Fernando Di Leo

Sceneggiatore, Attore, Regista

11 gennaio 1932 — 1 dicembre 2003 (71 anni)
Fernando Di Leo (11 January 1932 – 2 December 2003) was an Italian film director and script writer. He made 17 films as a director and about 50 scripts from 1964 to 1985.

Fernando Di Leo was born on 11 January 1932 in San Ferdinando di Puglia. After briefly working in Rome's film school Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, di Leo made his debut as a director as part of the omnibus comedy "Gli eroi di ieri, oggi, domani" with his episode titled "Un posto in paradiso" (transl. "A Place in Heaven"). Following this Di Leo wrote several scripts for Westerns, often uncredited. This included work on "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More". Some of his Westerns had uncredited literary sources, such as "Days of Vengeance" which is loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo".

Di Leo was a fan of film noir and wanted to make an Italian version of these films. Among his first efforts was the script for Mino Guerrini's "Date for a Murder" based on Franco Enna's novel "Tempo di massacro", written in 1955. In Di Leo's version, the setting is moved to a contemporary Rome and has elements of contemporary spy films. Di Leo worked with Guerrini again on the film "Gangsters '70" which did not do well at the box office. Di Leo began directing more of his own films at the time including the war film "Red Roses for the Fuhrer" and a few erotic films: "A Woman on Fire", "A Wrong Way to Love" and "Seduction". From 1969 to 1976, di Leo was able to produce many of his own works with his production company Duania cineproduzioni 70. He followed this with a return to noir with "Naked Violence", a film adapting a novel by Giorgio Scerbanenco, a writer who Di Leo would adapt for several future film productions.

Di Leo would make a giallo film with "Slaughter Hotel" starring Klaus Kinski and Margaret Lee. Following this Di Leo worked on "Caliber 9" and "The Italian Connection" which were both inspired by the writing of Scerbanenco. He followed up this film "Il Boss", a film which got Di Leo in trouble with politicians and authorities due to the film's display of connections between the mafia and Italy's major party Democrazia Cristiana. Di Leo followed this up with "Shoot First, Die Later" in 1974. Di Leo worked through the latter half of the 1970s directing "Mister Scarface", "Kidnap Syndicate", and "Nick the Sting". He also wrote scripts for other directors such as Romolo Guerrieri's "Young, Violent, Dangerous", and Ruggero Deodato's "Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man". Di Leo's last film produced by his company Duania cineproduzioni 70 was "Rulers of the City" in 1976. He continued with a few more films after with the film noir "Blood and Diamonds", the erotic drama "To Be Twenty" - both in 1978, and "Madness" in 1980.

Di Leo worked in television in the 1980s, starting with the television series "L'assassino ha le ore contate", which involved six one-hour-long made-for-TV films produced by RAI Uno which as of 2013 are unreleased. Di Leo also made "The Violent Breed" and his last film "Killer vs. Killers" in the mid-1980s. "Killer vs. Killers" wasn't released theatrically in Italy and only surfaced 20 years later on DVD.

Di Leo died in December 2003.

Film e Serie su Plex

  • Django
    Django1966
  • Milano Calibro 9
    Milano Calibro 91972
  • Navajo Joe
    Navajo Joe1966
  • Il boss
    Il boss1973
  • Una pistola per Ringo
    Una pistola per Ringo1965
  • Il ritorno di Ringo
    Il ritorno di Ringo1965
  • Al di là della legge
    Al di là della legge1968
  • I padroni della città
    I padroni della città1976
  • Il poliziotto è marcio
    Il poliziotto è marcio1974
  • Ognuno per sé
    Ognuno per sé1968
  • Violenza contro la violenza
    Violenza contro la violenza1972
  • Johnny Yuma
    Johnny Yuma1966

Famoso per

  • Milano Calibro 9
    Milano Calibro 91972
  • La mala ordina
    La mala ordina1972
  • Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro
    Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro1966
  • Il boss
    Il boss1973
  • Navajo Joe
    Navajo Joe1966
  • I padroni della città
    I padroni della città1976
  • Il ritorno di Ringo
    Il ritorno di Ringo1965
  • Il poliziotto è marcio
    Il poliziotto è marcio1974
  • La città sconvolta: caccia spietata ai rapitori
    La città sconvolta: caccia spietata ai rapitori1975
  • Ognuno per sé
    Ognuno per sé1968
  • I ragazzi del massacro
    I ragazzi del massacro1969
  • Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore
    Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore1976
  • Vacanze per un massacro
    Vacanze per un massacro1980
  • La seduzione
    La seduzione1973
  • Liberi armati pericolosi
    Liberi armati pericolosi1976
  • I lunghi giorni della vendetta
    I lunghi giorni della vendetta1967
  • Al di là della legge
    Al di là della legge1968
  • Diamanti sporchi di sangue
    Diamanti sporchi di sangue1977
  • Violenza contro la violenza
    Violenza contro la violenza1972
  • Gli amici di Nick Hezard
    Gli amici di Nick Hezard1976

Filmografia

2021
A Bunch of Bastards · as Original Film Writer
1985
1984
The Violent Breed · as Screenplay
1980
Madness · as Screenplay
1978
To Be Twenty · as Screenplay
1976
Rulers of the City · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1975
Kidnap Syndicate · as Screenplay
1975
Loaded Guns · as Screenplay
1974
Shoot First, Die Later · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1973
1973
The Boss · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1972
1971
Asylum Erotica · as Screenplay
1969
Naked Violence · as Screenplay
1969
1969
1968
1968
1968
Beyond the Law · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1968
1967
1967
Con lui cavalca la morte · as Screenplay
1967
1967
1967
Date for a Murder · as Screenplay
1967
Pecos Cleans Up · as Screenplay
1967
Wanted · as Screenplay
1967
Up the MacGregors · as Screenplay
1967
Long Days of Vengeance · as Screenplay
1966
Navajo Joe · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1966
Sugar Colt · as Screenplay
1966
Johnny Yuma · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1966
Massacre Time · as Screenplay
1966
1965
1965
The Return of Ringo · as ScreenplaySu Plex
1964
A Fistful of Dollars · as Screenplay