Marcello Mannari was a likable actor who made a name for himself during the spaghetti western boom. He played a bank robber with a perpetual itchy trigger finger in 5 GUNMEN FROM CHEYANE (1968), a no-nonsense sheriff caught in between renegade baddies and renegade bounty hunters in UN CAPPIO PER TE, $ 10.000 PER ME (1969) aka A NOOSE FOR YOU…. $10,000 FOR ME and what would turn out to be his best role, in 1970's SETTE SONO VENUTI PER UCCIDERE IL BECCHINO aka SEVEN CAME TO KILL THE UNDERTAKER aka CHI È IL NUOVO BECCHINO? E PERCHÉ TUTTI VOGLIONO UCCIDERLO? aka WHO IS THE NEW UNDERTAKER? AND WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO KILL HIM? in which he plays the new unassuming undertaker in a border town, that every outlaw, who comes to town wants to kill.
He then switched to comedies with 1972’s WORST OF THE WEST, aka HAVE GUN, WILL UNRAVEL, aka TRINITY KNOWS NO BOUNDS.
In which he played one of four hapless brothers who try to protect their parents ranch from a hostile takeover from an equally hapless town boss.
In PAISAN IN THE WILD, WILD WEST (1975) aka A WOP OUT WEST aka WILD WEST WOP, he plays a present-day Italian obsessed with watching westerns, so he quits his dead-end job, leaves his shrew of a wife, and travels to the American West where he has all sorts of crazy adventures.
He played multiple roles in LA STORIA DELL'AMORE: LO STILE BOBO, aka LOVE BOBO STYLE (1976) a comedic omnibus take on the great Italian lovers throughout history, each played by Italy’s clown prince, Bobo.
Mannari’s film acting career came to an end in 1978, but not before starring in the one-two punch of family friendly comedies, ROLLER DISCO: STILE ITALIANO, aka ROLLER DISCO: ITALIAN STYLE (1978) and SCIMPANZÉ FUORI DAL VECCHIO BLOCCO, aka CHIMP OFF THE OLD BLOCK (1978) aka CHIMP OFF THE OL’ BLOCK.
Filmed back-to-back with the same cast, crew and plot . . . well not exactly the same plot. One film has a chimp!
In ROLLER DISCO: ITALIAN STYLE, Natale Santori plays Sylvia, a budding photojournalist. Her sole goal in life is to get a photo into the top selling lifestyle/fashion magazine Lo Stile Di Vita Italiano. One day while out snapping some shots of the Trevi Fountain, she meets Nico (Marcello Mannari), a charming rascal on skates, who leads a carefree life of roller skating to disco tunes . . . Not good disco, but the European variety. Nico introduces Sylvia to his friends, and they all become minor celebrities when the story is published. Silly fun is had by all.
In CHIMP OFF THE OLD BLOCK Mannari plays a loveable loser, also named Nico, who gets a job at the circus, his sole job actually, is to watch over a cigar smoking, roller-skating chimpanzee named Yo-Yo, who has a penchant for thievery and groping lovely bambinas. Even sillier fun is had by all.
Mannari’s co-star for both of these films would be actress Natale Santori who was a charming beauty whose first role was in another sex-comedy, ANY VIRGIN WILL DO (1977). She also graced the screen in IL TIMIDO CERBIATTO È IN REALTÀ UNA TIGRE IMPAZZITA PER IL SESSO aka THE BASHFUL FAWN IS ACTUALLY A SEX CRAZED TIGRESS aka HOW TO SEDUCE A BASHFUL NYMPHOMANIAC (1978), CRAZY WOMEN, CRAZY TIMES (1980) and LA NUOVA PROFESSORESSA E UN’ASTUTA LINGUISTA aka THE NEW FEMALE PROFESSOR IS A CUNNING LINGUIST (1979).
His other co-star, who steals the show in COTOB, is Giovani the chimp. Giovani was a graduate of PMPSA- The Prestigious Milanese Primate School for Acting. And you know that it is prestigious because it says so in its name.
Giovanni finished at the top of his class and was a master of the Meisner technique. He moved over to the US to apply his craft and seek his fame and fortune. He immediately landed a starring role in a touring version of the Odd Couple co-starring with J. Fred Muggs, which played Dinner Theaters.
Billed as the “Italian Rapscallion” Giovanni’s career was picking up steam after being featured in many shows and magazines of the day including, Entertainment Tonight, Variety and Better Homes and Hermaphrodites.
After a successful run of shows across the United States, Giovani started to get homesick, returned to Italy and appeared in a slew of other films into the eighties, including THE LAST CHIMP ON EARTH (1982), THE CHIMP WHO WOULD BE KING (1983). RETURN TO THE WORLD OF THE APES (1983) aka THE TIME WHEN CHIMPS RULED THE EARTH, ZANTAR IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE (1984) and EXECUTIONERS OF THE YEAR 2022 (1985).
Sadly, Giovani was chimpnapped, sold on the black market and had his brains eaten by a group of Taiwanese monkey brain gourmands in the early nineties.
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