Marina Cicogna, Italy’s first major female film producer who shepherded films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Zeffirelli and Elio Petri, including Petri’s Oscar-winning “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion,” has died. She was 89.
Cicogna died on Nov. 4 in her Rome home after a long battle with an unspecified form of cancer, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
The Venice Biennale foundation is a statement, praised her as “the first female film producer in Europe” and noted that she was always deeply linked to the Venice Film Festival that was founded by her grandfather, Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata.
Born in Rome on May 29, 1934, to Count Cesare Cicogna Mozzoni and Countess Annamaria Volpi di Misurata, Cicogna attended high school in Italy and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she struck up a friendship with Jack Warner’s daughter Barbara Warner and established a connection with Hollywood.
In...
Cicogna died on Nov. 4 in her Rome home after a long battle with an unspecified form of cancer, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
The Venice Biennale foundation is a statement, praised her as “the first female film producer in Europe” and noted that she was always deeply linked to the Venice Film Festival that was founded by her grandfather, Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata.
Born in Rome on May 29, 1934, to Count Cesare Cicogna Mozzoni and Countess Annamaria Volpi di Misurata, Cicogna attended high school in Italy and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she struck up a friendship with Jack Warner’s daughter Barbara Warner and established a connection with Hollywood.
In...
- 11/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
UK correspondent Lee Broughton returns with coverage of a well-realised Spaghetti Western, Michele Lupo’s irony-laden semi-comedy Ben & Charlie. The film’s eponymous anti-heroes are played by fan favourites Giuliano Gemma and George Eastman and the duo receive great support from a number of familiar faces including Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell and Giacomo Rossi Stuart.
Ben & Charlie
Region-Free Blu-ray
Explosive Media GmbH
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Amigo, Stay Away; Amico, stammi lontano almeno un palmo / Street Date, 28 October 2021 / Available from Explosive Media / £22.99
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, George Eastman, Vittorio Congia, Luciano Lorcas, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Remo Capitani, Nello Pazzafini, Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell, Roberto Camardiel.
Cinematography: Aristide Massaccesi
Production Designer: Dario Micheli
Film Editor: Antonietta Zita
Original Music: Gianni Ferrio
Written by Luigi Montefiori and Sergio Donati
Produced by Lucio Bompani
Directed by Michele Lupo
Charlie (George Eastman) patiently waits outside of a Mexican prison so that he can give his...
Ben & Charlie
Region-Free Blu-ray
Explosive Media GmbH
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Amigo, Stay Away; Amico, stammi lontano almeno un palmo / Street Date, 28 October 2021 / Available from Explosive Media / £22.99
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, George Eastman, Vittorio Congia, Luciano Lorcas, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Remo Capitani, Nello Pazzafini, Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell, Roberto Camardiel.
Cinematography: Aristide Massaccesi
Production Designer: Dario Micheli
Film Editor: Antonietta Zita
Original Music: Gianni Ferrio
Written by Luigi Montefiori and Sergio Donati
Produced by Lucio Bompani
Directed by Michele Lupo
Charlie (George Eastman) patiently waits outside of a Mexican prison so that he can give his...
- 5/21/2022
- by Lee Broughton
- Trailers from Hell
Lee Broughton returns with a review of Michele Lupo’s fine-looking Spaghetti Western, Arizona Colt. Giuliano Gemma stars as the eponymous anti-hero-cum-bounty killer who goes head-to-head with Fernando Sancho’s villainous Mexican bandit. The show’s collateral damage comes in the shapely form of fan favourite Rosalba Neri while its highly reluctant love interest is played by none other than Corinne Marchand, of Cleo from 5 to 7 fame.
Arizona Colt
Region Free Blu-ray
Wild East
1966 / Color / 2.35:1 widescreen / 116 min. / Il Pistolero di Arizona, The Man From Nowhere / Street Date 9 February 2021 / Available from Wild East / 16.95
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho, Corinne Marchand, Roberto Camardiel, Rosalba Neri, Nello Pazzafini, Jose Manuel Martin, Andrea Bosic.
