tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24339893547089828162024-02-20T20:51:10.245+01:00The Boys of Il Vespaio, 1970 (Hornet's Nest) Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-27110434043219320292023-03-26T01:06:00.003+01:002023-03-26T01:08:23.754+01:0015. Tekko (in watercolor)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78sKpwxdpWmS27aEig_Ey3EXTed_N7qvI0SAsgPvIRvCDVmPOVWQFSVGFpCgTALvS9KEk1_3U1SnCi9AoTH6wrn302Fua_DFHbTRd7yQTw03KTvz8WCvCrOynkW3U8iyYPjc_e8u1tjZ1Tvt_hoR776DA8GpztjjhPX0tHKQivilVavuT1TOjF1QLuA/s2631/20230312_140136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2631" data-original-width="2134" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78sKpwxdpWmS27aEig_Ey3EXTed_N7qvI0SAsgPvIRvCDVmPOVWQFSVGFpCgTALvS9KEk1_3U1SnCi9AoTH6wrn302Fua_DFHbTRd7yQTw03KTvz8WCvCrOynkW3U8iyYPjc_e8u1tjZ1Tvt_hoR776DA8GpztjjhPX0tHKQivilVavuT1TOjF1QLuA/s320/20230312_140136.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I painted a watercolor of my <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2023/01/daniel-keller-as-tekko.html" target="_blank">favorite </a><i>Hornet's Nest</i> boy. Following completion of the One Week 100 People sketching challenge (March 6 to 10), I still had a lot of energy left over. Hence this, based on a group photo on-set taken by Claudio Patriarca. </p><p>More?</p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-11717287397196912672023-03-26T00:59:00.000+01:002023-03-26T00:59:20.968+01:0014. Ronald Colombaioni was Mikko<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmhOugA_JtjtXsgxD2OlwZoexWlq5wyU9aY-ArXtT1Fh8WacIahK_Xpq5Zq4xEyJyAjZXZXp3Bu6vhO7BeMIq_QuFdz90WQxCpmXyxstBd0eHFAVsuXA8-RGVUNwbesky6JN19iSo7lHflzuU17EO_8BftoJZS_M7vi63W0H70NHUr4GlpfCh9K9isg/s1020/2nd%20camera%20pan3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1020" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmhOugA_JtjtXsgxD2OlwZoexWlq5wyU9aY-ArXtT1Fh8WacIahK_Xpq5Zq4xEyJyAjZXZXp3Bu6vhO7BeMIq_QuFdz90WQxCpmXyxstBd0eHFAVsuXA8-RGVUNwbesky6JN19iSo7lHflzuU17EO_8BftoJZS_M7vi63W0H70NHUr4GlpfCh9K9isg/w640-h338/2nd%20camera%20pan3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGyLUda28PUXfFvMUiJ0ck4WITPYd3l3h2-wyIOTeILREeLrYtDqqNAK4WKoc6d51n9OWgbcesPLvrvyzLBbOFY0K4FLnwmS2fMZSxBGD57zY8mJPjg-rld_89Tkzcp8vNvtFFO-CSBqDJLHcVMBaB5C8Z7MAGJka6TBzDvUab3qPPrQ4ITdJaEtilQ/s1025/whistling14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="1025" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGyLUda28PUXfFvMUiJ0ck4WITPYd3l3h2-wyIOTeILREeLrYtDqqNAK4WKoc6d51n9OWgbcesPLvrvyzLBbOFY0K4FLnwmS2fMZSxBGD57zY8mJPjg-rld_89Tkzcp8vNvtFFO-CSBqDJLHcVMBaB5C8Z7MAGJka6TBzDvUab3qPPrQ4ITdJaEtilQ/w640-h326/whistling14.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDzVh3DVZjriQN070dIOmmZwdvCbfaMrF_oMfWXlkO5b68oWO0PWqegyXpenNZEsIMfjGq-6xRWlE4ZuqIQC4wkZpdzVBZ89zZ2hpciOXUevDG3fLDxtrb3NT6XnjDqPPwtJBObrqoclFBuLk9cMAO4W8KuJv9BgrLv0VpuZo5tEkp3Ab7QiHYvMtvA/s1025/morning%20after21.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="1025" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDzVh3DVZjriQN070dIOmmZwdvCbfaMrF_oMfWXlkO5b68oWO0PWqegyXpenNZEsIMfjGq-6xRWlE4ZuqIQC4wkZpdzVBZ89zZ2hpciOXUevDG3fLDxtrb3NT6XnjDqPPwtJBObrqoclFBuLk9cMAO4W8KuJv9BgrLv0VpuZo5tEkp3Ab7QiHYvMtvA/w640-h330/morning%20after21.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-62328390446690476822023-03-05T22:16:00.016+01:002023-03-06T15:45:09.343+01:0013. Thousands of paper poppies<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5smddS4AZh_Ap_M1AFdk9X6-qdMv7KujoH1gW3SX9qSUPkeC7CMjCJshNkrvDQrJGOI4sOcWzMHyBQGMnizi6f1_jSZobf2FK4bPe24_RkyQz3oNPCNm4WK0e_DuVECYHBH50bd0axVbkyds72NKOTLTIcoldGC7UaCjDjZczdDSmQCOsfGyI1Ze2rw/s2048/poppies.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1745" data-original-width="2048" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5smddS4AZh_Ap_M1AFdk9X6-qdMv7KujoH1gW3SX9qSUPkeC7CMjCJshNkrvDQrJGOI4sOcWzMHyBQGMnizi6f1_jSZobf2FK4bPe24_RkyQz3oNPCNm4WK0e_DuVECYHBH50bd0axVbkyds72NKOTLTIcoldGC7UaCjDjZczdDSmQCOsfGyI1Ze2rw/w400-h341/poppies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">IN AN email, also posted on his <a href="https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/">website</a>, Daniel Keller (Tekko) wrote: <i>"(A) 'correction' was an outdoor scene that had
to be re-shot after a month or two. All the red poppies in the field had, by
the second shoot, wilted. So thousands of paper poppies were placed by hand to
be consistent with the first shoot."</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">I thought at once of the scene where the 15 boys (and
the two small children) are watching in dread as their families are rounded
up by the SS. The kids are seen from the front, and then briefly from the back. Viewing my screenshots, trying to figure out who was who, from the colors of their shirts
and the texture of their hair, it seemed that some of the kids to the
left had exchanged positions, indicating a span of time between the filming of the front view and the back view. And the grain field, as it sloped down to the village, seemed a bit dryer and more
golden than in the close ups where the kids were crying as their families are
shot -- where green heads of grain and some very real flowers are clearly
visible. </p><p class="MsoNormal">But I have guessed wrong so, so many times about this
movie and the boys in it that I could not be sure whether this was just the power of suggestion. I wrote this to Dan, but he didn't comment in his reply. </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Oh, all the mishaps that accompany a film production. All the efforts at construction and rectification that occur behind the scenes, unbeknownst to us viewers. Another memory of Daniel's:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>"The actual shooting had all the cinematic trickery of any
major production. For example, the explosion of the dam was of course not a
real dam but a scale model, perhaps 5 or 10 meters long. The Italian craftsmen
built it so well that by the time the tiny explosives made it burst the camera
had run out of film and they had to do it over." </i></p><p class="MsoNormal">This was incredibly bad luck. Funny, except I can imagine the extra labor and lost time in making up a new model of the Della Norte. When Silva Koscina delivered the line: "They can always rebuild the dam" I don't think anyone realized how prophetic it would be, though the word "always" is not without caveats.</p><p class="MsoNormal">I can think of a third mishap, actually, on a smaller scale: the replacement during shooting of Daniel's character name, Tekko, with "Paolo", a change that was not carried over into the end titles, so that for viewers who checked the cast, he would forever be thought of as "Luigi Criscuolo", a totally different boy. Add to that the decision to alphabetize the boy cast members by surname (except for Mark Colleano, John Fordyce and Mauro Gravina), so that although he was one of the more visible boys with speaking lines, he got bumped down to second to the last.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Another funny error: on one of the posters, where a few of the boys are standing in a line in ankle-high grass, Gaetano Danaro (Umberto) appears twice. He is the first boy to the left, in a shirt the illustrator has whitened out so that it looks like Carlo's, and third from the right, in clothes the correct color. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I wonder if, after so many years, those who were actually there, in Piacenza and Rome, during the filming in the summer of '69, can tell us what they remember of all this, and let us know if there were more. The production was delayed, Daniel wrote, and he had to miss the first month of school. Sounds like an adventure, at least for a 15-year old. But for the boys, were there other mishaps too? Cuts and scraped knees? People slipping on rooftiles, falling out of trees? I wish we knew.</p><p class="MsoNormal">*** </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>The poppy illustration is mine, a detail of an oil sketch, not wanting to put up pictures of the boys crying amidst the beautiful red flowers. Though Daniel did <a href="https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/">write</a>: "</i>For crying scenes they blew menthol into our eyes. Tears then gushed painlessly." </p><p class="MsoNormal">***</p><p class="MsoNormal">Text copyright 2023 by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736">Lakambini Sitoy</a>. Sources: Email correspondence with D. Keller, available at <a href="https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/">https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/</a> </p><p class="MsoNormal">To see the whole blog, click here: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/">https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-26121207243703353372023-02-18T11:50:00.024+01:002023-03-05T23:05:13.056+01:0012. Valerio Colombaioni was Arturo <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZLjKti7oUVUv9nLiwHoWIR77tiTWX_fDP0x9Nh-slOBP8d5Olmek0byDrRWIgHtLNCN7bca_77CYDHqU9KDL1HkwLjT4AcVYsi02ksihSEeZvntkWehuTuSl0oQoNL3kJrgpxfz19xffzq1HkmeiGUonmnLgRctO0SAe9AgTBz5Dc_lH3LtOmDDWIA/s1026/2nd%20camera%20pan4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="1026" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZLjKti7oUVUv9nLiwHoWIR77tiTWX_fDP0x9Nh-slOBP8d5Olmek0byDrRWIgHtLNCN7bca_77CYDHqU9KDL1HkwLjT4AcVYsi02ksihSEeZvntkWehuTuSl0oQoNL3kJrgpxfz19xffzq1HkmeiGUonmnLgRctO0SAe9AgTBz5Dc_lH3LtOmDDWIA/w640-h334/2nd%20camera%20pan4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">ARTURO (Valerio Colombaioni) is another boy who is very easy to identify. He is small and wiry and dressed in a dark
