Mario Merola seems to be in every cop film made in 1979. This time round, get this, he plays a down-to-earth Mob boss with a big heart...or does he?
Cop Maurizio Merli doesn't give a crap either way. What he wants to do is take down the hitman syndicate that seems to have sprung up in his beloved town of Milan. Businessmen here and there are being gunned in typical Stelvio Massi fashion and someone's got to be in charge, but who is it?
Could well be Merola, but he claims to be legit and running a string of restaurants (what else?). We also get to see his soft side, as he helps a young man who has lost all of his earnings in Merola's gambling den (which he always manages to hide every time Merli shows up). Or is it suddenly bald Francisco Rabal, an old Mafia enemy of Merli who claims to have respect for Merli? The main question is: How many people is Merli going to shoot and/or punch in the face before the film ends?
On the domestic front Merli's nephew seems to be getting into the drugs and driving a Porsche around everywhere so he's got to sort that out with the usual results when Merli gets involved in such things, and on the romantic front Merli's romancing a lady who works for a suspicious businessman who could also be head of the murder syndicate. It's a long day when you've got to keep relatives on the straight and narrow, bed a young lady and still find time to take on random bank robbers.
Although I found this one a little overlong, I've got to hand it to Stelvio Massi; He knows you need punch ups, car chases, and gun fights and we get plenty of that. Plus Merli angrily pointing at things. What I did notice is that the ending was a bit weak and Mario Merola didn't get to sing! Massi also uses his cinematography skills to make everything look interesting at all times.
I never tire of these films. Sadly, the cinema going public did.
