Riccardo Freda (24 February 1909 – 20 December 1999) was an Italian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. He worked in a variety of genres, including

sword-and-sandal Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget H ...

, horror, ''

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

'' and

spy films Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangi ...

. Freda began directing ''

I Vampiri ''I Vampiri'' ( The Vampires) is a 1957 Italian horror film. The film was directed by Riccardo Freda and completed by the film's cinematographer, Mario Bava. It stars Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo D'Angelo and Dario Michaelis. The film is about a s ...

'' in 1956. The film became the first Italian

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

horror film production.

Biography

Riccardo Freda was born in 1909 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

to Italian parents. Freda attended school in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

where he took art classes at the Centro Sperimantale. After school he took on work as a sculptor and art critic.

Film career

Freda first began working in the film industry in 1937 and directed his first film ''

Don Cesare di Bazan ''Don Cesare di Bazan'' is a 1942 Italian historical adventure film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Gino Cervi, Anneliese Uhlig and Paolo Stoppa. The film is set during the Catalan Revolt of the Seventeenth century. It is based on a pla ...

'' in 1942. Freda began directing ''

''. ''I Vampiri'' was the first Italian horror film of the sound era, following the lone silent horror film '' Il mostro di Frankenstein'' (1920) Despite being the first, a wave of Italian horror productions did not follow until

Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Ma ...

's film '' Black Sunday'' was released internationally. Freda died on 20 December 1999 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 ...

Filmography

Notes

* ^a Freda has denied having taken part in writing the script for this film, despite being credited. * ^b Freda was originally to direct the film but stated that he walked off the set on the first day of shooting. * ^c Freda name is not in the credits but some sources state he directed several battles scenes in the film, which Freda denies. * ^d Freda name is not in the credits but some sources state he edited the naval battle scenes in the film, which Freda denies. * ^e Freda has claimed to have shot the entire film.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freda, Riccardo Freda, Riccardo Freda, Riccardo Freda, Riccardo Giallo film directors Horror film directors Italian male screenwriters 20th-century Italian screenwriters People from Alexandria 20th-century Italian male writers