Camillo Tanio Boccia (15 June 1911 – 12 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 ...

active between the 1950s and the early 1970s. From 1960 onwards, he was regularly credited as Amerigo Anton.

Career

Born in

Potenza Potenza (, ; ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one of ...

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

, he started as a dancer and choreographer in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in the 1930s, later moving on to act in regional, dialectal stage plays. He had a small role in ''

Variety Lights ''Variety Lights'' () is a 1951 Cinema of Italy, Italian romance film, romantic drama film produced, directed and written by Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada and starring Peppino De Filippo, Carla Del Poggio, and Giulietta Masina. The film ...

'' (1951) by

Alberto Lattuada Mario Alberto Lattuada (; 13 November 1914 – 3 July 2005) was an Italian film director. Career Lattuada was born in Vaprio d'Adda, the son of composer Felice Lattuada. He was initially interested in literature, becoming, while still a studen ...

and

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

, his first and sole performance as a film actor. Boccia directed 20

low-budget film A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a film, motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studios, major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream ci ...

s in his career. He is best known for his work in the

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

genre, particularly peplum, in the early 1960s with films such as ''

Caesar the Conqueror ''Caesar the Conqueror'' () is a 1962 Italian epic film, epic historical drama film directed by Tanio Boccia. The scenario is based on Julius Caesar's ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico''. The plot centres around Julius Caesar's battling the rebels ...

'' (1962), '' Samson Against the Pirates'' (1963) and ''

Hercules of the Desert ''Hercules of the Desert'' (/ ''Valley of the Thundering Echo''), aka ''Maciste and the Women of the Valley'', is a 1964 Italian peplum film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Kirk Morris.Michele Giordano. ''Giganti buoni''. Gremese Editore, ...

''(1964). In 1965 he directed the spy adventure ''

Agente X 1-7 operación Océano ''Agente X 1-7 operazione Oceano'' () is a 1965 Italian-Spanish spy film, spy film adventure directed by Tanio Boccia.Blake, Deal Plot Professor Calvert has invented a revolutionary formula which make it possible to manipulate the oceans. An int ...

''. His films, generally rated as B or

Z movie Zmovies (or grade-Zmovies) are low-budget films with production qualities lower than Bmovies. History and terminology The term "Zmovie" arose in the mid-1960s as an informal description of certain unequivocally non-A films. It was soon adopted ...

s, always met negative reception and Boccia was often mocked in the

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City) is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studios were constru ...

environment, earning the nickname of "Italian

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novelist. In the 1950s, Wood directed several B movie, low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult c ...

" after his death. However, he has been re-evaluated in recent years, since his works, albeit rather poor, are considered "not at all the kind of cinematic disasters", and appreciated for his creativity in order to solve complicated situations, due to the low budget he had to work with. He was also labeled as the "Italian

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

" for his ability to make a movie in a short time with low financial resources. He died in 1982 in

Selected filmography

* ''

Drama on the Tiber ''Drama on the Tiber'' () is a 1952 Italian drama film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Renato Baldini, Aldo Fiorelli and Bianca Doria. The plot centres around a widow named Sora Rosa with two sons, Aldo and Bruno. While Aldo lives an upright ...

'' (1952) * ''

The Conqueror of the Orient ''The Conqueror of the Orient'' () is a 1960 Italian adventure film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Gianna Maria Canale, Rik Battaglia and Irène Tunc.Hughes p.36 It is set several centuries ago in the Middle East, part of a group of ''Arabi ...

'' (1960) * ''

Triumph of the Son of Hercules ''Triumph of the Son of Hercules'' () is a 1961 Italian peplum film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Kirk Morris.Michele Giordano. ''Giganti buoni''. Gremese Editore, 1998. . Plot Cast * Kirk Morris as Maciste *Cathia Caro as Ante ...

'' (1961) * ''

'' (1962) * ''

Samson and the Sea Beast ''Samson and the Sea Beast'' (, also known as ''Samson Against the Pirates'') is a 1963 Italian peplum film directed by Tanio Boccia. Plot A pirate terrorises the Antilles. He plunders ships, slaughtering their crews and selling women as slaves ...

'' (1963) * ''

Samson vs. the Giant King ''Samson vs. the Giant King'' (, also known as ''Giant of the Lost Tomb'' and ''Atlas Against the Czar'') is a 1964 Italian fantasy-peplum film directed by Amerigo Anton. The czar Nicolas sends a secret mission of experts to find a hidden treasur ...

'' (1964) * ''

Desert Raiders ''Desert Raiders'' () is a 1964 Italian adventure film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Kirk Morris, Rosalba Neri and Hélène Chanel. It was one of a large number of peplum films made during the era. The story consists of a hero saves a be ...

'' (1964) * ''

Terror of the Steppes ''Terror of the Steppes'' (, also known as ''The Mighty Khan'') is a 1964 Italian adventure film written and directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Kirk Morris. Plot Cast * Kirk Morris as Sandar Khan * Moira Orfei as Malina * Daniele Vargas ...

'' (1964) * ''

The Revenge of Ivanhoe ''The Revenge of Ivanhoe'' () is a 1965 Italian adventure film directed by Tanio Boccia. Plot A disguised knight rescues a wounded prisoner held by Cedric of Hastings men. The knight and prisoner escape and during a thunderstorm hides the prison ...

'' (1965) * ''

Agente X 1-7 operazione Oceano ''Agente X 1-7 operazione Oceano'' () is a 1965 Italian-Spanish spy film adventure directed by Tanio Boccia.Blake, Deal Plot Professor Calvert has invented a revolutionary formula which make it possible to manipulate the oceans. An internationa ...

'' (1965) * '' Kill or Be Killed'' (1966) * ''

Kill the Wicked! ''Kill the Wicked!'' (, also known as ''God Does Not Pay on Saturday'' and ''Kill the Wickeds'') is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Tanio Boccia and starring Larry Ward and Rod Dana. Plot The outlaw Braddock is to be hanged in ...

'' (1967)

References

External links

* 1911 births 1982 deaths People from Potenza Italian film directors Italian fantasy film directors 20th-century Italian screenwriters Italian male screenwriters 20th-century Italian male writers {{Italy-film-director-stub