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{{Infobox person
| name        = Alfonso Brescia
| image       = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1930|1|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Rome]], Italy
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|2001|6|6|1930|1|6|df=y}}
| death_place = Rome, Italy
| occupation  = Film director, screenwriter
| known_for   = 
| other_names = Al Bradley{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=203}}
}}

'''Alfonso Brescia''' (6 January 1930 – 6 June 2001) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He began working in film against his father's wishes, and eventually directed his first film ''[[Revolt of the Praetorians]]'' in 1964.<ref>Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968–1980. McFarland. {{ISBN|0786469765}}.</ref> Brescia worked in several genres in the Italian film industry, including five science fiction films he directed following the release of ''Star Wars''. His work slowed down towards the late 1980s, and his last film ''Club Vacanze'' could not get distribution.

== Biography ==
Alfonso Brescia was born in Rome on 6 January 1930.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} He was the son of a film producer and entered the film business against his father's will.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} His father had him work as a production driver, which involved getting up early to persuade him against entering the business which did not work.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} He began work as an assistant director as well as working in production offices, eventually directing his first film ''Revolt of the Praetorians'' in 1964.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}}

Following the release of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', Brescia shot five science fiction films in a row, ''[[Anno zero: guerra nello spazio]]'', ''Battaglie negli spazi stellari'' (aka ''Battle of the Stars''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_173346|title=Battaglie negli spazi stellari|year=1978}}</ref>), ''[[La guerra dei robot]]'', ''[[Star Odyssey]]'' and ''The Beast in Space''.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} ''The Beast in Space'' was a science fiction pornography film based on [[Walerian Borowczyk]]'s ''[[La Bête (film)|The Beast]]''.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Francis |first1=R.D |title=In Space No One Can Hear the Pasta Over-Boiling: Alfonso Brescia and the '80s Italian Spacesploitation Invasion A retrospective of Italy's Star Wars-inspired film industry and the inspirations of George Lucas |url=https://rdfranciswriter.medium.com/in-space-no-one-can-hear-the-pasta-over-boiling-alfonso-brescia-and-the-80s-italian-26b54d29bdfa |website=Medium}}</ref>

In the 1980s, with the decline of genre cinema, Brescia's output drastically diminished.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} His  final works included ''[[Iron Warrior]]'' and ''[[Miami Cops]]'' and ''[[Omicidio a luci blu]]''.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}}  He directed his last film in 1995, ''Club Vacanze'', which failed to interest a distributor, making it the only film he lost money on.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}}

Brescia died in Rome on 5 May 2001.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}}

== Style ==
Italian film historian Roberto Curti described Brescia as "a hack, but a reliable one".{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} Curti referred to Brescia as "one of the most prolific and versatile Italian filmmakers of the 1970s".{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}} Brescia worked in popular film genres of their respective eras in Italy, including sword and sandal films, Westerns, war films, ''[[Mondo film|mondo]]'' films, ''[[giallo film|gialli]]'', erotic films, superhero films, children's films, and science fiction films.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=289}}

== Selected filmography ==
:Note: The films listed as N/A are not necessarily chronological.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" width="80%"
! width="12%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Title !! width="4%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Year!! colspan="4" scope="col" | Credited as !! width="5%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes !! width="1%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}}
|-
! width=6% |Director!! width=6% | Screenwriter!! width=6% |Screen story writer!! width=6% | Other
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Gladiators 7]]''
|1962
|
|
|
| {{yes}}
|Assistant director
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=65}}{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=67}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[The Magnificent Gladiator]]''
|1964
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=111}}
|-
!scope="row"|{{sort|Conqueror of Atlantis|''The Conqueror of Atlantis''}}
|1965
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=40}}
|-
!scope="row"|{{sort|Colt is My Law|''The Colt is My Law''}}
|1965
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Grant|2011|p=437}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG1659|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|title=La Colt è la mia legge (1965)|access-date=9 September 2019|language=Italian}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Gold Train (film)|Gold Train]]''
|1965
|
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Grant|2011|p=437}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG1777|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|title=30 Winchester per El Diablo (1965)|access-date=8 September 2019|language=Italian}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Days of Violence]]''
|1967
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Grant|2011|p=444}}
|-
!scope="row"|''Battle of the Amazons''
|1973
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=26}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Super Stooges vs. the Wonder Women]]''
|1974
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Curti|2016|p=146}}<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gomarasca|first=Manlio|title=Beyond the Screen. Il cinema di Ovidio G. Assonitis|magazine=[[Nocturno Dossier]]|issue=82|date=May 2009|page=20}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Blood and Bullets]]''
|1976
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=161}}
|-
!scope="row"|{{sort|New Godfathers|''[[The New Godfathers]]''}}
|1979
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=266}}{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=267}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Iron Warrior]]''
|1987
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=203}}
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Cosmos: War of the Planets]]''
|{{n/a}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG4300|title=Anno zero – Guerra nello spazio (1977)|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|language=Italian|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|''Battle of the Stars''
|{{n/a}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://elonet.finna.fi/Record/kavi.elonet_elokuva_173346|title=Battaglie negli spazi stellari|year=1978}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=CD7455|title=scheda|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|access-date=31 August 2019}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|[[War of the Robots (film)|''War of the Robots'']]
|{{n/a}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=CD6724|title=La guerra dei robot (1978)|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|language=Italian|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|''[[Star Odyssey]]''
|{{n/a}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=CD7383|title=Sette uomini d'oro nello spazio (1979)|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|language=Italian|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"|{{sort|Beast in Space|''The Beast in Space''}}
|{{n/a}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG4600|title=La bestia nello spazio (1980)|website=Archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it|language=Italian|access-date=29 August 2019}}</ref>
|}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

=== References ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Curti|first=Roberto|title=Italian Crime Filmography, 1968–1980|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-6976-5|year=2013}}
* {{cite book |last=Curti |first=Roberto |title=Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema |publisher=Midnight Marquee Press |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-936168-60-6 }}
* {{cite book|last=Grant|first=Kevin|title=Any Gun Can Play|year=2011|publisher=[[Fab Press]]|isbn=978-1-903254-61-5}}
* {{cite book
 |last1=Kinnard
 |first1=Roy
 |last2=Crnkovich
 |first2=Tony
 |title=Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908–1990
 |publisher=McFarland
 |isbn=978-1-4766-6291-6
 |year=2017
}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|id=0107664|name=Alfonso Brescia}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Brescia, Alfonso}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Film directors from Rome]]
[[Category:Giallo film directors]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Alfonso Brescia|access_date=2026-02-24}}