L'uomo della strada fa giustizia

Italy, the land of fine art and classy footwear, has also long been known for having the Mafia, Cosanostra, Ndranguetta, Camorra, drug cartels, corrupt police, serious youth crime, and all manner of violence.

In L'uomo della strada fa giustizia (literally translating as The Man in the Street Implements Justice) you get a feeling that by 1975, the year this film came out, Italian society openly rebelled against the crime situation. More than anything else, this Umberto Lenzi effort reflects social unhappiness over the crime rate in the country, and how any innocent person could become victim.

As in DEATH WISH, which came out in 1974, a family member is placed on the sacrificial altar for maximum manipulation. Here, it is Henry Silva's beautiful and sweet 8-year-old daughter who gets shot dead. A purportedly blind man asks for her help to cross the street, uses her to get into the bank and finally shoots her dead to eliminate the witness... but she crucially lives long enough to talk about a scorpion, which turns out to be a piece of jewelry on the villain's wrist.

Henry Silva never struck me as a good actor and here he just uses the same facial expressions - no range, no emotional depth - and quite frankly I kept missing Luciana Paluzzi's delicate facial features. Not that her role amounted to much, basically she just told hubby Silva to not embark on revenge but to take himself in hand and avoid violence.

Sadly, Silva does not listen to lovely Paluzzi but police prove very lenient and promptly urge him to claim that he acted in self-defense. The film's best lines come from Silva's interaction with a transexual, with some cad popping up and saying: "One of these days I'll give you something nice, say, a golden dildo."

Of course, L'uomo della strada fa giustizia cannot match the production values let alone the budget of vigilantism-related films coming out in the USA at the time like DEATH WISH, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, or STRAW DOGS. 6/10.

This is a fairly decent Italian crime movie but I was expecting something a bit more special from Umberto Lenzi. There are some good sequences, including a very good car chase and things get particularly nasty with the vigilantes but I was expecting more of a revenge movie. So when the beginning becomes rather drawn out with more and more going wrong for our hero, I imagine the eventual revenge will be that much more fierce. Doesn't really happen, we get a most depressing picture of Italy and Milan in particular mid 70s and in the end it all seems rather sad. Things are not helped by henry Silva, there is nothing really wrong with his performance but he's not the most charismatic of actors and here doesn't seem to be able to move up a gear. Music again is fine but its not Morricone.

A man's daughter is killed by thieves during a bank robbery. Due to the incompetence of the corrupt authorities, he decides to take to law into his own hands and track down the killers, who seem to be a gang who sport a scorpion insignia.

This Umberto Lenzi directed poliziotteschi stars Henry Silva. Like several other Italian crime-thrillers from the mid 70's this one shows the influence of Death Wish. In it, a stony faced Silva is the equivalent of Charles Bronson. He makes his way through the entire picture in a seriously bad mood. The movie itself is extremely cynical in its view of the Italian law enforcement authorities, who are shown to be utterly useless. There is even a vigilante group who try to get Silva to go along with their way of thinking but they seem to have a somewhat heavy handed set of methods in dealing with undesirables and even Silva thinks they are a bunch of nutters that are best avoided.

Manhunt in the City is a pretty standard crime-thriller. It's mostly unremarkable but competently made nevertheless. For fans of poliziotteschi flicks it will no doubt entertain because it is essentially more of the same. Of additional note is the alternately smooth and urgent score from the reliable Bruno Nicolai, which adds some extra quality.

Italian vigilante thriller starring Henry Silva and Luciana Paluzzi

A year after the sensational success of "Ein Mann schlägt zurück / A Man Strikes Back" (1974) with Franco Nero and Giancarlo Prete, successful director Umberto Lenzi brought this alternative to Enzo G. Castellari's film to Italian cinemas (May 8, 1975). Lenzi's film, which in English should actually be called "A man from the street ensures justice", is a tough vigilante police film that was shot in Milan and distributed by the renowned Titanus film distributor.

At the beginning it's pretty tough! During a robbery at a jewelry store, Vera (Luciana Paluzzi) and Davide Vannucchi's (Henry Silva) sweet little daughter (Susanna Melandri) is brutally shot. The completely desperate parents become more and more dissatisfied with the police investigation, so Vennucchi and his publisher friend (Silvano Tranquilli) do their own research. The architect increasingly develops vigilante intentions and comes into contact with a group of self-proclaimed crime fighters (Claudio Gora, Luciano Catenacci). His frightened wife and the level-headed police inspector (Raymond Pellegrin) try to stop Davide from the worst...

A very exciting film that doesn't skimp on the brutality you'd expect from Italian genre films and also offers a few other surprises. Umberto Lenzi, who has already appeared in many genres (historical film with Hildegard Knef in "Catherine of Russia" (1963) / adventure film with Steve Reeves as "Sandokan" (1963) and various gialli with the fabulous Carroll Baker (So sweet...so perverse , Knife of Ice)) was on the way, Here too, he does a remarkable job. Above all, he knows how to direct his excellent cast.

Henry Silva, who also knew how to impress in the Mario Adorf classic "LA mala ordina / The Mafia Boss - They Kill Like Jackals", "Il Boss / Der Teufel führt Regie / The Devil Is Directing" and "Poliziotti violenti / Blutiger Schweiß / Bloody Sweat" with Antonio Sabato, is not quite as good as a grieving father, but He's fantastic as a killing vigilante.

The Roman Luciana Paluzzi, born in 1937, who was married to the American actor Brett Halsey before he married German EUROVISION star Heidi Brühl (1942-1991), is best known as the best and most beautiful Bond villain of all time in "Thunderball" (1965). She was also in "La mala ordina / The Mafia Boss - They Kill Like Jackals" and alongside Antonio Sabato in "Calling All Police Cars" (1975). Here she impresses as a grieving and desperate mother.

Luciano Catenacci (1933-1990), who was once "promoted" to an actor as director Mario Bava's production manager, is only represented in a small role, but his face has been known since his appearances as "Chefchen" in "Zwei außer Rand und Band / Two Out of Order " (1976) and "Zwei sind nicht zu bremsen / Two Can't Be Stopped" (1978), when he was so impressively beaten by Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, are unforgettable.

A typical poliziottesco! A typical 70s film! Definitely a must see for fans of the genre!

This film begins with a young girl helping to guide a blind man into a jewelry store in downtown Milan, Italy. Once they go inside, however, he immediately produces a gun and along with a few other accomplices proceeds to rob the store. Upon leaving the jewelry store he shoots the young girl and she dies just minutes later. Needless to say, her parents "Davide Vannucchi" (Henry Silva) and "Vera Vannucchi" (Luciana Paluzzi) are overcome with grief and cannot understand how something like this could happen to their little girl. Yet, even though they both want those responsible to be held accountable, Davide is not nearly as patient as his wife and insists on an aggressive investigation by the police. That said, when he realizes how incompetent and inept the police are, has to choose whether to join a local vigilante group or hire a private detective instead. However, when the private investigator gets too close to these criminals and is killed for his efforts, Davide decides to take matters into his own hands. What he doesn't count on, however, is the cost he and his wife will have to pay as a result. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a decent Italian crime-drama which benefited from solid acting on the part of both Henry Silva and Luciana Paluzzi along with some good action and suspense as well. Admittedly, there are better "revenge movies" movies out there and Henry Silva isn't quite as good as someone like Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood. But all things considered, he performed well enough for this particular film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.