Film director Giacomo Gentilomo, a master of Italian populist cinema who made a name with such entertaining fantasies as "Hercules Against the Moon Men", has died at the age of 92, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday.
The director began his career, which spanned some 30 films, in 1945 with "O'Sole Mio", a romantic account of Italian resistance fighters. But he went on to gain renown for films featuring outlandish plots and lavish sets.
His masterpieces of the B-movie genre include "Slave Girls of Sheba" (1964), "Hercules Against the Moon Men" (1965) and "Goliath and the Island of Vampires" (1961).
But one of his best-known -- and more serious -- works remains 1951's "Young Caruso", which starred Gina Lollobrigida in a biographical drama based on the famous operatic tenor Enrico Caruso.
Gentilomo was born in Trieste, northern Italy, in 1909 -- AFP
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