blue V-neck sweater and baggy black pants, his black hair falling in waves over
his forehead. He has a hard little face,
nut-brown skin, and intense dark grey eyes that echo the colour of his
sweater. His overall aura is of
toughness and deadly efficiency.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaqZylymFKUaWMuGqNDfXmgbt7vPyM1822HKCHOygrX9rpEJOnpiH2wILjvxGDx9rT8Re6L9_FG1y7B0_izTaB7c8l1uU32lEBQhsk2RcOcJjDEe7Tujn1HXlVsm314lB7r-tqDOFYrwjn1inAhTdkY4vvMHxy1rjuaSYYleAX4XzIIBWDS1dzmyfvQ/s674/Arturo%20in%20the%20poster.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="256" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaqZylymFKUaWMuGqNDfXmgbt7vPyM1822HKCHOygrX9rpEJOnpiH2wILjvxGDx9rT8Re6L9_FG1y7B0_izTaB7c8l1uU32lEBQhsk2RcOcJjDEe7Tujn1HXlVsm314lB7r-tqDOFYrwjn1inAhTdkY4vvMHxy1rjuaSYYleAX4XzIIBWDS1dzmyfvQ/w244-h640/Arturo%20in%20the%20poster.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>He is one of the demolition swimmers. In a shot just before
the team begin their descent of the cliff, you see him, along with the bigger
Umberto (Gaetano Danaro) manually ripping German uniforms into pieces that will
protect their hands from rope burns. The ease with which he does this attests
to his amazing physical strength. As they install the plastique explosives, Arturo
is the boy highest up on the dam and directly below Turner (Rock Hudson), which means he is
the last boy down, skittering the final suspenseful meters before making a
clean dive into the water as searchlights rake the darkness above him. At this
moment when I saw the film in 1980, the girls in the audience let out a
collective “Eeeek!!” By that point it seemed everyone was invested in silent,
diminutive Arturo.<p></p><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Arturo is one of the rooftop gunners in the Reanoto vengeance
massacre. As he and Aldo and two other boys prepare to climb up a tiled rooftop,
he hunkers down in wait by some bales of hay, and at Aldo’s signal, turns to
scuttle up a tree, moving with utter confidence, like a cat or a squirrel. Though
in this sequence he crouches in the same position as the two other boys as he
fires his weapon, there is considerably more drama in the tense lines of his
body. Then, running to the army truck in triumph, mouth wide open in a yell of
delight, he leaps over rubble <i>without even looking at the ground.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few moments later he is kneeling by the
tailgate of the truck as it roars away, hanging onto the frame above with one
relaxed hand, laughing and impervious to danger.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He is a lookout, perched high in a treetop. In the scene
where the boys are having their rudimentary breakfast, you notice Arturo rappelling
down his tree to silently join the group, as the small boy Romeo leaps up to
take his post. And he, Romeo and another boy, Mikko, form the pyramid at the
beginning of the film, utilizing their acrobatic skills to distract the German
soldiers as their comrades recover the unconscious Captain Turner. In every scene
he is in, he acts with his physique: notice the movement of his shoulders when
Turner thunders at the boys to shut up their whistling, and his body bends into
interesting angles as he sits or reclines. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">***</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>To see the whole blog, click here:</i> <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/">https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQ2l_JhR1yAqJw731Ds8xQkd2xtyqGGr7uP1-Zt0pSmDpp0t6AahILyZGf6rJ2_xjt3BqBIuJwHlNkpcNpsYAl259zosckKdl-zQacW_WIp4t-9MEg4SLXY7ljWub5xYY2qpSb9ucqmygXZF-HFU3AzI4Rn8RCaDWpV8nRIa94ALsHGSGFhyiLbCKYw/s523/Valerio%20on%20set.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="417" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQ2l_JhR1yAqJw731Ds8xQkd2xtyqGGr7uP1-Zt0pSmDpp0t6AahILyZGf6rJ2_xjt3BqBIuJwHlNkpcNpsYAl259zosckKdl-zQacW_WIp4t-9MEg4SLXY7ljWub5xYY2qpSb9ucqmygXZF-HFU3AzI4Rn8RCaDWpV8nRIa94ALsHGSGFhyiLbCKYw/w319-h400/Valerio%20on%20set.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>Valerio Colombaioni, 14 years old in 1969 when Hornet’s Nest
was filmed, was already a professional circus performer, having made his debut
at age six, as a clown. According to another cast member, he and his cousins Ronald
(Mikko) and Giancarlo (Romeo) were acrobats as well. He is not cute in the child-like
sense, unlike the other actors who use voice and facial expressions to appeal
to the audience. He seems to be in a world of his own, as though unaware of
being filmed, hinting at the intense concentration a physical performance requires.
You never know what Arturo is thinking, but he commands respect. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Valerio grew up to be handsome. He continued to work in circuses, and appears to have
retained his childhood professional name, Ercolino, throughout his life.
(Google tells me that this Italian word means a child who is robust or sturdy).
He also appeared in films: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>L'arciere di
fuoco</i> (<i>Long Live Robin Hood)</i>, 1971, <i>Squadra antifurto</i>, 1976; <i>Roma a mano
armata,</i> 1976;<i> La Banda del Gobbo, </i>1977. He was a stunt performer in <i>Cemetery Man (1994) </i>and<i> Pinocchio (2002).</i><br /><br />With several members of his family, he appeared in Federico Fellini's <i><a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-clowns-1971" target="_blank">I Clowns</a>(</i>1970). This documentary, or mockumentary, was made for Italian television and opened in the same month (December 1970) as <i>Hornet's Nest/ Il Vespaio. <br /></i><br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivQl1U8atSnABvhPdLhWNRTam0NrVhQux_UmOK6hhm1N_cUG8DWPFsUYiFepysj_JVdWf5NqN_ywVVbdZDD3M2L2zP-GuhgnI8FiJQy2OlzkIAZXUqHcO2av2vgASQZ82HvpTFf3Q652tNxr6puiEf9Di2jm3TcryEAqv0Tlutnh-DZ1ezAgSCnJrSA/s1366/I%20Clowns%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivQl1U8atSnABvhPdLhWNRTam0NrVhQux_UmOK6hhm1N_cUG8DWPFsUYiFepysj_JVdWf5NqN_ywVVbdZDD3M2L2zP-GuhgnI8FiJQy2OlzkIAZXUqHcO2av2vgASQZ82HvpTFf3Q652tNxr6puiEf9Di2jm3TcryEAqv0Tlutnh-DZ1ezAgSCnJrSA/w400-h225/I%20Clowns%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVA5W5p-rOh_oHdnhQqDd_hwjrpNCgbxG_Jr4N2P2EY2-f8-WWl-tHHMg7rWeqjo4qrIP_JvHzCsYpqxuCTOLvhVWzvCE0xHRUoHqipwM6Kvs3X5CisHWXP2bjrMs2yfmsKVR4nHIy1bvwA0koAVzxapivJgV9S-68L6yWoVNEJ6KQ3j_Edgg3IAmJg/s1366/I%20Clowns.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVA5W5p-rOh_oHdnhQqDd_hwjrpNCgbxG_Jr4N2P2EY2-f8-WWl-tHHMg7rWeqjo4qrIP_JvHzCsYpqxuCTOLvhVWzvCE0xHRUoHqipwM6Kvs3X5CisHWXP2bjrMs2yfmsKVR4nHIy1bvwA0koAVzxapivJgV9S-68L6yWoVNEJ6KQ3j_Edgg3IAmJg/w400-h225/I%20Clowns.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Could the little hammer-wielding clown at the end sequence of </i>I Clowns (1970)<i> be Valerio?</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOU4A-meRh83kR0OuwSIMurZr8S5iyBZVaGfdgDVbx92PfKO5vte41zhtWBH6ImWA9x5cM68SQdOgm4SNGVdilLnsQF9rWj3HXtqrlzktgF47aBO3nXxEXKu_ZW9mEnNHFgc03tu6JePL_zo3ANHmSlNcbmMpn5yyH2SX69MaTR4JoIXwpht9Rhzh2A/s582/Sempre%20piu%20difficile.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="416" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOU4A-meRh83kR0OuwSIMurZr8S5iyBZVaGfdgDVbx92PfKO5vte41zhtWBH6ImWA9x5cM68SQdOgm4SNGVdilLnsQF9rWj3HXtqrlzktgF47aBO3nXxEXKu_ZW9mEnNHFgc03tu6JePL_zo3ANHmSlNcbmMpn5yyH2SX69MaTR4JoIXwpht9Rhzh2A/w458-h640/Sempre%20piu%20difficile.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Valerio appears on the poster of </i>Sempre Piu Difficile<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The Tom d'Angremond documentary <i>Sempre più difficile</i> (1981), with Dario Fo, explores the world of the small Italian family circus, focusing on the Colombaioni family – Valerio, father Nani and uncles Willy and Carlo among them. (This film is impossible to find on-line: if anyone knows of a copy, or even snippets of it, please get in touch.) <i><br /></i><br /><div>"Valerio" seems to be a name he used for his film appearances. In his current work and social media profiles, he goes by the name Leris Colombaioni. <div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 1988, he had a significant role in the gorgeous <i>La
Maschera,</i> 1988, with Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Maloney, appearing as a
performer in a small travelling circus along with family members Nani, Walter
