Massimo Dallamano

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's Dollars Trilogy, and for directing several giallo and poliziotteschi films during the 1970s.

Life and career

Born in Milan, 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 at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. He was also active in Spanish cinema. He shot Francisco Rovira Beleta'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 Sergio Leone's landmark Spaghetti Westerns A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1965). Christopher Frayling 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, Bandidos. He went on to direct a dozen more films, including poliziotteschi, giallo, horror, and erotic films. His films include A Black Veil for Lisa (1968) with Luciana Paluzzi and John Mills, Dorian Gray (1970) with Helmut Berger, What Have You Done to Solange? (1972), What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974), and The Cursed Medallion (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, which was ultimately directed by Alberto Negrin. Dallamano retained a posthumous screenwriting credit.

Select filmography

Title	Year	Credited as			Notes	Template:Abbr
		Director	Screenwriter	Cinematographer
Herod the Great	1959			Template:Yes		Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Template:Sort	1960			Template:Yes		Template:Sfn
Love and Larceny				Template:Yes
Constantine and the Cross	1961			Template:Yes		Template:Sfn
Queen of the Nile				Template:Yes
Pontius Pilate	1962			Template:Yes		Template:Sfn
Gunfight at Red Sands	1963			Template:Yes
Los Tarantos				Template:Yes
Template:Sort	1964			Template:Yes		Template:Sfn
Bullets Don't Argue				Template:Yes
For a Few Dollars More	1965			Template:Yes		Template:Sfn
The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen	1966			Template:Yes
Bandidos	1967	Template:Yes		Template:Yes		Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
A Black Veil for Lisa	1968	Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Venus in Furs	1969	Template:Yes
Dorian Gray	1970	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
What Have You Done to Solange?	1972	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Super Bitch	1973	Template:Yes	Template:Yes			Template:Sfn
What Have They Done to Your Daughters?	1974	Template:Yes	Template:Yes			Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Template:Sort	1975	Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Colt 38 Special Squad	1976	Template:Yes	Template:Yes			Template:Sfn
Red Rings of Fear	1978		Template:Yes		Posthumous release

Sources

References

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External links

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