Umberto Lenzi

{{Short description|Italian director and writer (1931–2017)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Umberto Lenzi

| image = Umberto_lenzi_sitges2008.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Umberto Lenzi at the Festival de Cine de Sitges in October 2008.

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|8|6|df=y}}

| birth_place = Massa Marittima, Italy

| death_date = {{Death date|2017|10|19|df=y}} (aged 86)

| death_place = Rome, Italy

| occupation = Film director and screenwriter

| spouse = Olga Pehar

|years_active = 1958-1993

}}

Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist.

A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unreleased, while his official debut happened in 1961 with Queen of the Seas. Lenzi's films of the 1960s followed popular trends of the era, which led to him directing several spy and erotic thriller films. He followed in suit in the 1970s making giallo films, crime films and making the first Italian cannibal film with Man from the Deep River. He continued making films up until the 1990s and later worked as a novelist writing a series of murder mysteries.

Biography

=Early life=

Umberto Lenzi was born on 6 August 1931 in the Massa Marittima province of Italy.{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=143}}{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}} Lenzi was a film enthusiast as early as grade school.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}} While studying law, Lenzi also created film fan clubs.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}} Lenzi eventually put off studying law and began pursuing the technical arts of filmmaking.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}}

He graduated from Rome's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1956{{sfn|Paul|2011|p=143}} and made I ragazzi di Trastevere as his final exam, a short film influenced by the writings of Pier Paolo Pasolini.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}} Lenzi also worked as a journalist for various newspapers and magazines, including Bianco e Nero{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}} and, between 1957 and 1960, penned a number of detective novels and adventure stories using a pseudonym.{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=143}}

=1960s=

Prior to his officially first credited film as a director, Queen of the Seas, Lenzi directed a film in Greece in 1958 titled Mia Italida stin Ellada, or Vacanze ad Atene, which was never released.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}}

Lenzi's films of the 1960s revolved around popular genres of their respective time periods.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}} In the early 1960s, Lenzi directed many adventure films including two features about Robin Hood (The Triumph of Robin Hood and The Invincible Masked Rider) and two films about Sandokan (Sandokan the Great (1963) and Pirates of Malaysia (1964)).{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=143}}

By 1965, Lenzi began directing European spy films, such as 008: Operation Exterminate, followed by Super Seven Calling Cairo and The Spy Who Loved Flowers, and even adapted the fumetti neri comic character Kriminal to the screen.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}}{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=143}}{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=144}} Lenzi then turned to making war films such as Desert Commandos and Legion of the Damned and westerns such as Pistol for a Hundred Coffins and All Out (1968).{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}}

Lenzi had box office success in Italy with his erotic thrillers starring Carroll Baker such as Orgasmo, So Sweet... So Perverse and A Quiet Place to Kill which were influenced by French "film noir" movies drawing from the works of Jacques Deray and René Clément.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}}

=1970s=

After the commercial success of giallo films by Dario Argento, Lenzi followed the new trend with Seven Bloodstained Orchids, which referenced both Cornell Woolrich and Edgar Wallace novels, while another giallo Knife of Ice was a variation of Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}} Other gialli created by Lenzi in the early 1970s included Spasmo and Eyeball.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}}

During the early 1970s, Lenzi also directed the first of the Italian cannibal films, with Man from the Deep River, a genre that he would explore again in the 1980s with Eaten Alive! and Cannibal Ferox.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}} During the late 1970s, Lenzi devoted himself almost exclusively to crime dramas, with the exception of two war films: The Greatest Battle and From Hell to Victory (1979).{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}}

=1980s=

The 1980s marked the release of films that Roberto Curti described as some of Lenzi's "most notorious".{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}} These included Nightmare City and the previously mentioned Cannibal Ferox.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}}

