Any mafia don worth his salt will tell you that if you whack a guy, you've got to make sure he's got no kids that will grow up and come after you. Look at Don Ciccio in the Godfather Part Two. Failed to kill Robert De Niro as a kid. Thirty years later, dies with a huge knife in his gut. Same with this guy here. He doesn't even bother trying to kill the kid – he just lets him watch!
Years later and that kid is now Christopher Mitchum. That's Robert Mitchum's son to us lesser beings, and in terms of inheriting his father's looks and acting talents, let's just say he looks like his father. Chris is bringing vengeance to the mob in a big way, gunning down people left and right (including Umberto Raho). Chris heads off for Italy while Captain Karl Malden picks up his trail.
Once in Rome, Chris sets his sights on Claudine Augur, secretary to Mafia boss Don Alfredi and romances her by getting involved in a car chase with her! Claudine is won over by his car chase skills, and after getting in the sack with him, reveals that the Don has a daughter at a boarding school in France
Meanwhile, Karl Malden (whose nose was a product of boxing, I now know) starts doing a little research of his own, meeting with the Mafia boss, whom he knows personally, and trying to save the Don's daughter after she's kidnapped. Then again, things aren't that straightforward. Karl Malden is obviously one of those actors who would entertain ordering some chips at a Drive-thru, and he's good here as the soft hearted policeman who charms his way to the kidnapper.
I'm not so sure about Christopher Mitchum or Oliva Hussey, mind you. Chris is a good action star but doesn't seem to get too excited about anything, and Olivia also seems to me to be very detached, no matter what role she's in. She does choose interesting films to star in, however. She was in the creepy-as-hell US slasher Black Christmas (1974) and the brilliant Australian sci-fi flick Turkey Shoot, as well as appearing in the post-apocalyptic Virus (1980) and Stephen King's It (1990). Mitchum didn't fare so well, but appears in The Day Time Ended (1977) and crazy Indonesion action film Final Score (1986). He also played 'ranch hand' in the 1993 film Tombstone. All that is relevant to The Summertime Killer.
This isn't as violent or crazy as other Poliziotesschi films, and almost feels more American for some reason. Maybe it's due to a focus on characterisation. Be warned – there's an almost two hour long version out there too, but it's only added dialogue.
