Alberto De Martino

Alberto De Martino
Born (1929-06-12)12 June 1929
Rome, Italy
Died 2 June 2015(2015-06-02) (aged 85)
Rome, Italy
Occupation Film director, screenwriter
Years active 1959–1985

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 wellcrafted 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] Horror film fans also remember him for The Blancheville Monster, Blood Link, Formula for a Murder, Medusa vs the Son of Hercules and Holocaust 2000.

Life and career

Alberto De Martino was born on June 12, 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] By then, the golden age of Italian cinema was fading, but there was still plenty of work to be had from more commercial projects.

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]

The first film that he directed, known in English as The Invincible Gladiator (1961), was part of the "sword-and-sandals" craze, after which De Martino turned his hand to the newly fashionable spaghetti Western, notably with $100,000 for Ringo (1965).

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Alberto De Martino; Italian director whose films were unrepentantly brazen versions of better-known Hollywood hits". The Daily Telegraph. June 9, 2015. p. 27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Stefania Ulivi (3 June 2015). "Addio a De Martino, regista di culto amato da Tarantino". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Marco Giusti. Dizionario del western all'italiana. Mondadori, 2007. ISBN 8804572779.
  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.
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