This movie gets such good reviews yet somehow I've never seen it. I just sat down to watch it and it says it's directed by Frank Martin. However, when I look it up, Marino Girolami is listed as the director.
Has anyone else noticed this error in the movie credits or is there a story behind this?
I was confused about this too because, maybe 20 years ago, the IMDB had "Frank Martin" as an aka for another director, something like "Francesco Martino" with a few credits. At some point it got corrected. I met the star of the film Ian McCulloch at a fan convention in 2009 and asked him about the film and he confirmed it was Marino Girolami. He also insinuated that nobody had any fun at all on the shoot, and that a few scenes had to be added in later because the movie didn't turn out long enough (like the pit scene shot in Italy during the fall and not in the Dominican Republic like most of the film).
shareVery interesting. I guess the name Frank Martin was used at that time, for whatever reason, and they just never updated it on the credits.
I'm surprised no one had fun on the set. I just started watching it and it looks like a film that they would have a good time making.
How exciting that you you met McCulloch!
If you love Ian McCulloch, I'd recommend checking out his BBC show SURVIVORS (most of the episodes are on youtube for free).
Very surreal, but McCulloch, Michael Sopkiw (star of After the Fall of New York and Blastfighter), Richard Johnson (co-star of Zombi), a special effects guy named Chad, and I, all went out for dinner after the convention. I wish I could remember more other than chatting with Richard Johnson about The Great Alligator. Hopefully this picture link works:
https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/1934951_186663290710_7065115_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=f798df&_nc_ohc=ZF8PMzKl2fwQ7kNvgGEvaAP&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-1.xx&oh=00_AYB0dXmD2wTTCrVqpOMG5LzsnNhehAmvQOnfzavlJ8XEIg&oe=673BF114
I used to love Survivors. One of my favourite shows as a kid and the first time I ever saw McCulloch.
shareSurvivors sounds really good. It's now on my watch list.
Nice pic!!
"Frank Martin" was an alias used by Girolami, as were "Bernardo Rossi", "Dario Sinvestri", "Fred Wilson", Charles Ramoulian", "Franco Martinelli", and "Jean Bastide".
https://en.notrecinema.com/communaute/stars/stars.php3?staridx=31906
It wasn't at all unusual for Italian directors (and actors) to use more English sounding names on some of their movies.
OK, thanks for the info. I never heard of this before.
shareNo worries 👍 It's very prevalent in gialli and spaghetti westerns!
shareYeah they sometimes anglicanized their names (as well as most of the rest of the crew) to give the appearance that the film was American instead of Italian. Sometimes it'd be downright hilarious like with BLASTFIGHTER "directed by John Old Jr." I doubt it ever fooled American audiences but I think it was mainly meant to bamboozle foreign audiences like people in Thailand, Morocco, Pakistan, The Philippines, etc.
share'I doubt it ever fooled American audiences but I think it was mainly meant to bamboozle foreign audiences like people in Thailand, Morocco, Pakistan, The Philippines, etc.'
That's a good thought, actually.