and Saskia. This film, shot in Italian and with the parts of the English-speaking cast dubbed in, is incredibly hard to find: I've had to make do with screenshots from a Youtube channel. I recall seeing <i>La Maschera</i> in full at a friend's house in the early 2000s and wondering who that handsome Italian actor who'd played Iris's admirer was, and wishing the circus folk had had more screen time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1-twx03815AnlHjVu0YpkCOtWayiZzbNihw3Xu6vuXoAGvbRMlSE6YS7FlUiMrOWMyK7po_F7kgiVOos8zbJdC1wxDaJKn6NR2_WULPNb6JvVSgP_gdkoUp-1bCnveqwL5-P8ueib9XL7irFsLf6b_KxnFMxT2fByCKmZbj-NgwJA6FCvfniTDWUOw/s1264/La%20Maschera1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1264" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid1-twx03815AnlHjVu0YpkCOtWayiZzbNihw3Xu6vuXoAGvbRMlSE6YS7FlUiMrOWMyK7po_F7kgiVOos8zbJdC1wxDaJKn6NR2_WULPNb6JvVSgP_gdkoUp-1bCnveqwL5-P8ueib9XL7irFsLf6b_KxnFMxT2fByCKmZbj-NgwJA6FCvfniTDWUOw/w400-h241/La%20Maschera1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Valerio and Nani Colombaioni in </i>La Maschera, <i>1988<br /><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi85XEb_Su-s96gMUNxdIv3g_aLCZ4FD620vYJd62smRjQrstgVOsPnUQRWevWbx1UrNiZV4tdZAMJwr1sGmzazLjxIlS1xe21eOOCzyq05SeEu3yj6j4rtMcCXcuAPCCOJhp72hGS9s2yBz0YVp5nTUlRrtg0naPueMbZIk4chrLbznKFWisNI4A4mA/s1366/Ercolino%20and%20Iris%20in%20La%20Maschera.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi85XEb_Su-s96gMUNxdIv3g_aLCZ4FD620vYJd62smRjQrstgVOsPnUQRWevWbx1UrNiZV4tdZAMJwr1sGmzazLjxIlS1xe21eOOCzyq05SeEu3yj6j4rtMcCXcuAPCCOJhp72hGS9s2yBz0YVp5nTUlRrtg0naPueMbZIk4chrLbznKFWisNI4A4mA/w400-h225/Ercolino%20and%20Iris%20in%20La%20Maschera.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>As Ercolino, with Iris (Helena Bonham-Carter) in </i>La Maschera<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguev2bc2-TRhXfk-m5HcymuOzoDQtV8r0nqUbquX9ObraTE6xj0bQPVGH5B12W5ZnsHELikyQ-P52VJRJV2d85VoSEoolttocjhfD9tVsC9K6Aq3WQT28NnZjzoWPmTjDcObvCzOxeXzJ3mS49h6wiebQdu3kynoxIrkheNILveMFKcgKzpLDZ_vRV-Q/s1014/arturo%20tree2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="1014" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguev2bc2-TRhXfk-m5HcymuOzoDQtV8r0nqUbquX9ObraTE6xj0bQPVGH5B12W5ZnsHELikyQ-P52VJRJV2d85VoSEoolttocjhfD9tVsC9K6Aq3WQT28NnZjzoWPmTjDcObvCzOxeXzJ3mS49h6wiebQdu3kynoxIrkheNILveMFKcgKzpLDZ_vRV-Q/w640-h328/arturo%20tree2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkKMqYEGo4mkEU7aOTbQ3oNR_EgQ-VXppdxhWrV52CvTVgfmg-VCT1TaE4BiyExNdx4jtSJ_1TmbkabaglTKGz0sXOuIuJcrDvss7v6cr38S6ycNT7cFM75bzOSQEj_ZLOgqlUppBJyeBDHT6s28L9e3MMmKiPOBFB0-4Ke5AZS7hNql8ePJEo369Bw/s1067/demo%20swimmers7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1067" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkKMqYEGo4mkEU7aOTbQ3oNR_EgQ-VXppdxhWrV52CvTVgfmg-VCT1TaE4BiyExNdx4jtSJ_1TmbkabaglTKGz0sXOuIuJcrDvss7v6cr38S6ycNT7cFM75bzOSQEj_ZLOgqlUppBJyeBDHT6s28L9e3MMmKiPOBFB0-4Ke5AZS7hNql8ePJEo369Bw/w640-h321/demo%20swimmers7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><div>In <i>Hornet's Nest / Il Vespaio, </i>Arturo’s role is pretty much as it is in the original screenplay. Here is his first named appearance in the Michael Avallone novelization (1971):</div><div><br /><i>“In the treetop above the locale of the cave, a boy named Arturo, aged eight, saw the procession coming. He immediately put his fingers to his lips and imitated the song of a bird. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Down below the children were playing out front at the mouth of the cave. … They scattered at the bird call and look down the line to the trees. They saw Aldo coming, with Giorgio and Silvio flanking a tall, golden-haired woman. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>A fire was in progress at the cave’s entrance. Some of the children were bringing in water, others carried wood. Arturo’s whistle sounded again.”</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The main difference between the movie and the screenplay Arturo is their age. The screenplay Arturo, as a consequence of his youth, does annoyingly cute things, like letting go of a railing on the dam -- Look Ma, no hands! – to impress Turner; an unnecessary detail that would have detracted from the suspense of the dam-climbing sequence. Prior to the events of <i>Hornet's Nest,</i> young Arturo was supposed to have scaled the Della Norte dam from base to top, just for the heck of it, though this does not come out in the film.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>*** </div><div>1980 onwards: Valerio/Arturo left quite an impression on me. I painted my childhood avatar, also called Bing, wearing his outfit. I couldn’t imitate any of his physicality, so
in consolation, as soon as I was out of school uniform and far from the
critical eyes of my mother and sister, I began to buy clothes like his. Over the years, I’ve owned a succession of
dark blue V-neck sweaters, sometimes bought from the men’s wear section, worn with dark
pants and leather shoes or boots. They
give me a feeling of power.</div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div>Text by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736" target="_blank">Lakambini Sitoy,</a> copyright 2023</div><div>Screenshots from <i>Hornet's Nest </i>(United Artists), 1970 and <i>La Maschera (</i>1988), screenshots from Youtube.</div><div>Solo portrait of Valerio Colombaioni probably by production photographer Claudio Patriarca</div><div>Image of Arturo from <i>Hornet's Nest </i>poster, in gouache, artist unknown.</div><div><br /></div><div>To see the whole blog, click here: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/">https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/</a></div><div> </div><div><br /><br /></div></div></div>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-56930383118914445312023-01-27T16:23:00.020+01:002023-03-05T23:04:17.833+01:0011. Giancarlo Colombaioni was Romeo<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKfgz7YCLQVm_hJDC2RVTIkPNgjdp_5PlU4CcxBgKSQ5Qca82Ztaon3D-N5gTlXIZM8jVIqGta4hhHhgNsrIv9JDdW8tDr80FSFjUjNmnFSeQVvl9Oqqa-lD0u7GAiM0kuMFotpO1ieiWo1qaWL6DEQUv9aXqg4nyINzhPCgbqF6ym-dVLCWKfxm6Sw/s1016/CAVE%208.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1016" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKfgz7YCLQVm_hJDC2RVTIkPNgjdp_5PlU4CcxBgKSQ5Qca82Ztaon3D-N5gTlXIZM8jVIqGta4hhHhgNsrIv9JDdW8tDr80FSFjUjNmnFSeQVvl9Oqqa-lD0u7GAiM0kuMFotpO1ieiWo1qaWL6DEQUv9aXqg4nyINzhPCgbqF6ym-dVLCWKfxm6Sw/w640-h336/CAVE%208.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>ROMEO (Giancarlo Colombaioni) is the youngest and the smallest of the Reanoto orphans. He and two others appear at the very start of the movie, utilizing their acrobatic skills to distract the German soldiers as their comrades recover the unconscious Captain Turner. He is the topmost in this three-man formation, balancing on Arturo’s shoulders then pitching forward skillfully to land, roll and right himself in a couple of seconds. In this way the trio set the tone of toughness and precocity, at least when it comes to the boys.</p><p>He is the lookout seen in the background, cautiously making his way down a tree, as Turner emerges from the cave, blinking in the daylight, the morning after the rescue. In the truck scene, he’s on the right side of the vehicle, directly behind the cab (closest to the camera) and appears to be having a really good time with his weapon. He’s one of the six boys who distract the German soldiers atop the dam as the demolition team dispatch two guards sitting in a bunker of sandbags. </p><p>Romeo doesn't speak. He can often be seen in close-up, his angelic features at odds with his tough, impassive expression. In one scene in the cave, he and Carlo (Mauro Gravina) are shown cradling submachine guns, embodying the film’s selling point of war-blighted innocence. In the group shots, he often stands next to his two cousins, but on occasion he is positioned next to Rock Hudson, and has a tendency to look wonderingly up at him, the film playing up the difference between his diminutive, albeit sturdy, form and that of the 6’6” Hollywood star.</p><p>***</p><p>In the Avallone novelization of the screenplay, Romeo was supposed to be 8 years old.</p><p>***</p><p>Giancarlo Colombaioni was 11 when the movie was filmed. He is cousins with Valerio and Ronald Colombaioni, the two other boys in the acrobat formation. They belong to a noted and very large circus family (the surname is unusual and apparently is not associated with anyone outside the clan) that counts the clowns Carlo and Alberto Colombaioni as well as Arnaldo (Nani) Colombaioni and the juggler Willy Colombaioni among its members. It is likely that Giancarlo was already performing professionally at his young age, perhaps as a clown or an acrobat. In a 1985 movie, Robinson Crusoe mercante di York, he has a role as a juggler. It appears he has performed in circuses all his life.</p><p>***</p><p><i>Text copyright 2023 by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736" target="_blank">Lakambini Sitoy</a></i></p><p><i>Screenshots from </i>Hornet's Nest<i>, 1970, United Artists<br />Earlier: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2023/01/10-action-boys-and-english-boys.html" target="_blank">Action boys and English boys</a><br /><a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2022/12/blog-post.html" target="_blank">Why Hornet's Nest? Why only now?</a><br /></i></p><p>To see the whole blog, click here: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/">https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFznL9b8p_5MFOF1ZUWOela_oXJSw8p8ADF8z69Acy0Mk7Atj1XzwLwlJboVbpysA_5mcgQS71_9UWZWhilCIC_jwh3jL12enuTMFx1mzQAjW5JQparpzjta7BbyBbpPeR9YpY289KocwgNKV4NPEn9kogjeyEqnFYlVXMOpAiQI4aHsjiCOA8OeHOvQ/s1005/acrobats%20pyramid.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="1005" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFznL9b8p_5MFOF1ZUWOela_oXJSw8p8ADF8z69Acy0Mk7Atj1XzwLwlJboVbpysA_5mcgQS71_9UWZWhilCIC_jwh3jL12enuTMFx1mzQAjW5JQparpzjta7BbyBbpPeR9YpY289KocwgNKV4NPEn9kogjeyEqnFYlVXMOpAiQI4aHsjiCOA8OeHOvQ/w640-h336/acrobats%20pyramid.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i><br /></i><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTjoXTwCWxduCYfkcY2JRtjY2MtduIp-0NSmtOQyqie1mRSLGiPNn1JGRtCxaqoI4QYq9dj2Kq8y1Clzp0Co8WiLyFDJ48uTebkAQZPsjelDYLYIaSTLga_CqloaOBwwDsc69w0aGYDYDC0cAVjaTapnswNzAuHe8PJbpIzh-vq-aeBILVIbLetpytA/s1007/2nd%20camera%20pan2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1007" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTjoXTwCWxduCYfkcY2JRtjY2MtduIp-0NSmtOQyqie1mRSLGiPNn1JGRtCxaqoI4QYq9dj2Kq8y1Clzp0Co8WiLyFDJ48uTebkAQZPsjelDYLYIaSTLga_CqloaOBwwDsc69w0aGYDYDC0cAVjaTapnswNzAuHe8PJbpIzh-vq-aeBILVIbLetpytA/w640-h340/2nd%20camera%20pan2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAoX9RXAbz_bim1Q930uLCPj35PVwth6KMOSwsl8KN4646rxZQcyI3IsVO7favj-X39XtvlhOLnDVHnNsgM_HdOwHbrdOsW6RXkYh7pcBxs7zO9T-4U4DroSHIw7592kWsV98THXn5n8WRMcIGh7wfzauchS3sdnsdDH5O_w0coDxnSxolPU3u7FFqg/s1007/morning%20after23.