Perseguição Mortal

This film by Franco PROSPERI is about the busy Commissario Verrazzano (the Italian original title), who oscillates between excessive gangster hunts and a dissolute love life. In this late 1978 poliziottesco, the French actor Luc MERENDA plays what he does best: a hard-boiled policeman who doesn't shy away from any love affair. He hunts down the bad guys with devotion, has an affair with the married Rosy (Luciana PALUZZI in her last film appearance) and talks to his cat Ciro. But then something happens that turns the Commissario's life completely upside down. The young Giulia (Janet AGREN) asks him for help after her brother's alleged suicide. His wife is already with a gangster boss (Chris AVRAM). The inspector uncovers a huge plot...

This late work in the boom phase of Italian crime films in the 1970s almost seems like a film noir. The usual action scenes of the wiry Luc MERENDA are hardly noticeable. The film was shot in Rome and Nice.

It's a shame that the great Luciana PALUZZI was not given a better role when she left the screen. Her performance as Fiona Volpe in THUNDERBALL (1965) will never be forgotten. Probably the most impressive villain in James Bond film history!