Lenzi also worked on horror films towards the late 1980s, such as Ghosthouse (1988) under the name Humphrey Humbert and the slasher film Nightmare Beach which was credited to Harry Kirkpatrick as Lenzi refused to sign his name to the film.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}} Other later 1980s work included horror films made for television, such as The House of Witchraft and The House of Lost Souls.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}} Both films were part of a series titled Le case maldette ({{Translation|Houses of Doom}}) which were set up by Luciano Martino and were related by the theme of haunted houses.{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=205}} The films were shot but the series was not broadcast immediately.{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=209}} Lenzi reflected on these films saying he made them as if they were designed for theatrical release and that the producers, his colleagues and himself did not consider that television sponsors would not accept horror films.{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=209}} The two television series were eventually released on VHS in 2000 in Italy and later broadcast on Italian satellite TV in 2006.{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=209}} In 1989, Lenzi directed the police action film Cop Target in Miami and Santo Domingo, starring Robert Ginty and Charles Napier.{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=153}}{{sfn|Palmerini|Mistretta|1996|p=70}}

=Post-1980s=

In 1990, using his own company and a low amount of funds, Lenzi also shot two films in Brazil in a period of three months: the horror film Black Demons, which in 1996 he considered to be his masterpiece, and the adventure film Hunt for the Golden Scorpion.{{sfn|Palmerini|Mistretta|1996|p=70}}

In 1992, he shot the adventure film Mean Tricks (also known as Hornsby and Rodriguez) starring Charles Napier, David Warbeck and David Brandon.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=151}}{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=154}} Variety reported in 2006 that Lenzi was shooting a slasher film in Italy titled Horror Baby. The film's story was about a 15-year-old paraplegic girl who becomes a serial killer after viewing a neighbor having sex from her window.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2006/film/news/buzz-is-back-on-italian-b-pix-1200338804/|work=Variety|title=Buzz is back on Italian B-pix|date=30 July 2006|access-date=18 January 2018|last=Vivarelli|first=Nick}}

Lenzi later embarked on a career as a novelist, writing a series of murder mysteries set in the 1930s and '40s Cinecittà, involving real-life characters of the Italian film industry.{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}}

=Death=

Lenzi died on 19 October 2017.{{cite web|publisher=Istore|url=https://istoe.com.br/morre-umberto-lenzi-icone-do-cinema-policialesco-italiano/|title=Morre Umberto Lenzi, ícone do cinema policialesco italiano|access-date=19 October 2017|language=es|date=19 October 2017}} The director was hospitalized in the Ostia district of Rome. The cause of death is unknown.

Personal life

Umberto Lenzi was married to Olga Pehar, who co-wrote some of his films.{{cite web|url=http://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/cinema/2017/10/19/news/morto_umberto_lenzi-178712510/|work=la Repubblica|title=È morto Umberto Lenzi, papà del Monnezza e dei film più amati da Tarantino|first=Alessandra|last=Vitali|access-date=19 October 2017|date=19 October 2017|language=it}}{{cite web| url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baa9f3d75| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024045556/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2baa9f3d75| url-status=dead| archive-date=24 October 2017|publisher=British Film Institute|title=Olga Pehar|access-date=23 October 2017}}

Lenzi was an anarchist.[https://m.huffingtonpost.it/2017/10/19/e-morto-umberto-lenzi-il-regista-amato-da-tarantino-che-invento-er-monnezza-macche-fascista-io-ero-e-sono-rimasto-anarchico_a_23248769/ È morto Umberto Lenzi. Il regista amato da Tarantino che inventò Er monnezza: "Macché fascista. Io ero e sono rimasto anarchico"]

Legacy

Roberto Curti referred to Lenzi as "one of the undisputed leading figures in Italian genre cinema" and that he was "a sort of institution in Italian genre cinema."{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=296}}{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=297}} Louis Paul suggested that Lenzi released some "quite enjoyable action films in the 1960s and some good thrillers in the '70s, he never consistently excelled at any one genre" and that Lenzi would "probably be remembered most for his cannibal-themed horror films."{{sfn|Paul|2005|p=151}} Kim Newman discussed Lenzi in 2021, stating that the director "has been rated towards the bottom of the ranks of Italian genre craftsmen by many - me included - because of the greater availability of his pulpier, more gruesome 1980s work" noting Cannibal Ferox and Nightmare City and stated that "though a trailblazer for the little-loved jungle cannibal cycle, contributing its earliest and most gruesome entries, in general Lenzi seemed one of the coat-tail riders, turning to whatever subgenre of exploitation was selling that year...and even in that class, he's less consistently interesting and exciting than Sergio Martino."{{sfn|Newman|2021}} Newman did note the film Lenzi made with Carroll Baker in the late 1960s, which Newman stated "force a reassessment" on Lenzi's work.{{sfn|Newman|2021}}

Select filmography

{{Main|Umberto Lenzi filmography}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! width="15%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Title !! width="4%" rowspan="2" scope="col" | Year!! colspan="3" scope="col" | Credited as !! width="10%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable"| Notes !! width="1%" rowspan="2" scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}}

width=6% |Directorwidth=6% | Writerwidth=6% | Other
scope="row"|Queen of the Seas

|1961

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|style="text-align:center;"|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=133}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Triumph of Robin Hood|The Triumph of Robin Hood}}

|1962

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=178}}

scope="row"|Catherine of Russia

|rowspan="4"|1963

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=34}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Invincible Masked Rider|The Invincible Masked Rider}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=102}}

scope="row"|Samson and the Slave Queen

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=145}}

scope="row"|Sandokan the Great

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=22811|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Sandokan the Great|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221081951/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=22811|archive-date=21 December 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,4/articleid,0020_01_1963_0301_0004_24709977/|newspaper=La Stampa|title=<< I re del sole>>: storia dei Maya <>|accessdate=November 14, 2021|page=4|date=December 20, 1963|language=Italian}}

scope="row"|Temple of the White Elephant

|rowspan="3"|1964

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=171}}

scope="row"|Messalina vs. the Son of Hercules

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=118}}

scope="row"|Pirates of Malaysia

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=147}}

scope="row"|Kriminal

|rowspan="2"|1966

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2016a|p=47}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Spy Who Loved Flowers|The Spy Who Loved Flowers}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{cite web|url=http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=59196&_ga=2.187247144.1005008504.1502371319-1263957294.1496067898|publisher=Bifi.fr|title=Le Spie amano i fiori|accessdate=10 August 2017|language=French}}

scope="row"|Desert Commandos

|1967

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|{{cite web|url=http://www.cinematografo.it/cinedatabase/film/attentato-ai-tre-grandi/23254/|website=Cinematografo.it|publisher=Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo - Tutti i diritti sono riservati|accessdate=30 July 2017|language=Italian|title=Attentato ai tre grandi}}{{sfn|Cowie|Elley|1977|p=300}}

scope="row"|All Out

|rowspan="2"|1968

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Cowie|Elley|1977|p=344}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Pistol for a Hundred Coffins|A Pistol for a Hundred Coffins}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Cowie|Elley|1977|p=330}}

scope="row"|Battle of the Commandos

|rowspan="3"|1969

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{cite web|url=http://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/die-zum-teufel-gehen_ea43d4a6c8fb5006e03053d50b37753d|publisher=Filmportal.de|title=Die zum Teufel gehen|accessdate=30 July 2017}}

scope="row"|Orgasmo

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/orgasmo-v65719/cast-crew|publisher=AllMovie|title=Orgasmo (1968)|author=Firsching, Robert|accessdate=11 February 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804013321/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/orgasmo-v65719/cast-crew|archivedate=4 August 2012}}

scope="row"|So Sweet... So Perverse

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804020619/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/kiss-me-kill-me-v27527/|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/kiss-me-kill-me-v27527/|publisher=AllMovie|title=Kiss Me, Kill Me|accessdate=3 August 2017|archivedate=4 August 2012|last=Firsching|first=Robert}}{{cite web|url=http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=71297&_ga=1.152810361.1953939938.1427925026|publisher=Bifi.fr|title=Cosi dolce, cosi perversa (1969) Umberto Lenzi|language=French|accessdate=31 July 2017}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Quiet Place to Kill|A Quiet Place to Kill}}

|1970

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804091508/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/paranoia-v160266/|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/paranoia-v160266/|publisher=AllMovie|title=Paranoia (1969)|accessdate=3 August 2017|archivedate=4 August 2012|last=Firsching|first=Robert}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Monthly Film Bulletin|title=Paranoia (A Quiet Place to Kill)|volume=40|issue=468|page=105|year=1973|publisher=British Film Institute|last=Combs|first=Richard}}

scope="row"|Gang War in Milan

|1973

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=82}}{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=83}}

