Massimo Dallamano (17 April 1917 – 4 November 1976) was an Italian cinematographer, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...

Dollars Trilogy The ''Dollars Trilogy'' (), also known as the ''Man with No Name Trilogy'' (), is an Italian film series consisting of three spaghetti western films directed by Sergio Leone. The films are titled '' A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), '' For a Few ...

, and for directing several

giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

and poliziotteschi films during the 1970s.

Life and career

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Dallamano began in the 1940s as cameraman for documentaries and commercials, and after the war he became a cinematographer, specializing in adventure films. In 1959, he co-directed the travel documentary ''Tierra mágica'', which was nominated for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the

9th Berlin International Film Festival The 9th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 26 June to 7 July 1959. The festival welcomed the cinematic movement known as the French New Wave and screened the work of directors such as Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda and Franç ...

. He was also active in Spanish cinema. He shot

Francisco Rovira Beleta Francisco Rovira Beleta (1913 in Barcelona – 23 June 1999) was a twice Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee Spanish screenwriter and film director. His film ''The Robbers (film), Los atracadores'' was entered into the 12th Berlin International ...

's film '' Los Tarantos'', which was nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film at the 36th Academy Awards. His best known work as a cinematographer were

's landmark Spaghetti Westerns ''

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (, (''For a Fistful of Dollars'')) is a 1964 spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Si ...

'' (1964) and ''

For a Few Dollars More ''For a Few Dollars More'' () is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. Klaus Kinski plays a supporting role as a se ...

'' (1965).

Christopher Frayling Sir Christopher John Frayling (born 25 December 1946) is a British educationalist and writer, known for his study of popular culture. He was awarded a knighthood for Services to Art and Design Education in the 2001 New Year Honours. Early lif ...

notes Dallamano's contributions to those films' distinctive visual style, including the use of widescreen compositions and Renaissance-style lighting effects in close-ups. In 1967, he made his narrative film directorial debut with another

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

, ''

Bandidos Bandidos may refer to: * Bandidos (film), ''Bandidos'' (film), a 1967 Italian spaghetti western film * Bandidos Films, a Mexican film production house * Bandidos (TV series), ''Bandidos'' (TV series), a 2024 Mexican TV series See also

* Ba ...

''. He went on to direct a dozen more films, including poliziotteschi,

, horror, and erotic films. His films include ''

A Black Veil for Lisa ''A Black Veil for Lisa'' (, lit. "Death has no sex") is a 1968 thriller film directed by Massimo Dallamano. The film follows narcotics detective Franz Buloff as he investigates a drug ring and hires a hitman, Max Lindt, to kill his wife, Lisa, s ...

'' (1968) with Luciana Paluzzi and

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

, ''Dorian Gray'' (1970) with

Helmut Berger Helmut Berger (; ''né'' Steinberger; 29 May 1944 – 18 May 2023) was an Austrian actor, known for his portrayal of narcissistic and sexually ambiguous characters. He was one of the stars of European cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s, and is r ...

, ''

What Have You Done to Solange? ''What Have You Done to Solange?'' () is a 1972 ''giallo'' film directed by Massimo Dallamano and starring Fabio Testi, Karin Baal, Joachim Fuchsberger, Cristina Galbó, and Camille Keaton. The plot follows a series of violent murders occurri ...

'' (1972), '' What Have They Done to Your Daughters?'' (1974), and ''

The Cursed Medallion ''The Cursed Medallion'' (; also released as ''The Night Child'') is a 1975 Italian horror film directed by Massimo Dallamano, and starring Richard Johnson (actor), Richard Johnson, Joanna Cassidy, and Ida Galli. Plot Michael Williams, a documen ...

'' (1975). Throughout his career, Dallamano was sometimes credited under the aliases Max Dillman (also spelled Dillmann) and Jack Dalmas.

Death

Dallamano died at age 59 in a car accident, several months after the release of his film '' Colt 38 Special Squad'' (1976). His next film was intended to be ''

Red Rings of Fear ''Red Rings of Fear'' (, , ) is a 1978 giallo film directed by Alberto Negrin. Plot A detective investigates the killing of a teenage girl and turns his suspicions on three girlfriends of the victim, who dub themselves "The Inseparables." P ...

,'' which was ultimately directed by

Alberto Negrin Alberto Negrin (born 2 January 1940) is an Italian film director and screenwriter, known for his historical, nostalgic and political films. Negrin started his career as a fine art photographer. In 1962 he debuted as an assistant stage director, ...

. Dallamano retained a posthumous screenwriting credit.

Select filmography

Sources

Footnotes

References

* * * * * *

External links

* 1917 births 1976 deaths Italian cinematographers Italian film directors 20th-century Italian screenwriters Film people from Milan Spaghetti Western directors Poliziotteschi directors Giallo film directors Road incident deaths in Italy Italian male screenwriters 20th-century Italian male writers {{Italy-film-director-stub