''The Italian Connection'' ( it, La mala ordina, lit=The mob orders, also released as ''Manhunt in the City'' and ''Manhunt in Milan'') is a 1972 italian '' noir''-''

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'' film co-written and directed by

Fernando Di Leo Fernando Di Leo (11 January 1932 – 2 December 2003) was an Italian film director and script writer. He made 17 films as a director and about 50 scripts from 1964 to 1985. Biography Fernando Di Leo was born on 11 January 1932 in San Ferdinando ...

; starring

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

Henry Silva Henry Silva (September 23, 1926 – September 14, 2022) was an American actor. A prolific character actor, Silva was a regular staple of international genre cinema, usually playing criminals or gangsters. His notable film appearances include ...

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete and actor. He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. Aft ...

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

Luciana Paluzzi Luciana Paluzzi (born 10 June 1937) is an Italian actress. She is perhaps best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film, '' Thunderball'', but she had important roles in notable films of the 1960s and 1970s in ...

, Sylva Koscina, and

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

. It is the second part of Di Leo’s “Milieu trilogy”, preceded by ''

Caliber 9 ''Caliber 9'' ( it, Milano calibro 9, lit=Milan caliber 9; also released as ''The Contract'') is a 1972 Italian noir-poliziottesco film written and directed by Fernando Di Leo and starring Gastone Moschin, Mario Adorf, Barbara Bouchet, Philippe L ...

'' (also 1972) and followed by ''The Boss'' (1973).

Plot

Professional

hitmen Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

Dave Catania and Frank Webster are dispatched from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

to find and kill Luca Canali, a small-time pimp accused of stealing a mob

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...

shipment. Local

mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

Don Vito Tressoldi is upset by the Americans intrusion on his turf, but is forced to play along by collecting Canali for them. Don Vito deploys a city-wide network of spies and informants to find Canali, but he manages to narrowly evade them, even as his own friends turn on him. It transpires that Don Vito actually stole the shipment himself and framed Canali. He resorts to having Canali’s wife and daughter killed to draw him out. Enraged, Canali goes on a violent rampage of revenge against the mob, picking off the members of Don Vito’s gang and eventually killing the boss himself in his own office. He leads Catania and Webster to a final confrontation in a

wrecking yard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard (Irish, British and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are broug ...

, where he manages to kill them both but is severely wounded in the process. Exhausted, Canali collapses, leaving it ambiguous if he survives or not.

Cast

Production

Di Leo's original title for ''The Italian Connection'' was ''Ordini da un altro mondo'' (''Orders From Another World''). The film's premise is taken from the short story "Milan by Calibro 9" by

Giorgio Scerbanenco Giorgio Scerbanenco (; russian: Владимир Щербаненко, Vladimir Shcherbanenko; uk, Володимир Щербаненко, Volodymyr Shcherbanenko; 18 July 1911 – 27 October 1969) was a Ukrainian-born Italian crime fiction w ...

, which had appeared in the book ''

Milano calibro 9 ''Caliber 9'' ( it, Milano calibro 9, lit=Milan caliber 9; also released as ''The Contract'') is a 1972 Italian noir-poliziottesco film written and directed by Fernando Di Leo and starring Gastone Moschin, Mario Adorf, Barbara Bouchet, Philippe L ...

'', the inspiration for di Leo's earlier film of the same name; unlike the previous film, Scerbanenco did not receive an onscreen credit. The film was shot at Dear Studios in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and on-location in

performed his own stunts in the infamous car chase scene. In contrast to ''Caliber 9'', Adorf also provided his own voice for the English-language dub. Co-stars

and

had previously appeared together in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film '' Thunderball'' (1965).

Release

''The Italian Connection'' was released theatrically in Italy on 2 September 1972 where it was distributed by Alpherat. The film grossed 852.404 million

Italian lira 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 ...

on its theatrical run in Italy. It was released in West Germany on 1 December 1972 under the title ''Der Mafiaboss - Sie töten wie Schakale''. The film received a release in the United States as ''The Italian Connection'' in 1973 with an 87-minute running time. Various home video releases over the years retitled the film as ''Hired to Kill'', ''Black Kingpin'', ''Hitmen'', and ''Hit Men''. The film was released by Raro on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States.

Legacy

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

, a self-avowed fan of Di Leo’s films, cited the characters of Dave and Frank as the inspirations for Vincent Vega (

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes '' Carrie'' ( ...

) and Jules Winfield (

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

) in ''Pulp Fiction''.Italian B-Movies: Tarantino's inspiration
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References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Commection, The Poliziotteschi films 1970s action thriller films 1970s crime thriller films 1972 films Films about organized crime in Italy Films based on works by Giorgio Scerbanenco Films directed by Fernando Di Leo Films scored by Armando Trovajoli Films set in Milan Films shot in Milan Films shot in Rome Italian gangster films Italian crime thriller films Italian action thriller films West German films German gangster films German crime thriller films German action thriller films English-language Italian films English-language German films 1970s Italian-language films 1970s Italian films 1970s German films