Dario Argento was born of Italian/Brazilian descent in 1940 and is the son of film producer Salvatore Argento (a prominent figure in the postwar Italian film community). It is said that Dario’s first memory is sitting on the knee of Sophia Loren. He started his career as a film critic for the Rome daily Paese Sera. He was asked to join Bernardo Bertolucci in storyboarding Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West (Dario contributed to the hanging flashback sequence and wrote the opening scene). The screenplay for One Night at Dinner brought Dario to the attention of Goffredo Lombardo, head of Titanus, an Italian film company. Dario made his directing debut in 1970 with the release of The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. His body of work is considered to be of the giallo genre. Giallo meaning yellow, which in turn came from the yellow covers of the penny-dreadful horror/thriller paperbacks that were sold in Italy. So far he has fifteen films released, including Five Days In Milan (it has been described as his comic Wild Bunch, and is about the 1848 Italian revolution) and Non Ho Sonno, which is his latest release. Dario has even acted in a couple of movies, Scusi, Lei E Favorevole O Contrario and a bit part as a paramedic in Innocent Blood. Dario is arguably the most egularly censored director in modern screen history (according to Film Threat magazine) and is quoted as saying “It’s like they are killing my children.” In 1994 Dario was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd Montreal Festival International Cinema Fantastique.

Dario Argento has also worked on three series for Italian televison. The Door of Darkness was shown in 1972 and Argento wrote and directed two of the four episodes. He also introduced all four episodes. In 1987 Giallo came to the small screen. Three minute films were shown to contestants and they had to guess how they would end. Dario directed nine of the short films and supervised the other fifteen. On Turno di notte, 1988, Dario served as a contributor and creative consultant. There is also three documentaries on Argento and his movies, Dario Argento’s World of Horror, Dario Argento: Master of Horror (Dario Argento’s World of Horror 2) and The World of Dario Argento 3.

Dario has even opened up a store and museum in Rome called Profondo Rosso. The store is comparable to Forbidden Planet in London, and has memorabilia from many horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies. In the basement of the store there are special effects from some of Dario’s movies. Andrea Ciatti and Achim Heidelauf have provided me with some pictures of Profondo Rosso.

In November of 1997 Dario made a run at a political ofice in Rome. The outcome was not successfull, which is good for us fans of his films, but Chris Harris was kind enough to provide me with a card and a pamphlet (side one and side two) to scan.