Special Birthdays

Nino Crisman (actor) would have been 115 today but died in 1983.

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Dag Eliassen

[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.] 

Magnus ‘Dag’ Eliassen was born in Alta, Norway on September 14, 1965. He’s a stuntman, stunt coordinator. As such he’s appeared in and worked on thirty-six films between 2002 and 2015. He’s also acted in six films and TV appearances between 1997 and 2012.

Dag Eliassen appeared as a stunt double for Christopher Lambert in 1995’s “Grand Nord” (North Star) and as a stunt coordinator, and stuntman in 2001’s “Morgan Kane: Døden er en ensom jeger” (Morgan Kane: Death is a Lonesome Hunter).

ELIASSEN, Dag (Magnus Eliassen) [9/14/1965, Alta, Norway -     ] – stunt coordinator, stuntman, film, TV actor, married to ? father of Fredrik Eliassen [1994-    ], Jørn Eliassen, married to Anne Lise Drage (2003-    ),

North Star – 1995 [stunt double for Christopher Lambert]

Morgan Kane: Death is a Lonesome Hunter – 2001 [stunt coordinator, stunts]

Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Geoffrey H. Malins

 Geoffrey Herbert Malins was a British director, writer and cinematographer during the silent film era. He was a cinematographer on two films in 1916, a writer on forty-one films from 1918-1930 and mainly a director of fifty-four films between 1921 and 1930. The son of a hairdresser. Starting his career as a photographer, he secured a position in 1910 with the Croydon-based Clarendon Film Company. Prior to the outbreak of the First World War, Malins joined the British arm of Gaumont. In the autumn of the 1914, the company sent him to Belgium to record footage of the Belgian army in action.

1915 saw the release of a number of song films shot by Malins. These were silent films based on well-known tunes such as” Abide with Me” and “On the Banks of Allan Water”, designed to be shown with live singers providing a musical accompaniment. Late the same year Malins received a War Office appointment to act as an official cameraman. He was given an honorary rank and sent to the front with an assistant.

The pinnacle of the footage shot by Malins and his assistant John McDowell in 1916 is represented in the feature “The Battle of the Somme”. The huge success of the film led to the release of “The Battle of the Ancre” and the “Advance of the Tanks”, but Malins' work at the front was hampered by increasing ill health. He was invalided out of the army in June 1918.

In June 1918, Malins was awarded an OBE. The citation commended his work as official photographer "in circumstances of great difficulty and danger."

In January 1919, Malins founded the Garrick Film Company. The company produced at least three films, directed by Malins: “Patricia Brent, Spinster” (depicting a German air attack on London and promoted as 'the air raid film'), “The Greater Love” and “The Golden Web”. “The Golden Web” had a plot based around the discovery of a gold mine, but the film failed, and the company went into liquidation in August the following year. Malins made at least half a dozen features and several more shorts with London-born actress Gladys Mary Peterkin Mitchell (1892–1986; "Ena Beaumont"), a partner at Garrick to whom he was briefly married.

Malins married his first wife Caroline in 1909. The couple had two children, but by 1917, their marriage had broken down and they were divorced in 1920. In April 1923, Malins married Gladys Mary Peterkin Mitchell (actress Ena Beaumont). The couple divorced in 1925. Thereafter, the latter became the wife of Malins' former flight partner, Norman Macmillan. In June 1933, Malins married his third wife Phyllis Ward, and they had one daughter.

Malins died from bowel cancer in Cape Town, South Africa on 11 January 1940 at the age of 54.

Geoffrey H. Malins directed one silent European western, “Settled in Full” in 1920

MALINS, Geoffrey H. (aka Geoffrey H. Mallins) (Arthur Herbert Malins) [11/18/1886, Castle, Hastings, Sussex, England, U.K. – 2/11/1940, Cape Town, Cape Province, Union of South Africa (bowel cancer)] – producer, director, writer, cinematographer, film editor, actor, married to Caroline Elizabeth Saywell [1880-1947] (1909-1923) father of Monica Malins [1910-19??], Patricia Malins [1914-19??], married to actress Ena Beaumont (Gladys Mary Peterkin Mitchell) [1892–1986] (1923-1925), married to Phyllis Ward (1933-1940) father of June Malins [1938-    ].

Settled in Full – 1920

 

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Giancarlo Ferrando

Giancarlo Ferrando was an Italian cinematographer, film director and writer renowned for his extensive work in low-budget horror, action, and adventure genres. Born in Rome on November 4, 1939, he contributed as director of photography to over 120 films and television series throughout his career, often collaborating on international co-productions. Ferrando's notable credits include the cult horror film “Troll 2” (1990), the creature feature “Devil Fish” (1984), and the post-apocalyptic “Warrior of the Lost World” (1983), which highlighted his skill in creating atmospheric visuals on limited resources. He also directed several features, such as “The Girl from Cortina” (1994), blending elements of comedy and thriller.

Ferrando passed away in Rome on August 13, 2020, from cancer at the age of 80, leaving a legacy in Italian genre cinema.

Giancarlo Ferrando co-wrote one Spaghetti western, “Lo straniero di silenzio” (The Silent Stranger) with Vincenzo Cerami, Lloyd Battista and Tony Anthony in 1968.

FERRANDO, Giancarlo (aka Carlo Ferrando, Jean Ferrant, John C. Fredericks, Charlie McFarrow, John McFerrand, Maurizio Vanni) [11/4/1939, Rome, Lazio, Italy - 8/13/2020, Rome, Lazio, Italy (cancer)] – producer, production manager, director, writer, cinematographer, cameraman.

The Silent Stranger – 1968 (co)

 

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Felipe Sacdalan

Felipe Sacdalan was a Filipino cinematographer and cameraman. He worked on fourteen films as a cameraman from 1944 to 1997 and as a cinematographer on forty-nine films from 1953 to 1979. 

For thirty-four years, from 1946 to 1979, “Ka Ipe”, his nickname in the industry, pushed the storytelling function of the camera. Because he didn’t believe in flashy, attention-calling cinematography, Ka Ipe worked on images that contributed to the overall film design. Compared to those of other cameramen, his work was subtle, never intrusive, and hence, even more powerful because it is wholly integrated with the story.

After retiring from the film industry in 1979 he ran a camera rental company until his death on September 1, 2005 at the age of 89.

Felipe Sacdalan was a cinematographer on one Spaghetti western, “I fratelli di Arizona” (The Arizona Kid) in 1971.

SACDALAN, Felipe (aka Ka Ipe, Felipe J. Sacdalan, Ipe Sacdalan, Philip Sacdalan) [4/30/1916, Calumpit, Bulacan, Philippines – 9/1/2005, Philippines] – cinematographer, cameraman, SFX.

The Arizona Kid – 1971

Spaghetti western locations Then & Now – “The Valley of Gwangi”

In this scene from 1969’s “The Valley of Gwangi” we see the prehistoric dinosaur on a rampage in the downtown of the city where he was brought by the circus who were exhibiting him. The building viewed is La Puerta de Sombra in Almería, Spain.

Here’s the same location as seen in 2026.

 

 

 

Special Birthdays

Jiri Krizan (writer) would have been 85 today but died in 2010.

From the WAI! vault

 

Little Known Spaghetti Western Actors ~ Guillermo Elias

[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.]

Guillermo Elias is a little-known Spanish character actor. He has one film credit according to the IMDb and that was also his only Spaghetti western as a storekeeper in 1962’s “Bienvenido, padre Murray” (Welcome Padre Murray).

I can find no biographical information on him.

ELIAS, Guillermo [Spanish] – film actor.

Welcome Padre Murray – 1962 (storekeeper)