La poliziotta a New York

Absolutely the worst movie in the series. There are scenes more cartoonish than movie-worthy, and there are some of the most embarrassing jokes I've ever heard.

The Italians invented the theatrical lowbrow slapstick that became a staple of 20th century film. Their brand is more juvenile and extreme, but they also bring their advanced culture and customs to it. That makes a film like "Policewoman" a mixed bag. Its cheap and cynical as any grindhouse film you can find, but it has gorgeous art direction and solid filmmaking. The script is kinda weak, full of lame gags and Italian humor is probably lost in translation. There's a lot of racial humor that comes off mean and the physical humor never becomes sophisticated beyond fart jokes and falling down. But this is a watchable mess. Its a good education on 80s Italian film culture and it has its redeeming moments. Edwige Fenech is a bonafide star and she's enough of a draw for most men.

As bad as it is, you can do worse. And it fits in the genre with Troma and bad 80s Porky's ripoffs, so there's definitely an audience for this still.

I've seen all of Edwige Fenech's "schoolteacher" sex comedies (hanging head in shame), but this my first of her "policewoman" sex comedies. She and her diminutive partner (Alvaro Vitali) happen to be the spitting image of, respectively, the mistress and bodyguard of a New York mafioso (Alberto Lionello). So with the help of a Texan FBI agent played by Renzo Montagnini (I do hope the Italians know that Texas and New York City are very different places)they conspire to replace their respective dopplegangers and infiltrate the criminal organization, where they quickly find themselves in the middle of an inept gang war between the mafioso and his severely stuttering Turkish rival.

Fenech had been in a lot movies by this time, and although she had gotten much better as an actress (she deftly manges two distinct characters here) she also regrettably stopped taking off her clothes nearly as much, so it's kind of a double-edged sword. Vitali generally ranged from kinda funny to pretty irritating, and here he's somewhere in between. The idea of him being a vicious mafioso is funny in itself though. Even dubbed, the swarthy Montagnini does not make the most believable "Texan". The two rival gangsters are pretty good, however. And, of course, being Italian, the movie has the usual quota of offensive stereotypes, but they somehow here manage to actually combine the gay and black stereotypes as both Fenech and Vitali are pursued by Africa-American admirers of the same sex.

Director Michele Massimo Tarantini generally wasn't fit to carry the jockstrap of Sergio Martino, Fenech's regular collaborator. This might be one of his better films though. Strangely, soon after this Tarantini ended up in Brazil directing women-in-prison and cannibal films with Brazilian sex star/race car driver Susan Carvahlo. This isn't great, but you could do worse I suppose.

A POLICEWOMAN IN NEW YORK is the final instalment of the Edwige Fenech comedy trilogy, directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini and featuring stock location filming in the Big Apple. Here, Pupa and her comedy sidekick are assigned to a mission in America where they happen to be the exact doubles of a couple of figures in the Italian underworld, so they decide to masquerade as them. An extremely unfunny and grating comedy subsequently plays out, and to call many of the characters irritating would be an understatement. Fenech has visibly aged since her glory days although she still has a real glamour about her, although there's just one brief nude scene. The rest, from the stuttering Turk to the sassy black housemaid, is just plain bad.

Not only is that guy out of shape, this movie is seriously out of shape.

Now, I love Edwige Fenech , and she certainly shows an increasing acting ability her - she plays two parts - but that is not enough to recommend a film that really goes over the edge with slapstick. I thought at times I was watching the Three Stooges. With the silly Texan, and the stuttering Turk, it was very painful.

Stereotypes of blacks and gays didn't make it any better.

I won't be looking for any more in the policewoman series. I may even skip the schoolteacher series. Just bring me more Giallo. That's where Fenech really shines.