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="1007" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAoX9RXAbz_bim1Q930uLCPj35PVwth6KMOSwsl8KN4646rxZQcyI3IsVO7favj-X39XtvlhOLnDVHnNsgM_HdOwHbrdOsW6RXkYh7pcBxs7zO9T-4U4DroSHIw7592kWsV98THXn5n8WRMcIGh7wfzauchS3sdnsdDH5O_w0coDxnSxolPU3u7FFqg/w640-h336/morning%20after23.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Putting the baby in "Baby Brigade": Giancarlo next to Mauro Gravina and John Fordyce</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p><div><br /></div>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-40585182955586913442023-01-18T20:13:00.015+01:002023-03-05T23:07:08.629+01:0010. Action boys and English boys<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2023/01/daniel-keller-as-tekko.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="1013" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqLrri65vlapz1ZRoBW0MimENoRfEaCtbPdfagl5TbHMiJ_zXGWaXUL7SPhwEQfzBw5wuZpwSbm1EXTQqoJ5UwvoFc8L137ObYzwiuVtQ88rK0vg9DX9q0pgZrG23wby05piW7tIsc7Cfqd_L5SVsRkjPpFAp9XbT_i59YfEJwBuSlIJNQHmmb3o68fw/w640-h332/rooftop.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>THE THREE young actors <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2023/01/daniel-keller-as-tekko.html" target="_blank">Daniel Keller,</a> <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2023/01/9-daniel-dempsey-was-giorgio.html" target="_blank">Daniel Dempsey</a> and <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2023/01/9-joseph-cassuto-was-franco.html">Joseph Cassuto</a> -- plus a fourth, the slender boy in a white shirt – form a group I think of as the “English boys”. They are native English or bilingual Italian-English speakers who, from the anonymity of the “chorus”, help to drive the plot and to supply important information (such as the presence of enemy trucks or the location of the transmitter in Capt. Von Hecht’s office), which would be pointless to dramatize. They “tell” rather than “show” – the opposite, incidentally, of the prose writer’s mandate. They support the main characters by questioning or reacting to them. Tekko, Giorgio and Franco were prominent in the novelization and early drafts of the screenplay, and Keller, Dempsey and Cassuto were included in the list of main cast members accompanying the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/10/archives/screen-a-war-missionrock-hudson-starred-in-hornets-nest.html" target="_blank">New York Times review</a> of the film. The four “English boys” don’t speak more than a handful of lines collectively, but the story would progress very differently without their parts in the dialogue. </p><p>They do not speak with the shrill voices of childhood nor with the rumble of adolescence. They are in between. In the scenes where the boys chatter excitedly in English, it’s interesting that it’s higher voices rather than lower ones that are heard -- in keeping with the intention of the original script that the orphans would be ages 8 to 12. </p><p>Indeed it seems that there are really only two or three voices blurring together to represent the rest. There’s no real dialogue to this chatter but just single lines (“He’s gonna blow up the dam!”) excited cries and laughter and, once, tantalizingly, a few words spoken in an Italian intonation but too faint to make out. The sound they make reminds me of the hubbub of crowd scenes – <i>brusio</i>, Dan Keller said they were called. He added his voice to a few of them in his time as a child dubber in Rome. I wonder, actually, if that isn’t just young Dan in the recording studio, being layered and layered over himself. </p><p>Despite <i>Hornet’s Nest</i> being a movie set in Italy with actors that sound and look Italian (even the German soldiers), there is no Italian dialogue. A stray “Bellissima!” does not count. The actual Italians among the boys are silent. Two of the older ones do get to speak in English, though they still sound as if they’re speaking Italian, which to me is quite charming. </p><p>Was it unfair that most of the Italian cast were seen but not heard? I don’t think so. They get to act with their bodies, and <i>Hornet’s Nest</i> would not be the adventure fantasy that it is without them. I think of them as the “action boys.” They get to scramble up trees and handle plastique and fire guns from rooftops, spent casings flying about their ears. Several were from Naples and could swim and had movie-making experience. Three were professional circus performers.☺</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOD0VpObC620tQxE-N3OOshdqybJdrTCSySIuKUkW0WiFwxJHkPdlJtuElRBU1Hr-XE93rwldY63mECPmO3DmOct5pCmJ6EU3XQ9nwhi2zrIQHQEEVbhn8TdsrOa12-ewTuHoqAT5dnm-ncgmYwoZKTTF8SFwq-RwuHbO8sVr9w5wLDBeewy2RQt35g/s2048/boys%20by%20the%20cookpot2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOD0VpObC620tQxE-N3OOshdqybJdrTCSySIuKUkW0WiFwxJHkPdlJtuElRBU1Hr-XE93rwldY63mECPmO3DmOct5pCmJ6EU3XQ9nwhi2zrIQHQEEVbhn8TdsrOa12-ewTuHoqAT5dnm-ncgmYwoZKTTF8SFwq-RwuHbO8sVr9w5wLDBeewy2RQt35g/w640-h494/boys%20by%20the%20cookpot2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A mixed bag: British, American and Italian actors</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Text <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #5f6368; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">© </span>2023 by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736">Lakambini Sitoy</a></p><p>Screenshot from <i>Hornet's Nest </i>(1970), United Artists featuring characters Arturo, Luigi and Paolo.</p><p>B&W photo by<span style="text-align: center;"> Claudio Patriarca. Thanks to Dan Keller.</span></p><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><p><b>Earlier: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2022/12/blog-post.html">Why Hornet's Nest? Why only now?</a></b></p><p><b>Soon: Valerio Colombaioni</b></p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-57777950080730010442023-01-15T20:43:00.011+01:002023-02-18T22:00:47.862+01:009. Joseph Cassuto was Franco<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TjFXS9X_ISuj8sevfW9_zzDwutp8FhyCtx1GAdkmBfg-clK9bxUUxtgLNez1BJSFU8tXk-tT6IWcGKdqymXDOhJT9cgKJx4Vf9EIJRmClo50I2_Y-Hj-qX53WJJxS3YB9jQohquFzC0ECPLYuGL37ujbznqmz6RVBQVUYRHu6N1H_8B6C6fgpgLZow/s1016/franco-pan2.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="1016" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6TjFXS9X_ISuj8sevfW9_zzDwutp8FhyCtx1GAdkmBfg-clK9bxUUxtgLNez1BJSFU8tXk-tT6IWcGKdqymXDOhJT9cgKJx4Vf9EIJRmClo50I2_Y-Hj-qX53WJJxS3YB9jQohquFzC0ECPLYuGL37ujbznqmz6RVBQVUYRHu6N1H_8B6C6fgpgLZow/w640-h325/franco-pan2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">FRANCO is the first
boy you see in the trailer, clad in a grimy white shirt and red shorts, dashing
to the mouth of the cave to let Dino know that Aldo has arrived with the
<i>dottore</i>. In the scene where the boys rescue Turner, he is the one who suggests
to Aldo that the American may not want to help them in their revenge. (“Maybe
he’ll say no, Aldo. Maybe he won’t want to.”) In the scene in the cave where
the boys reveal the stash of weapons they keep in the niche, he’s the one on
the right, picking up and passing the Schmeissers to the others. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGjx4ZtIC64552TGIIH_QFnXZHF8EnAsqDHlVa2kd850uA8sdxwcBeTcTCweQDr7Xzr5sWlsDQXYeVo-L5G_JMggzPd2m5_AUdnMQ_dEjgoa3phpry4YzaxvH7MomgfJqDBErCKLTuKl1fc5om6DM140Lc-oYf-dOh2g1_Y02AkEi1xJzqu4aB3xELQ/s1013/franco%20running.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="1013" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGjx4ZtIC64552TGIIH_QFnXZHF8EnAsqDHlVa2kd850uA8sdxwcBeTcTCweQDr7Xzr5sWlsDQXYeVo-L5G_JMggzPd2m5_AUdnMQ_dEjgoa3phpry4YzaxvH7MomgfJqDBErCKLTuKl1fc5om6DM140Lc-oYf-dOh2g1_Y02AkEi1xJzqu4aB3xELQ/w640-h326/franco%20running.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzpbjZgMITUQf1zEOIWFxzlEaKlMdtFzWfA_S8C5HSznmJ3zsuspL4ylEoUzVOSIMjcHXrask3vDJHViRHWPhtElcjIqDLkocBcsxEI5V8gjH-y_XNTB2sKSjDmQ-vXwNE3t56zdRMcpl1sy-NqEmANZJGnDKFiiIeBfkybB35HLEXbUwFE0cnBzVA4Q/s1019/carlo%20franco%20and%20aldo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="1019" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzpbjZgMITUQf1zEOIWFxzlEaKlMdtFzWfA_S8C5HSznmJ3zsuspL4ylEoUzVOSIMjcHXrask3vDJHViRHWPhtElcjIqDLkocBcsxEI5V8gjH-y_XNTB2sKSjDmQ-vXwNE3t56zdRMcpl1sy-NqEmANZJGnDKFiiIeBfkybB35HLEXbUwFE0cnBzVA4Q/w640-h320/carlo%20franco%20and%20aldo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Dino names him
as one of the boys whose father built the dam. He’s on the driver’s side of the
truck as it barrels through Reanoto, by the tailgate. He’s among the six who distract the
German guards atop the dam by yelling and making provocative gestures, and
appears to be the one who does a somersault in the water. He's a bit on the hyperactive side, leaping across the screen to help pin down Bianca and punching Aldo vigorously (and vertically). He resembles Carlo at first glance, but is bigger.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In the scenes where the group of boys mingle seemingly randomly, Franco can often be found next to Giorgio, Tekko and/or Tonio.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In the
based-on-the-screenplay book by Michael Avallone, Franco is one of five
demolition-team swimmers. <o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Cassuto, called Joseph
