Antonio Margheriti and his movies

Antonio Margheriti was another of the Italian directors who made just every genre they could. And I haven't seen enough of his movies. Actually only three, all of them westerns. I'm ashamed and feel I need to fix it. So this article would be just an overview of the movies I and you also need to explore.

Space Men (1960)
When the Italian genre movies were just born, Antonio a.k.a. Anthony M. Dawson was already here and making first space operas. This really predated the mid-sixties boom of genre movies of all kinds. Other of his 60's science fictions were : Battle of the Worlds (1961), The Space Devils (1965), Wild Wild Planet (1965, co-starring Franco Nero!), War Between the Planets (1966), and The Snow Devils (1967, with Nero again).

The Fall of Rome (1962)
In the early 60's probably every genre director had to shoot a sword and sandal movie. Margheriti did several of them. This one with the German Carl Möhner and two Italian beauties, Django's Loredana Nusciak and Ida Galli a.k.a. Evelyn Stewart.

The Virgin of Nuremberg (1963)
What is Margheriti among his fans most known for? Yes, his gothic horrors. This was his first, and he was very prolific in the genre. Starring Christopher Lee!

Hercules, Prisoner of Evil (1964)
Another of his sandal movies, in the original title it's Ursus instead of Hercules. Starring Reg Park, one of many musclemen of the genre.

Giants of Rome (1964)
And another sandal movie, this time with Richard Harrison.

Castle of Blood & The Long Hair of Death (1964)
Two gothic horrors, both starring Barbara Steele. Sergio Corbucci co-wrote the first one. Both look interesting.

Killers are Challenged (1966)
And in 1966 Margheriti added eurospy movies to his catalogue. This time Richard Harrison appears again as James Bond clone for a change.

Dynamite Joe (1967)
And in 1967 he finally directed a western too. Someone named Rik Van Nutter wears a Clint Eastwood poncho in this movie. Don't mistake it for Dynamite Jim, a comedy from the previous year, made by someone else.

Naked You Die (1968)
Margheriti developed Italian space movies. Margheriti developed Italian horrors. So which way would he go next? Yes, giallo! Still haven't seen it, but it's supposed to be good. In 1973 he made another giallo called Seven Deaths in a Cat's Eye with Jane Birkin and Anton Diffring, both his gialli are mixed a bit with gothic elements.

Vengeance (1968)
Finally something I've seen... A really good, atmospheric spaghetti western starring the wooden, but fitting Richard Harrison and Gian Maria Volonte's brother, Claudio Camaso. Recommended.

The Unnaturals (1969)
Another of his gothic horrors, made in coproduction with West Germany.

And God Said to Cain (1970)
A gothic spaghetti western. Really! Klaus Kinski as the good guy. Really! He's after revenge and he gets it hardly. Half of the movie takes the final countdown. Kinski kills with a rifle. Kinski kills with fire. Kinski kills with the church bell... Is he a living person? Is he a ghost? I need to rewatch it.

Web of the Spider (1971)
Klaus Kinski co-starring as Edgar Allan Poe in another gothic horror. Leading parts taken by Michele Mercier and Anthony Franciosa. Looks very promising.

Finalmente... le mille e una notte (1972)
In 1970's Margheriti began to shoot comedies and it doesn't seem like a good idea. This one is some medieval erotic stuff, notable only for the cast of Barbara Bouchet, who, I believe, is in this movie fucked by an invisible man... Awful.

Hercules Against Karate (1973)
Even worse. Margheriti did a few kung-fu movies. Italian kung-fu movies! And he casted a clone of Bud Spencer, Fernando Bilbao! Oh, god, why... He made with him also a movie called Manone il ladrone (1974), a rip-off of Spencer's Flatfoot.

The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974)
But this, somehow, works, and well. It's a spaghetti western comedy with kung-fu, a little bit erotic, and starring Lee Van Cleef. A weird cocktail? It works, it's actually very watchable! Co-starring Lo Lieh, Femi Benussi or Erika Blanc.

Take a Hard Ride (1975)
This one bored me, but it could've been the dubbing... Another weird mix, this time a spaghetti western mixed with blaxploitation! Starring Lee Van Cleef again, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly. I'd probably watch it again someday...

Death Rage (1976)
Margheriti's only eurocrime, starring Yul Brynner and always nude Barbara Bouchet. Maybe it's not very bad.

The Squeeze (1978)
Lee Van Cleef again, but this time in a contemporary movie about robbers. Co-starring Karen Black, Lionel Stander and Robert Alda.

Killer Fish (1979)
Another Jaws rip-off, this time Margheriti's. Or is it rather a Piranha rip-off? Co-starring Anthony Steffen.

The Last Hunter (1980)
In the 1980's Margheriti was probably even more active than before, and he ripped off everything he could. This time it was Cimino's The Deer Hunter, starring David Warbeck.

Cannibal Apocalypse (1980)
Zombies and cannibals in one movie! I guess Italians did it more times. Starring John Saxon.

Tiger Joe (1982)
David Warbeck in the war again.

Hunters of the Golden Cobra (1982)
David Warbeck as Indiana Jones! Must be funny... The next year they made another movie, Ark of the Sun God.

The Last Blood (1983)
Antonio rips off Rambo, but not with David Warbeck this time.

Yor, the Hunter of Future (1983)
Reb Brown as Conan the Barbarian!

