Sergio Grieco (13 January 1917 – 30 March 1982) was an Italian
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
and
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
.
Biography
Sergio's father was the
Italian Communist Ruggero Grieco.
Grieco first started in film in the Soviet Union in 1931, working as an assistant to
Nikolai Ekk on the first Soviet sound film ''
Road to Life''. He began his Italian film career as a script supervisor in 1939, working his way up to an
assistant director
The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...
the following year. In 1949 he worked as an assistant to
René Clément
René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing the films ''The Battle of the Rails'' (1946), ''Forbidden Games'' (1952), ''Gervaise (film), Gervaise'' (1956), ''Purple No ...
on his film ''
The Walls of Malapaga'' (1949).
His directorial debut was ''
Il sentiero dell'odio'' (1950), beginning a prolific career in a variety of genres. He met his wife Teresa Terrone (renamed Susan Terry by her agent), who appeared in several of his films, beginning with ''The Mysterious Swordsman''/''Lo spadaccino misterioso'' in 1955.
He directed nearly 40 films between 1950 and 1977, often also writing his own screenplays. Grieco is best known for his adventure,
swashbuckler
A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, and guile, and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, ...
,
sword and sandal and
Eurospy films with
Ken Clark, including the
Secret Agent 077 series of imitation
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
films, which he directed under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
'Terence Hathaway' (see filmography). His final film was ''
The Mad Dog Killer'' (1977). Grieco also co-wrote the screenplay for ''
The Inglorious Bastards'' (1978).
His nephew is
David Grieco, who has worked as a writer, producer and director.
Filmography as director
*''
Il sentiero dell'odio''
* ''
Loving You Is My Sin'' (1954)
*''
Island Sinner
''La Peccatrice dell'isola'' (''The Island's Sinner'') is a 1952 Italian melodrama film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, pe ...
'' (with
Sergio Corbucci
Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was one of the main exponents of the Spaghetti Western genre during the 1960s and 1970s, with his most notable work ...
) (1954)
*''Tua per la vita'' (1955)
*''
The Violent Patriot'' (1956)
*''The Mysterious Swordsman'' (1956)
* ''
The Black Devil'' (1957)
*''
Pirate of the Black Hawk'' (1958}
*''Pia of Ptolomey'' (1958}
*''
Ciao, ciao bambina!'' (1959)
*''The Nights of Lucretia Borgia'' (1959)
*''
The Loves of Salammbo'' (1960)
*''
The Huns'' (1960)
*''
Slave of Rome'' (1961)
*''
Julius Caesar Against the Pirates'' (1962)
*' (''Revenge of the Mercenaries'', 1962)
*''
Son of the Circus'' (1963)
*''La chica del trébol '' (1964)
*''
Sword of the Empire'' (1964)
*''
Agent 077: Mission Bloody Mary'' (as Terence Hathaway) (1965)
*''
Agent 077: From the Orient with Fury'' (as Terence Hathaway) (1965)
*''
Password: Kill Agent Gordon'' (as Terence Hathaway) (with
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 supervis ...
) (1966)
*''
Special Mission Lady Chaplin'' (as Terence Hathaway) (1966)
*''
Rififi in Amsterdam'' (as Terence Hathaway)( 1966)
*''
Argoman the Fantastic Superman'' (as Terence Hathaway) (1967)
*''
Tiffany Memorandum'' (as Terence Hathaway) (1967)
*''
The Fuller Report'' (as Terence Hathaway) (1968)
*' (1971)
*''All the Brothers of the West Support Their Father''/''Miss Dynamite/'' (1972)
*''
The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine'' (1974)
*''One Man Against the Organization'' (1975)
*''La nipote del prete'' (1976)
*''
Terror in Rome'' (1976)
*''Il signor Ministro li pretese tutti e subito'' (as Sergio Alessandrini) (1977)
*''
The Mad Dog Killer'' (1977)
References
External links and sources
*
Biography at Mymovies.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grieco, Sergio
Italian film directors
20th-century Italian screenwriters
Italian male screenwriters
1917 births
1982 deaths
20th-century Italian male writers