''High Crime'' ( it, La polizia incrimina la legge assolve, es, La policía detiene, la ley juzga) is a 1973 Italian-Spanish ''

poliziottesco Poliziotteschi (; singular ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ...

'' film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film stars

Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...

James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two Ac ...

Delia Boccardo Delia Boccardo (born 29 January 1948) is an Italian film, television and stage actress. Life and career Born in Genoa, Boccardo spent her childhood and adolescence in Nervi, then studied at a Swiss college, at the Poggio Imperiale girls' sch ...

and Fernando Rey. ''High Crime'' was a big success at the time of its release, and helped popularize the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

cop thriller genre.

Plot

A Lebanese drug dealer arrives in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

and Vice-Commissioner Belli (Nero) soon tracks him down. After a long car chase, Belli manages to arrest him. However, when the prisoner is being taken to the police station, the police car is bombed before it reaches its target. The Lebanese and four policemen die in the hit, but Belli survives. Belli then goes to Cafiero (Rey), an old-fashioned gangster who claims to have transformed into a peaceful gardener, to question about the bombing and it turns out that there is a new player in town. Cafiero decides to take care of the new gang before the police get to them. His task turns out to be more difficult when his trusted man, Rico ( Daniel Martín), turns out to be a mole working for the unknown new gangsters. Belli's boss, Commissioner Aldo Scavino (Whitmore), has put together a dossier on the city's mafia connections, but thinks that there is not enough hard evidence to take down all the gangsters from top to down. After several discussions with Belli, he finally agrees to take the dossier to the district attorney. However, he is murdered and the dossier is stolen. Belli now takes over Scavino's seat as the Commissioner and eventually finds the murderer. The murderer names Umberto Griva (

Duilio Del Prete Duilio Del Prete (25 June 1938 – 2 February 1998) was an Italian actor, dubber and singer-songwriter. Del Prete was born at Cuneo, Piedmont. As a singer-songwriter, he wrote political songs and recorded an album of Jacques Brel's covers; he al ...

) as his boss, as Belli expected. When Griva's brother Franco (

Silvano Tranquilli Silvano Tranquilli (23 August 1925 – 10 May 1997) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Silvano Tranquilli attended theatre lessons at the Sharoff Academy, and started his stage activity with the th ...

) is found murdered, it seems that someone with even higher political connections is trying to take over the city's drug trafficking. Belli then starts from square one and, after a warning from Cafiero, decides to send his daughter away to a safer place. However, his daughter is soon murdered and his girlfriend Mirella (Boccardo) beat up. With a helpful hint from Cafiero, Belli finds out about a large drug smuggling operation. As Belli arrives on the scene, a shootout ensues, and Belli survives while all the criminals are killed.

Production

Director Enzo G. Castellari was influenced to create ''High Crime'' after watching the film ''

Bullitt ''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...

''. When presenting the idea of this sort of film to producer

Edmondo Amati Edmondo Amati (1920 – 2002) was an Italian film producer. He produced 55 films between 1964 and 1984, including '' Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist'' (2005), '' U-571'' (2000), ''Golden Balls'' (1993), ''Cannibals in the Streets'' (1980), ...

, he was told to show him a story. Castellari discussed a plot with screenwriters Tito Carpi and Amati's son Maurizio. The group developed a treatment based around the murder of

Luigi Calabresi Luigi Calabresi (14 November 1937 – 17 May 1972) was an Italian Police officer in Milan assassinated by far-left terrorists. This was one of the most important murders during the historical period of social turmoil and political violence in It ...

. Castellari did not want Edmondo Amati to read their script, and decided to tell him the story instead. Italian film historian Roberto Curti has stated that despite Castellari's recollections, he felt the story outline was more derived from

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...

's '' The French Connection'' with its similarity to its opening scenes and Fernando Rey's presence as an elderly crime boss. ''High Crime'' was filmed at Incir De Paolis in Rome and on location in

, Ligurian coast,

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

Release

''High Crime'' was released on 12 August 1973 in Italy, where it was distributed by Fida Cinematografica. The film grossed 1,825,825,000

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

on its theatrical run in Italy. The film was described as a "huge box office hit" by historian Roberto Curti.

Reception

In a contemporary review, the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with ...

'' gave the film a negative review, finding the film "especially graceless when one recalls the opaque joys of '' Salvatore Giuliano''." The review critiqued the dubbing, and that its formulaic character scarcely redeemed by high-minded nods at social comment (militant workers, corrupt capitalists), the film fails even to vindicate an early promise of more homely pleasures: "You cops ... you're always full of jokes"."

Footnotes

References

External links

* . {{Enzo G. Castellari 1973 films Films directed by Enzo G. Castellari 1973 crime films Spanish crime drama films 1970s Italian-language films Poliziotteschi films Films set in Genoa Films set in Marseille Films shot in France Films shot in Rome Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis 1970s Italian films 1970s Spanish films