Cinematography: Guglielmo Mancori
Film Editor: Antonietta Zita
Art director: Walter Patriarca
Original Music: Francesco De Masi
Written by Ernesto Gastaldi, Luciano Martino
Produced by Elio Scardamaglia
Directed by Michele Lupo
A sadistic bandit, Gordo (Fernando Sancho), expands his gang...
Arizona Colt
Region Free Blu-ray
Wild East
1966 / Color / 2.35:1 widescreen / 116 min. / Il Pistolero di Arizona, The Man From Nowhere / Street Date 9 February 2021 / Available from Wild East / 16.95
Starring: Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho, Corinne Marchand, Roberto Camardiel, Rosalba Neri, Nello Pazzafini, Jose Manuel Martin, Andrea Bosic.
Cinematography: Guglielmo Mancori
Film Editor: Antonietta Zita
Art director: Walter Patriarca
Original Music: Francesco De Masi
Written by Ernesto Gastaldi, Luciano Martino
Produced by Elio Scardamaglia
Directed by Michele Lupo
A sadistic bandit, Gordo (Fernando Sancho), expands his gang...
- 3/23/2021
- by Lee Broughton
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Hungarian poster for The Sleeping Car Murders. Designer: Sándor Benkő.Last summer I wrote about my discovery of Hungarian movie poster design and featured a number of posters for very well known films from The Wizard of Oz to The Elephant Man. Those posters highlighted the distinctly different graphic approaches taken by Hungarian designers compared to their country-of-origin counterparts. But while delving deeper into the world of Hungarian poster design—mostly via the auction site Bedo—I have come across many even more remarkable designs for films that are less well known. The fifteen posters that I’ve chosen to highlight here were all made in the ’60s and ’70s and there is a distinct pop art sensibility at work: a lot of bold, primary colors and almost cartoonish illustrations, but always in the service of bold, striking graphics. Distinctly upbeat, while perhaps not expressly joyful, they do give...
- 1/21/2021
- MUBI
[This October is "Gialloween" on Daily Dead, as we celebrate the Halloween season by diving into the macabre mysteries, creepy kills, and eccentric characters found in some of our favorite giallo films! Keep checking back on Daily Dead this month for more retrospectives on classic, cult, and altogether unforgettable gialli, and visit our online hub to catch up on all of our Gialloween special features!]
Clue and Knives Out. Those were the two movies that immediately came to mind after my first viewing of Michele Lupo’s The Weekend Murders, aka Concerto per pistola solista. The film’s zany, anything-goes murder mystery reminded me of the former, while the comedic family strife reminded me of the latter, not to mention that the film revolves around a group of people staying at the same mansion where the rooms seem almost as endless as the rising body count.
To be honest, these similarities were as much a surprise to me as the untimely ends of the slain victims in The Weekend Murders. My previous experiences with gialli have been more somber and bleak viewings. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the gialli that I have seen, and find them to be enthralling in their execution and engrossing in their storytelling, but I’ve never seen...
Clue and Knives Out. Those were the two movies that immediately came to mind after my first viewing of Michele Lupo’s The Weekend Murders, aka Concerto per pistola solista. The film’s zany, anything-goes murder mystery reminded me of the former, while the comedic family strife reminded me of the latter, not to mention that the film revolves around a group of people staying at the same mansion where the rooms seem almost as endless as the rising body count.
To be honest, these similarities were as much a surprise to me as the untimely ends of the slain victims in The Weekend Murders. My previous experiences with gialli have been more somber and bleak viewings. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the gialli that I have seen, and find them to be enthralling in their execution and engrossing in their storytelling, but I’ve never seen...
- 10/23/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Reduced to catching frogs for food, Confederate soldiers returning from the war are treated as second-class citizens and hunted down by a gang of bounty hunters (in a similar premise to The Great Silence), operating under the protection of local law enforcement agencies.
