Antonio Margheriti

Did You Know?

• Margheriti began his film career in 1950 working with Mario Serandrei.
• He made short documentaries starting with Vecchia Roma in 1953.
• To shoot films quickly, he used techniques such as recording with several cameras simultaneously.

Directing

Antonio Margheriti got his start directing when he was handed the film Assignment: Outer Space, a project that required him to adopt an Anglo-sounding alias for international sales. He first went with Anthony Daisies, a loose translation of his own name, but was told that "Daisies" might carry homosexual connotations in the United States. Switching to Anthony Dawson, he later discovered a British actor already used that name, so he settled on Anthony M. Dawson. His early work included Battle of the Worlds, featuring Claude Rains, and The Golden Arrow with Tab Hunter, plus peplum entries like The Fall of Rome and Giants of Rome. The 1960s saw him move into horror with Castle of Blood, The Long Hair of Death, and The Virgin of Nuremberg, as well as Eurospy films such as Bob Fleming... Mission Casablanca and Operazione Goldman. He returned to science fiction with his Gamma I series, which began as episodes for the Italian TV show Fantascienza before getting theatrical releases. Westerns came next, including Take a Hard Ride and And God Said to Cain. Following the hits Platoon and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Margheriti made The Last Hunter and Hunters of the Golden Cobra, both starring David Warbeck. Warbeck also appeared in Tiger Joe, a production marked by tragedy when cinematographer Riccardo Pallottini died in a plane crash while trying to capture the film’s final shot. Margheriti then tackled mercenary films inspired by The Wild Geese, like Code Name: Wild Geese and Commando Leopard with Lewis Collins, and directed Yor, the Hunter from the Future, shot in Turkey and picked up by Columbia Pictures for a 1400-theater American release. He died on 4 November 2002.

Legacy

In a documentary on the Image DVD release of Cannibal Apocalypse, Margheriti noted that Quentin Tarantino considered it his favorite among Margheriti's films. Tarantino referenced Margheriti in Inglourious Basterds, where Eli Roth's character uses "Antonio Margheriti" as an alias. Another reference appears in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where Leonardo DiCaprio's character works on a spy thriller directed by Margheriti titled Operazione Dyn-o-mite.