in the New York Times review of the film but Giuseppe in the credits, was likely the boy from Israel referred to in a 1969 <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchqSUVrdmhXJwuTQdh4s8g9j3Q2hgZ5yqKHOPKuTgps6d7xf4oMhVZHg82tsGQ1ILNPJIc08Tb-0leUSfjkVbavSVCqc1vFpBvChHb4sS-OY2vUKmUeeooMUSRQ_Aek0RUZWBB8wNdmAJMX71pJQx19HT5aGdlDuwKwPZ8fHsgsshKeHljKqgJymtGQ/s1956/1969-11-14-NotreDameIntl-TheForum.jpg">article </a>in The Forum, the student newspaper of Notre Dame International School in Rome. He lives in Israel today. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">*** <o:p></o:p></p><p>To come: The "action boys"</p><p>To see the whole blog, click here: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/">https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br />Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-64916910698017910342023-01-13T22:50:00.016+01:002023-01-26T18:31:49.955+01:008. Daniel Dempsey was Giorgio<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtwB9-mt2sDOtbkpl2hWLnHqdqTnDq6OgKF2_O43GB5mzMSZABm2OCbgno7fOe2lW1F4rYukps01VI4RkzoE2R9uSNIzheV_0T7XQKcnTAeq5VUnXbvhL1CCVPrYTYxRHaGk_lpF0rRr1BPR5O2BZ6JGLmTE989Od1tS0UQUEj6u2t5LkRtlORZ641g/s1018/Dempsey1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="1018" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtwB9-mt2sDOtbkpl2hWLnHqdqTnDq6OgKF2_O43GB5mzMSZABm2OCbgno7fOe2lW1F4rYukps01VI4RkzoE2R9uSNIzheV_0T7XQKcnTAeq5VUnXbvhL1CCVPrYTYxRHaGk_lpF0rRr1BPR5O2BZ6JGLmTE989Od1tS0UQUEj6u2t5LkRtlORZ641g/w640-h330/Dempsey1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuE3UB_0ARKgzWhV6x4IaA-S8gk12-nij-yS-i4ULvXuE29CBRZ01839Qo8alfytdD0LaryZJBkWxQ5RfqyijEZFUL-_UWEsLmf7cU7K5oLMkjn4F1ZFQnMkA12qreUyxvnexrIrWI7W_h2vUTHFtBXdsOuNY4TgB9fgOx1BBMk_0J5WhPFxoN4hJ0Dg/s1016/morning-after21.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="1016" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuE3UB_0ARKgzWhV6x4IaA-S8gk12-nij-yS-i4ULvXuE29CBRZ01839Qo8alfytdD0LaryZJBkWxQ5RfqyijEZFUL-_UWEsLmf7cU7K5oLMkjn4F1ZFQnMkA12qreUyxvnexrIrWI7W_h2vUTHFtBXdsOuNY4TgB9fgOx1BBMk_0J5WhPFxoN4hJ0Dg/w640-h334/morning-after21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ceVjEuq_6N231Zw4fTTZIXbL8hSTq5sZDxYbixim556TxUs8Z3dkUqav5ia1WwtATkd-w1ysnn27S95DAIoYBXBf24L3UjeGTqR2kxPCalJYT3Mt548KkqD1nkaBrm86jIc4wnj7-EvQGW60wAZJuq-NrAR-q18OJuxlUaD9wb1u3-NywPjFMABxSQ/s1012/2nd-camera-pan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="1012" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ceVjEuq_6N231Zw4fTTZIXbL8hSTq5sZDxYbixim556TxUs8Z3dkUqav5ia1WwtATkd-w1ysnn27S95DAIoYBXBf24L3UjeGTqR2kxPCalJYT3Mt548KkqD1nkaBrm86jIc4wnj7-EvQGW60wAZJuq-NrAR-q18OJuxlUaD9wb1u3-NywPjFMABxSQ/w640-h336/2nd-camera-pan.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Always close to Dino<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><i> "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: </i>Little Giorgio was pitiful with a submachine gun cradled in his thin arms. <i>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. </i></p><p>***</p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>***</p><p>Text <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;">© </span>2023 by Lakambini Sitoy</p><p>Screenshots from <i>Hornet's Nest, </i>United Artists, 1970.</p><div><i><br /></i></div><p>NEXT: Franco.</p><p>TO COME: The action boys, "Painted faces and long hair"</p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-5380856107712094762023-01-07T12:14:00.048+01:002023-01-28T19:14:55.799+01:007. Daniel Keller was Tekko<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCFH7TpM36Wk1G_IsLAfgKL7CLPjkeItjqAQx7DwjqYg8LvtYw1duizCWereGHL3JtSnonqgA_ety4xaQFk0zun_bBcLqoj7j0sttIBnsdm7xFYjY6IWz2-f2g2oyoMHffReBtneQWWe4zrxP-ai-iRpB2B_YDMFZcOXkXrItks0N85pWcb_zJcCW1g/s1018/transmitter13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="1018" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCFH7TpM36Wk1G_IsLAfgKL7CLPjkeItjqAQx7DwjqYg8LvtYw1duizCWereGHL3JtSnonqgA_ety4xaQFk0zun_bBcLqoj7j0sttIBnsdm7xFYjY6IWz2-f2g2oyoMHffReBtneQWWe4zrxP-ai-iRpB2B_YDMFZcOXkXrItks0N85pWcb_zJcCW1g/w640-h333/transmitter13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>THE two young boys stroll up the road towards the armed German sentries, their faces relaxed and guileless. As they reach the men, the boy in stripes says, "Hey, capitano, give us a sigaretta." The audience erupts in laughter. It's an experience that was universal for boys throughout the 60s and 70s -- cadging a smoke off mock-severe adults.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nearly everyone who has seen or written about Hornet's Nest knows this boy as "Paolo". It's what Captain Turner called him: "Paolo, Carlo, do your stuff". It's a lovely name and it suits him and it goes perfectly with "Carlo." But this boy wasn't Paolo. He was Tekko.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tekko is easy to spot throughout the movie. He has long straight brown hair and wears faded brown shorts, sneakers and that grubby striped t-shirt. He speaks his numerous lines in a high clear voice and an accent that is part American and part Italian, breaking in on the knot of boys around Turner to warn them of trucks across the river, and querying Aldo about his adventure with the girl in Venice. He's the kid who stumbles (or is shoved) while carrying a rucksack of dynamite, triggering a confrontation between Turner and Aldo and the erosion of Aldo's authority. In the truck scene, he's on the driver's side, between Giorgio and Franco. He's one of the six boys who strip down to their skivvies (or less) to splash around and taunt the guards atop the dam. He's in two of the movie posters as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZJpbgccfwJ3IDcTSsgDhYvpBJpll1lvrKm3rFMNXeP5E2yAe1uzaNvcU9qzAiP4QkGGMJCI4jn6144_5_xlDypb8MgnL08DBt1J5ykTZ_JipTpjRvoRXDdsy2TmfBQA50YiRO2jYHp3EKlnm9kb47Dmb76HIlV-pFapsCPKycGvFkBRUnOjwE8v1cg/s1008/trucks%20-%20tekkos%20first%20lines2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="1008" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZJpbgccfwJ3IDcTSsgDhYvpBJpll1lvrKm3rFMNXeP5E2yAe1uzaNvcU9qzAiP4QkGGMJCI4jn6144_5_xlDypb8MgnL08DBt1J5ykTZ_JipTpjRvoRXDdsy2TmfBQA50YiRO2jYHp3EKlnm9kb47Dmb76HIlV-pFapsCPKycGvFkBRUnOjwE8v1cg/w640-h314/trucks%20-%20tekkos%20first%20lines2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tekko enables things to happen, facilitating action or confrontation between main characters. Towards the end of the movie, the need to drive the plot through dialogue is lessened and he merges with the group. <br /><br /><i>In the first iteration of the screenplay (and the Avallone novelization), he is everywhere: He gets special mention in the would-be rape, redeems the boys the following morning by claiming that they wouldn’t have gone through with it, distracts the guards by swapping strawberries for cigarettes, drives the truck through Reanoto while Turner throws the hand grenades, and is a demolition swimmer. All that and he's twelve. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">***</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1969: Tekko was played by Daniel Keller, a 14-year old American originally from New York. He'd celebrated his bar mitzvah the year before (the venue was the Great Synagogue in Rome) and was a student at the American Overseas School in Rome when he and some schoolmates were interviewed for a role in the film. The production, he told me, was looking for native speakers of American English. He'd had extensive work dubbing Italian movie lines into English for international release, though he says this was not related to his being cast.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ4tkGIus52eNT761E5pdRh39fuvPn7dDzl8-zZENJq5L0oqm8O7oFyWAy_NALWph1Vt_fLG4uSbZb2J_AIxKA9UzQJcxs14JZ5e998fzYSEH99nNVJdGCt79e024xQ3MlPlgEXRGWl9kOiuNnL5jh0Aeqc1S7qvQde8VJKLwNp9eNc5ojKT3_xB5SQ/s3170/1969-Vespaio-publicity-headshot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2441" data-original-width="3170" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ4tkGIus52eNT761E5pdRh39fuvPn7dDzl8-zZENJq5L0oqm8O7oFyWAy_NALWph1Vt_fLG4uSbZb2J_AIxKA9UzQJcxs14JZ5e998fzYSEH99nNVJdGCt79e024xQ3MlPlgEXRGWl9kOiuNnL5jh0Aeqc1S7qvQde8VJKLwNp9eNc5ojKT3_xB5SQ/w640-h493/1969-Vespaio-publicity-headshot.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Publicity shot of Daniel Keller by Claudio Patriarca, 1969</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1980-81: I had a big crush on this boy when I was 11 and 12. I would draw him in my school notebooks and write stories featuring him (who I called "Paolo"). Part of the reason may have been his look -- with the straight hair and long oval face he stood out from the others. And part of it must have been that mischievous quality, that vitality. And the smile. In the close-ups, the gang look sad, or hard-eyed and dead serious, or they are laughing and jeering at the enemy. Tekko is the only boy who gets to smile.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I believed without question that the actor playing Tekko was Italian. My sister and I even gave him an appropriate name in our make-up world: Stefano Sigaretto. (We saw <i>Hornet's Nest</i> in a theater and didn't catch the names of anyone in the cast). Daniel's ancestors, however, can be traced to Ukraine, Poland and Romania. So he expanded the visual definition of "Italian" to my young mind. Nationality after all is not represented by mono-ethnicity, nor a single look.