Tony, Identikit Operator Giorgio Gennari as Rudy, Gast Station Informant Guidarino Guidi as Frank, Syndicate Member Wolfgang Hillinger as Valmont's Henchman Edward Febo Kelleng as Sir Harold Clark Francesco Mulè as Crematorium Official Chuck Painter as Newscaster Walter Williams as Gold Ingot Supervisor Production Development Tonino Cervi and Seth Holt Producer Tonino Cervi, head of the production company Italy Film, was the first person to propose a film adaptation of Angela and Luciana Giussani's Diabolik, a pioneering example of the fumetti neri subgenre of Italian comics. Cervi was ambiguous when describing his production, stating once that "I think that with a few retouches Diabolik could turn into an extraordinary character for the silver screen." In another interview, he acknowledged that "nowadays a good film based on Flash Gordon would be a sensational success [...] but it would cost as much as Cleopatra. I have to settle for something more modest, so I'm doing Diabolik." Cervi's initial intention was to use the profits earned from Diabolik to finance an anthology film directed by Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, and Akira Kurosawa. Italy Film acquired the adaptation rights from Astorina, the Giussanis' publishing house, for 20 million lire and proposed a distribution deal with Dino De Laurentiis. This deal would involve 100 million lire in advance, in exchange for the distribution rights for the film in perpetuity. De Laurentiis advanced 70 million lire, and put together a co-production deal between Italy, France (Les Films Marceau-Cocinor), and Spain (A.S. Film Produccion and Impala). The first drafts of the script were written by comic book writers Pier Carpi and Corrado Farina, who also worked in television advertising. These drafts were later revised by screenwriters Giampiero Bona and Fabrizio Onofri, who were told to tone down the violence. Onofri and Bona's screenplay also added an emphasis on comedy that was present in Andre Hunebelle's film Fantômas, another film about a master thief that was popular at the time. The film was helmed by British director Seth Holt, and the cast was led by Jean Sorel as Diabolik, Elsa Martinelli as Eva Kant, and George Raft as Diabolik's enemy, Richness. Cervi's original choices for Diabolik and Eva had been Alain Delon (whose salary was too high) and Virna Lisi (who was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts). Principal photography began on September 20, 1965, in Malaga, Spain, but was halted when Raft became sick on set and was