8. Daniel Dempsey was Giorgio

 

Giorgio, played by Daniel Dempsey, is the tallish, thin boy, about 14, in the ripped russet-striped shirt and long trousers. He gets a closeup as a lookout, letting out one of the gang's long bird-call warning whistles. He's one of the gunners in the back of the truck as it barrels through Reanoto, on the driver's side next to Dino. He's one of the four boys atop the Della Norte dam and is the one who informs Turner of the fate of their comrade. He also has the thankless job of being made to pee in front of a sentry (although he doesn't have to!) a moment that drew a roar of laughter from the entire movie theater.

In many scenes, Giorgio can be seen just behind Dino, and to his left. Certainly with their thin faces and light hair there's a resemblance: perhaps they were intended to be brothers (or maybe he was just a loyal follower). Like John Fordyce, Dempsey was American. There's Irish in his eyes and the shape of his nose. He's often seen in close-up and gets several important lines, including: "We wouldn't have gone through with it," which serves to redeem the gang for their savage behavior in the cave a few hours before. 

Always close to Dino

 "Giorgio" was originally conceived to be a small boy. In the Michael Avallone based-on-the-screenplay book, he is the child who flags down the German truck, Bianca tied up by his side. This scene went to Carlo in the film. Avallone describes him in the cave: Little Giorgio was pitiful with a submachine gun cradled in his thin arms. It is he, and not Carlo, who begs to come along because he knows all the whistle signals.  "We wouldn't have gone through with it," was originally Tekko's line. 

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1980: As a sixth-grader, I was obsessed with Giorgio -- but not in the expected way. I had a crush, and that was Tekko; Giorgio was my anti-crush. I drew him in the margins of my school notebooks and turned him into a monster of sorts. I guess his ranginess, his obvious mid-adolescence and the mock-peeing made me uneasy. 

2023: Daniel Dempsey is the only one of the 15 boys I haven't managed to find on-line. I have no idea how he came to be in Hornet's Nest and what he did afterwards.

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Text © 2023 by Lakambini Sitoy

Screenshots from Hornet's Nest, United Artists, 1970.

NEXT: Franco.

TO COME: The action boys, "Painted faces and long hair"