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>*** <div>I found Dan's website in late 2022, and to my great delight have been corresponding with him. Our emails can be found on the Il Vespaio page of his website: <a href="https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/ " target="_blank">https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/ </a></div><div><br /></div><div>*** <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tekko is "Paolo" in the Spanish dub of the film as well. Even Dan doesn't know how this happened: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"(Rock Hudson) was probably reciting lines from a script that was on paper and not up to date. In those days, the word processor was a typewriter." (Email of December 30, D. Keller to L. Sitoy, on<span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><a href="https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/">https://dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/</a> )</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">See also: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.dan-keller.com/photos/2014-05-Romania+Ukraine/" target="_blank">https://www.dan-keller.com/photos/2014-05-Romania+Ukraine/</a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.dan-keller.com/RomeKellers.html" target="_blank">Keller family in Rome</a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Below is a 1969 article in The Forum, the student newspaper of Notre Dame International School in Rome:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchqSUVrdmhXJwuTQdh4s8g9j3Q2hgZ5yqKHOPKuTgps6d7xf4oMhVZHg82tsGQ1ILNPJIc08Tb-0leUSfjkVbavSVCqc1vFpBvChHb4sS-OY2vUKmUeeooMUSRQ_Aek0RUZWBB8wNdmAJMX71pJQx19HT5aGdlDuwKwPZ8fHsgsshKeHljKqgJymtGQ/s1956/1969-11-14-NotreDameIntl-TheForum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1956" data-original-width="1600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhchqSUVrdmhXJwuTQdh4s8g9j3Q2hgZ5yqKHOPKuTgps6d7xf4oMhVZHg82tsGQ1ILNPJIc08Tb-0leUSfjkVbavSVCqc1vFpBvChHb4sS-OY2vUKmUeeooMUSRQ_Aek0RUZWBB8wNdmAJMX71pJQx19HT5aGdlDuwKwPZ8fHsgsshKeHljKqgJymtGQ/w524-h640/1969-11-14-NotreDameIntl-TheForum.jpg" width="524" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p>Text <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;">© </span>2023 by Lakambini Sitoy</p><p>Screenshots from <i>Hornet's Nest, </i>United Artists, 1970. Publicity headshot and scan of student paper article courtesy of D. Keller.</p><div><i><br /></i></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Earlier: <a href="https://hornetsnest1970.blogspot.com/2022/12/blog-post.html" target="_blank">Why Hornet's Nest? Why only now?</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To come: Poppies, what a call sheet tells you</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-624366796551539642023-01-04T17:31:00.026+01:002023-01-16T15:19:46.559+01:006. Mauro Gravina was Carlo<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_FJoiBPXLbgfzVy6XW9e1qiOriQ0sAXgvUhbWWijJpZ-8T_nHCihgouvIrVu42p4fAwqorErgP7JrkGyJRAbW7qEruwuLfSAWHWOFUOGKv6f5-awXgOu0fD4-9GIcoA7TgVc2ILFeZ6jp1zWmG-O0-0hIr_e4ZACuS4lBEER0lBvHfUcPfrmzZP8sg/s1154/carlo2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="1154" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP_FJoiBPXLbgfzVy6XW9e1qiOriQ0sAXgvUhbWWijJpZ-8T_nHCihgouvIrVu42p4fAwqorErgP7JrkGyJRAbW7qEruwuLfSAWHWOFUOGKv6f5-awXgOu0fD4-9GIcoA7TgVc2ILFeZ6jp1zWmG-O0-0hIr_e4ZACuS4lBEER0lBvHfUcPfrmzZP8sg/w640-h342/carlo2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Mauro Gravina played Carlo. Carlo is one of the smaller boys, but yearns to be part of the action. In the beginning he has to beg Aldo to let him come along to find a doctor to treat Turner's injuries, demonstrating that he knows all the bird calls and whistles the gang uses to alert one another of approaching danger. Silvio shoves him in the chest: "You're too young, Carlo." But come along Carlo does, and as the movie progresses he sees more and more action, memorably pulling pins out of hand grenades and passing them up for Turner to lob at German soldiers.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQlzOl_SWdUd0a9Xag3zI20R7P9R5Ehs9SOleBprcp-xGN2B_Bpr-HA528YBatGfP9Ci_T9VwscaEcjk5XYVSdws7apK9T-tLRWiKDykm0iUM0nnr3kLkGgydVigdAIeU6SpEIrhEi2UBiOGgqThHPpvBVO_Zw67n1TupEOvRSHmTayZLxvKJOtIE6Q/s1013/you-pull-the-pin-out-then-you.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="1013" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQlzOl_SWdUd0a9Xag3zI20R7P9R5Ehs9SOleBprcp-xGN2B_Bpr-HA528YBatGfP9Ci_T9VwscaEcjk5XYVSdws7apK9T-tLRWiKDykm0iUM0nnr3kLkGgydVigdAIeU6SpEIrhEi2UBiOGgqThHPpvBVO_Zw67n1TupEOvRSHmTayZLxvKJOtIE6Q/w400-h208/you-pull-the-pin-out-then-you.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p>It's the ones we are to sympathise with who are the most angelic, so with his large wide-set eyes, rosebud lips and soft dark curls, Carlo tugs at our heartstrings as we follow him all the way to the top of the Della Norte dam. </p><p>***</p><p><i>Carlo's role is a major one, but it was not originally so. In the novel by Michael Avallone, clearly based on an earlier draft of the screenplay and published in 1970 to tie in with the film's release, Carlo is 12, one of the "older boys," and apart from some lines when the boys retrieve the unconscious Turner, and the crucial role he plays in the firefight atop the dam, he is a background presence. The job of flagging down the German truck before the attack on Reanoto goes to a small boy called Giorgio. And it is Turner who pulls the grenades out of a bag, arms them and throws them, as Tekko, another 12-year-old, drives the truck. </i><i>The reader gets the notion that </i>this<i> Carlo is expendable.</i><i> Carlo does, however, get to cut the phone wires, leaving the Germans in Reanoto unable to call for help, a scene that is not in the movie.</i></p><div><i>***</i></div><p>Mauro Gravina, born 1957, was 12 at the time of filming, and <i>Hornet's Nest</i> was his second screen role. He has achieved considerable success in Italy's dubbing industry, where voice actors are stars in their own right. </p><p>Text <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;">© </span>2023 by Lakambini Sitoy</p><p>Screenshots from <i>Hornet's Nest </i></p><br /><br /><br />Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-35718419579477470052023-01-04T17:15:00.026+01:002023-01-21T02:07:16.435+01:005. John Fordyce was Dino<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bUN5GOBMX-RIPiWwDNb91bRE6WXWbaOzEmSUPxGWdw9RowrTBwP_dEdtmO028FgUmNOCTew9y4TCVzW2ERwyTP6wilP-Y2vIVbFMfJ2pYMdZU4EqyJzgUyl-7GSus9vj6DkgijrCcZI-ZtQcKFX142_46FdwyuQvbtEWNYbRvqk6C5bwrmHXAKJDQw/s454/Picture%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="454" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bUN5GOBMX-RIPiWwDNb91bRE6WXWbaOzEmSUPxGWdw9RowrTBwP_dEdtmO028FgUmNOCTew9y4TCVzW2ERwyTP6wilP-Y2vIVbFMfJ2pYMdZU4EqyJzgUyl-7GSus9vj6DkgijrCcZI-ZtQcKFX142_46FdwyuQvbtEWNYbRvqk6C5bwrmHXAKJDQw/w640-h324/Picture%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>DINO </o:p>is the oldest and the tallest, blond-haired, blue-eyed
and with a perpetual set to the jaw. It is as though he has to constantly restrain himself from
throwing a punch at Aldo, with whom he frequently shares the screen. He is
older brother to Mario and Maria and appears to have a close or familial connection with
Giorgio (Daniel Dempsey) who is often (albeit unobtrusively) by his side. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He is the cool-headed check to the mercurial Aldo. He is
disgusted by the attempted rape and tells Aldo so, no doubt distancing himself from the role he played in it. He sabotages Aldo’s tale of the
girl in Venice by referring to a fact they both know. The two boys appear to go
a long way back; perhaps he is familiar with Aldo’s ticks and knows the leader’s
tipping point, as well as his own.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He is not Aldo’s second in command. Their relationship is too
complicated for that. Aldo speaks to him harshly (as he does to Luigi, Silvio, Tekko,
Carlo and undoubtedly the rest) but never entrusts charge of the group to him. Aldo
is annoyed when Dino receives a compliment from Turner for his scouting skills:
it’s implied that Turner prefers to do business with the more mature and
reliable teenager. Dino is Turner's choice for <i>his</i> second-in-command. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps Dino knows Aldo too well to attempt to gain authority over the gang. They have guns, and Aldo has his loyal followers among the bigger
boys. Dino, who has family that will need looking after, has a lot to lose should things go wrong. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishNN6mekk7eiuh_Tkp6rm-YPekIdwKqWFowsthudellyFEoYwgnG8R3oehwZkP9p7KgXpKdiIX-ZP3YppwBBrtp1Axlo5KO6tggtitpnaNg_1eUAKnshNHpuOr0NBs2KmEYPAnUZjGnPl6lqa_Cu5x-C2p82jDPf3iKhosJugnSM-ESC_fbYSjOzFdg/s997/blow%20up%20the%20dam.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="997" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishNN6mekk7eiuh_Tkp6rm-YPekIdwKqWFowsthudellyFEoYwgnG8R3oehwZkP9p7KgXpKdiIX-ZP3YppwBBrtp1Axlo5KO6tggtitpnaNg_1eUAKnshNHpuOr0NBs2KmEYPAnUZjGnPl6lqa_Cu5x-C2p82jDPf3iKhosJugnSM-ESC_fbYSjOzFdg/w640-h330/blow%20up%20the%20dam.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdlZlcMIXp_KUXhXVtJjFaFRE8LN4g5Ngj34FtBAbAAPz_pdzxlQSCUSMJjSvHVvZjemYQ6FiLIOQ69LSa4VcZEzCAj8cNbpTKYfJBZ4MhVKeuUVfTFZZVlOyqUu2MzIC_fe51_8Rg1Gt4Je6LhWAxOfPW5GSEUUeCHNhpf05TexYuJ34peweM4bC9A/s1011/transmitter4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="1011" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdlZlcMIXp_KUXhXVtJjFaFRE8LN4g5Ngj34FtBAbAAPz_pdzxlQSCUSMJjSvHVvZjemYQ6FiLIOQ69LSa4VcZEzCAj8cNbpTKYfJBZ4MhVKeuUVfTFZZVlOyqUu2MzIC_fe51_8Rg1Gt4Je6LhWAxOfPW5GSEUUeCHNhpf05TexYuJ34peweM4bC9A/w640-h332/transmitter4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*** <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here’s an excerpt of a <i>New York Times</i> article by Alfred
Friendly Jr., dated Feb. 1, 1970 (“Mama Mia! Rome Is No Place to Be a Movie
Star”):</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>… John Fordyce, on the other hand, seems to be making it.
