''Gang War in Naples'' ( it, Camorra) is a 1972 crime film written and directed by

Pasquale Squitieri Pasquale Squitieri (27 November 1938 – 18 February 2017) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Naples, Squitieri graduated in law, then was briefly involved in stage, as author ("''La battaglia''") and even a ...

Cast

Fabio Testi Fabio Testi (born 2 August 1941) is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on ''The Good, ...

: Tonino Russo *

Raymond Pellegrin Raymond Pellegrin (1 January 1925 – 14 October 2007) was a French actor. Born in Nice, Pellegrin made his screen debut in the 1945 French feature '' Naïs''. He was also famous in France for dubbing Jean Marais for the voice of Fantômas ...

: Don Mario Capece *

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress who lived half of her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless'' immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema. Seb ...

: Luisa *

Enzo Cannavale Vincenzo "Enzo" Cannavale (5 April 1928 – 18 March 2011) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films since 1949, including ''Cinema Paradiso'', which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academ ...

: Nicola Cafiero "Sciancato" * Ugo D'Alessio: Pietro Russo, padre di Tonino *

Lilla Brignone Lilla Brignone (23 August 1913 – 24 March 1984) was an Italian film and theater actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1930 and 1982. Her father was film director and actor Guido Brignone and her aunt was actress Mercedes Brignone. Her ...

: madre di Tonino * Germana Carnacina: Anna *

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 76-year film career, which began in 1912, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, ...

: Don Domenico De Ritis *

Enzo Turco Enzo Turco (1902 – 7 July 1983) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 39 films between 1939 and 1972. He was born in Naples, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Departure at Seven'' (1946) * ''Fear and Sand'' (1948 ...

: Don Silverio *

Salvatore Puntillo Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

: il commissario Capezzuto *

Renato Chiantoni Renato Chiantoni (19 April 1906 – 24 December 1979) was an Italian actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1937 and 1978. Born in Brescia, the son of the stage actor Amedeo, Chiantoni debuted on stage entering several drama and revue comp ...

: Agostino * Paul Muller: l'onorevole

Production

''Gang War in Naples'' was director

's fourth film after directing three spaghetti Westerns. Fabio Testi was cast in the film as Tonino Russo after Squitieri saw him in ''Le Tueur'' with

Jean Gabin Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976) was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including ''Pépé le Moko'' (1937), '' La grande illusion'' (1937), ''Le Quai des brumes'' ...

. Squitieri went to Paris to meet him despite his producers wanting to cast

Massimo Ranieri Massimo Ranieri (born Giovanni Calone on 3 May 1951) is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and director. Biography Early life Ranieri was born in Naples ( at Santa Lucia), the fifth of eight children in the family. When he was 10, y ...

and

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Y ...

for the roles. Squitieri explained that he "didn't have anything against those actors, but I needed someone who would scare the audience when he came on the screen, and Fabio Testi, with his imposing physique, was just perfect." Squitieri also cast

, noting that Pellegrin "was my idol, he starred in a movie I adore,

André Cayatte André Cayatte (3 February 1909, in Carcassonne – 6 February 1989, in Paris) was a French filmmaker, writer and lawyer, who became known for his films centering on themes of crime, justice, and moral responsibility. Cayatte began his directoral ...

's '' Are We All Murderers?''." Squiteri also declared casting

was easy as she was Testi's girlfriend at the time. The film was shot at Incir-De Paolis in Rome and on location in Naples.

Release

''Gang War in Naples'' was distributed theatrically in Italy by Titanus on 24 August 1972. The film grossed a total of 1,345,608,000

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 ...

domestically. Film historian and critic Roberto Curti described the box office success of the film in Italy was to the

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type org ...

what ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'' was to film on the Sicilian mafia". It was distributed in France on 30 August 1972 with a 100-minute running time as ''Les tueurs a gages''.

References

Sources

External links

* 1972 films Films about the Camorra Films directed by Pasquale Squitieri Films scored by Manuel De Sica 1972 crime drama films Italian crime drama films French crime drama films Films set in Naples Films shot in Naples 1970s Italian films 1970s French films {{1970s-crime-drama-film-stub