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 he 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. These films were specifically created films in Western, horror and mythology genres which were developed for the international market. The Telegraph stated that his best known of these film was probably The Antichrist. 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.
Life and career Alberto De Martino was born on 12 June 1929 in Rome. De Martino was the son of a film make-up artist. He started his career as a child actor.
On attending university, De Martino studied law. Martino returned to a career in cinema working as an editor, screenwriter and assistant director. Martino stated he was encouraged to be a director by Federico Fellini for whom he supervised the dubbing for La Dolce Vita. De Martino was also very active in the field of dubbing, and he was dubbing director for more than 1,500 films.
De Martino was one of the active directors in the Italian genre cinema between the 1960s and mid-1980s; his films spanned different genres, including Peplum, Eurospy, Spaghetti Western, Euro War, Poliziotteschi, and Giallo films. A real life friend of Sergio Leone, he was second unit director in Duck, You Sucker!
The films he made in the 1980s were all made for the foreign markets. These films were all made with a pseudonym of Martin Herbert as De Martino said he felt "a little ashamed" of them. In 1980, De Martino nearly lost his home when his film The Pumaman failed at the box office. Pumaman was followed by a few more films, concluding his career with Miami Golem. Martino left the production of Miami Golem before its completion, saying that "What you see in the film is shot by me, but nothing of the editing process and post-production is mine."
He died in Rome on 2 June 2015 at the age of 85.
Selected filmography Note: The films listed as N/A are not necessarily chronological. Title Year Credited as Notes Director ScreenwriterScreen story writer OtherScipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal1937 Actor as "Son of Scipio"Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete1960 Assistant director1961 producerGladiators 71962 Medusa Against the Son of Hercules1963 Gladiators Seven1964 1964 100.000 dollari per Ringo1965 Heroes of Fort Worth1965 1966 Special Mission Lady Chaplin Django Shoots First Dirty Heroes1967 O.K. Connery Bandits in Rome1968 Carnal Circuit1969 1971 Crime Boss1972 1972 Ci risiamo, vero Provvidenza?1973 Counselor at Crime1973 1974 Strange Shadows in an Empty Room1976 Holocaust 20001977 1980 Blood Link1982 Formula for a Murder1985 Miami Golem1985
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