Gli esecutori

Disjointed gangster film that specializes in pointless "destruction of property" scenes. Roger Moore is badly miscast; he clearly looks uncomfortable to be in an Italian crime movie, and he shows none of his usual flair. Don't go out of your way to see this one. (*1/2)

¨The Sicilian Cross¨ or ¨Gli Esecutori¨ 1976 is a passable thriller with international cast including two big name cast : Roger Moore and Stacy Keach . A Mafia Salvatore Francesco (Ivo Garrani) who does dark businesses is enraged when a holy cross that contained a shipment of drug is robbed and he is suspected of smuggling heroin from Sicily to port of San Francisco. He dispatches his nephew , a elegant advocate at law named Ulisse (Roger Moore) to identify the real culprit. The lawyer also enlists the aid of his best friend called Charlie Hanson (Stacy Keach) , a grand prix driver to discover the crook thieves . As Ulysse and Charlie Hanson join forces and go after three alleged , suspect delinquents (Fausto Tozzi, Peter Martell , Romano Puppo) , but then things go wrong . And the Hunting Season Has Opened in the Naked City! The Hunting Season Has Opened In The Naked City.

Average but passable thriller with brief touches of sympathetic humour in charge of the two likeable protagonists . Roger Moore and Stacy Keach form a stunning couple with adventurous streak , creating a funny Buddy Movie, as Roger Moore is a hotshot Anglo-Sicilian lawyer, while Stacy Keach is a resourceful car driver . There's also a motley group of Italian actors usual in the typical genres of the Sixties and Seventies as Spaghetti western , Peplum , Polizziesco , Giallo , such as : Ettore Manni , Fausto Tozzi ,Peter Martel (as Pietro Martellanza) , Romano Puppo , Rosemarie Lindt, Remo De Angelis , among others. In spite of known actors in the cast , it didn't have international success , failing at the boxoffice , even in some countries it was shown as part of a double bill with other movies.

It contains atmospheric and thrilling musical score by Luis Bacalov who subsequently won Academy Award for The Postman and Pablo Neruda . Evocative and appropriate cinematography by Aiace Parolin shot in several locations , as Paestum, Capaccio, Salerno, Seude , Capaccio , Vecchio, De Paolis Studios, Rome, and especially San Francisco , California : Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach , Sausalito, Broadway, Pier 45, San Francisco. The motion picture was professionally directed by Maurizio Lucidi , though it has some flaws , and gaps , but being an acceptable thriller flick . Lucidi was born in 1932 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy and died in 2005 , Rome . He was a director and editor, known for this ¨The Man from the Organization or The sicilian cross or Los ejecutores¨ (1976) and he made more thrillers as ¨The last chance¨ with Elli Wallach, Fabio Testi and Ursula Andress . And he directed three Westerns as ¨Halleluja for Django¨(1967) with Hunt Powers , ¨Saddle tramps¨ with Bud Spencer and ¨Pecos¨ with Robert Woods . And furthermore , wartime movie as Probabilità zero (1969) and La víttima designata (1971) , among others . Rating : 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable .

I was led to believe from reviews that this was some sort of buddy comedy with Roger Moore and Stacey Keach and although the film does have its lighter moments (mainly down to Keach) it is still a violent Eurocrime film that doesn't skimp on the car chases, punch-ups, or smoking.

You see Moore is a lawyer for his Uncle, who is a mobster trying to go straight. The Uncle has recently imported a huge wooden cross from a chapel in Sicily as a gift to his estranged priest friend Ettor Manni, but when three Sicilians turn up, kidnap the delivery men, then steal a shipment of heroin concealed in the cross, all hell breaks loose. Only we the audience are clued in that there's a black-gloved killer (possibly on loan from a giallo) who kills the delivery men with a silencer. Somebody doesn't want witnesses!

Moore seems to be some sort of mediator for all the mob bosses too, so he's given the task of recovering the heroin, tracking down the three gangsters, and finding out who set up his Uncle. To do that he enlists Stacey "You Never Forget the Taste of Human Flesh!" Keach, a race car driver, and you better believe that's coming in handy later in the film. Moore travels to Sicily while Keach hits the streets looking for the heroin, where he discovers that it's not being sold - so where is it?

I suppose you could complain that the film is all over the place tone-wise, with the drug dealing granny and Keach merrily destroying a car by driving it around San Francisco on one side and the gangland executions on the other side, but I liked it. You've got a bit of a mystery going on and James Bond fighting Romano Puppo, who doesn't want that?

We also get a car chase thrown in where two trucks get involved and I couldn't tell if they belonged to the bad guys or Roger Moore just killed them because they got in his way. All the Eurocrime elements are here, so I guess whether you enjoy or not depends on how you get on with Roger Moore and Stacey Keach.

This is really a movie which has lost its interest by the time. The actors just seem to drive around like in a mediocre American police-serial. When people are shot, it is by a killer who appears and disappears and is everywhere. When there is a pursuit on the road, by accident three big trucks try to drive Stacey Keach from the road. I prefer Mannix or Kojak. The mafia is typical but described without any details or exactitude. The story has no point and nobody could believe it. Roger Moore is not only a lawyer, he must be also something as an SAS-agent capable of killing any professional killer. Who believes that?

This film is not dissimilar to many cop-buddy films, except that the two central characters trying to track down the contraband are working for the mob. And, to-be-fair, it is far better than a hell of lot of cop-buddy films I have seen. It is let down in places though, not least the awful flashback scenes which are far too sappy.