Director: Massimo Dallamano
Writers: Massimo Dallamano, Ross MacKenzie, George P. Breakston
Composer: Riz Ortolani
Starring: Ivan Rassimov, Stephanie Beacham, Patricia Hayes, Ettore Manni, Luciano Catenacci, Verna Harvey, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Cec Linder, Leon Vitali
More info: IMDb
Plot: This 1970s crime thriller revolves around a high-class London escort agency that acts as a cover for a drug smuggling ring. Ivan Rassimov plays the duplicitous undercover cop Insp. Cliff, who falls for Stephanie Beacham’s call girl while plotting to get his hands on a fortune by setting some drug gangs against each other.
My rating: 6.5/10
Will I watch it again? Maybe.
On the surface, it's a silly crime action thriller with some cartoon gangsters but it's pretty darn entertaining and behind it all is a great, poppin', groovy score with screaming trumpets by Riz Ortolani. Rassimov, looking and sounding (dubbed) a LOT like Clint Eastwood, is having a great time as the ruthless Cliff playing two sides of the coin. Yeah, it's a DIRTY HARRY (1971) clone fused with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) but it's rather fun. How about that surprise ending, huh? Nice. You know what else is nice?
OK, not so much on the old broad (she's a real super bitch). One thing that separates this from other Italian crime pictures from the 70s is the lightness in tone. It's not a comedy but it's not as gritty as others in the genre from this era. That could make or break it depending on how you like your Italian crime. I dug it but the ending and Ortolani's kickin' score helped a lot.
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