''Avenger X'' ( it, Mister-X) is a

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

film based on the Italian comic series '.

Plot

George Lamarro is the head of a pharmaceutical company that is also involved in the production and distribution of illegal narcotics. When his secretary attempts to blackmail him for a share of the profits and his hand in marriage, he has her killed with her death arranged in a way to implicate a master criminal called "Mister X" who is a master of disguise, efficient killer and professional golf champion. The real Mister X uses his skills to discover the criminals are involved in a scheme by an unnamed foreign nation using the company and a Scottish and an American criminal to distribute illegal narcotics in the Western World.

Cast

Pier Paolo Capponi Pier Paolo Capponi (9 June 1938 – 15 February 2018) was an Italian actor and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Subiaco, after his studies Capponi attended a theater school and later was chosen by director Vittorio De Seta for an import ...

as Mister X *

Gaia Germani Gaia Germani (30 August 1934 - 20 February 2019) was an Italian film and television actress. Biography Born in Rome as Giovanna Giardina, she made her film debut in a French film, Georges Lautner's '' En plein cirage'' and later starred both in ...

as Timmy *

Armando Calvo Armando Calvo (25 December 1919 – 6 July 1996) was a Puerto Rican-born Spanish actor. His father was Juan Calvo Domenech, a Spanish actor and his mother was Minerva Lespier, a Puerto Rican. Calvo worked in Spain, Italy, and Mexico appearin ...

as George Lamar * Anna Zinnemann as Dolly *

Umberto Raho Umberto Raho (4 June 1922 – 9 January 2016) was an Italian stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Bari, the son of an Italian father and a Bulgarian mother, Raho graduated in philosophy and then, immediately after the w ...

as MacDoug *

Renato Baldini Renato Baldini (18 December 1921 – 5 July 1995) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 87 films between 1950 and 1983. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''It's Forever Springtime'' (1950) - Un carabiniere al processo ...

as Jack Caruso *

Franco Fantasia Franco Fantasia (5 March 1924 – 10 November 2002) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and fencing master. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1951 to 2002. He was the brother of actor Andrea Fantasia. Illness and Death Septemb ...

as Inspector Roux *

Dante Posani Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

as Jim *

Helga Liné Helga Liné (; born Helga Lina Stern on 14 July 1932) is a German-born Portuguese-Spanish-American film actress and circus acrobat best known for her work in the horror genre of film. She made 132 appearances mostly in film between 1941 and ...

as Gloria

Production

''Avenger X'' was based on the comic series ''Mister-X'' as created by writer Cesare Melloncelli and drawing artist Giancarlo Tenenti. The comic was first published by Milan's Edizioni Cervinia in October 1964. Unlike other ''

fumetti neri ''Fumetti neri'' (Italian for "black comics") is a subgenre of Italian comics, born in Italy with the creation of the ''Diabolik'' character (1962). Overview The "Fumetti neri" name comes from "cronaca nera", the Italian name for crime news. A ...

'' of the era, ''Mister-X'' had very little violent content, with the titular character being a gentleman thief similar to

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...

. In the film, the titular character Mister X visually differs from the comics design who had a black hood and leotard opposed to the red cape, white boots and hood that covers his face that his comic book counterpart wears. Parts of the film were shot in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

including location shooting at the

Stadio dei Marmi The Stadio dei Marmi ("Stadium of the Marbles") is one of four stadiums in the colossal sports complex the Foro Italico, initially named Foro Mussolini.Giorio, Maria Beatrice. “La Scultura Fascista Di Soggetto Sportivo Tra Bellezza e Propagan ...

Release

''Avenger X'' was released in Italy in 1967 as ''Mister X''. The English-language title of the film ignores the characters name and is titled ''Avenger X''. Director

Piero Vivarelli Piero Vivarelli (26 February 1927 – 7 September 2010) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and lyricist. Vivarelli was born in Siena. After his father's death in 1942 at the hands of Yugoslav Partisans, Vivarelli joined the Republ ...

stated most of the violent scenes in the film were removed from the Italian version of the film to earn a V.M.14 rating. Censors documents only suggested that 47 seconds of the film were cut in Italy This included scenes where a blowtorch approaches Mister-X's bare chest and a shot of a speedboat moving towards a reef. The film grossed 112 million Italian lire in Italy during its theatrical run. The film was distributed by Euro International. The film was released in Spain on 22 January 1968 where it sold 707,889 admissions.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* *

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0060706, Avenger X 1967 films Spanish crime films 1960s crime films Films based on Italian comics Live-action films based on comics Films shot in Rome Films directed by Piero Vivarelli Italian superhero films 1960s superhero films 1960s Italian films Spanish superhero films