#small but crucial part in Leone's opus Once Upon a Time in the West) until he sadly took his own life in 1971. but at some point he clearly | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mariocki · 2 years ago

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Spaghetti Western icon and international film star Frank Wolff inexplicably turns up as the villainous Jim Reston in The Saint: The Old Treasure Story (4.9, ITC, 1965)

#fave spotting #frank wolff #italian cinema #spaghetti western #the saint #itc #1965 #the old treasure story #ok this one is probably just for me #i mean i don't think i have many Italian cinema mutuals‚ at least not many who'd be as excited to see Frank Wolff pop up in my old brit #tv show. but it was the sheer weirdness of it that threw me! this is like an opposite fave spotting. it's not that unusual to have a Brit #or American face turn up in an Italian genre film‚ but the crossover with old British tv (my other one true love) is pretty minimal #but then Wolff wasn't Italian; such was his ubiquity in Italian genre films‚ particularly westerns‚ that I'd entirely forgotten he was #American. in fact he got his start making cheapy horror movies with Roger Corman; it was Corman who advised him to stay in Europe after #shooting finished on sword and sandal flick Atlas‚ and stay he did. over the next decade Wolff made more than 50 films mainly #in Italy‚ a great many of them spaghetti westerns but also gialli and comedies. he became an iconic face in italian cinema (he even has a #small but crucial part in Leone's opus Once Upon a Time in the West) until he sadly took his own life in 1971. but at some point he clearly #took a trip to the UK; The Saint isn't quite his only brit tv role (he also did two eps of The Baron around the same time) but it's very #much an outlier in his filmography. he is tho‚ it must be said‚ absolutely brilliant here. he's a yank former sailor turned gun toting #treasure hunter‚ and he's having the absolute time of his life. he enters‚ in an incredible dark and stormy night setup‚ giggling. he calls #Simon pretty. he adds 'man' to the end of most sentences as tho he were a teen beatnik. it's a brilliantly assured and utterly felt #performance (he feels‚ if it makes sense‚ like a film actor entering a world of tv actors)#Frank only lived another six years after this episode went out‚ but he made nearly 40 films in that time #that kind of proliferation can hurt some actors' performances but i can honestly say I've never seen him in anything where he wasn't #absolutely mesmerising. this was a joy of a surprise

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