Fernand Cowboy

Fernand cow-boy - French title
El conquistador de Texas - Spanish title
Fernand Cowboy - English title

A 1956 French production [Cinephonic, SGGC, SN Pathé Cinema (Paris)]
Producer: François Chavane
Director: Guy Lefranc
Story: Yvan Audouard, Jean Redon
Screenplay: Yvan Audouard, Jean Redon
Cinematography: Maurice Barry [black & white]
Music: Louiguy (Louis Guglielmi)
Running time: 85 minutes

Cast:
Fernand Mignot - Fernand Raynaud (André Fernand)
Mae Marlane - Dora Doll (Dorothee Feinberg)
Any - Nadine Lhopitalier)
Orissa - Françoise Favier
William/Walter Black - Pierre Dudan
Carson City Sheriff - Noël Roquevert (Noël Bénévent)
Richardson - Jim Gérald (Gérald Cuenod)
Jim Harlan/Mariane - Jess Hahn (Jesse Hahn)
Prudent Beaver - Jean-Roger Caussimon
mayor - Hubert Deschamps
violinist - Marc Taylor
guard - Albert Michel
Jerry/Terry - Bernard Noël
Milk Bar - André Weber
Mario - Raoul Billerey
Tapis Vert - Jean-Marie Amato
baby - Jean Lara (Juan Usnadivaras)
saloon patrons - Jean Franval, Henri Guégan
square dancer - Maurice Magalon
warden - Michel Albert
convict - Felix Miquet
man with fake cigars - Amedee (Philippe de Cherisey)
cowboys - Marcel Bernier, Peter Duncan, Jean Franval, Henri Guégan, Sylvain Levignac, Jean Minisini, Georges Demas, Jo Davray, Jacques Préboist
servant - Paul Faivre
costume merchant - Albert Medina
cowboy with mustache Maurice Gardette
young man - Serge Bento
Maurice Magalon and his square dancers
with: Paul Préboist Pierre Darsay Michel Bonnay, Lucien Guervil, Antonin Baryel, François Nadal

Fernand Mignot, a shy and naive young Frenchman, inherits his uncle’s saloon in America. When he arrives in Carson City, he must confront gold diggers and pretty girls who are very interested in him. He also must restrain himself from the charms of Dora Doll, but lets himself in for trouble by trying to help Annie the saloon’s singer. Fights and chases, punctuate the comedy arbitrated by a stuttering sheriff named Noel Roquevert and a town boss named Walter Black and his henchmen who are in search of a hidden treasure.

Remembering Branko Supek

Branko Supek was born on December 20, 1945 in Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia. He attended and graduated from the High School of Music in Zagreb as a trumpet player. He then attended the Teachers’ Academy (majoring in English and literature) and the Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1971. Branko then worked as an actor at the Zagreb Youth Theater. He became a film actor at the same time and appeared in more that 10 films and 50+ TV and radio programs. Among these was his only Euro-western “Rampage at Apache Wells” (1965) as Jack Campbell. He won three acting awards during his career and was an avid boater sailing in many regattas on the Adriatic Sea. Branko died of cancer on November 5, 2003 in Zagreb, Croatia at the young age of 58. Today we remember him on what would have been his 65th birthday.

Happy 80th Birthday Dominic Barto

Dominic Barto was born on December 20, 1930 in Pennsylvania. Before entering films he was a professional boxer. With his very pronounced facial features, he was an excellent villain in crime and western films. Dominic appeared in six Euro-westerns including "They Call Me Trinity","The Last Rebel", ‘Man of the East" and both the film and TV series "Lucky Luke". He also is remembered for his appearance in "Rocky IV" as a Russian policeman. Thanks to his acting skills he could easily transform from drama to comedy (such as the bounty killer Mortimer in "Trinity" to bums, or William Dalton, in the TV series "Lucky Luke") obtaining an extraordinary comic edge dictated by the paradox of the opposing characteristics. Dominic retired and moved to the Far East. Today we celebrate his 80^th birthday.

RIP Rodica Tapalaga

Romanian actress Rodica Tapalaga died on Saturday December 18, 2010 after a long illness, her family announced. Known and loved for her numerous roles on stage and in movies, Tapalaga was 71. Her body was viewed at the Coltea Sfintii Trei Ierarhi Church in downtown Bucharest on Sunday and colleagues and admirers can pay their respects until the morning of December 21.

"My mother had multiple ailments and a more severe one, collagenosis, for seven years, but she was only hospitalized in the last few months. We tried all treatments but the disease was in an advanced stage and she just braved it, she didn't want to give up the active life style she had, and her condition got worse in the last couple of months. She was in hospital at Floreasca but her condition was not getting any better and in seven days, she died at home. It happened yesterday. Her body was taken to Coltea Church, where her colleagues can come and say goodbye and pay their respects. We didn't announce this earlier because we wanted time to mourn her," the actress's son Barbu Popescu told Realitatea TV.

The actress was awarded with the ACIN Moviemakers' Association Award in 1976 for her role in Tanase Scatiu and in 2001, she got a lifetime achievement award from UNITER. Tapalaga was also awarded at the Bucharest City awards for arts and literature on December 14, 2009, at the Ion Dacian Operetta Theater.

She was married to stage designer Ion Popescu Udriste with whom she had a son, Barbu Popescu, and was the sister of actor Stefan Tapalaga.

Rodica appeared in one Euro-western, "The Actress, the Dollars and the Transylvanians" (1979) she played the role of 'The Actress'.

Albanito

Albanito - International title

A 2010 Italian production [Philips Cinema, Parallel Lines (Foggia)]
Producer: Adarco Mabbo, Francesco Di Lorenzo, Silvio Del Grosso
Director: Adarco Mabbo
Story: Adarco Mabbo, Francesco Di Lorenzo, Silvio Del Grosso
Screenplay: Adarco Mabbo
Cinematographer: Sergio Grillo [color]
Music: Arturo Serafino
Running time: 5 minutes

Cast:
cowboy - Francesco Di Lorenzo
prisoner - Silvio Conte Del Grosso
kidnapper - Leonardo Conte

A kidnapper, his prisoner, a cowboy and a gold nugget.


YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcNW9kD3LNA

Spaghetti Western Locations

Continuing with locations from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. When Tuco and Corporal Wallace are traveling by train to an undisclosed destination Tuco, chained to Wallace, pushes the coroporal out of the boxcar they share and down an embankment. This location is along the same spur line from La Calahorra to the Marquesado mine near Alquife. This spur was used in many of the Spaghetti westerns where trains are seen. “Once Upon a Time in the West”, “For a Few Dollars More”, “Any Gun Can Play” to name a few. The rails and ties have been removed but the bed is still visible.

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi "Garringo" Yasuda’s excellent website: http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/

RIP Derek Browne

Cinematographer, cameraman Derek V. Browne died on December 16, 2010 from Alzheimers disease. Born in 1927 in Middlesex, England he was 83.

Browne worked on over 60 productions, as a camera operator on such films as “Dark Crystal” (1982), “Memphis Belle” (1990), “Hamlet” (1992), “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1989) and ater as a cinematographer on “The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet” (1995). Initially elected to the BSC as an Associate Member in 1976 he was later elevated to Full Membership. He leaves a wife Isabel. Browne was cameraman on one Euro-western “Welcome to Blood City” (1977) with Jack Palance.