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Bitto Albertini
Bitto Albertini
Bitto Albertini
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Adalberto "Bitto" Albertini (1924–1999) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.[1]

Key Information

Career

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He began his film career as a camera operator and as a cinematographer.[2] In 1974 Albertini directed Black Emanuelle starring the then almost unknown Laura Gemser. Her subsequent successful career meant that she was absent from Black Emanuelle 2, and Albertini instead cast actress Shulamith Lasri in the title role.[3]

In 1977 he released Yellow Emanuelle[1] as a comeback. The film, starring Chai Lee, was very successful.[citation needed] However the film never reached the popularity of Joe D'Amato's series.[2][3] His last two films were "Mondos" set in Asia, depicting shocking rituals and savage violence.[2]

He died in Italy in 1999 at age 74.

Selected filmography

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References

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Bitto Albertini

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''Bitto Albertini'' is an Italian cinematographer, screenwriter, and film director known for his extensive work in Italian genre cinema, particularly directing commercially successful erotic and exploitation films during the 1970s. Born Adalberto Albertini on July 14, 1924, in Turin, Italy, he entered the film industry at age 18 as an assistant cameraman and established himself as a cinematographer by 1946, earning recognition for the high technical quality and aesthetic beauty of his black-and-white photography across numerous productions. He transitioned to directing in 1966, often under pseudonyms such as Albert Thomas, and continued in this role until 1985, helming films in diverse genres including adventure, war, comedy, decamerotic, and low-budget science fiction while maintaining strong professionalism and stylistic execution even in overtly commercial projects. His most notable and commercially successful works include the directorial debut Supercolpo da 7 miliardi (1966), the adventure film Zambo, King of the Jungle (1972), and especially the erotic Emanuelle series entries such as Black Emanuelle (1975), Black Emanuelle 2 (1976), and Yellow Emanuelle (1977), which achieved major box-office success in Italy. Albertini also contributed as a writer and producer on many of his projects, and his later films included titles like Nudo e crudele (1984) and Mondo senza veli (1985). He died on February 22, 1999, in Zagarolo, Italy, at the age of 74.

Early life

Birth and background

Adalberto Albertini, professionally known as Bitto Albertini, was born on July 14, 1924, in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. The nickname "Bitto" became his primary professional identity and the name most commonly used in film credits and references throughout his career.

Cinematography career

Work as cinematographer

Bitto Albertini began his film career as a camera operator and progressed to cinematographer in the 1950s, establishing himself in the Italian genre cinema scene. He worked on numerous low-budget productions across diverse exploitation subgenres, including mondo documentaries, adventure films, Eurospy thrillers, and early spaghetti westerns, often under the pseudonyms Adalberto Albertini or Al Albert. Representative credits from this period include the mondo documentaries Naked World (1963) and There Are Still Slaves in the World (1964), which captured sensationalist and pseudo-ethnographic visuals typical of the genre. He also served as cinematographer on the adventure films Sandokan alla riscossa and Sandokan contro il leopardo di Sarawak (both 1964), contributing to the exotic, action-oriented style of the Sandokan series. In the Eurospy genre, he photographed titles such as Agente segreto 777 - Operazione Mistero (1965) and Oh! Those Most Secret Agents (1964). His work extended to the spaghetti western A Stranger in Sacramento (1965), where he was credited as Al Albert and also contributed to the screenplay. This phase of high-volume output in Italian exploitation cinema preceded his transition to directing in 1966.

Directing career

Debut and early directing credits

Bitto Albertini transitioned from a longstanding career as a cinematographer to directing and screenwriting in 1966. His directorial debut came that year with the adventure/crime film Supercolpo da 7 miliardi (also known as Ten Million Dollar Grab or The 1000 Carat Diamond), which he also co-wrote and produced. He continued with early credits such as Goldface, il fantastico superman (1967), a superhero adventure. In 1969, Albertini directed and co-wrote the war action film War Devils (also known as I diavoli della guerra), credited under pseudonyms including Bert Albertini. The film starred Guy Madison as an American captain and Venantino Venantini as a German officer who form a reluctant alliance to survive the North African desert during World War II before confronting each other again in France. In 1970, Albertini directed and wrote the spaghetti western I vendicatori dell'Ave Maria, released in English-speaking markets under titles including The Twilight Avengers and Fighters from Ave Maria. The film centered on a group of circus acrobats who join forces with a revolutionary exile to challenge a tyrannical boss in a gold rush-era frontier town. Throughout these early directing efforts, Albertini continued using pseudonyms such as Adalberto Albertini, Al Albert, and Bert Albertini, reflecting common practices in Italian genre filmmaking of the era. His involvement in both directing and writing on these projects illustrated a gradual shift toward greater creative control while drawing on his prior experience in cinematography.

