The Italian Connection

The opening of this film indicates that we're going to follow a couple of hard-nosed American hitmen on a trip to Milan to murder a pimp. There's a lot of intrigue right away as we wonder what's this pimp done to earn the wrath of a New York crime boss and how are these two assassins going to find their way around Italy. On top of that, Woody Strode and Henry Silva are a perfect match for each other in terms of attitude, charisma, and macho screen presence. It feels like this movie is going to be a fun ride.

Unfortunately, once they get to Italy, the two simply hang around a hotel and a nightclub for nearly the entire movie. Writer DiLeo thought it would be a better idea of focusing the bulk of the movie around the pimp (played well by Mario Adorf) as he runs afoul of the local mob and goes on a killing and slapping spree. The hit men only re-emerge for the climax in a junk yard that really needed some better gore when a particular character gets killed off in a way that should be a real show-stopper.

Upon first viewing 20+ years ago, I had to admit I was mightily disappointed with the waste of potential. I was also let down by Silva's character coming off as a bit of a reckless hedonist when it would have been much more fun to see him and Strode unemotionally and brutally work their way around Milan to get to their target. You can see where Tarantino was inspired with PULP FICTION as well as any number of crime films featuring a "salt and pepper" team. Silva and Strode had good enough chemistry to be cast together again in several other films though most were far worse than this one.

On the plus side, there's many beautiful actresses on display and rampant nudity among them. Adolfo Celi as the mob boss has a great scene where he fearlessly stares down the barrel of a gun and most of the dubbing fits pretty good for an Italian crime movie of the era. The musical score by Armando Trovajoli, though dated and simplistic, is as much of a funky ear-worm as you'll ever hear and will never forget even decades after watching this film.

Overall it's a fast-paced action film with many good sides to it, but you'd be better off sticking with a Castellari or Umberto Lenzi movie for a more satisfying eurocrime experience. DiLeo did much better with MILANO CALIBRO 9 made around the same time.

The Italian Connection is yet another movie that proves conclusively that Fernando Di Leo was the master director of the poliziotteschi. These action-thrillers were Italy's answer to the violent crime films that emerged in America in the early 70's. Di Leo made several and this one may very well be arguably the best. Its story is underpinned by a shipment of heroin that is stolen en route from Milan to New York. A couple of American mafia hit-men are dispatched to Italy to find and kill the pimp who is accused of the theft. This man is innocent of this crime, however, and he proves to be a surprisingly resourceful opponent.

One of the main strengths of this movie is its cast. Everyone suits their roles very well. Mario Adorf is particularly excellent as the pimp who becomes the unlikely hero. Adorf puts in a very energetic performance that really drives the film. Poliziotteschi veteran Henry Silva and Woody Strode are suitably mean as the mafia killers, seemingly their pairing was the reason Quentin Tarantino cast John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson as the legendary hit-men in Pulp Fiction (for this alone The Italian Connection deserves a footnote in film history). Rounding things off we have Adolfo Celi (Danger: Diabolik) as the mafia don and Femi Benussi (Hatchet for the Honeymoon) gets substantially naked in a role as a prostitute.

Like most of these types of movies there is a lot of moral ambiguity here. There are no heroes in the truest sense. The identification figure is a low level pimp after all. This makes it a crime film in the truest sense. But it is also a very good action flick. Of particular note is a spectacular chase sequence where a van fires through town with a man hanging off the front while head-butting his way through the windshield! There is, overall, a healthy dose of violent action in general in this one, climaxing in a great scene in a junk-yard.

Along with Milan Calibre 9 and The Boss, this is a top level example of this kind of movie from Fernando Di Leo.

I spent much time in studying Italian police films of this era - and this one sticks out as one of the best. Unlike other Di Leo flicks - this one has a decent story, features B+ actors like Mario Adorf and Adolfo Celli (Mr. Largo in OO7's Thunderball), the editing is fast and rhythmic and it contains only one car chase but this one has it. The films owes its quality largely to the German-Italian actor Mario Adorf (already playing in one other Di Leo Film "Milano Calibro 9") - Adorf is witty, has a face with a thousand expressions and perfectly impersonates the change of small-town-pimp into a revenge-driven killing machine - without overdoing it. Unlike other films of this genre this one is tightly bound by a reasonable script, logical development of the characters and a rough, greasy camera-style. Editing is superb in timing, no frame is wasted for stupid dialogues or the typical 70ies mood shots (you see a scenery with someone walking and nothing happens). This film is perfect for exploring this genre.

Poliziottesco, a fusion of the words poliziotto ("policeman") and the same -esco desinence, indicates 1970s-era Italian-produced "tough cop" and crime movies. Recurring elements in poliziotteschi films include graphic and brutal violence, organized crime, car chases, vigilantism, heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels.

With directors like Fernando Di Leo, these films replaced the spaghetti westerns. They saw their decline after erotica and horror took over in the late 70s.But it was the spaghetti westerns that gave Di Leo his training. He wrote the script for A Fistful of Dollars, and was assistant director under Sergio Leone in For a Few Dollars More.

The films of Fernando Di Leo had a great influence on later directors like Quentin Tarantino and John Woo.

Henry Silva(Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Above the Law) puts in one of his best performances in this film. He is excellent as a sleazy hit-man. Woody Strode (Spartacus, Kingdom of the Spiders) is very good as Silva's partner.

Lots of action, one car chase, and plenty of big naturals. Mario Adorf stole the show with his huge range of facial expressions.

Now released under the absurdly named Mack Video as the absurdly named BLACK KINGPIN, LA MALA ORDINA, once known as MANHUNT, shows the Italian seventies policier director Fernando DiLeo in peak form. The Italian cops-mob-and-corruption movies often had a neorealist tincture, not far from such British cousins as GET CARTER or THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY. (The best in this vein is the dark, harrowing VIOLENT NAPLES.) But some of them were as ripe and over-the-top as concurrent works of Italian horror; and this saga of a small-town pimp pursued, God knows why, by Mr. Big and two Vincent-and-Jules-looking U.S.-made button men, looks like the product of some torrid motel-room coitus between Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. The faces are sweaty, the beatings (to evoke Roger Ebert's memorable phrase) suggest the sound of ping-pong paddles smacking naugahyde sofas--the only thing that's missing is the groan of an Ennio Morricone score. An evening of Shane Black quips it ain't, but ninety minutes of top-shelf hardboiled groove it is.