¨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 .
