Little Known Spaghetti Western actors ~ George Davis

[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.]

Giorgio “George” Davis was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on November 7, 1889. He began his entertainment career as a Vaudeville performer. He went on to appear in over 300 U.S, French, German, English, and Italian films and television appearances from 1914 to 1963.

Among those 300+ films were three early Euro-westerns: “Monsieur le Fox” (French) in as Corporal Smith, “Luigi La Volpe" as Corporal Smith and “La piste des géants” (The Big Trail) as Pépin all in 1930.

DAVIS, George (Giorgio Davis) [11/7/1889, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands – 4/19/1965, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A. (cancer)] – vaudeville, film, TV actor.

Monsieur le Fox – 1930 (Corporal Smith)

Luigi la volpe - 1930 (Corporal Smith)

La piste des géants (The Big Trail) 1930 - (Pépin)

The DEFA’s “Eastern Westerns” (Indianerfilme) (Part 1 of 4)

filmporta.de

Source: DIF© DEFA-Stiftung, DEFA-Pathenheimer

Gojko Miti? in "Die Söhne der großen Bärin" ("The Sons of the Great She-Bear", 1966)

In 1962, Harald Reinl's first Karl May film "Der Schatz im Silbersee" (Treasure of Silver Lake) launched a popular wave of West German westerns. Four years later, DEFA began producing westerns of its own. On more than one level, the DEFA's "Eastern Westerns" emerged as foils to the western productions by Horst Wendlandt and Artur Brauner. While the West German Karl May adaptations featured an equally noble "white blood brother" at the side of Pierre Brice as the Apache chief Winnetou, the DEFA productions concentrated to a much greater extent on the Indian protagonists – and what they saw as the "historical truth" and "the Indians' great personal struggles with the encroaching White Man".

The Gray House

 

The Gray House – English title

 

A 2022 U.S.A., Romanian television mini-series production [Big Dreams Entertainment,

     Revelations Entertainment, Territory Pictures Entertainment (Hollywood) Castel

     Films (Bucharest)]

Producers: Kevin Costner, Darrell Fetty, Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary, Leslie Grief,

     Alex Kerr, Katie Cammaert, Fern Champion, Barry M. Berg, EricTomosunas, Cristian

     Bostănescu, Keith Neil, Rod Lake, Howard Kaplan, Darrell Fetty, Christopher

     Landry, Kabara Vereen

Director: Roland Joffé, Fern Champion

Story: Darrell Fetty, Leslie Grief

Screenplay: Darrell Fetty, Leslie Grief, John Sayles

Cinematography: Jan Moeskops [color]

Music: Greg Cahn, Bruce Broughton

Running time: 60 minutes x 9 episodes

 

Story: It centers on the three women who General Ulysses S. Grant credited as helping the North win the Civil War.

 

Cast:

Elizabeth Van Lew (Daisy Head), Stokely Reeves (Paul Anderson), Mary Jane Richards (Amethyst Davis), Jericho Bowser (Ian Duff), Clara Parish (Hannah James), Bully Lumpkin (Robert Knepper), Thomas McNiven (Christopher McDonald), Hamton Arsenault (Colin Morgan), Judah Benjamin (Rob Morrow), Jefferson Davis (Sam Trammell), Ulysses S. Grant (Marc Jenner), Isham Worthy (Ben Vereen (Benjamin Middleton)), Laurette Van Lew (Catherine Hannay), Erasmus Ross (Joshua McGuire),

Talulah (Catherine Garton), Mose Robinson (John Ojeyemi), Robert Ford (Geoff Mac),

