Alberto De Martino

Alberto De Martino (12 June 1929 – 2 June 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, De Martino started as a child actor and later returned to the cinema where worked as a screenwriter, director and dubbing supervisor. De Martino's films as a director specialised in well-crafted knock-offs of Hollywood hit films.[1] These films were specifically created films in Western, horror and mythology genres which were developed for the international market.[1] The Telegraph stated that his best known of these film was probably The Antichrist.[1] The Antichrist capitalized on the box-office appeal of The Exorcist (1973) and in its first week in the United States earned a greater box office than Jaws.[1]

Alberto De Martino
Born(1929-06-12)12 June 1929
Rome, Italy
Died2 June 2015(2015-06-02) (aged 85)
Rome, Italy
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1959–1985

Life and career

Alberto De Martino was born on 12 June 1929 in Rome.[1] De Martino was the son of a film make-up artist.[2] He started his career as a child actor.[2]

On attending University, De Martino studied law.[1] Martino returned to a career in cinema working as an editor, screenwriter and as an assistant director.[1] Martino stated he was encouraged to be a director by Federico Fellini for whom he supervised the dubbing for La Dolce Vita.[1] De Martino was also very active in the field of dubbing, and he was dubbing director for more than 1,500 films.[2]

De Martino was one of the active directors in the Italian genre cinema between 1960s and mid-1980s; his films spanned different genres, including Spaghetti Western, poliziotteschi, Peplum films and horror.[2][3] A real life friend of Sergio Leone, he was second unit director in Duck, You Sucker![3] He was often credited as Martin Herbert.[2][3]

In 1980, De Martino nearly lost his home when his film The Pumaman failed at the box office.[1] Pumaman was followed by a few more films concluding his career with Miami Golem.[1]

He died in Rome on 2 June 2015 at the age of 85.[1][4][5]

Selected filmography
Note: The films listed as N/A are not necessarily chronological.
TitleYearCredited asNotesRef(s)
DirectorScreenwriterScreen story writerOther
Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal 1937 Yes Actor as "Son of Scipio" [6]
Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete 1960 Yes Assistant director [7]
The Invincible Gladiator 1961 Yes Yes Yes producer [8][9]
Gladiators 7 1962 Yes Yes [10][11]
Medusa Against the Son of Hercules 1963 Yes Yes [12][13]
The Blancheville Monster Yes [14]
Gli invincibili sette Yes Yes Yes [12][15]
Gladiators Seven 1964 Yes Yes [16]
The Triumph of Hercules — Yes [17]
100.000 dollari per Ringo 1965 Yes Yes Yes [18][19]
Heroes of Fort Worth — Yes [20]
The Spy with Ten Faces 1966 Yes Yes [21]
Special Mission Lady Chaplin Yes [22][23]
Django Shoots First Yes [24][25]
Dirty Heroes 1967 Yes Yes [26]
O.K. Connery Yes [27]
Roma come Chicago 1968 Yes Yes [28]
Carnal Circuit 1969 Yes Yes [29][30]
The Man with Icy Eyes — Yes [31]
Crime Boss 1972 Yes [32]
The Killer Is on the Phone — Yes Yes Yes [33][34]
Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza? — Yes [35]
Counselor at Crime 1973 Yes Yes Yes [36]
The Antichrist 1974 Yes Yes Yes [37][38]
Strange Shadows in an Empty Room 1976 Yes [39]
Holocaust 2000 — Yes Yes Yes [40]
The Pumaman 1980 Yes Yes [41][42]
Blood Link 1982 Yes Yes [43][44][45]
Formula for a Murder 1985 Yes Yes Yes [46][47][44]
Miami Golem — Yes [48]

References

Footnotes
  1. "Alberto De Martino; Italian director whose films were unrepentantly brazen versions of better-known Hollywood hits". The Daily Telegraph. 9 June 2015. p. 27.
  2. Stefania Ulivi (3 June 2015). "Addio a De Martino, regista di culto amato da Tarantino". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. Marco Giusti (2007). Dizionario del western all'italiana. Mondadori, 2007. ISBN 978-8804572770.
  4. "Addio a Alberto De Martino, regista culto tra peplum e horror". corriere. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  5. "Addio a De Martino, regista di culto amato da Tarantino". Corriere della Sera.
  6. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 46.
  7. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 120.
  8. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 100.
  9. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 101.
  10. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 65.
  11. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 67.
  12. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 115.
  13. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 116.
  14. Curti 2015, p. 86.
  15. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 151.
  16. Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 140.
  17. "Il trionfo di Ercole (1964)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.it.
  18. "Sangre sobre Texas [100.000 dollari per Ringo] (1965)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.it.
  19. Hughes, Howard (2018). "Westerns, Italian Style: Once Upon a Timeline". The Complete Sartana (Booklet). Arrow Video. p. 34. FCD1762 / AV151.
  20. "Gli eroi di Fort Worth (1964)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.it.
  21. "Der Mann mit den tausend Masken". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  22. "Missione speciale Lady Chaplin (1966)". Archviodelcinemaitaliano.com. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  23. "Missione Speciale Lady Chaplin (1966)". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  24. "Django spara per primo (1966)" (in Italian). Archviodelcinemaitaliano.it.
  25. Hughes, Howard (2018). "Westerns, Italian Style: Once Upon a Timeline". The Complete Sartana (Booklet). Arrow Video. p. 37. FCD1762 / AV151.
  26. "...und morgen fahrt ihr zur Hölle". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  27. "Operation Kid Brother". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  28. Curti 2013, p. 14.
  29. Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia; Mario Pecorari (1991). "Femmine insaziabili". Dizionario del cinema italiano. I film. Gremese Editore, 1992. ISBN 8876055932.
  30. "Mord im schwarzen Cadillac". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  31. "L'uomo dagli occhi di ghiaccio (1971)" (in Italian). Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  32. Curti 2013, p. 55.
  33. Howarth 2015, p. 196.
  34. "L'assassino... è al telefono (1972)" (in Italian). Archvio del cinema italiano. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  35. "Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza?" (in Italian). Archvio del cinema italiano. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  36. Curti 2013, p. 79.
  37. "L'anticristo (1974)" (in Italian). Archvio del cinema italiano. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  38. Firsching, Robert. "Antichrist (1974)". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  39. Curti 2013, p. 196.
  40. "Holocaust 2000". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 45, no. 528. London: British Film Institute. 1978. pp. 47–48.
  41. Curti 2016, p. 160.
  42. Curti 2016, p. 161.
  43. Curti 2022, p. 376.
  44. Curti 2022, p. 9.
  45. Luther Smith 1999, p. 12.
  46. "7, Hyden Park. La casa maledetta (1985)" (in Italian). Archvio del cinema italiano. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  47. Curti 2022, p. 377.
  48. "* * Mi ami Golem (1986)" (in Italian). Archvio del cinema italiano. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

Sources
  • Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968–1980. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786469765.
  • Curti, Roberto (2015). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476619897.
  • Curti, Roberto (2016). Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1-936168-60-6.
  • Curti, Roberto (2022). Italian Giallo in Film and Television. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8248-8.
  • Howarth, Troy (2015). So Deadly, So Perverse. Vol. 1. Midnight Marquee Press. ISBN 978-1936168507.
  • Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908–1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
  • Luther Smith, Adrian (1999). Blood & Black Lace. Stray Cat Publishing. ISBN 0-9533261-1-X.
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