León Klimovsky

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n_Klimovsky

León Klimovsky (16 October 1906–8 April 1996) was an Argentine film director.

A trained dentist, born in Buenos Aires, his real passion was always the cinema. He pioneered Argentine cultural movement known as cineclub and financed the first movie theater to show art movies. He also founded Argentina's first film club in 1929.

After participating as scriptwriter and assistant director of 1944's Se abre el abismo, he filmed his first movie, an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Player. Other highlights from this time period include the adaptations of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo and Ernesto Sabato's The Tunnel.

During the 1950s, Klimovsky settled in Spain, where he became a full-time "professional" director. He directed many spaghetti westerns and exploitation films, filming in Mexico, Italy, Spain and Egypt. Horror film fans best remember him for his contributions to Spain's horror film genre, beginning with La Noche de Walpurgis ("Walpurgis Night"), the film that is said to have started the Spanish horror film boom of the 1970s. Klimovsky directed famed Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy in no less than eight films in the 1970s, while also directing other classic horror films such as "The Strange Love of the Vampires", "The Dracula Saga" and "The Vampires' Night Orgy". Naschy complimented Klimovsky's workmanlike attitude and abundant energy, but he always felt that Klimovsky rushed through many of their projects together, never allowing for sufficient retakes.

León Klimovsky always dreamt of doing great mainstream movies but ended up doing commercial exploitation films, but he had no remorse, as cinema was a vocational mandate for him. He retired from directing in 1979, at age 73.

In 1995, at age 89, he won the "Honor Award" from the Spanish Film Directors Association. He died the following year in Madrid from a heart attack at age 90. He was the brother of noted Argentinian mathematician and philosopher Gregorio Klimovsky.

Filmography[edit] La barraca (TV miniseries, 1979) Violación fatal (1978) La doble historia del Dr. Valmy (1978) Laverna (1978) El extraño amor de los vampiros/ "The Strange Love of the Vampires" (aka The Night of the Walking Dead, 1977) ¿Y ahora qué, señor fiscal? (1977) Último deseo/ "The Last Desire" (1976) aka "The People Who Own the Dark", starring Paul Naschy Gritos a Medianoche/ "Screams at Midnight" (1976) Secuestro/ "Kidnapped" (1976) starring Paul Naschy Tres días de noviembre/ "Three Days in November" (1976) Muerte de un quinqui/ "Death of a Hoodlum" (1975) starring Paul Naschy Mean Mother (United States, 1974) Una libélula para cada muerto/ A Dragonfly for Each Corpse, 1974) starring Paul Naschy El mariscal del infierno/ "The Marshal From Hell" (aka The Devil's Possessed, 1974) starring Paul Naschy Odio a mi Cuerpo (I Hate My Body, 1974) El Talón de Aquiles (1974) La Orgía Nocturna de los Vampiros (The Vampires' Night Orgy, 1973) La Rebelión de las Muertas/ "The Rebellion of the Dead" (aka Vengeance of the Zombies, 1972) starring Paul Naschy La Casa de las Chivas (1972) La Saga de los Drácula/ The Dracula Saga (1972) Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (Doctor Jekyll and the Werewolf, 1971) starring Paul Naschy Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest, Italy, 1971) Reverendo Colt (1971) El Hombre que Vino del Odio/ "The Man Who Came From Hate" (1971) La noche de Walpurgis/ Walpurgis Night (aka The Werewolf Vs The Vampire Woman, aka Werewolf's Shadow, aka Blood Moon, 1970) starring Paul Naschy Quinto: non ammazzare (1970) Los hombres las prefieren viudas (1970) La sfida dei MacKenna (Challenge of the McKennas, 1970) Pagó cara su muerte (aka Death Knows No Time, 1969) No me importa morir (1969) L'urlo dei giganti (aka A Bullet for Rommel, as Henry Mankiewicz, 1969) Giugno '44 - Sbarcheremo in Normandia (Commando Attack, as Henry Mankiewicz, 1968) Un hombre vino a matar (1968) Una chica para dos (1968) A ghentar si muore facile (1967) Pochi dollari per Django (Few Dollars for Django, 1966) El bordón y la estrella (1966) Django... Cacciatore di taglia (Django, a Bullet for You, Italy, 1966) Dos mil dólares por Coyote (Two Thousand Dollars for Coyote, 1966) La colina de los pequeños diablos (1965) Aquella joven de blanco (1965) Escala en Tenerife (1964) Fuera de la ley/ "Fury of the Law" (1964) Ella y el miedo (Edge of Fear, 1964) Los siete bravísimos (1964) Escuela de Seductoras (1962) Horizontes de luz (1962) Todos eran culpables/ "They All Were To Blame" (1962) Torrejón City (1962) La danza de la fortuna (1961) Un tipo de sangre (1960) La paz empieza nunca (1960) Ama Rosa (1960) El hombre que perdió el tren (1960) Un bruto para Patricia (1960) Gharam fi sahraa (Love in the Desert, in Arabic, Egypt, 1960) S.O.S., abuelita (1959) Salto a la gloria (1959) Llegaron los franceses (1959) Un indiano en Moratilla (1958) Viaje de novios (1956) Miedo (1956) Gli amanti del deserto (Los amantes del desierto, 1956) La pícara molinera (1955) El tren expreso (1955) El juramento de Lagardere (1955) Tres citas con el destino (episode Maleficio, 1954) El conde de Montecristo/ "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1953) La Parda Flora (1952) El túnel (1952) El pendiente (1951) Suburbio (1951) La vida color de rosa (1951) Marihuana (The Marihuana Story, 1950) La guitarra de Gardel (1949) Se llamaba Carlos Gardel (1949) El jugador (1947)