New Italian Book “Il Cinema di Ronolo Guerrieri”

 

Il Cinema di Ronolo Guerrieri

By Giuseppe Costigliola

 

Country: Italy

Publisher: La Cineteca di Caino

Language: English

Pages: 708

ISBN-13 979-1256860289

Available: February 28, 2025

 

This book is more than a biography: it’s a journey into the cinema of a memorable season of history, in the past of all of us. There is a flow of prestigious names and forgotten figures but no less noble, in a pertinacious search for relationships, references, connections between those who in various ways have composed the evocative fresco of our cinematography. In the first of the two volumes that make up the work we analyze the years of the director's training, a starting point for a journey into the adventurous and imaginative world of genre film, an opportunity to remember characters, retrace events, narrate anecdotes of an unforgettable season of Italian art and culture.

Cannes, Heads or tails? by Rigo de Righi and Zoppis in Un Certain Regard

Spettacoli

April 10, 2025

"Testa o croce?" (Heads or Tails) by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis will be presented in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. The cast of the film includes Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Alessandro Borghi and John C. Reilly, Peter Lanzani, Mirko Artuso, Gabriele Silli, with the participation of Gianni Garko. At the beginning of the 20th century, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show arrived in Rome to sell the myth of the frontier to Italians, with blank rifles and cowboy shows. Here, in the setting of a taming competition that has become a legend between Italian cowboys and cowboys, Rosa, the young wife of the local squire, falls in love with Santino, the cowboy who wins the challenge.

Following the murder of her husband, Rosa and Santino flee together, but justice, as always, is sold to the highest bidder and a large bounty is placed on Santino's head. With Buffalo Bill on their trail, Rosa dreams of America, the real one, not the one of advertising posters with bison, but her dream will have to deal with reality. Because, as in any self-respecting western ballad, fate flips the coin. And often, the truth remains buried underground. Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis (born in 1986) are two Italian-American directors. Their collaboration began with the short documentary "Black Beast" and the award-winning documentary "Il Solengo". Their first fiction feature film, "King Crab" premiered at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes 2021. Their work focuses on tales and legends of the peasant tradition and on the incomplete and imperfect mechanism of the oral tradition that ends up giving rise to new stories.

Special Birthdays

Günter Rätz [director, writer, animator] would have been 90 today but died in 2024.

Edoardo Torricella (actor) is 90 today.

Little Known Western actors ~ Rafael Cortés

[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.]

Rafael Cortés was a Spanish character actor. Looking at his filmography he was most likely born sometime in the decade of 1910. He had a long career in films beginning in 1941’s “Porque te vi llorar” as a policeman until his final appearance as a casino patron in the Spanish TV series ‘La máscara negra’ in 1982. In all, Rafael in his forty-year career, appeared in around 250 films.

Among them were 24 Spaghetti westerns: “Due contro tutti” (The Terrible Sheriff) as a cockfight observer, “ Il segno di Zorro” (The Sign of Zoro) as a soldier, both in 1962 “Los pistoleros de Casa Grande” (Gunfighters of Casa Grande) as a rancher, “Il segno di Coyote” (Sign of the Coyote) as a soldier both in 1963, “Minnesota Clay” as a wounded soldier, “Le pistole non discutono” (Bullets Don’t Argue) as Coogan, “El secreto del captain O’Hara” (The Secret of Captain O’Hara) as Chief Running Deer, “Camino del sur” (Seven from Texas) as a hoedown attendee), “El hijo de Jesse James” (The Son of Jesse James) as a landowner), “I gemelli del Texas” (Twins from Texas) as a gambler all in 1964, “Per mille dollari al Giorno” (Renegade Gunfighter) as a disgruntled farmer in 1965, “Dove si spara di piu” (The Fury of Johnny Kid) as a drunk in the saloon, “Ringo e Gringo contro tutti” (Rebels on the Loose) as a military officed at the dinner party, “Dos pistolas gemelas” (Vengeance Ranch) as a saloon patron) all in 1966, “Custer of the West” a man in the crowd as the train station, “Dio non paga il sabato” (Kill the Wicked) as a townsman both in 1967, “Tierra Brava” as the cantina bartender, “Comanche blanco” (White Comanche) as a saloon patron, “Una pistol per cento bare” (A Pistol for 100 Coffins) all in 1968 as a quarry prisoner, “La marca de Cain” (The Desperados!) as a townsman, “Bruciatelo vivo!” (Land Raiders) both in 1969, “Whiskey e fantasmi” (Whisky and Ghosts) as a roulette player in 1974, “Zorro” as a villager in 1975 and in “Potato Fritz” (Montana Trap) as an immigrant in 1976.

CORTES, Rafael (Rafael Cortés) [Spanish] – film, voice actor.