A 19‐year‐old American with a shag of blond hair, a gleam of even teeth, a
lithe, athletic build and a minimal capacity for introspection, John has the
advantage of having lived for years in Rome and of knowing the territory. He
was “discovered” in 1967 at the chic, free‐form swimming pool of the Parco Dei
Principi Hotel and sent off to Yugoslavia for a screen test and then the lead
role in director Andrezej Wajda's “Gates of Paradise,” a still unreleased
success at film festivals in Berlin and San Francisco.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>John's next break came last year, as a result of his
friendship with a chauffeur who often drives visiting film people. “I walked
into the Colony Restaurant on the Via. Veneto, and my friend introduced me to
the director he was driving that day and gave me a big build‐up as an actor.”
He soon had a supporting role as the leader of a band of war orphans in a Rock
Hudson‐Sylva Koscina movie called “The Hornet's Nest.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>John recently signed with the William Morris Agency and
has four lines and fourth billing in a low‐budget Warner Brothers film called
“Invasion,” which is being made at Cinecitta. On the set the other day he
reflected, “I like fantasy. I always wanted to be Tarzan when I was a little boy.
The best part in ‘The Hornet's Nest’ for me is where we kids get hold of
machine guns and mow down about a thousand Germans.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>He is serious about being an actor, studies Stanislayski
without yet understanding all of it and is a patient watcher of everything that
goes on around him. About starting a film career in Italy, he is philosophical.
“If they like your character here, you'll do fine, but it's not your talent
that counts. That's where I'm lucky, because I was sort of brought up with
these people. There are so many great actors here who can't get anywhere and a
lot of bad ones doing really well. I haven't really had any experience, but
here I am, working when others aren't.”<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/01/archives/mama-mia-rome-is-no-place-to-be-a-movie-star-rome-no-place-to-be-a.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/01/archives/mama-mia-rome-is-no-place-to-be-a-movie-star-rome-no-place-to-be-a.html</a><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><br /><p></p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-30374254317302401372023-01-04T17:03:00.008+01:002023-01-14T01:15:16.061+01:004. Mark Colleano was Aldo<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNwNZozjyCUBUCRPvsTqWbuVT2bCPV5OqEBnb7CS1sZw2RPx3oSsn7HraZZc-Yi_JU6-YtNQNl4Wm4pvGZ7iGSqNbct7pDBcjwWtlHFmtjdRZ7uZuDUFp3tu8RxktBLq_WdZjVjXUloOVNu--ZgmyQ1Af7WbqdZvO3GjJA48VQ9qnLwR7chD98jCt9w/s865/Aldo%20and%20Turner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="865" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNwNZozjyCUBUCRPvsTqWbuVT2bCPV5OqEBnb7CS1sZw2RPx3oSsn7HraZZc-Yi_JU6-YtNQNl4Wm4pvGZ7iGSqNbct7pDBcjwWtlHFmtjdRZ7uZuDUFp3tu8RxktBLq_WdZjVjXUloOVNu--ZgmyQ1Af7WbqdZvO3GjJA48VQ9qnLwR7chD98jCt9w/w400-h321/Aldo%20and%20Turner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mark Colleano plays Aldo, the leader of the gang of orphans. Early on Aldo is established as top dog, snapping at the younger boys, slinging Captain von Hecht's rifle proprietarily over his shoulder and ambling over to the knot of seated boys to take a couple of puffs off the cigarette Silvio is smoking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYUv_UfitQWLggR4vP1I1fFBM0448X8UhblsVARBmD_Q9jpSDV_GXYxSTBnGtpouO0QxUQRcoQIB-t_Ugc2YVV7z8xF8eqTMUAs4uqbPZujBgs4EAd9keM7P1P8k6UqytN-Oa0_SMGjnLEk1mE6IaptslU8xTRA3xVQvNqvhqirR0Bon0Ip2gANafLA/s1024/going%20to%20get%20the%20dottore.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1024" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYUv_UfitQWLggR4vP1I1fFBM0448X8UhblsVARBmD_Q9jpSDV_GXYxSTBnGtpouO0QxUQRcoQIB-t_Ugc2YVV7z8xF8eqTMUAs4uqbPZujBgs4EAd9keM7P1P8k6UqytN-Oa0_SMGjnLEk1mE6IaptslU8xTRA3xVQvNqvhqirR0Bon0Ip2gANafLA/w400-h209/going%20to%20get%20the%20dottore.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5OHwIo1wtK421pbx2R8Ih8-MqKZ6Q8CwxGsulr9AxAjUVOLaylRjsPvrAtl4IZSQo4ioPoCvWe8g2tBad_nU6hs0MPRRYlSD5GWhr7kDsETpDQCUiIBY4z29vw5a2B8xLpKVnKRxCHQdBWPuLCxKKWo6tjRyjP92qEaiNxCPXq4FIdf2oXGAf5WRENg/s1016/that%20doesnt%20mean%20he%20didnt2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="1016" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5OHwIo1wtK421pbx2R8Ih8-MqKZ6Q8CwxGsulr9AxAjUVOLaylRjsPvrAtl4IZSQo4ioPoCvWe8g2tBad_nU6hs0MPRRYlSD5GWhr7kDsETpDQCUiIBY4z29vw5a2B8xLpKVnKRxCHQdBWPuLCxKKWo6tjRyjP92qEaiNxCPXq4FIdf2oXGAf5WRENg/w400-h210/that%20doesnt%20mean%20he%20didnt2.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That he is violent and a loose cannon becomes clearer when he smacks little Carlo across the face to get him to produce real tears and persuade the doctor Bianca to come and help Carlo's ailing "mother."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Aldo is suffering the effects of violence as well, and is perhaps the most sensitive, and certainly the most high-strung, of the boys. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmk2YPgBxw3dL61a8zqsDJ9F3nPmh_eXqa2q3Bv0azb7h0c7Oo4IaN2p6QtmDWBJ176JayQF2X_hYx0gJFPL1WIVp8tAJvBi0kSG5lS5KAtmCqumRAoDdAsa0oxnnzq15YZvSVQRNZxNBDVnYatLigZ1c08VtX7lANNmzf8qwsBwLXGbqy9EBkGh7pQ/s1002/aLDO-scarpi.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="1002" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmk2YPgBxw3dL61a8zqsDJ9F3nPmh_eXqa2q3Bv0azb7h0c7Oo4IaN2p6QtmDWBJ176JayQF2X_hYx0gJFPL1WIVp8tAJvBi0kSG5lS5KAtmCqumRAoDdAsa0oxnnzq15YZvSVQRNZxNBDVnYatLigZ1c08VtX7lANNmzf8qwsBwLXGbqy9EBkGh7pQ/w400-h206/aLDO-scarpi.png" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktyQXAQk5_HMdrtljuecRvMvj983rtZBqc6s_xt0Le17Sy3K2L-2fIppwKwUVzvE3cYCCtYJ11RiqqlMdw0MJtGbvk3FJFlYE3kL4tN9O2Z3zgXczOBV7NX3LlWb-1AdRAPSKGES-LfLfWMRA1U2OxYxVQDLGWF0ekS61-8qtuO6aPuA5FX9C7IF83Q/s1010/aldo-field.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="1010" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktyQXAQk5_HMdrtljuecRvMvj983rtZBqc6s_xt0Le17Sy3K2L-2fIppwKwUVzvE3cYCCtYJ11RiqqlMdw0MJtGbvk3FJFlYE3kL4tN9O2Z3zgXczOBV7NX3LlWb-1AdRAPSKGES-LfLfWMRA1U2OxYxVQDLGWF0ekS61-8qtuO6aPuA5FX9C7IF83Q/w400-h206/aldo-field.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">*** </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p>Text <span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;">© </span>2023 by Lakambini Sitoy</p><p>Screenshots from <i>Hornet's Nest </i></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To come: John Fordyce as Dino, Valerio Colombaioni as Arturo, "controlled explosions".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-77083338368075429152023-01-02T17:14:00.009+01:002023-01-13T14:21:10.711+01:003. Critical reception, posters<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlWHaEU_Tt7aAITBKsgb3s9-x5uW2ZWgOXHcON-RWNqEGnGCJiQ5BHGUodbnbiglt6UDbQWWz93G86DtQoT6ML1ayZ9T8LhSzmW5rRvh7h5g-r8IxoGbxPfqucR0eOmUSlkOLU5P6gEAIHm_6ZO-bVozRDVr5LdKchcINPbUMNkp2hu0Fh71FEWr3rA/s500/Vespaio2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="500" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlWHaEU_Tt7aAITBKsgb3s9-x5uW2ZWgOXHcON-RWNqEGnGCJiQ5BHGUodbnbiglt6UDbQWWz93G86DtQoT6ML1ayZ9T8LhSzmW5rRvh7h5g-r8IxoGbxPfqucR0eOmUSlkOLU5P6gEAIHm_6ZO-bVozRDVr5LdKchcINPbUMNkp2hu0Fh71FEWr3rA/w400-h314/Vespaio2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6P5b48EmdxgkJo6I66_YqSrKA7cW7DBgBvbehn_sVrPd_AvrIX26mo8bSD-6KSKTMGcz4WtSLThdWDHKLxBm10as2iQL-z2aA4Uvr264GwbFeOXzG9FeChKtsp2MqJxt0ZzLJW7gaUPnzLavRCeP-g_eLTIxpdnVmo65V8coQHhppLvFKymdSy5zCg/s500/vespaio21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6P5b48EmdxgkJo6I66_YqSrKA7cW7DBgBvbehn_sVrPd_AvrIX26mo8bSD-6KSKTMGcz4WtSLThdWDHKLxBm10as2iQL-z2aA4Uvr264GwbFeOXzG9FeChKtsp2MqJxt0ZzLJW7gaUPnzLavRCeP-g_eLTIxpdnVmo65V8coQHhppLvFKymdSy5zCg/w426-h640/vespaio21.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYE49Y14VR_5wKXPArQR9V42woGKItHaMKgPbf_pO55zvlatitZfvpIR_dXJ8dGkJm4JeN5EqvczWwBHUPQnLytqGOVpzfhLuY2QJ8zWbL0qy_Eqp6S74GeYxpBKDruK63qxkGIfmxeYkTxttmoXJgN3eEkatr8ThEdpekwbV6xZdiUUD4rFDssqbnuQ/s445/lupi-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="298" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYE49Y14VR_5wKXPArQR9V42woGKItHaMKgPbf_pO55zvlatitZfvpIR_dXJ8dGkJm4JeN5EqvczWwBHUPQnLytqGOVpzfhLuY2QJ8zWbL0qy_Eqp6S74GeYxpBKDruK63qxkGIfmxeYkTxttmoXJgN3eEkatr8ThEdpekwbV6xZdiUUD4rFDssqbnuQ/w428-h640/lupi-1.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sIE8mZAno0RV0L6bcTdtMjtmQQ0kO51X7fHcnxgQapJDn-NCpLA9yREISBj-AzNpkiTFu7_1rD-f6RUKR39UP5nvQlig5X22_7MQ5i4Sm2PAFoOmIrLmWlUNsXrhMEAsi5r7nNVMyYAQNB6Ob4nxuZFln3bQoA1kMfHo6VVM0mAKphA7JgswY4m7eg/s761/Vespaio1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="300" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sIE8mZAno0RV0L6bcTdtMjtmQQ0kO51X7fHcnxgQapJDn-NCpLA9yREISBj-AzNpkiTFu7_1rD-f6RUKR39UP5nvQlig5X22_7MQ5i4Sm2PAFoOmIrLmWlUNsXrhMEAsi5r7nNVMyYAQNB6Ob4nxuZFln3bQoA1kMfHo6VVM0mAKphA7JgswY4m7eg/w252-h640/Vespaio1.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Critical reactions to Hornet's Nest were negative or, at best, lukewarm. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwD6LbZyC8yRKEIQmkOe27Ga_m8EZYgdOxgaOiYUP-xNnbwI8pAcbg7DusQOpq7tapyMCQUFS9YRNQ2uGt9mbstWJEH0MXkOxOmBzPox99muH2HnjWfNsywuaIlGEb3H_W5AMOsrVsut8mNcTe7qTYIQwRuMI3miUeY5LDLdnWI7gVNtwN7wB5ceqTqg/s2212/1970-12-10-NYT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2212" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwD6LbZyC8yRKEIQmkOe27Ga_m8EZYgdOxgaOiYUP-xNnbwI8pAcbg7DusQOpq7tapyMCQUFS9YRNQ2uGt9mbstWJEH0MXkOxOmBzPox99muH2HnjWfNsywuaIlGEb3H_W5AMOsrVsut8mNcTe7qTYIQwRuMI3miUeY5LDLdnWI7gVNtwN7wB5ceqTqg/w232-h640/1970-12-10-NYT.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p>There's a capsule review that my sister and I found in a magazine at the Silliman University library -- <i>Parents</i> I think it was. I no longer have the notebook in which we wrote it down, but if memory serves, it went like this: "World War II derring-do about a US Army