scope="row"|Almost Human

|rowspan="2"|1974

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=105}}

scope="row"|Spasmo

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020083941/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/spasmo-v111256|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/spasmo-v111256|publisher=AllMovie|title=Spasmo|last=Cooper|first=Tracie|accessdate=10 August 2017|archivedate=20 October 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b770a8031|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919142930/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b770a8031|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 September 2016|publisher=British Film Institute|title=Spasmo|accessdate=10 August 2017}}

scope="row"|Manhunt in the City

|rowspan="2"|1975

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=142}}

scope="row"|Syndicate Sadists

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=152}}

scope="row"|Rome Armed to the Teeth

|rowspan="3"|1976

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=162}}{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=163}}

scope="row"|Free Hand for a Tough Cop

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=174}}{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=175}}

scope="row"|Violent Naples

|{{yes}}

|

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=200}}

scope="row"|Brothers Till We Die

|rowspan="2"|1977

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=206}}

scope="row"|{{sort|Cynic, the Rat and the First|The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=211}}

scope="row"|From Corleone to Brooklyn

|1979

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Curti|2013|p=258}}

scope="row"|Eaten Alive!

|1980

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Shipka|2011|p=136}}{{cite magazine|magazine=Monthly Film Bulletin|title=Mangiati vivi dai cannibali (Eaten Alive)|last=Pulleine|first=Tim|volume=48|issue=564|page=251|year=1981|publisher=British Film Institute}}{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530143824/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/eaten-alive-v118348/cast-crew|url=http://www.allmovie.com:80/movie/eaten-alive-v118348/cast-crew|accessdate=10 August 2017|publisher=AllMovie|archivedate=30 May 2014|title=Eaten Alive!|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

scope="row"|Cannibal Ferox

|1981

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115161439/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/cannibal-ferox-v127251|url=http://www.allmovie.com:80/movie/cannibal-ferox-v127251|title=Cannibal Ferox|accessdate=10 August 2017|last=Firsching|first=Robert|publisher=AllMovie|archivedate=15 November 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530164445/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/cannibal-ferox-v127251/cast-crew|url=http://www.allmovie.com:80/movie/cannibal-ferox-v127251/cast-crew|title=Cannibal Ferox|accessdate=10 August 2017|publisher=AllMovie|archivedate=30 May 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

scope="row"|Ironmaster

|1983

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|

|{{sfn|Kinnard|Crnkovich|2017|p=203}}

scope="row"|Ghosthouse

|1988

|{{yes}}

|

|{{yes}}

|Story author

|{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=54}}{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=55}}

scope="row"|Hitcher in the Dark

|rowspan="3"|1989

|{{yes}}

|

|{{yes}}

|Story author

|{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=54}}{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=55}}

scope="row"|The House of Witchcraft

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

| Made-for-TV film.

|{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=209}}{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=204}}

scope="row"|The House of Lost Souls

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|

|Made-for-TV film.

|{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=209}}{{sfn|Curti|2019|p=204}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

=Bibliography=

{{Refbegin}}

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  • {{cite book |last=Luther-Smith|first=Adrian|year=1999|title=Blood and Black Lace: The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies|publisher=Stray Cat Publishing Ltd}}
  • {{cite magazine|magazine=Sight & Sound|title=Expectations Exceeded|last=Newman|first=Kim|page=85|date=May 2021|volume=31|issue=4}}
  • {{cite book|last1=Palmerini|first1=Luca M.|last2=Mistretta|first2=Gaetano|title=Spaghetti Nightmares: Italian Fantasy-horrors as Seen Through the Eyes of Their Protagonists|date=1996|publisher=Fantasma Books |isbn=9780963498274}}
  • {{cite book | last= Paul | first= Louis | title= Italian Horror Film Directors |publisher= McFarland |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-0-7864-8749-3}}
  • {{cite book |last=Paul |first=Louis |year=2010 |title=Italian Horror Film Directors |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6113-4}}
  • {{cite book |last=Paul |first=Louis |year=2011 |title=Italian Horror Film Directors |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6113-4}}
  • {{cite book | last=Shipka |first=Danny |title=Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980|publisher=McFarland|year=2011|isbn=978-0786448883}}

{{Refend}}