Mulligan - Fast Hand is Still My Name - Danish title

Minä olen nopein, Mulligan - Finnish title

Requiem pour un tueur - French title

Sing mir das Lied der Rache - German title

T'onoma mou einai Keravnos - Greek title

Fasthand - English title

Fast-Hand is Still My Name - English title

 

A 1973 Spanish, Italian film co-production [Aldebaran Films (Madrid), New Films

     (Rome)]

Producer: John Wyler (Sergio Ciani)

Director: Frank Bronston (Mario Bianchi)

Story: Eduardo M. Brochero (Eduardo Manzanos Brochero)

Screenplay: Sergio Ciani, Vittorio Salerno, Alberto Cardone, Eduardo M. Brochero

     (Eduardo Manzanos Brochero)

Dialogue: Vinicio Marinucci [Italian]

Cinematography: Emilio Foriscot (Emilio Mallat) [Eastmancolor, Panavision]

Music: Gianni Ferrio

     Song: “That Man” sung by Ann Collin

Running time: 92 minutes

 

Cast:

Captain Jeff Madison/Mulligan - Alan Steel (Sergio Ciani)

Muchedo/Macedo - William Berger (Wilhelm Berger)

Quincy/Quintano - Francisco Braña (Francisco Pérez)

Diego - Fernando Bilbao (Fernando Elgezabal)

Harrueco/Raul - Gil Roland (Gilberto Galimberti)

Swan - Celine Bessy

Joe Smart - Paco Sanz (Francisco Sanz)

Mary Ann Cruz - Karin Well (Wilma Truccolo)

Jack - Lorenzo Robledo (Lorenzo Jiménez)

Pracownik - Francesco D’Adda (Francesco Salvaterra)

Sheriff - Aldo Cecconi

Dying man in stable - Rodolfo Lodi

Bank manager - Ettore Ribotta

Soldier - Sergio Dolfin

Madison sergeant – Angelo Boscariol

Muchedo/Macedo henchman -Stefano Oppedisano, Franco Pasquetto, Omero Capanna,

     Artemio Antonini, Virgilio Ponti, Augusto Funari

Bartender - Giuseppe Cardone

Saloon patron - Duilio Olmi, Alfonso Giganti, Angelo Casadei

Union major - Filippo Perego

With: Aldo Sisti, Sergio Dolfin (Giorgio Dolfin)