''The Big Racket'' ( it, Il grande racket) is a 1976 Italian '' poliziottesco'' film directed by

Enzo G. Castellari Enzo Girolami Castellari (born 29 July 1938) is an Italian director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Early life Castellari was born in Rome into a family of filmmakers. His father was a boxer turned film maker Marino Girolami. His uncle ...

. Fabio Testi stars as a police inspector who takes on a gang of hoodlums who terrorise an Italian city by extorting cash from local shop and bar owners.

Cast

* Fabio Testi: Inspector Nico Palmieri * Vincent Gardenia: Pepe * Renzo Palmer: Luigi Giulti *

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: Gianni Rossetti *

Glauco Onorato Glauco Onorato (7 December 1936 – 31 December 2009) was an Italian actor and voice actor. As an actor and dubber popular with audiences throughout Italy, he was renowned for voicing over nearly all of Bud Spencer's roles as Spencer had a thick ...

: Piero Mazzarelli * Marcella Michelangeli: Marcy *

Romano Puppo Romano Puppo (25 March 1933 – 11 May 1994) was an Italian stuntman and actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Puppo debuted in 1961 in the Mauro Bolognini's drama '' Careless'', and after a number of very minor roles he soon became a regular ...

: Doringo *

Antonio Marsina Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

: Attorney Giovanni Giuni * Salvatore Borghese: Sgt. Salvatore Velasci *

Joshua Sinclair Joshua Sinclair (born May 7, 1953) is an American writer, producer, actor and director born in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populou ...

: Rudy *Daniele Dublino: Commissioner *

Anna Zinnemann Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

: Anna Rossetti

Production

The role of Doringo, played by

was a role Castellari initially wanted for Lou Castel. ''The Big Racket'' was shot at Incir-de Paolis in Rome and on location in Rome. The character of the restaurateur's daughter is played by Stefania Castellari, the director's own daughter.

Release

''The Big Racket'' was released in Italy on August 4, 1976 where it was distributed by Titanus. The film grossed a total of 1,479,567,800 Italian lire. The film was released by Blue Underground on DVD.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Film critic Morando Morandini started his review writing ""It's a fascist film. It's a vile film. It's an idiot film" and subsequently criticized the violent and "reactionary" morality of the film. In his book ''Italian Crime Filmography'', Roberto Curti referred to the film as Castellari's best work and praised the action scenes in the film stating that they "outdo anything that had been done in Italy until then" and that "Castellari pulls out all the stops." Castellari stated that when the film was shown at retrospectives, someone always asks him how he shot the scene where Fabio Testi is trapped in a car while vehicle is tumbling down a ditch. Castellari also considers the ending of the film as the best one he has ever shot.

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noted that the films "clever script" that builds "up in tension and brutality until it reaches its explosive finale." The review praised the acting of Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia and Renzo Palmer and praised the direction of Castellari stating that he "directs the film with his trademark kinetic sense of style, keeping up a sharp pace that blends action with quieter, more atmospheric, moments and deploying bursts of slow motion at just the right time during action scenes"

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Racket 1976 films Films directed by Enzo G. Castellari Titanus films Poliziotteschi films Rape and revenge films Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis Films shot in Rome 1970s Italian films