Guiliano Gemma (The Day of Anger, A Pistol For Ringo) plays Michael 'California' Random, one such soldier who takes the naive Willy Preston (Miguel Bose) under his wing. When his companion is shot in the back and strung up for stealing a horse, California travels to his parents' Georgia ranch to break the bad news. In typical style he falls for Helen, his dead comrade's sister, and following the senseless killing of three Confederates by bounty killer Rope Whitaker (Raimund Harmstorf) and his men, he gets caught up in the ensuing crossfire as federal agents arrive to take Whitaker down. The sister is taken hostage as the gang make their escape,...
Guiliano Gemma (The Day of Anger, A Pistol For Ringo) plays Michael 'California' Random, one such soldier who takes the naive Willy Preston (Miguel Bose) under his wing. When his companion is shot in the back and strung up for stealing a horse, California travels to his parents' Georgia ranch to break the bad news. In typical style he falls for Helen, his dead comrade's sister, and following the senseless killing of three Confederates by bounty killer Rope Whitaker (Raimund Harmstorf) and his men, he gets caught up in the ensuing crossfire as federal agents arrive to take Whitaker down. The sister is taken hostage as the gang make their escape,...
- 12/14/2009
- by Nick
- Latemag.com/film
Curious to know what frightful films and devilish discs will be available to view in the privacy of your own digital dungeon this week? Fango's got you covered.
Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores this Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last-minute additions and deletions.
Note: Clickable links lead to Amazon.com
Alien Tresspass - Image DVD & Bd
A flying saucer, ray guns, body snatching and a one-eyed monster from outer space! It’s all here in this action-packed sci-fi adventure! Eric McCormack stars as an astronomer who gets possessed by a friendly alien bent on saving our humble planet. But even with the help of a lovely diner waitress, is he any match for the Ghota, a one-eyed evil alien on a murderous rampage?
Bad Boy Bubby (Bd)
L.A. Weekly called it "disturbing and compelling,...
Below the jump you'll find the full list of titles arriving in-stores this Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in our weekly version of the famous Fangoria Chopping List - updated with all the last-minute additions and deletions.
Note: Clickable links lead to Amazon.com
Alien Tresspass - Image DVD & Bd
A flying saucer, ray guns, body snatching and a one-eyed monster from outer space! It’s all here in this action-packed sci-fi adventure! Eric McCormack stars as an astronomer who gets possessed by a friendly alien bent on saving our humble planet. But even with the help of a lovely diner waitress, is he any match for the Ghota, a one-eyed evil alien on a murderous rampage?
Bad Boy Bubby (Bd)
L.A. Weekly called it "disturbing and compelling,...
- 8/9/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (James Zahn)
- Fangoria
Code Red DVD just sent Fango the specs for a trio of upcoming releases set to hit retailers later this summer.
On August 18th, Code Red DVD will unleash The Strangeness. It is 1980 and the price of gold is soaring. Old timers warn would be prospectors to stay away from the Gold Spike Mine. It has stood as a ghastly reminder of the horrors of a century before when the earth violently shook and over twenty miners were killed, their bodies stripped of flesh. The residents of Basin City talked of the grisly murders only in whispers from which legends of The Strangeness grew. A small group of explorers innocently make their way to the Gold Spike. Only one knows the incredible secret of the mine, and here the nightmare begins.....!
Nightmare USA's Stephen Thrower described the film as having, "Ominous atmosphere, flashes of humour, and a truly startling monster!
On August 18th, Code Red DVD will unleash The Strangeness. It is 1980 and the price of gold is soaring. Old timers warn would be prospectors to stay away from the Gold Spike Mine. It has stood as a ghastly reminder of the horrors of a century before when the earth violently shook and over twenty miners were killed, their bodies stripped of flesh. The residents of Basin City talked of the grisly murders only in whispers from which legends of The Strangeness grew. A small group of explorers innocently make their way to the Gold Spike. Only one knows the incredible secret of the mine, and here the nightmare begins.....!
Nightmare USA's Stephen Thrower described the film as having, "Ominous atmosphere, flashes of humour, and a truly startling monster!
- 6/26/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (FANGORIA.com)
- Fangoria
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