Bizarre mix of slapstick comedy and commedia sexy with Ursula Andress and Woody Strode
There's a lot on offer in this film by cult director Fernando Di Leo (1932-2003), also known as "I'll polish your bald head". Hearty fights in the Spencer Hill style alternate with sexy insights all the time. Whether doing mattress sports, in the bathtub or simply changing clothes - Golden Globe winner (1964 for "Dr. No") Ursula Andress (*1936) appears stark naked in what feels like every other scene, but also knows how to get involved in wonderfully funny beating orgies.
What's it about? The stewardess Nora Green (Ursula Andress) lands her plane in Naples and runs an errand for a passenger. She drives to a fairground and gets caught between two rival gangs, led by Silvera (Woody Strode, 1914-1994) and Don Calo (Aldo Giuffre). Silvera doesn't treat the stunning blonde particularly gallantly (this scene is really inappropriate in a film that vacillates between fun and seriousness), but she gets help from the handsome acrobat Manuel (Marc Porel, 1949-1983). So she soon ends up on his trampoline and in his bed. Marc Porel is also allowed to hold his shapely backside into the camera. But above all, the tough guy is good at giving out beatings, and he still gets plenty of opportunity to do so.
Other roles include Lino Banfi as Commissario and Maurizio Arena as Padre, who is not so particular about abstinence. After all sorts of complications, there is ultimately a wild car chase and a fun fight that takes place again at the fairground.
What's really interesting about this film is the strange mixture of beating and sex stuff. Ursula Andress is in her element and becomes the sole heroine of an otherwise male-dominated Italian slapstick comedy, which was very fashionable in those years due to the enormous box office successes of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. Woody Strode's counterpart scores highly with his strong physique, but also demonstrates slapstick talents. The American actor, who was a decathlete at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and later an American football player, was rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role as a gladiator in "Spartacus." Marc Porel (could have celebrated his 73rd birthday on January 3, 2022), the son of Gerard Landry and the recently deceased Jacqueline Porel, cuts a particularly good figure in this film and shows his pretty face as La Andress's ToyBoy.
The director Fernando Di Leo shows his more fun side here. After writing scripts for numerous spaghetti westerns, he shot three absolute EuroCrime classics: "Milano Calibro 9", "La mala ordina" and "Il Boss".