Adventure and superhero films

In the early 1970s, Bitto Albertini transitioned into directing low-budget adventure and superhero exploitation films, frequently crediting himself as Adalberto Albertini. These works typified the era's Italian genre cinema, characterized by modest production values, exotic locales, and a blend of action tropes with campy elements. Albertini directed and co-wrote Zambo, King of the Jungle (1972), a jungle adventure film starring Brad Harris as Zambo, a powerful figure reigning over a tropical wilderness in the vein of classic Tarzan-inspired stories. The production emphasized straightforward exploitation thrills, focusing on jungle exploration, physical confrontations, and survival themes common to the subgenre. The following year, Albertini directed and contributed to the screenplay for Supermen Against the Orient (1973), an Italian-Hong Kong co-production that merged superhero antics with martial arts action. Part of the loose "Three Supermen" series, the film follows costumed heroes, including an FBI agent and his allies, battling a criminal syndicate across Asian locations, incorporating kung fu sequences, comedic gags, and bullet-proof suits. It reflected the period's trend of cross-cultural genre hybrids, produced on a low budget with Shaw Brothers involvement for stunt and action expertise.

Emanuelle series

Bitto Albertini shifted from adventure films to the erotic exploitation genre in the mid-1970s with his work on the Black Emanuelle series, which capitalized on the success of the original Emmanuelle franchise. He directed and co-wrote Black Emanuelle (1975), credited under the pseudonym Albert Thomas, with Laura Gemser starring as the photojournalist Emanuelle. The film marked Gemser's debut in the erotic genre and launched her career as a prominent figure in Italian sexploitation cinema. Albertini returned for Black Emanuelle 2 (1976), again using pseudonyms including Albert Thomas and Adalberto Albertini for directing and writing credits. This sequel featured Shulamith Lasri in the lead role rather than Gemser, with a storyline centered on a fashion model's psychological struggles and traumatic memories. He concluded his direct involvement in the Emanuelle cycle with Yellow Emanuelle (1977), directed and co-written as Albert Thomas, starring Chai Lee as a Hong Kong doctor in a melodramatic romance complicated by cultural and moral conflicts. Although commercially successful, Yellow Emanuelle proved less prominent than the more explicit Black Emanuelle entries later directed by Joe D'Amato.

Later exploitation films

In the 1980s, Bitto Albertini shifted toward more obscure low-budget exploitation films, exploring genres such as erotic science-fiction parodies, sex comedies, and mondo-style documentaries featuring sensational and shocking content. This period marked a departure from his earlier successes in adventure and the Emanuelle series toward niche, often pseudonymous projects with limited production values. In 1981, he directed Escape from Galaxy 3 (original title Giochi erotici nella terza galassia) under the pseudonym Ben Norman. The film is a campy erotic parody of popular space operas, blending low-budget special effects with sci-fi exploitation elements. He followed this in 1982 with Che casino... con Pierino!, which he directed and wrote. This entry in the apocryphal Pierino sex comedy series featured raunchy humor and comedic situations typical of Italian low-budget erotica of the era. Albertini then moved into the mondo genre, directing and writing Nudo e crudele in 1984 under the pseudonym Albert Thomas. The film explores bizarre customs and disturbing practices across various cultures, aligning with the shockumentary style of mondo movies that emphasize grotesque and sensational material. In 1985, he released Mondo senza veli, also credited to Albert Thomas, which functioned as an unofficial sequel to Nudo e crudele and continued the mondo format with similar shocking documentary-style content. These later works exemplified his focus on increasingly specialized exploitation fare during the decade.

Death

Final years and passing

Bitto Albertini died on February 22, 1999, in Zagarolo, Lazio, Italy, at the age of 74.
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