John Winder (Thom Beers), Varina Davis (Laura Morgan), Eliza Van Lew (Mary-Louise Parker), John Van Lew Jr. (Ewan Miller), Peter Roane (Zaquis Riddick), Captain William Lounsbury (Colin O'Donoghue), Obie Wise (Blake Patrick Anderson), Duncan Broadnaxe (Darrell Fetty), Henry Wise (Mark Perry), Paul Revere (Oli Green), Timothy Webster (Ben Cura), Deputy Pike (Michael Woods), Katey (Ella Schrey-Yeats), John Wilkes Booth (Charles Craddock), John Caphart (Bogdan Farcas (Viorel Farcas)),Sherrard Clemens (Ionut Grama), Mabel (Lindsay Foster), Eliza Louise Van Lew (Ana Antonescu), Charmaine Hobbs (Elizabeth J. Cron), Amanda Suggs (Olivia Nita), Sookie (Nia Samara), Annie Van Lew (Anica Crne Ivkovic), Eula (Bu Kunene), William Sewell (Mark Springer), Caroline (Cheherezade Valentine Okotaka-Ebale), Lucious Diggs (Voicu Aanitei), Tadpole (Aryel Tsoto), Doctor Graves (Leslie Greif), Chase Morton (Haris Salihovic), Henry H. Garnet (Keith David), Fredrika Bremer (Oxana Moravec), Virgil Hawk (Stefan Iancu), telegraph clerk (Doru Catanescu), delegate (Dan Radulescu), Confederate Captain (William Atticus Parker), Elijah (Tudor Stefan), George B. McClellan (Cosmin Dominte), Argus Plunkett (Calin Stanciu Jr.), Abraham Lincoln (Don Mullen), Gertrude Winder (Jennifer Salcudean), Jasper Suggs (Luca Petru Vasile), William Wooster (Tiberiu Harsan), Berman (Radu Andrei Micu), Officer (Eduard Morca), Marlene – Oana Jindiceanu

Stunt coordinator: Razvan Puiu

Stunts: Stefan Costache, Jordan Dumaurier, Jacky Latulipe, Grégory Nolbas, Andrei Vintileanu, Luis Alkmim, Moussa Fomba, J.C. Williams

This 2022 produced, 2023 filmed television series was based on the true story and focuses on the unsung women spies who General Ulysses S. Grant credited for turning the tide of the American Civil War in favour of the North.  The women included a Richmond Socialite and her daughter, a formerly enslaved African American, and a courtesan who together formed the first successful female spy ring, operating right under the noses of the Confederate High Command. The series is scheduled to premiere on U.S. TV on the Paramount Network sometime later this year.

Special Birthdays

Joaquín Diaz (actor) would have been 95 today but died in 2013.

Gigio Morra (actor) would have been 80 today but died in 2024.

Daniel Jose Ibarra (actor) is 45 today.

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western actors ~ Lancio Barman

[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.]

Lancio Barman was very active in the fotoromanzi world from the well-known publisher Lancio in the 1960s and early 1970s, especially in the long-running Jacques Douglas serial. Thanks to his very strong Mediterranean features, he was typically cast as Hispanic characters and was very frequently called on to play the South American barkeepers or innkeeper etc. Unfortunately, it appears he was never credited in any of the fotoromanzis he did for Lancio.

He was also active in several films during the 1960s and 1970s. He’s not listed at the IMDb so how many films he appeared in I don’t know. I can find not definitive biographical information on him.

Barman appeared in three Spaghetti westerns: “Sfida a Rio Bravo” (Gunmen of the Rio Grande) in 1964 as a member of the lynch mob, “Ehi Amigo… sei morto!” (Hey Amigo, to Your Death!) in 1970 as a townsman and “Giu la testa” (Duck You Sucker) in 1971 as a Mesa Verde Bank prisoner.

BARMAN, Lancio – fotoromanzi, film, TV actor.

Gunmen of the Rio Grande – 1964 (member of lynch mob)

Hey Amigo, to Your Death!  - 1970 (townsman)

Duck You Sucker – 1971 (Mesa Verde Bank prisoner)

50th Anniversary of the premier of “Cipolla Colt”

 

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of the premier showing of “Cipolla Colt” (Cry Onion aka Spaghetti Western). Directed by Enzo Castellari this comedy western starred Franco Nero, Martin Balsam, Sterling Hayden and Emma Cohen. The story is about a young farmer named Jack ‘Onion’ Stark who purchases the only still green and unused plot of ground left in Paradise City to grow onions. The rest of the territory has forcefully become the property of the oil company owned by Petrus Lamb (Martin Balsam). Just as he had removed the previous owner, Nerone ‘Stinky’ Foster (Romano Puppo), who had refused to give him the land, Lamb now unleashes his minions against Onion, who, throughout all of Paradise City, can only count on the help of an old man a brave journalist Henry ‘Jack’ Pulitzer (Sterling Hayden) and the two little children, Caligola ‘Cal’ Foster (Duilio Cruciani) and Dutch Fernando Castro, of the poor newspaper editor.

The film ranks #35 in Spaghetti western Italian box office returns with 1,190,585 lira proceeds.

 

Cipolla Colt – Italian title

Il cipollaro – Italian title

Zwiebel-Jack raumt auf – German title

El cibollero – Spanish title

Los locos del oro negro – Spanish title

Condusao em Paraiso City – Brazilian title

Луковият колт - Bulgarian title

Vune Cibule – Czechoslovakian title

Itan zorikos kai ton elegan Kremmyda – Greek title

オニオン流れ者 – Japanese title

Onion nagaremono – Japanese title

O cheiro das cebolas – Portuguese title

Bland krutrök och lökdoft – Swedish title

Cry Onion! – English title

The Smell of Onions – U.K. title

Spaghetti Western – U.S.A. title

 

A 1974 Italian, West German, Spanish film co-production [Compagnia Cinematografica

     Champio (Rome), TIT Filmproduktion (Munich), CIPI Cinematografica (Madrdi)]

Producers: Ronald A. Tash (Giancarlo Pettini), Carlo Ponti, Zev Braun

Director: Enzo G. Castellari (Enzo Girolami)

Story: Sergio Donati, Luciano Vincenzoni

Screenplay: Miguel de Echarri (Miguel Gamundi), Sergio Donati, Luciano Vincenzoni

Cinematography: Alejandro Ulloa [Eastmancolor, widescreen]

Music: Guido & Maurizio De Angelis

Running time: 100 minutes

 

Cast:

Cipolla Colt/Jack ‘Onion’ Stark – Franco Nero (Francesco Sparanero)

Petrus Lamb – Martin Balsam

Henry ‘Jack’ Pulitzer – Sterling Hayden (Sterling Walter)

Jeff – Dick Butkus (Richard Butkus)

Sheriff – Leo Anchóriz (Leopardo Fustel)

Nerone ‘Stinky’ Foster – Romano Puppo

Mary Ann Pulitzer – Emma Cohen (Emmanuela Rahola)

Judge Logan – Helmut Brasch (Helmut Braesch)

Benjamin – Fabian Conde (Domingo García)

Zachary – Dan van Husen (Daniel van Husen)

Deputy Sheriff – Enzo G. Castellari (Enzo Girolami)

Caligola ‘Cal’ Foster – Duilio Cruciani

Ole/Oble/Monocle – Nazzareno Zamperla

Jack – Manuel Zarzo

Villain with sunglasses – David Warbeck (David Mitchell)

Buck – Massimo Vanni

Judd – Charly Bravo (Carlos Bravo)

Dutch Foster – Fernando Castro

Zeke – Wal Davis (Waldemar Wohlfahrt)

Jim – Daniel Martin (José Martínez)

Hal Foster – Antonio Pica (Antonio Serrano)

Oil Tanker – George Rigaud (Pedro Delissetche)

Super Oil board member – Agustin Bescos (Agustín Fernandez)

John – Alejandro de Encisco (José López)

Sam – Xan das Bolas (Tomás Peña)

Violet – Lucy Tiller (Lluch Tiller)

Mack – Leopold Francis

Owen – Vidal Molina (Mariano Molina)

Bartender – Felipe Urmeneta

With: Juan Antonio Rubio (Juan Garcia)

Stunts: Rocco Lerro, Massimo Vanni

Spaghetti Western locations Then & Now – “Vengeance is Mine”

In the 1967 film "Per 100.000 dollari t'ammazzo" (Vengeance is Mine) we Johnny Garko walking from a building where $100,000 was stashed. This was real building located in Mina La Parlata (The Parlata Mine) in Benahadux, Almería, Spain.

Here’s the same location as seen today.