Producer Jose G. Maesso dies at 96

Hoy
Alejandro Pachón Ramírez
9/1/2016

Not that he was the best Spanish film director, nor the best producer, although he was first class in terms of culture, education, and "savoir faire" and production "Los Tarantos" and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The book's title Jesus Garcia de Duenas - "Joseph G. Maesso. Number 1 "- refers to the academic fact that Pepe had been the first of the promoters of the former Official Film School. If you want more details about his long and varied career, his family roots are in Azuaga, Llerena, Portugal and Badajoz, hi bunsiness and artistic risks, his teaching career and personality, are there in the book, published by the Department Publications of the Provincial de Badajoz.

What I remember here is the tribute that was made to him at the Iberian Badajoz Film Festival. Were Andrea Bronston (singer who performed at the gala and daughter of legendary producer Samuel Bronston), actor Manolo Zarzo, editor Pepe Salcedo, director of photography Fernando Arribas and how could I forget, me, but mostly I remember the presence of Eugenio Martin, author of the cult movie "Horror Express". Maesso produced "The Ugly Ones", a large Hispanic western halfway between spaghetti and cortijero cinema. Then Mario Camus wanted to do something similar in "Anger Wind" but he had no equal. Anyway do not forget that Pepe, producer of "Django" and other titles by Corbucci that he had such an influence on the career of Quentin Tarentino, is considered the creator of the first Almerien Western, "Tierra brutal" (Savage Guns), but he also co-produced it.

All this comes about how happy Maesso was on that spring day in 2003 among us, his serene temperament reflected in the audiovisual document that he did, the clarity of his memories and priceless anecdotes. For me, regardless of his merits and artistic errors, Maesso was a key figure in the history of our cinema and actively - Participated in Talks on Salamanca - and the start of the new Spanish cinema championed by Berlanga and Bardem. It was in key moments and situations to understanding the true story of those years. Connoisseur of a wide film in French and English literature, when there are only film books published the Rialp publishing house. A professor remembered by several generations of filmmakers ... .A strange case of intellectual and academic entrepreneur in those years when he developed the bulk of his filmography.

From this his idea and our extreme land, also sometimes brutal, like his film with Paquita Rico and Richard Basehart, a posthumous memory and grateful to the first filmmaker who taught us to ride through the wasteland of Almería.


MAESSO, José G. (José Gutiérrez Maesso)
Born: 6/10/1920, Azuaga, Badajoz, Spain
Died: 8/1/2016, Spain

José G. Maesso’s westerns – producer, writer:
The Savage Guns – 1962 [producer]
Gunfight at Red Sands – 1963 [producer]
Minnesota Clay – 1964 [writer]
Django – 1966 [writer]
The Hellbenders – 1967 [writer]
The Ugly Ones – 1967 [producer, writer]
A Train for Durango – 1968 [writer