Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss.
Acting
Moschin's dead-eyed silence speaks louder than any dialogue.
Direction
Di Leo's Milan looks like a concrete tomb of sin.
Editing
That opening heist sequence is pure caffeinated chaos.
Director
Fernando Di Leo
Gastone Moschin
Ugo Piazza
Barbara Bouchet
Nelly Bordon
Mario Adorf
Rocco Musco
Frank Wolff
Police Commissioner
Luigi Pistilli
Mercuri
Ivo Garrani
Don Vincenzo
Lionel Stander
L'Americano / The Mikado
Philippe Leroy
Chino
Mario Novelli
Pasquale Tallarico
Giuseppe Castellano
Nicola
Fernando Cerulli
Hotel Clerk
Giulio Baraghini
Brigadier
Ernesto Colli
Alfredo Bertolon
Omero Capanna
Couriers Supervisor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This kicked off Di Leo's 'Milano Calibro 9' trilogy that defined 1970s poliziotteschi cinema—Italy's brutal answer to American noir.
Mario Adorf (Rocco) improvised much of his unhinged performance, including that unnerving laugh that makes your skin crawl.
IT
