Il commissario Verrazzano

By 1978 the commercial and creative heydays of the Poliziotesschi were unmistakably over, but naturally several directors and lead stars attempted to further cash in on the once successful formula. "Deadly Chase" is a clear example of an overdue Poliziotesschi, and even somewhat resembles a film-noir since that genre was also going through a modest cinematic revival at the time. Genre icon Luc Merenda depicts his favorite and most familiar protagonist role: a police commissioner desired by many women for his good looks, although his personal devotion solely goes out to his pet cat and gambling. He gets approached by a beautiful artist who solidly claims that the alleged suicide of her brother was, in fact, murder. She accuses her brother's stunningly beautiful (and much younger) wife, because she inherited all his money and remarried only a month later. Commissioner Verrazzano investigates the case, on duty as well as off duty, and quickly becomes entangled in a web of deceit, betrayal, loan sharks and additional murders. "Deadly Chase" isn't what you'd call a recommendable thriller/film-noir. The script is too talkative, the plot twists are predictable and the denouement is derivative. There are a handful of adequate action sequences, like car chases and shootouts, but it's all quite tame and unexciting in comparison of earlier Poliziotesschi classics. The four main reasons to nonetheless check out this film are the actresses in the supportive cast, as they are all stunning beauties. There's the lovely Swedish born Janet Agren, and the lesser known but equally attractive Patrizia Gori and Mariá Baxa. Last but not least, the film marks the very last appearance of the breath-taking Luciana Paluzzi, mostly known for her role as relentless killer in "Thunderball" and one of the most shamefully underrated actresses of all times.

This film by Franco PROSPERI is about the busy Commissario Verrazzano (the Italian original title), who oscillates between excessive gangster hunts and a dissolute love life. In this late 1978 poliziottesco, the French actor Luc MERENDA plays what he does best: a hard-boiled policeman who doesn't shy away from any love affair. He hunts down the bad guys with devotion, has an affair with the married Rosy (Luciana PALUZZI in her last film appearance) and talks to his cat Ciro. But then something happens that turns the Commissario's life completely upside down. The young Giulia (Janet AGREN) asks him for help after her brother's alleged suicide. His wife is already with a gangster boss (Chris AVRAM). The inspector uncovers a huge plot...

This late work in the boom phase of Italian crime films in the 1970s almost seems like a film noir. The usual action scenes of the wiry Luc MERENDA are hardly noticeable. The film was shot in Rome and Nice.

It's a shame that the great Luciana PALUZZI was not given a better role when she left the screen. Her performance as Fiona Volpe in THUNDERBALL (1965) will never be forgotten. Probably the most impressive villain in James Bond film history!

This film opens with a bizarre disco dancing troupe acting like robots while holding glittery table tennis rackets. I'm not even sure if that looked cool at the time.

Luc Merenda is a cop with a gambling problem who is knee deep in pussy, both the feline and the female versions, but that doesn't mean he's not out for a little more. When Janet Agren turns up in his office, Luc raises one of his draught-exluder sized eyebrows and agrees to take on her case. That case being the suspected murder of her rich millionaire brother who was previously though to have killed himself. Janet suspects her brother's trophy wife Carla, who remarried within one month of the guy dying.

Tied in with all this is a spate of robberies being carried out by amateur criminals, including one at a racecourse Luc frequents, and another at an office where Luc gets in a good car chase before one of the robbers smashes his brains out on a truck. Eventually the convoluted plot begins to straighten out as the guy who married the dead guy's wife turns out to be a loan shark making people carry out crimes to repay their debts, and don't get me started on the giallo-like twists at the end!

What starts out as a possible comedy turns slightly dull in the middle and then becomes good in the final third, as the bad guys kill Luc's cat, and his girlfriend Luciana Paluzzi, but especially the cat. There's another appearance by those crappy disco dudes, someone gets mauled to death by dogs and most strange of all, Luc goes to a shooting range full of robots. The sight of Luc shooting people in bad wigs pretending to be robots comes out of nowhere, makes no sense, and has nothing to do with the plot.

Much more fun than Prosperi's Last House on The Beach, Deadly Chase still shows that the Eurocrime film's plot of a maverick, unorthodox cop who does things his way, doesn't take orders from the Man, and still takes time to bed every woman he meets is only good the first hundred times you see it.

I'm digging the disco soundtracks from this era, however.

Police Commissioner Verrazzano (Luc Merenda) is asked to investigate the death of a man originally ruled a suicide. The dead man's sister is convinced that someone murdered her brother. Soon after his investigation begins, Verrazzono's begins to suspect there might be something to the woman's story. It's obvious that someone doesn't want Verrazzono to find the truth.

Overall, Deadly Chase is a reasonably entertaining, but odd little film. It's not great and there are scenes that lack much of interest, but if you're a fan of 70s Italian genre films, it's at least worth checking out. Described as a Poliziotessch, it's not as violent as most in the genre. Sure, there are deaths and such, but the film lacks the over-the-top gun battles and explosions I usually associate with the genre. Instead, Deadly Chase is more of a mystery. The plot is similar to a Giallo with it's many twists and turns. It gets quite (unnecessarily) complicated and almost impossible to follow. But that's always part of the fun with an Italian film from the 70s.

I always enjoy seeing Luc Merenda. He has an easy going style about him that sets him apart from many of his contemporaries. I'm not saying he's better than someone like George Hinton or any other actor I could name from the period, just different. He's solid here. Merenda is joined by quite a cast of female costars, including Janet Agren, Patrizia Gori, María Baxa, and the always enjoyable Luciana Paluzzi. One of my complaints is that Paluzzi isn't really given much to do. Still, it's always a treat to see her on-screen.