Luciano Ercoli

Luciano Ercoli (October 19, 1929 – March 15, 2015) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, producer and unit production manager. Ercoli's career spanned approximately two decades before his retirement in the late 1970s, and saw him direct several films in the giallo genre, as well producing several spaghetti westerns. Ercoli was married to Spanish actress Nieves Navarro, who has appeared in several of the films he worked on.[2]

Luciano Ercoli
Born	(1929-10-19)October 19, 1929 Rome, Italy
Died	March 15, 2015(2015-03-15) (aged 85) Barcelona, Spain
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter[1]
Years active	1955–1977
Spouse(s)	Nieves Navarro

Life and career

Ercoli was born in Rome, Italy, on October 19, 1929.[1] His first film credit was as an assistant director for the 1955 film La risaia, directed by Raffaello Matarazzo. Ercoli then acted as a film producer on several titles throughout the 1960s, before making his directorial début in 1970, helming the giallo film Le foto proibite di una signora per bene, which he also produced and edited. Ercoli went on to direct several more films throughout the early to mid-1970s, including Il figlio della sepolta viva and Troppo rischio per un uomo solo.[3]

Ercoli was married to Spanish actress Nieves Navarro, who has appeared in several of his giallo films, starring in 1971's La morte cammina con i tacchi alti and 1972's La morte accarezza a mezzanotte.[4] Navarro had also appeared in lesser roles in Le foto proibite di una signora per bene, and the Ercoli-produced spaghetti westerns Una pistola per Ringo and Il ritorno di Ringo.[5] Ercoli, described as "one of the first directors to jump on the thriller bandwagon", retired from the film industry in the late 1970s after inheriting "a fortune".[6] His last role was as the director of the 1975 poliziottesco film La polizia ha le mani legate.[3]

Ercoli's final film was La Bidonata from 1977.[7] La Bidonata, also known as The Big Ripoff, was released as an extra on the DVD release of the Italian thriller Colt 38 Special Squad.[7]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1955	La risaia	Assistant director
1960	Il mondo di notte	Unit production manager
1961	Odissea nuda	Producer
1964	What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?	Producer
1965	Una pistola per Ringo	Producer
1966	Il ritorno di Ringo	Producer
1970	Le foto proibite di una signora per bene	Director, producer and editor
1971	La morte cammina con i tacchi alti	Director
1972	La morte accarezza a mezzanotte	Director
1974	Il figlio della sepolta viva	Director (as André Colbert)
	Young Lucrezia	Director (as André Colbert)
	Troppo rischio per un uomo solo	Director
1975	La polizia ha le mani legate	Director
1977	La Bidonata	Director

Footnotes

1. "BFI | Film & TV Database | Ercoli, Luciano". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
2. "Luciano Ercoli 1929 - 2015". starburstmagazine.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
3. "BFI | Film & TV Database | Ercoli, Luciano | Filmography". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on December 23, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
4. Shipka 2011, p. 103.
5. "BFI | Film & TV Database | Scott, Susan | Filmography". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
6. Bondanella 2009, p. 388.
7. Jane, Ian (June 22, 2006). "Colt 38 Special Squad". DVD Talk.

References

• Bondanella, Peter E. (2009). A History of Italian Cinema (illustrated ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 1441160698.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Shipka, Danny (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960–1980 (illustrated ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786448881.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Luciano Ercoli on IMDb