Le cynique, l'infâme, le violent

This is one of the better poliziotteschi I've seen - written by Lenzi with two other Euro-Cult stalwarts, Ernesto Gastaldi and Dardano Sacchetti - and also, perhaps, the quintessential Maurizio Merli film (not that this, in itself, is a guarantee of quality!).

From the title, one presumes that this was intended to be THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) of crime films - although, here, the shifty alliance is made between two baddies (Tomas Milian - dubbed "The Chinaman", for some reason a favorite nickname in films from this subgenre! - and John Saxon). Again, having just watched COP IN BLUE JEANS (1976) the previous day, I couldn't help noticing just how many of these films open with a robbery sequence; likewise, the leading man's girlfriend generally emanates from the wrong side of the tracks and is victimized for aiding our hero during the course of the film!

As is to be expected, the film's pace never lets up by providing a steady quota of highly proficient action scenes - culminating in a heist committed at one of Saxon's offices by Milian's thugs(!) and which also involves Merli and "The Professor", an elderly pint-sized expert in gadgetry, in the elaborate diffusion of the building's security system. Still, characterization is not entirely neglected: Merli is obsessed with catching Milian (even if the two only come face to face at the climax) and, feigning his own death, works undercover to this end but remains in contact with his chief; Milian is a small- time hood with ambitions of taking over the territory of American mobster Saxon; the latter, then, is the typical gangster - wealthy, ruthless (with a penchant for leaving traitors at the mercy of his enormous hounds!) and apparently omnipotent. The scenes in which the villainous duo clash - each with his own agenda which sees no place in the scheme of things for the other! - constitute some of the film's highlights; Franco Micalizzi's score is also notable.

Even if the film's in no way a spoof as COP IN BLUE JEANS had been, its script features a comparable surfeit of hard-boiled dialogue which is so over-the-top as to be quite funny - extending even to the notes of condolences passed on amongst the criminals as a means of heralding someone's death sentence!

This is probably the best example of a 70's Italian crime movie, though not the "best" movie of the genre (does that make sense?). It has, besides Saxon, an entirely Italian cast but most of them are pretty recognizable regulars in very amusing roles. Maurizio Merli is best as the role he was born to play, that of yet another ticked off Police commissioner. His very charismatic, yet level-headed performance is the one thing that keeps this movie moving along so well, and it is notable that of Lenzi's crime movies, this is probably the one that entrusts Merli with the most screentime (besides FROM CORLEONE TO BROOKLYN - though that is not so much a crime movie).

It's a pretty sloppily-shot, and haphazardly edited film (probably because most of Lenzi's films from this time were made with little money and over the span of 2-3 weeks), but has some very memorable shots (Merli charging across the foot-bridge, Merli pulling a bandage off of his newly healed arm, etc.) and a killer soundtrack by Franco Micalizzi (probably his best one). What's not to like about poorly-dubbed Italians smacking each other, breaking chairs over each-other's heads, shooting people in hospital beds, and stealing women's cars? The only weaknesses in this film are the fact that the heist sequence is far too long and drawn out, and the ending shootout is too quick and confusing (centering only on Milian vs. Merli when there is a whole gang war going on). Otherwise, a solid and action-packed film. It should also be noted that this probably has the most swearing of any 70's Italian movie, at least in the English version, making it the polar opposite of THE BIG RACKET.

With "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist", Umberto Lenzi proved once more what he had already proven numerous times before, namely that he was Italy's greatest and hardest-working crime-movie director! Even during the second half of the 70s decade, when the heydays of the Poliziotesschi were actually over already, Lenzi still made a handful of downright awesome genre classics. "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" is even one of the best Poliziotesschi ever, with a very eventful but nevertheless solid script, no less than three of the finest contemporary lead actors and a truckload of impressively staged action footage. The title, and quite many of the themes as well, are obvious (and sublime) references towards Sergio Leone's landmark western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". However, in Leone's film, it was unmistakably clear who was who, whereas here the three main protagonists are never referred to with one of the aliases/nicknames of the title and it's not all that obvious to guess, neither! I presume Maurizio Merli - Tanzi the good guy - is "the Fist", since he's battling the organized crime in Rome with his bare vigilante hands now that he quit the police. I also daresay John Saxon's character Di Maggio is "the Rat", since his filthy mafia activities infest the entire city like a disease. And finally, Tomas Milian - in a truly superb performance - is probably "the Cynic" because, well, he's one of the cruelest and most relentless villains to ever appear on screen (just look at the hospital execution sequences for evidence).

Great movie, ditto soundtrack and particularly the sequences that feature Tomas Milian and John Saxon together rank as some of the most powerful ones in Italian cult cinema history!

"The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" is definitely one of the better Poliziotteschi flicks. These movies are usually boring, incomprehensible wastes of time for everybody concerned. "Cynic" is head and shoulders ahead of the pack because it is actually consistently entertaining, though I was still confused and left in the dark for parts of it. It also has legendary actor Tomas Milian as the bad guy, though he isn't as memorable here as he was in the classic Eurocrime, "Almost Human".

The movie has a lot of action, but not so much violence. What do I mean by that? There are a lot of punches thrown in the movie, not to mention slaps and backhands, and actors convincingly take these blows when they topple over backwards. However, it often doesn't look real. You can tell the blows didn't really connect, and nor is there much make-up work to depict bruises as a result of them.

There is one shocking scene in which a woman has acid thrown in her face. It wouldn't be an Italian crime flick without a surplus of violence against women. I think every woman in the movie gets roughed up somehow. Interestingly, there is a scene where the hero reacts unfavourably to a guy beating a prostitute. There is so much violence against women in these movies - and particularly movies by the director, Umberto Lenzi - that you feel obliged to assume that he was a proponent of it. Of course, the hero later gets his own hands dirty in this regard later in the flick.

Be on the look out for a ridiculous scene later in the movie where the hero and some other guy break into a building that uses invisible laser beams for security, and you can clearly tell that, when they appear, these laser beams are made out of string.

I've always remember of Umberto Lenzi in "La Montagma di Luci" that never hear about and hope one day see it again on DVD, fantastic picture from one the most prolific italian director of all times, he made several movies in every genre you can imagine, in this poiziotteschi he made an another crime movie exploited a famous underground of the gangs which have to launder the dirty money from their so many felonies, the leading trio Milian, Merli are a true italian, already John Saxon is an Oriundi, specifically speaking over Merli l've have to confess never saw a thing from him, but undoubtedly a fine actor (Franco Nero's Cover??) the plot is unusual and intense pace, Lenzi does it again!!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5