Fernando Di Leo (11 January 1932 – 1 December 2003)[1] was an Italian film director and script writer. He made 17 films as a director and about 50 scripts from 1964 to 1985.[2]
Fernando Di Leo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 January 1932 San Ferdinando di Puglia, Italy |
| Died | 1 December 2003 (aged 71) Rome, Italy |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
Biography edit
Fernando Di Leo was born on 11 January 1932 in San Ferdinando di Puglia.[2] After briefly working in a Rome film school Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Di Leo made his debut as a director as part of the omnibus comedy Gli eroi di ieri, oggi, domani with his episode titled Un posto in paradiso (transl. A Place in Heaven).[3] Following this Di Leo wrote several scripts for Westerns, often uncredited.[3] This included work on A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.[3] Some of his Westerns had uncredited literary sources, such as Days of Vengeance which as loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo.[3]
Di Leo was a fan of film noir and wanted to make an Italian version of these films.[3] Among his first efforts was the script for Mino Guerrini's Date for a Murder based on Franco Enna's novel Tempo di massacro written in 1955.[3] In Di Leo's version, the setting is moved to a contemporary Rome and has elements of contemporary spy films.[3] Di Leo worked with Guerrini again on the film Gangsters '70 which did not do well in the box office.[3] Di Leo began directing more of his own films at the time including the war film Red Roses for the Fuhrer and a few erotic films: A Woman on Fire, A Wrong Way to Love and Seduction.[3] From 1969 to 1976, di Leo was able to produce many of his own works with his production company Duania cineproduzioni 70.[2] He followed this with a return to noir with Naked Violence, a film adapting a novel by Giorgio Scerbanenco, a writer who Di Leo would adapt for several future film productions.[3]
Di Leo would make a giallo film with Slaughter Hotel starring Klaus Kinski and Margaret Lee.[3] Following this Di Leo worked on Caliber 9 and The Italian Connection which were both inspired by the writing of Scerbanenco.[3] He followed up this film Il Boss, a film which got Di Leo in trouble with politicians and authorities due to the films display connections between the mafia and the Italy's major party Democrazia Cristiana.[3] Di Leo followed this up with Shoot First, Die Later in 1974.[3] Di Leo worked through the latter half of the 1970's directing Mister Scarface, Kidnap Syndicate, and Nick the Sting.[4] He also wrote scripts for other directors such as Romolo Guerrieri's Young, Violent, Dangerous and Ruggero Deodato's Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man.[4] Di Leo's last film produced by his company Duania cineproduzioni 70 was Rulers of the City in 1976.[4] He continued with a few more films after with the film noir Blood and Diamonds, the erotic drama To Be Twenty - both in 1978, and Madness in 1980.[4]
Di Leo worked in television in the 1980's, starting with the television series L'assassino ha le ore contate, which involved six one-hour long made-for-TV films produced by RAI Uno which as of 2013 are unreleased.[4] Di Leo also made The Violent Breed and his last film Killer vs. Killers towards the mid-1980's.[4] Killer vs. Killers wasn't released theatrically in Italy and only surfaced 20 years later on DVD.[5]
Di Leo died in December 2003.[5]
Select filmography edit
References edit
- ^ "Fernando Di Leo - filmportal.de". filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Curti 2013, p. 292.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Curti 2013, p. 293.
- ^ a b c d e f Curti 2013, p. 294.
- ^ a b Curti 2013, p. 295.
- ^ Curti 2016, p. 293.
- ^ "Gli eroi di ieri, oggi, domani (1963)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.com. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Curti 2016, p. 192.
- ^ "Cast and Crew". A Pistol for Ringo / The Return of Ringo (Booklet). Arrow Video. 2018. p. 5. AV137 / FCD1710.
- ^ Hughes 2006, p. 29.
- ^ Hughes 2006, p. 36.
- ^ Curti 2016, p. 193.
- ^ "Kiss kiss... bang bang" (in Italian). Archvio del cinema italiano. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ Howarth 2015, p. 106.
- ^ Firsching, Robert. "Massacre Time". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ "7 Pistole Per I Macgregor (7 Guns for the MacGregors), Italy/Spain, 1965". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 34, no. 405. British Film Institute. October 1967. p. 158.
- ^ Grant 2011, p. 443.
- ^ Grant 2011, p. 442.
- ^ "Johnny Yuma (1966)" (in Italian). Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ Hughes 2006, p. 81.
- ^ Hughes 2006, p. 92.
- ^ "7 donne per i Mac Gregor (1967)" (in Italian). Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "Up the MacGregors". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ "Lunghi giorni della vendetta (1967)" (in Italian). Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
- ^ Grant 2011, p. 446.
- ^ "Das Gold von Sam Cooper". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ "Ognuno per sé" (in French). Bifi.fr. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ "Ognuno per sé (1968)" (in Italian). Archvio del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ "Die letzte Rechnung zahlst du selbst". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 23.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 31.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 52.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 51.
- ^ "Blutiger Freitag" (in German). Filmportal.de. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 61.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 77.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 118.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 137.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 141.
- ^ a b Curti 2013, p. 181.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 190.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 191.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 202.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 237.
- ^ Curti 2013, p. 274.
Bibliography edit
- Allen, Jane (2015). Pier Angeli: A Fragile Life. McFarland. ISBN 9781476603575.
- Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786469765.
- Curti, Roberto (2016). Tonino Valerii: The Films. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476664682.
- Grant, Kevin (2011). Any Gun Can Play. Fab Press. ISBN 9781903254615.
- Howarth, Troy (2015). Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films. Midnight Marquee Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1936168538.
- Hughes, Howard (2006). Once Upon a Time in the Italian West. I B Tauris. ISBN 0857730452.