Silvano Ippoliti

Many mid-to-late 20th century Italian films wouldn't look the way they did without Silvano Ippoliti. Early in his career, the cinematographer was fortunate enough to hook up with respected directors and producers who would help to define that country's film industry. The first "name" director with whom Ippoliti collaborated (as a camera operator) was the colorful and flamboyant Luchino Visconti, on the bleak romantic drama "White Nights" (1957). Ippoliti then helped shoot a combat saga for producer Dino de Laurentiis, "The Great War" (1959). That film, which was directed by "Big Deal on Madonna Street"'s (1958) Mario Monicelli, received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Building off of that success, Ippoliti secured a great deal of work in the subsequent decades. He shot films in such uniquely Italian genres as sword-and-sandal mythic adventures ("Hercules, Samson & Ulysses," 1963) and low-budget "spaghetti" Westerns ("Navajo Joe," 1966). He also lensed several Hollywood productions like the Robert Aldrich-directed biblical epic "The Last Days of Sodom and Gomorrah" (1962) and internationally distributed offerings like the notorious blood-and-sex-filled biopic "Caligula" (1979), produced by Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione.