''Tex and the Lord of the Deep'' ( it, Tex e il signore degli abissi) is a 1985

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film co-written and directed by

Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa, Tessari started in the fifties as documentarist and as screenwriter of pe ...

and starring Giuliano Gemma and William Berger. The film is an adaptation of the ''

Tex Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italian ...

'' comic series that were popular in Italy. Previously attempted to be made into a production in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the film was eventually made by Tessari who adapted the film from the comics originally to be a pilot for a television series.

Production

Tex Willer Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular characters ...

was created in 1948 in Italy and became one of the country's most popular and long-lived comic book characters. Attempts to adapt the ''Tex'' comic series to film appeared as early as the late 1960s. These included

Sergio Bonelli Sergio Bonelli (2 December 1932 – 26 September 2011) was an Italian comic book writer and publisher. He is best known as creator of '' Zagor'' (1961) and ''Mister No'' (1975), as well as a comics publisher through the publishing house Sergio ...

working on an adaptation with

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...

(as Tex) and

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

(as Kit) being considered for the roles. Bonelli approached

Tonino Valerii Tonino Valerii (20 May 1934 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian film director, most known for his Spaghetti Westerns. Tonino (Antonio) Valerii started his film career as an assistant director on Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'', before mo ...

and Enzo G. Castellari to approach the character. Valerii recalled being approached by

Gian Luigi Bonelli Giovanni Luigi Bonelli (22 December 1908 – 12 January 2001) was an Italian comic book author and publisher, best remembered as the co-creator of ''Tex Willer'' in 1948, together with artist Aurelio Galleppini Aurelio Galleppini (28 August 1 ...

in the early 1970s. Valerii liked the idea but found that Bonelli wanted to make a film where he would personally handle the costumes and changed the original story which never got into production. In the early 1980s,

took on the project that was initially conceived as a pilot for a television series produced by RAI, Italy's national public broadcasting company. Giuliano Gemma was cast as Tex who had worked with Tessari on several films in the past, including ''

A Pistol for Ringo ''A Pistol for Ringo'' ( it, Una pistola per Ringo) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western, a joint Italian and Spanish production. Originally written and directed by Duccio Tessari, the film's success led to a sequel, ''The Return of Ringo'', later that y ...

'', ''

My Son, the Hero ''My Son, the Hero'' (Italian title: ''Arrivano i titani'' - ''The Coming of the Titans''; alternative UK title: ''Sons of Thunder'') is a 1962 mythological sword-and-sandal comedy film directed by Duccio Tessari and starring Giuliano Gemma, Jacque ...

'', '' Kiss Kiss...Bang Bang'' and ''

The Cats ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. Tessari and his screenwriters focused on three stories from the ''Tex'' comics with fantastic undertones. These included ''El Morisco'', ''Sierra Encantada'' and ''Il signore dell'abisso'' which were written by Bonelli and drawn by Guglielmo Letteri. Filming took place between May and June 1985 in Italy and Spain.

Release and reception

''Tex and the Lord of the Deep'' was released theatrically in Italy in 1985. Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti wrote that the film was "ravaged" by critics and had disappointing box office returns. Giuliano Gemma spoke negatively about the film after its release, stating that the idea of making the film was good and that he was "delighted to accept it, but I think that, first of all, they made a mistake by choosing to adapt that story, ''Il signore dell'abisso'', because there are such better ones in the series and everalless difficult to turn into a film." The planned television series of the film was never made.

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