Mark il poliziotto

The movie is a guaranteed nice time if you are looking for this sort of "eurocrime" stuff. But personally I thought it was a bit dramatic.

The heroin addicted girl and her mom stood out for me. Much more than the whole "training the younger cop thing". Also, for an one hour and a half lenght movie, which we already knew who the bad guy was and what he was doing, the time should have been filled with more people being subjected to a beating.

However, I may say that, when it came down to shootings and car chases, the movie delivered the goods. Perhaps they should have worked more on the bad guys characters, so they could've looked more... "exotic", let's point this way.

It was not the best italian cop tale, but I would watch more of the "Mark, the narc" series.

Bit of a disappointment this and its a shame because it looks so good and with such a good score by Stelvio Cipriani it sounds good too. Franco Gasparri is charismatic and effective in the lead role and the dialogue is good and snappy. Its just that there could have been a bit more going on, a bit more action or involving background. The bad guys led by Lee J Cobb are a mixed bunch and do not really convince and Sara Sperati as the non love interest is a waste of space. I think all the emphasis upon her drug addiction is because we are supposed to get involved here and feel sorry for the girl, unfortunately we don't. So all left to Gasparri and its asking far too much. With so many bad guys about the place we could have had a bit more action, rather than chat and visits to the race track.

Successful Poliziottesco from Italy with Franco Gasparri and Lee J. Cobb

This film from 1975 was the start of the very successful trilogy about police officer Mark Terzi. This role was the breakthrough of the young actor Franco Gasparri (1948-1999). It's about a young police inspector in Milan who is motivated and committed to his job. His goal is to uncover those behind a drug ring. He also unconventionally helps a young drug addict (Sara Sperati, who is also known from "Salon Kitty" and "La nottata") to go cold turkey. Of course, this also offends his superiors (Giorgio Albertazzi). This young generation police officer doesn't need fast cars either. Then he sprints after the bad guys. This gives director Stelvio Massi the opportunity to shoot great action scenes on foot. During the persecution of a very bad contemporary (the Argentinian one-time actor Carlo Duran as a "German"! Henchman who has just been released from prison), the bizarre situation arises in which Terzi is attacked badly by a priest who thinks he is a rogue becomes.

In Italy, this less macho police officer who acted without concern for casualties was extremely well received. The film brought 1.6 billion lire into the box office in Italy alone. A triumph! So the Italians themselves liked Gasparri more than Merli. Merli was more likely to be marketed in German-speaking countries.

With his partner Bonetti (Giampiero Albertini, also seen in "The Viper" and "Gunman"), a brother in spirit, he manages to get the respected businessman Benzi (Lee J. Cobb, the legendary Lt. Kinderman from the horror classic "The Exorcist", 1973) as the head of the drug ring becomes more and more on the trail. Will Terzi manage to arrest the villain?

Two more parts with Franco Gasparri were to follow. As a child star he appeared in three peplum films with Brad Harris: "Goliath contro i giganti" (1961), "Sansone" (1961), "La furia di Ercole" (1962). Then things became quieter around him again, school took priority. As a young man, the very attractive Franco Gasparri became the star of the fotoromanzi, which was extremely popular in Italy, which in turn led to his rediscovery as a film star. Unfortunately, that didn't bring him lasting happiness. In a serious motorcycle accident, Franco Gasparri was injured so badly that he was paralyzed from then on. He fought his way back to life, worked as an editor for the fotoromanzi that had made him famous, and died in 1999 from the long-term effects of his accident. What remains are the three films from the trilogy around "Mark il poliziotto", which paint a different picture of the notorious police and gangster films from Italy in the 1970s. Life is always more complex than you think.

This is the first 'Mark' film involving Franco Gasperri as the tall, cold narcotics detective out to bring down a drug smuggling operation in Milan. Mark is a kindly detective, I think, as he tries to dissuade a young rookie from joining the narcotics division and takes a poor young junky girl under his wing to help her recover.

