León Klimovsky
Encyclopedia
León Klimovsky 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. From this first phase, it can be also highlighted the adaptations of Alexandre Dumas
' The Count of Monte Cristo
and Ernesto Sabato
's The Tunnel.
On the 1950s Klimovsky settled in Spain
, where he becomes a "professional" director. He went into spaghetti western
s and so-called exploitation films, filming in Mexico
, Italy
and Egypt. Perhaps he is best remembered for his contribution to Spain's horror film
genre, beginning with La noche de Walpurgis. León Klimovsky confessed to have always dreamt of doing great vanguard movies but ended on filming commercial ones, but without remorse, as doing cinema was a vocational mandate for him.
On 1995 he won the "Honor Award" of the Spanish Film Director Association. He died in Madrid
of a heart attack. He was brother to the Argentine mathematician and philosopher Gregorio Klimovsky.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
A trained dentist, born in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, his real passion was always the cinema. He pioneered Argentine cultural movement known as cineclub
Film society
A film society is a membership club where people can watch screenings of films which would otherwise not be shown in mainstream cinemas. In Spain they are known as "Cineclubs," and in Germany they are known as "Filmclubs"....
and financed the first movie theater to show art movies. He also founded Argentina's first film club
Film society
A film society is a membership club where people can watch screenings of films which would otherwise not be shown in mainstream cinemas. In Spain they are known as "Cineclubs," and in Germany they are known as "Filmclubs"....
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. From this first phase, it can be also highlighted the adaptations of Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
' The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
and Ernesto Sabato
Ernesto Sabato
Ernesto Sabato , was an Argentine writer, painter and physicist. According to the BBC he "won some of the most prestigious prizes in Hispanic literature" and "became very influential in the literary world throughout Latin America"...
's The Tunnel.
On the 1950s Klimovsky settled in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where he becomes a "professional" director. He went into spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s and so-called exploitation films, filming in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Egypt. Perhaps he is best remembered for his contribution to Spain's horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
genre, beginning with La noche de Walpurgis. León Klimovsky confessed to have always dreamt of doing great vanguard movies but ended on filming commercial ones, but without remorse, as doing cinema was a vocational mandate for him.
On 1995 he won the "Honor Award" of the Spanish Film Director Association. He died in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
of a heart attack. He was brother to the Argentine mathematician and philosopher Gregorio Klimovsky.
Filmography
- La barraca (TV miniseries, 1979)
- Violación fatal (1978)
- La doble historia del Dr. Valmy (1978)
- Laverna (1978)
- El extraño amor de los vampiros (Night of the Walking Dead, 1977)
- El transexual (1977)
- ¿Y ahora qué, señor fiscal? (1977)
- Último deseo (1976)
- Gritos a medianoche (1976)
- Secuestro (1976)
- Tres días de noviembre (1976)
- Muerte de un quinqui (1975)
- Mean Mother (United States, 1974)
- Una libélula para cada muerto (A Dragonfly for Each Corpse, 1974)
- El mariscal del infierno (Devil's Possessed, 1974)
- Odio a mi cuerpo (I Hate My Body, 1974)
- El talón de Aquiles (1974)
- La rebelión de las muertas (Vengeance of the ZombiesVengeance of the ZombiesVengeance Of The Zombies is a 1973 horror film directed by León Klimovsky and starring Paul Naschy.-Plot:In this zombie horror film, a mysterious man rampages throughout England killing unsuspecting women...
, 1973) - La orgía nocturna de los vampiros (Grave Desires, 1973)
- Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo (Doctor Jekyll and the Werewolf , 1972)
- La casa de las Chivas (1972)
- La saga de los Drácula (Dracula Saga, 1972)
- Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest, Italy, 1971)
- Reverendo Colt (Reverend's Colt, 1971)
- El hombre que vino del odio (1971)
- La noche de WalpurgisLa Noche de WalpurgisLa Noche de Walpurgis is a 1970 Spanish horror movie starring Paul Naschy that is the fifth in a series about the werewolf Count Waldemar Daninsky...
(The Werewolf Versus Vampire Women, 1971) - Quinto: non ammazzare (1970)
- Los hombres las prefieren viudas (1970)
- La sfida dei MacKenna (Challenge of the McKennas, 1970)
- Pagó cara su muerte (Death Knows No Time, 1969)
- No me importa morir (1969)
- L'urlo dei giganti (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 (1964) (By the way, Mr. Jozsef F Meszaros was a very close friend of Mr. Klimovsky during the time that they were both living in Spain. It just so happened that Mr. Klimovsky needed an actress to play one of the kidnnaped women in "Fuera De La Ley", and so he asked Mr. Meszaros if his wife, Dora Reyes Meszaros, could play that part (without getting her name in the credits, but still getting paid.)
- Ella y el miedo (Edge of Fear, 1964)
- Los siete bravísimos (1964)
- Escuela de seductoras (1962)
- Horizontes de luz (1962)
- Todos eran culpables (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 ArabicArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, 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 (1953)
- La Parda Flora (1952)
- El túnel (1952)
- El pendiente (1951)
- Suburbio (1951)
- La vida color de rosa (1951)
- MarihuanaThe Marihuana StoryThe Marihuana Story is a 1950 Argentine film directed by León Klimovsky. It was entered into the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Pedro López Lagar – Dr. Pablo Urioste* Fanny Navarro – Marga Quiroga* Golde Flami – Aída* Nathán Pinzón – Sopita...
(The Marihuana Story, 1950) - La guitarra de Gardel (1949)
- Se llamaba Carlos Gardel (1949)
- El jugador (1947)