La polizia accusa: il servizio segreto uccide

I'm a big fan of Sergio Martino, but it's quite clear that his main strength is in making Giallo's, not crime flicks. This genre is famous for high action sequences such as car chases and shootouts; but this film doesn't deliver that, preferring a more political standpoint and the results are disappointing. There's not a great deal of action in this film; despite some decent murder scenes early on, Silent Action soon becomes rather tedious as the story leans towards the central character uncovering a mystery and the mystery isn't all that exciting. The film starts by depicting the mysterious murders of various Government officials. The film then shows the central copper as he delves into the mystery, starting with finding a prostitute who is believed to be involved in the murder of an innocent man. However, the further he searches, the more it becomes apparent that the murders are all linked to a conspiracy that goes deeper than he first thought...

The film stars Luc Merenda, who gives a decent performance despite the film's shortcomings. Merenda is one of my favourite Polizi regulars, having seen him in a number of these films, you can always count on him to do a good job, and at least the film doesn't disappoint in that respect. However, Martino doesn't do a very good job when it comes the atmosphere or storytelling. For a film to move at this pace, the story really has be interesting, but it doesn't really manage to hold the audience's attention. We never really get a good feel for the "corruption" element of the story either, and when we start to realise how 'deep' it all goes, I just got the impression that it didn't really matter. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't all bad and it certainly has its moments; but I've come to expect more exciting films from this genre, and Silent Action just didn't live up to that. The best part of the film is the ending, though it's debatable as to whether or not it's actually worth waiting for, and again don't be expecting any action! Overall, I can't completely condemn this film; but I didn't like it much, and there are much better Italian crime flicks out there!

A spate of 'suicides' of authority figures is plaguing Italy and Luc Merenda is the cop whose is going to ignore them while trying to figure out who killed some fat electrician with a poker. How, he wonders, does an electrician live in a huge palace and afford high class swanky prostitutes? And why does the last visiting hooker have 10 million lire (£25) in her drawer, and why has she tried to kill herself?

All sorts of things are transpiring as Luc tries to find out what's going on, much to the ire of DA Mel Ferrer. The mystery deepens as a man claiming to be a government agent is caught breaking into the electrician's house which uncovers a blackmail ring and a government organisation run by bearded Tomas Milian. Can Luc figure out what's going on before every single person involved gets murdered in some way? And who can he trust, as he finds out that blackmail would be preferable to what's really going on...

People might find that the first half of the film gets bogged down in Luc uncovering the elaborate mystery, interrogating people, and trying to track down witnesses before they get whacked, but Sergio Martino saves the action for the second half of the film where we get a complicated car chase, and a full-on helicopter led assault on a bad guy camp which reminded me of those great Italian Rambo rip-offs from the eighties. I wasn't sure what was going on by that point, but Luc did then take the time to indulge in a philosophical argument with one of the bad guys that cleared that right up. Kind of.

Tomas Milian isn't in this one so much so don't get disappointed if you're expecting him to run around in his pants, screaming. Mel Ferrer is also in a support role but does actually seem to dub his own voice but doesn't seem that animated, so the film mainly rests on Merenda's shoulders, and he does a fine job of looking suitably angry while punching Antonio Casale in the face.

Director Martino applies his usual style to the film, which is full of really wide angle shots, ensemble shots, and a couple of crane shots (that give the film a strange horror feeling during those particular scenes). I'd never heard of this one despite watching dozens of other Martino films, and it's another good one!

I mean that, for once, Sergio Martino gives us a political oriented crime thriller, not a common poliziottesco, which invaded the italian film industry in the seventies. No gangsters here but a complex political scheme, inspired by true events, as was PARALLAX VIEW in the USA. Plot, conspiracy, intelligence special services, shadow warlords.... A very American like Italian plot. Luc Merenda and Thomas Milian are awesome here, in this interesting movie, among my favourites from Sergio martino, far better than his giallos and other horror films. Very gloomy, brutal, gritty. Damiano Damiani or Pasquale Squitieri's movies spirit are not so far from this one.

Sergio Martino has made many and different films silly, sexy, violent and serious. This one is the last type as long as you know here this is more a serious idea than the sometimes rather silly stuff. As Tomas Milian is in this one and you might not nearly even notice him. The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975) is barely not a giallo but interesting and The Violent Professionals (1973) like these other ones a rather more thrilling political stories that are terrible films on what Italian's were rather like in the 70s. Luc Merenda and Mel Ferrer good as always and the great ride is also a very thinking about in Milan.

An interesting poliziotteschi made by and with a lot of the people from one of my all time favorites 'The Violent Professionals' 1973.

Sometimes the re-use of footage and score can lead to Deja vu.