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.