 

Code Name: Wild Geese (1984)
Lewis Collins (from The Professionals TV series) stars as a mercenary in one of Margheriti's mercenary movies he did with him. Others were Commando Leopard (1985) and The Commander (1988). In the first and the third one was Lee Van Cleef as a co-star, in the first two co-starred Klaus Kinski. The cast was quite stellar -also Ernest Borgnine (Wild Geese), Mimsy Farmer (Wild Geese), Donald Pleasence (The Commander).

Jungle Raiders (1985)
Another Indiana Jones rip-off, this time with Christopher Connelly and Lee Van Cleef again.

Alien from the Deep (1989)
Margheriti in the space again, an Alien rip-off.

Indio (1989)
Another action movie, with Francesco Quinn. After 2 years Margheriti did a sequel - with someone else.

Virtual Weapon (1996)
And his last movie was a movie with Terence Hill, that is supposed to be so terrible that I didn't have the courage to watch it yet.

Top Lee Marvin Movies

Lee Marvin was king. I dig him since I first saw him... in what? In The Professionals? Someting else? I don't know. His cool silent appearance, his deep voice, when he appeared on screen he shined. Mostly. It's true that in some of his earlier parts where he just sat by a table and played cards or something he could have been easily missed - he had no lines or ust a single word, no close-ups, the focus was on somebody like Audie Murphy or Rock Hudson. I don't like Murphy - if he would have ever met Marvin as a co-star nobody would be paying attention to him. Randolph Scott managed to do better with Marvin having him several times as his antagonist. I still have to watch Seven Men from Now - because the other two Boetticher-Scott movies were absolutely boring... Even though they had Richard Boone, Henry Silva, Lee Van Cleef or James Coburn.

Well, when Marvin made his great in 1953 with The Big Heat where he absolutely outshone Glenn Ford, he began to get bigger and bigger parts until finally become a star with 1965's Cat Ballou. I still have to watch this one... Saying that, I unfortunately haven't watched so many Marvin movies that I would like to watch. Reasons unknown. I just know that I turned off Death Hunt with Charles Bronson twice. Perhaps it says something...
But here are my top 5 Marvin's movies:

The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Absolute classic with a cast that could make the screen explode. Almost everybody in this movie is one of the toughest Hollywood had to offer at the time - and the rest are some of the greatest actors. We get Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Robert Ryan, Robert Webber, Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Donald Sutherland and of course Marvin who is above everybody being absolutely convincing in his part, the probably best he could ever get. Love this movie.

Point Blank (1967)
The same year, something absolutely different, but the same iconic. Marvin says probably less than 50 words in the entire movie, but still remains the most interesting person on screen. I absolutely love the atmosphere, the locations, the photography, the other performances (particularly Carroll O'Connor), the style. A perfect example of 60's neo-noir.

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
This is of course a Spencer Tracy vehicle, but a great one. I saw just a few Spencer Tracy movies, but tthey were all magnificent - especially Judgment at Nuremberg. This is like a modern western and a great one. Marvin is one of Robert Ryan's thugs - the other one being Ernest Borgnine. Directed by John Sturges who later made the great The Magnificent Seven and the magnificent The Great Escape - almost a pity that Marvin, Borgnine and Ryan aren't in the western. Marvin would make great both Chris and Britt, Borgnine would make great Harry and Ryan would make great Lee. But actually the cast of The Magnificent Seven is perfect so there's really no pity for these three.

The Professionals (1966)
More of a Burt Lancaster vehicle, where Marvin and Ryan did sort of their own Magnificent Seven, but only four with Lancaster and Woody Strode. Cast includes Jack Palance as a sort of a villain who isn't really bad, and Claudia Cardinale who is hot as hell in the hot desert. I hate Lancaster's teeth, but apart from him is the movie good. The setting of the Mexican revolution is more typical for Italian westerns than American, so that makes this also interesting.

Prime Cut (1972)
An exploitation flick surprisingly starring two Oscar winners (the other being Gene Hackman), together with very young, pretty (and nude) Sissy Spacek, the huge Gregory Walcott or the foxy (and almost nude) Angel Tompkins. Not a great movie, but a very entertaining one with cool groovy Lalo Schifrin score and great leads of the coolest of the cool Marvin and the baddest of the bad Hackman.

A few other Marvin movies that are interesting or amusing:

The Big Heat (1953)
This noir starring the flat Glenn Ford isn't special except for Marvin who does a great villain.

The Big Red One (1980)
An epic war movie that had smaller budget than it deserved. Marvin is great, and his troop contain Robert Carradine and Mark Hamill too! Good movie.

Delta Force (1986)
Chuck Norris kicks ass of Arabian terrorist harming innocent Jews in this Menahem Golan Cannon flick. Lee Marvin is Chuck's commander, he unfortunately hasn't got much to do in his last part. But a fun flick.

And a few movies, that I haven't watched and I want to:

Attack (1956)
A Robert Aldrich war flick with Jack Palance and Lee Marvin must be something..

Cat Ballou (1965)
I was avoiding this, but I'll give it a chance.

The Killers (1964)
Lee Marvin plus Don Siegel. It looks rather talky, but I'll give it a watch anyway. Still don't know when.

Hell in the Pacific (1968)
A movie with only Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune? Must be great!

Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
Lee Marvin against crazy conductor Ernest Borgnine, directed by Aldrich again! Why the hell didn't I watch it yet?

Spike's gang (1974)
Lee Marvin plays in western shot in Spain! Pity he never did a spaghetti western...

Canicule (1984)
a.k.a. Dog's Day. French thriller starring Marvin instead of French regulars like Ventura or Delon! Looks really crazy... Co-starring Jean Carmet and Miou-Miou.