captain who, with the help of a band of scruffy Italian orphans and a sexy
German lady doctor, blow up a Nazi-controlled dam against incredible odds.
Essentially inane." </p><p>Or am I mixing up two reviews here? Whatever. The only thing I remember for sure from the <i>Parents </i>review are the last two words. That critic, that woman Judith Ripp -- she broke my 11-year-old heart. If that was what the movie was, then my love for Tekko (and Silvio... and Carlo...and...and...) was <i>essentially inane</i> too. And then I thought, What the hell. That's her opinion. It's<i> not mine!!</i> And thus, the first stirrings of rebellion against adult morality and conventional good taste. </p><p><br /></p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-86184406145845080342023-01-02T17:14:00.001+01:002023-01-02T17:14:10.205+01:002. About the movieLakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2433989354708982816.post-58489673649653189782022-12-31T17:03:00.014+01:002023-01-19T14:19:37.463+01:001. Why Hornet's Nest? Why only now?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOzkmW6U0VZR545TTaX0DaYdbTRoACr-QYnwJdyh8aPoM4LCkWgCUGvgnfJF-ODmRYDEpv4GpKAVonJ7qEJ8M_NZga0wSDWN1rneERYdeN2ro5CQ_7msylGsR6O9ildhWUhwj9cjXVqnR1qrjR2yaB09ufpPl4YKeU78AtWP010o_ImzVJ_Zt1GfA2A/s2760/vespaio13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2130" data-original-width="2760" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOzkmW6U0VZR545TTaX0DaYdbTRoACr-QYnwJdyh8aPoM4LCkWgCUGvgnfJF-ODmRYDEpv4GpKAVonJ7qEJ8M_NZga0wSDWN1rneERYdeN2ro5CQ_7msylGsR6O9ildhWUhwj9cjXVqnR1qrjR2yaB09ufpPl4YKeU78AtWP010o_ImzVJ_Zt1GfA2A/w640-h494/vespaio13.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I first saw <i>Hornet’s Nest</i> in 1980, in a packed movie theatre in a small city in the Philippines. It was the second time the film had played in Dumaguete; the first, according to an uncle, was in 1971 or so, and it was so popular back then people lined up just to get in. We had no idea of the film’s many names, nor that<i> Il Vespaio</i> was the name originally given it in Italian and used during the filming.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I had just turned eleven when we saw the film; we had returned from a year in the States and were already very Americanized, not surprising that we had grown up on the campus of Silliman University, which had been founded by American missionaries in 1901. We spoke English, read only English books, and loved a good war flick -- there were lots of them from 10 and 20 years back, playing in the theaters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">My older sister and I fell in love with <i>H</i></span><i>ornet’s Nest</i>, and we remembered all the scenes and all the lines. Everyone we knew had seen the movie, and the boys’ theme (composed by Ennio Morricone) was whistled in school corridors for months after that.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">My sister and I had a shared fantasy world, and so we spent the next couple of years drawing and writing stories about the <i>Hornet’s Nest </i>boys, making them interact with other characters in that universe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Because we never got all their names (much less the names of the actors who played them), we had to invent. And invent we did. We gave them new names and complete personalities, and in the process collapsed one boy into another and made two or three out of what had been one. Memory and imagination mixed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Then as we got older, she and I fell out, and the old school notebooks and folders of drawings were put away and lay untouched for nearly 40 years.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I was at my childhood home in August this year, and finally called up the courage to open, first my box, and then my sister’s, with a view to photographing everything before it all crumbled to bits. So, filled with nostalgia, and sadness that many of the best notebooks were missing (my fault!) and that my sister was no longer around to help me remember our stories, I decided to re-immerse myself in that world once again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The boys in this movie are virtually nameless. Ironic, because the end credits present us with a screenful of names: Franco and Tonio, Arturo and Mikko and Romeo, Silvio and Umberto... and so forth. But because few of them are ever called by name as the film progresses, the audiences never get to know who is who. By the 1970s, it was standard to designate a minor movie character with some descriptive phrase: "Bossman's accomplice" "Juggler" "Class child." But not so with Hornet's Nest. No "Lookout Boy", "Demolition Boy no. 2", "Boy who had to pee in front of the sentry." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The list of first names was elegant and tantalizing -- it indicated that somewhere there had been a master plan where each boy, perhaps, had a back story, maybe even a character arc. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">At the very least, I wanted to match faces with names. My sister and I had had a whale of a time re-inventing the 15 teenagers of Captain Turner's Baby Brigade, but something was missing. I'd tried twice before, in 1989, when I found a VHS tape of the movie and made some awful color sketches of the boys, taking notes (no luck there) and again in 2012, when I purchased the Michael Avallone based-on-the-screenplay novel off E-bay (still no luck -- the familiar lines had been shuffled around so that attributed to two or three boys were lines spoken by just one in the film).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">What was missing was the actors. I've never been the kind of person to watch a film without simultaneously imagining the production behind it. Today, I sit in front of the TV with a finger hovering over my device, and it's a rare movie that can compete with the IMDB. My older sister was the same, and we'd always been that way, so when the 15 Italian boys lost their luster (somewhat) we went on to invent the world of the film production, with results that are too ridiculous to go on the internet. Two smartass girls, 11 and 14... what do you expect?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">So I decided to use a combination of social media and movie databases to match names to faces and try to find out who everyone had been and (hopefully) how they had come to be in Il Vespaio. If I ran a search for the names of the actors, focusing only on men in their late 60s with a connection to Italy, maybe I would recognize a face and be able to match it to one of the boys in the film. I’d recently done a portrait project where I’d had to compare photos of some people taken today with images of them from decades ago, and I figured I knew how to study a face and how it changes with the years. I wanted to write about them, and how important they had been for me as a child (or a young girl), how vital to the creative side of me. I decided I would not make it one of those awful "Where are they now?" features that both feed, and feed on, ageism. It was enough to know who they all had been. Details of how they'd come to be in the movie, and a hint or two of the trajectory of their lives since would be an extra reward.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Did I succeed? Yes. Did I contact them? Well, only one, as of this writing (but it feels like I hit the jackpot!). Social media feelers for a couple more.</p><p class="MsoNormal">*** </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">This post began as an email, which was sent on November 30 via web contact form to Dan Keller, who played Tekko. How I sweated over what to write him. The resulting email conversation can be read on his website at: </span></i><a href="https://www.dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/ "><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><i>https://www.dan-keller.com/photos/1969-Vespaio/</i></span></span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></i></a> <i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">’m pleased to say that as a consequence of our exchange, Dan found more and more photos from his files and posted them on his Il Vespaio page. I’ve gotten his permission to share those photos on-line. The behind-the-scenes photo above, also the background image of this blog, is courtesy of Dan, and was taken by production photographer Claudio Patriarca.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Lakambini A. Sitoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04721871422036115736noreply@blogger.com0