La banda del gobbo

Umberto Lenzi gets his money's worth out of Tomas Milian by having him play twin brothers in their last collaboration. Not only twins - one of them is a bank robbing hunchback to boot!

The subtly named Humpo has come back to Rome after spending nearly two years in Corsica, and he's out for one big score. His gang thinks that's a great idea, but they also think that it's a good idea to put a bullet in Humpo's back as he's the most recognisable criminal in the whole country. Humpo is no fool, however, and escapes into the sewer with revenge on his mind...

This is basically the Tomas Milian show all the way, with Humpo being an angry, resourceful, righteous maniac who rolls about in piles of filth, takes great pleasure in outsmarting those who have double-crossed him, while all the while showing incredible love for his girlfriend Maria (who delights in helping Humpo out). The greatest scene in the film is when Humpo takes Maria out on a date and he takes her on the dancefloor, while all the rich folk around him start laughing and mocking him. Humpo seems to revel in it at first, much to Maria's horror, but then the tables are soon turned.

Humpo's twin brother Pigsty is a lot more subdued and docile, but he still shows he can outsmart people too. He gets his own subplot here as he gets sent to a mental asylum while covering for Humpo, and gets the more emotional scenes towards the end of the film.

Those looking for action might be let down though. There's not much here. This is known as a lesser Lenzi Eurocrime film, but think about how high he set the bar for himself.

This movie is a masterpiece (of course considering the genre and the historical period of the film). Tomas Milian, that plays both the parts of the two brothers, proves again to be a really great actor. The Italian slang (from Rome) is an essential part of the movie as well the vulgar jokes typical of many Tomas Milian Italian characters. Soundtrack also is great. Some of the scenes are memorable and the characters of the two brothers are very charismatic. Also the the movie has a more dramatic and serious tone compared to other Tomas Milian movies of that genre but at the same time doesn't lack of very funny moments. For me (considering that is an Italian 70's police movies) it deserves a 10/10 vote.

Bright and breezy with colourful action and even more colourful characters, its just that it is all just a little too silly. Tomas Milian stars twice, yes, that's right, he stars as a pair of twin brothers. One is a fairly simple working guy, the other a crazed and criminal hunchback. Milian manages to overact in both roles and to look ridiculous in them both too, with the most terrible wigs. But then maybe Lenzi thought this would be amusing, he certainly thinks a lot of other things amusing that somehow we no longer do and in most cases never did. The French get a dig, the Albanians even more, hunchbacks, of course as well as homosexuals and transvestites and feminists. Quite a role call but the whole episode in the lunatic asylum being played for laughs is quite extraordinary and something I have previously only seen in Hong Kong Cat3 films. There is another extraordinary scene in this and it takes place in a restaurant where Milian as the hunchback rogue turns his wrath upon the rich and famous that had seen fit to laugh at him and this just about makes the film worth a watch.

When it comes to Italian crime films, Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of the Italian Polizi sub-genre, and while this film doesn't quite live up to the ones that went before it; Brothers Till We Die is still an interesting and entertaining little film that is sure to please fans of this sort of stuff. This was the last of Lenzi's crime collaborations with the great Tomas Milian, and it's also the most ambitious use of the actor. Here, Milian is given the task of playing two brothers, but since this is a cheapo Italian effort where special effects weren't really affordable, the effect is generated entirely through editing, and it has to be said that Lenzi does a good job. The plot is somewhat routine and simply follows a familiar revenge curve. Francesco and Vincenzo are brothers; Francesco is a bum better known as "Pigsty" and Vincenzo is a hunchback who gets called "Humpo" (you gotta love Italians!). The plot focuses more on Vincenzo, a wanted man who "rears his hump" in order to commit another robbery. However, things don't go to plan as his accomplices decide to shoot him (he's too noticeable, and therefore runs a risk of getting them all caught). Vincenzo manages to drag himself into a sewer, and then proceeds to get revenge...

The film doesn't feature the greatest script ever written (not even the greatest script ever written for a trashy Italian film!), but the silly dialogue is often very funny and the film's absolute disregard for political correctness when it comes to the lead character's disfigurement is just great. Obviously, a lot of this film's success (or lack of) rests on the shoulders of Tomas Milian, and despite being given a rather heavy role; he doesn't manage to turn a great performance. His "Pigsty" character is a messy imitation of the "Garbage Can" character from Free Hand for a Tough Cop, while the hunchback character is a lot more like Milian's forte; but the make-up intrudes on the performance, and neither one comes off particularly well. However, I'd much rather have Tomas Milian in the role than anyone else, and he does always make the film worth watching in spite of its shortcomings. The plot flows nicely enough throughout and it's usually entertaining. Lenzi has also seen fit to throw in a sub-plot revolving around the hunchback's attitude towards his disability, which feels a bit odd but works fairly well nonetheless. Overall, this is a decent enough slice of Italian police action and I'm sure most people that see it will enjoy it.

Tomas Milian stars in this poliziottesco and he plays a dual role as scumbag twin brothers!; given that I too have a twin brother, I could totally relate to their love/hate relationship!

The lead character is a creepy-looking hunchbacked gangster (sort of a cross between Richard III and John Barrymore's Hyde in the 1920 version of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE!) - who, actually, had already featured in Lenzi's ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH (1976); his brother is the dim-witted and more overtly comical "Monnezza", decked out in bum's clothing and sporting a particularly ridiculous Afro-wig (for him, this was the third and last appearance)! This is the first film I've watched for either of them and all I can say is that I was a lot more intrigued by the antics of The Hunchback...

The action scenes (often involving The Hunchback alone as "Monnezza" is useless in such situations - though he gets the last laugh!) deliver the goods but, even if the latter's low brand of comedy never really takes centre-stage, the film is still unbalanced by these scenes (though one in particular is quite inspired - when he's brought in for questioning at a police station and, in his feverish state of mind, mistakes a bearded hippie who's been arrested for Christ and thinks that he has died and gone to Heaven)! With respect to The Hunchback, the disco scene where he's ridiculed by the establishment's habitual bourgeois customers - to their eventual regret - introduces an unexpected poignancy into the fray (especially with the impassioned speech he delivers to them at gunpoint!), which suggests that the film-makers' intention was perhaps more serious than the end result would indicate...

As a matter of fact, star and director allegedly fell out during the making of this film (their sixth 'collaboration' in 4 years!) and, indeed, rather than sticking to a script Milian virtually improvised all his dialogue as he went along!! Besides, The Hunchback's nemesis here - Commissioner Sarti - is mostly ineffective (making a poor substitute for Maurizio Merli or even Luc Merenda) while the finale shamelessly rips off THE WAGES OF FEAR (1953)...but, at least, it does feature a typically bouncy score by Franco Micalizzi!