The Terrible Sheriff – 1962 (cockfight observer)

The Sign of Zorro – 1962 (Mexican peon)

Gunfighters of Casa Grande – 1963 (rancher)

Sign of the Coyote – 1963 (soldier)

Minnesota Clay – 1964 (wounded soldier)

Bullets Don’t Argue – 1964 (Coogan)

The Secret of Captain O’Hara – 1964 (Chief Running Deer)

Seven from Texas – 1964 (hoedown attendee)

The Son of Jesse James – 1964 (landowner)

The Twins from Texas – 1964 (gambler)

Renegade Gunfighter - 1965 (disgruntled farmer)

The Fury of Johnny Kid – 1966 (drunk in saloon)

Rebels on the Loose – 1966 (officer at dinner party)

Vengeance Ranch – 1966 (saloon patron)

Custer of the West – 1967 (man in crowd at train station)

Kill the Wickeds - 1967 (townsman)

Tierra Brava – 1968 (cantina bartender)

White Comanche – 1968 (saloon patron)

A Pistol for 100 Coffins – 1968 (quarry prisoner)

The Desperados! – 1969 (townsman)

Land Raiders – 1969 (townsman)

Whisky and Ghosts – 1974 (roulette player)

Zorro – 1975 (villager)

Montana Trap – 1976 (immigrant)

New CD reissue “North Star”

 

North Star

Composer: John Scott

(1996)

 

Director:

Starring: James Caan,

 

Country: England

Label: JOS Records

#JOS120

Tracks: 20

Listening time: 1 hour, 7 seconds

Available: now

 

Track listing

1. North star main theme (2:36)

2. The miners association (3:22)

3. McLennons saloon tune (1:26)

4. The sacred cave (3:48)

5. Chase from the sacred cave (2:28)

6. Indians Lament (1:33)

7. The claims office (1:57)

8. McLennons piano (0:56)

9. Escape with Sarah (2:01)

10. Blizzard chase (Pursuit) (3:58)

11. With the Indians (3:29)

12. The cabin (4:34)

13. McLennons posse wants blood (1:54)

14. Burn out (5:07)

15. Rock maze hunt (5:37)

16. Massacre of sheriffs posse (2:49)

17. Death in sacred cave (3:27)

18. Arreste of McLennon (1:43)

19. Gold on the beach (3:21)

20. North star end credits (4:01)

These secret pieces from spaghetti westerns have been found: here's how to listen to them

Jeymes Samuel has dug into the archives of CAM Sugar, the world's largest catalog of Italian film soundtracks.

Esquire

By Giuseppe Giordano

5/19/2025

The director, composer and music producer Jeymes Samuel (also known as The Bullitts), a great fan of the western world since he was a child, has dug into the archives of CAM Sugar, the world's largest catalog of Italian film soundtracks, to bring to light rare, unreleased and often forgotten songs, which he has collected in the Spaghetti Western Collection (CAM Sugar/UMe), which will be released on June 20th. It is already possible to pre-order it.

"The result - reads a press release - is a compilation that combines the dusty drama of the Italian Far West with the musical richness of jazz, soul, funk and psychedelic rock. From a musical point of view, the collection highlights the unique sound of the soundtracks of Italian westerns, which have been able to blend with genius the most iconic elements of the rebellious and experimental music of the 1960s".

The original soundtracks are taken from legendary Italian western films made between 1963 and 1972, a golden age of Italian genre cinema.

Below you can find the list of tracks contained in the Jeymes Samuels' Spaghetti Western Collection.

The list of songs from the Italian Far West

SIDE A

A1 - Ennio Morricone – Sonny

A2 – Piero Umiliani – They Call Him Django

A3 – Daniele Patucchi - He killed him like a dog... but he**

laughed again – M14 (Tensivo Suspense)

A4 – Gianni Ferrio – That Man

A5 – Ennio Morricone – A Gringo Like Me

SIDE B

B1 – Nico Fidenco – The Yankee Fellow*

B2 – Alessandro Alessandroni – Gray Skies**

B3 – Nino Oliviero – Cuando se muere el sol*

B4 – Michele Lacerenza - Concert for a killer

B5 – Francesco De Masi - Find A Man

B6 – Francesco De Masi - Arizona Colt

SIDE C

C1 – Caterina Caselli – The path of all hope

C2 – Nico Fidenco - Clayton

C3 – Gianni Ferrio - Give Me Back

C4 – Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Vendetta per vendetta**

C5 – Carlo Rustichelli - I Must Go

SIDE D

D1 – Gianni Ferrio – He was a Cowboy

D2 – Marcello Giombini - Ballad for a gunslinger

D3 – Carlo Savina - Hey Amigo You're Dead

D4 – Francesco De Masi - Jerry Theme

7'' DELUXE

SIDE A – The Light

SIDE B – The Light (Instrumental)

10'' DELUXE

SIDE A – Unbroken

SIDE B – Unbroken (Instrumental)

 

Not previously released on vinyl**

Not published in digital format *

The collection will be available in digital format, CD, 2LP vinyl and in a prestigious deluxe edition: a box set that includes an exclusive booklet edited by Samuel himself, with original storyboards, interviews and official collectible artwork.

Little Known Western actors ~ Ramón Cortés

[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.] 

Ramon is/was a Spanish character actor. He has two film credits at the IMDb both were Spaghetti westerns: “Tumba para un forajido” (Tomb for an Outlaw) in 1965 and “Legge della violenza – tutti o nessuno” (The Law of Violence) in 1969.

Other than that I have no biographical information on him.

CORTES, Ramón (Ramón Cortés) [Spanish] – film actor.

Tomb for an Outlaw - 1965

The Law of Violence – 1969