The following interview is with screenwriter writer Ernesto Gastaldi. Gastaldi is known for being one of the first screenwriters in 1960s and 70s Italy, to write sometimes controversial giallos, such as THE SCORPION’S TALE. He has also written westerns and spy films, but none stand out as much as his classic giallo films such as TORSO. In this interview, Gastaldi reminisces about his early days in the Italian film industry, his characters in his films, and causing controversy through his sometimes violent giallos.
Daily Grindhouse: When did you begin writing?
Ernesto Gastaldi: At night.
DG: What was the first screenplay that you wrote, Ernesto?
Ernesto Gastaldi: The first one was LA STRADA CHE PORTA LONTANO, written when I didn’t know it was called “script”. It was the film that, causing a scandal at the Montecatini amateurs festival, opened the way for me to the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome and therefore to my career. The first paid script was L’AMANTE DEL VAMPIRO staged by Renato Polselli.
DG: What was it like for a screenwriter in 1960s Italy?
Ernesto Gastaldi: The beginnings were not easy. For a couple of years I went around the production offices loaded with subjects that nobody wanted to read. Then I entered the stable of the great Ugo Guerra and as a ghostwriter I wrote about twenty films. Then Ugo took me with him to [meet] the producers and then I started to work on my own. Since then it was easy: our commercial cinema was experiencing a boom in sales abroad in all countries of the world. In those days, writing for the cinema was the most beautiful job in the world: we met intelligent people, we spent hours and hours commenting on life and laughing about it, always in the midst of beautiful women. You were the first to get paid, you could write when you wanted, where you wanted, alone or with whoever you wanted. The large public did not know us and therefore no one bothered us if we went to the cinema or for a walk. But we were highly esteemed among those who counted and courted by actors and actresses.
DG: Could you tell us about writing the giallo THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH?
Ernesto Gastaldi: It all started with LIBIDO, the little detective story I directed and which marked the debut of Mara Maryl and Giancarlo Giannini, costing 26 million lire, shot in black and white to save on copies, in 18 days and with little negative (always “good the first ciack”…) cashed abroad more than ten times its cost. STRANGE VICE was my fourth giallo. I wrote it for Luciano and Sergio Martino. It was one of the few times that the director intervened on the script by adding the side story of the serial killer that was not there in my original version.
DG: What interested you about screenwriting and movies?
Ernesto Gastaldi: I like to invent characters and then watch them act. When they do what they want and not what I thought, I feel like a creator. I think god, if there were one, would be proud of his creatures when they decide their own way.
DG: Could you tell us about writing THE CASE OF THE SCORPION’S TALE and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK?
Ernesto Gastaldi: The giallo films now dominated the Italian and foreign markets. In 1971, I was shooting LA LUNGA SPIAGGIA FREDDA (LONELY VIOLENT BEACH) with the beautiful Mara Maryl, and in the breaks I wrote THE SCORPION’S TAIL, a good story interpreted by a discreet George Hilton, who boasted about the scene of his death, regretting that they had cut off a piece of it. The following year I wrote DEATH CARESSES AT MIDNIGHT, ONE REASON TO LIVE AND ONE TO DIE, YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY, WHY THOSE STRANGE DROPS OF BLOOD ON JENNIFER’S BODY, IT CAN BE DONE… AMIGO, and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, which was intended to be a film against paranormal phenomena but the audience interpreted it backwards.
DG: Did you like writing giallos and thrillers, Ernesto?
Ernesto Gastaldi: Yes, very funny.
DG: Who are your favorite Italian directors and films?
Ernesto Gastaldi: My favorite director was Tonino Valerii. Movies: I GIORNI DELL’IRA, IL MIO NOME E’ NESSUNO.
DG: You have also written westerns and peplums. Was this different than writing giallos for you?
Ernesto Gastaldi: Not much. Humans being are, everywhere, the same.
DG: Could you tell us about writing TORSO and DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS?
Ernesto Gastaldi: I don’t remember anything in particular, they were effervescent times, stories were written
DG: Any stories about being a screenwriter?
Ernesto Gastaldi: The job of the screenwriter is the most beautiful for those involved in cinema: you can write anywhere and when you want, you are paid well, you are paid first, you are highly esteemed and sought after but you are unknown to the general public.
and LA Review of Books.
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