What Mark is really all about is the taking down of dodgy businessman Benzi (Lee Cobb, who thankfully provides a nice performance to contract with Gasperri's robotic acting style). Mark knows Benzi is pushing heroin in Milan but doesn't quite know how he's doing it, while Mark's stupid boss continues to insist that Benzi is as clean as a gay guy's flat. With his bumbling sidekick in tow, Mark sets off to get to the bottom of the case.

Of course, the plot has to go round the houses a bit so there's some recently released German guy who is employed as muscle for Benzi, a sinister businessman-type who follows everyone around, and a getaway driver/drug courier that Mark keeps bumping into. On their third encounter Mark is giving this guy the beatdown when a priest beats Mark, causing Mark to shout "I'm a cop! You should have checked first you stupid prick! F**k off!"

There's a few standout scenes before the film turns dark in the last third and we get to the usual warhouse shootout- You've got Mark jumping out of a car and chasing an ambulance on foot, and you've also got Mark casually stepping out of the way of a car travelling along the street on its roof. Stelvio Massi once again stands out with his cinematography, which just suits this stuff like a...suit.

For starters, this is probably the only Poliziotesschi/Euro-crime thriller of which the title in English sounds cooler than the original Italian one! Usually the lengthy and almost poetic sounding original titles are abruptly altered with catchy sounding English words or superlatives (one of the aka's here is actually "Blood, Sweat and Fear"), but the most commonly used title is "Mark the Narc" and that pretty much suits the film perfectly. Secondly, and speaking as a die-hard fan of the Euro-crime sub genre, I don't understand why "Mark the Narc" isn't more regarded as a modest classic or at least more frequently mentioned by fellow admirers of the genre! Perhaps it's because other master-directors like Umberto Lenzi and Fernando Di Leo were simultaneously unleashing numerous Poliziotesschi classics that were grittier and much more violent than this one, or perhaps it's simply because writer/director Stelvio Massi stubbornly opted to cast the unconventional Franco Gasparri rather than the familiar genre icon Maurizio Merli. Fact remains, however, that "Mark the Narc" is a more than solid, suspenseful and straightforward Poliziotesschi with memorable stunt work, competent acting performances and a fantastic soundtrack (courtesy of the almighty Stelvio Cipriani).

The plot is formulaic, but we honestly don't expect or even desire it to be different in this genre! Mark Terzi is an honorable young police commissioner on a dedicated mission to cleanse the streets of his beloved Milan and get rid of all the filthy drug-related crimes and trafficking. Mark knows that the wealthy businessman Benzi is heading all the criminal networks in town but, as usual with this type of jerks, he is a well-respected citizen and enjoys the protection from all prominent politicians. In order to bring him down at last, Mark is forced to take out all of Benzi's henchmen and adjuncts, including relentless murderers and corrupt fellow police officers, and by doing so he doesn't only put his own life at risk but also that of important witnesses. As much as I also love Umberto Lenzi's outrageous Poliziotesschi-thrillers ("Violent Naples", "Almost Human"), the emphasis here clearly lies more on plot and character development rather than on cruel violence and randomly shooting as many innocent bystanders as possible. Several sequences in "Mark the Narc" are integer and stylish, like the relationship Mark develops with the heroine-addicted girl or the genuine grief he experiences after what happens to his partner. In Lenzi's films, aspects like these are merely footnotes and are preferably replaced by another virulent car chase. Don't be too alarmed, though, as "Mark the Narc" definitely does contain loads of blood-pumping action and nasty executions (the truck!). One supportive character in particular is responsible for a few notable moments of sadistic violence, namely the stone-cold and merciless killer named Grüber. It's a genuine mystery to me why the actor portraying him – Carlo Duran – never appeared in other Eurocrime thrillers, as his appearance is naturally intimidating and pure evil. Franco Gasparri is terrific in his protagonist role as well, and the mandatory American import-star Lee J. Cobb is very professional as the despicable lead villain.

I urge all my fellow Poliziotesschi lovers to give "Mark the Narc" a proper chance. Even if you've seen all the classics and some of the more obscure hidden gems, this exemplary Eurocrime thriller is likely to still enchant and entertain you! As the ultimate proof of Italian craftsmanship, two sequels were released in a span of barely one and a half year. I'd really like to watch them as well, but so far I haven't been successful in tracking them down.