Mario Lanfranchi
Directing
Biography
Mario Lanfranchi was an Italian film, theater, and television director, screenwriter, and producer. After graduating from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Milan (Accademia dei Filodrammatici) in the early 1950s, he was hired by Sergio Pugliese at RAI, at the onset of Italian television. Lanfranchi was the first to bring opera to the small screen in 1956 with Madama Butterfly, introducing a wide audience to the American soprano Anna Moffo. He directed several films, including Libido (1965) and Death Sentence (1968), showcasing his versatility across different media. Lanfranchi's contributions to Italian television and cinema have left a lasting impact on the industry.
Known For

The sole survivor of a bloody massacre vows revenge on his attackers and on the men who killed his wife.
Navajo Joe

The beginnings, development and decline of so-called spaghetti-western genre; with clips, interviews and opinions of producers, actors and directors. A nostalgic look at those movies that are still in the taste of many.
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen - Der Italowestern

Four men killed Django's brother a long time ago. A withdrawn rancher, a notorious card player, a despotic priest and a crazy albino with an obsession for gold. The relentless Django seeks for revenge and hunts them down without mercy.
Death Sentence

Soprano Anna Moffo stars as winsome courtesan Violetta Valery -- who tries to protect her rash lover, Alfredo, even if it means lying and breaking his heart -- in this 1968 version of composer Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece. Recorded at the Rome Opera House with renowned conductor Giuseppe Patanè leading the orchestra and chorus, the production also stars Gino Bechi as Alfredo's angst-ridden father.
La traviata

Countess Elena marries the charming Guido Rambaldi, only for him to be seduced by dancer Nara during their Venice honeymoon.
The Kiss

A suave gangster tries to get away from his boss with a suitcase full of heroin. Two pilots and lots of beautiful women get involved in the affair. Soon blood begins to flow.
Operation Hong Kong

Two married women on vacation decide to see who the better seductress is. When the local authorities investigate the death of a local prostitute, their husbands do what they can to avoid trace of scandal and any implication that their wives are involved. Cracks in their relationships are revealed as is the hedonism and hypocrisy amongst the bourgeoise.
Dangerous Pleasures

The city suffers and succumbs unarmed, but an ex secret agent succeeds in winning the struggle against the gangsterism. Intrigue and violence grip a society victim of the crime.
Merciless Man

Secret agent Perry Grant is called in to investigate a strange case which involves counterfeit money, industrial espionage, and a fashion company that may be functioning as a front for a secret criminal organization.
The Big Blackout

The body of Dr. Charles Berens, Chief of the United Nations Medical Relief Organization, is seen hurtling from the lofty parapet of an ancient church. He has chosen death rather than capitulate to his murderous pursuers. Police chief Colonel Ferrer (Andrew Faulds) arrives in time to hear the dying Berens last words: "July the 18th! The One Eyed Soldiers."
The One Eyed Soldiers

A bankrupt Italian count commit suicide and one of his creditors takes over his family villa but he allows the widow, the mother, and the three adult sisters to stay on. The creditor is a wealthy businessman, but also basically an uncouth peasant (who fancies himself an opera singer). Still, the dimwitted, sex-crazed sisters try to seduce both him and his shy, virginal son who accompanies him.
The Mistress is Served

A warrior of the Crusades helps in the Christians' fight against Islamic invaders.
Zorikan The Barbarian
No description available.
Venezia, carnevale, un amore

Professor Freeman is an important English scientist that is investigating a method to treat cancer. His daughter is killed in the swimming pool of a hotel in Beirut. The case is confidential so that the mission is entrusted to the Special Agent Mikel Brown.
Spies Kill Silently

The relations between Parma and cinema were so strong for almost the whole of the twentieth century that this city became an early laboratory of ideas and theories on cinema and a set chosen by some of the greatest Italian authors and beyond. Furthermore, a considerable number of directors, actors, screenwriters and set designers were born in Parma who have made their way internationally, testifying to the fact that in this small city in Northern Italy there was a decidedly cinematic air. Red armchairs takes up the thread of this story, wondering why, unique among the Italian provincial cities, Parma has given so much to the cinema, accompanying the viewer on a journey backwards that from the first projections of the Lumière cinema reaches the ultramodern experience of new multiplexes. During this journey we will meet the characters who created the conditions for this diffusion of cinematographic culture in Parma.
Red Chairs - Parma and the Cinema

Rod Cooper, an American agent of the CIA, is sent to Paris to discover if colonel Segura, head of a clandestine organization which proclaims itself anti-Castroist, is playing a double game at the expense of the United States. He first tries to make contact with Ms Beckett, who should tell him. Segura's intentíons, but the woman is found killed. Subsequently, Rogerson, another American, presents Cooper to Segura himself and so Rod can enter his organization. Here he discovers that the colonel tries to attract a certain number of Americans to use them in an attack against the president of a state of southern America and thus promote communist expansion. Segura soon discovers Rod's real identity and tries to get rid of him; but the agent manages to reverse the situation and kills Segura in a shoot-out.
The Beckett Affair
No description available.
Ritorno dall'abisso

Film adaptation of the Puccini opera.
Turandot

Mario Lanfranchi directed this film adaptation, starring Anna Moffo.
Madama Butterfly

Italian TV production of the Bellini opera