Il cinico, l'infame, il violento

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!

The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist clearly takes influence regarding it's central theme from the Sergio Leone masterpiece 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly', and here we follow the fortunes of three strong male characters as their lives intertwine in the name of crime. Director Umberto Lenzi plied his trade in a number of Italy's most popular genres, and his resume includes the likes of zombies, cannibals and Giallo; but the only field he's a master in is the Dirty Harry inspired sub-genre, 'Polizia'. This is only my third Lenzi crime flick, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's one of the best he ever made, as the masterpiece 'Almost Human' only just edges it out. Umberto Lenzi packs his film with all the things you'd expect from the crime genre; with things such as shootouts, car chases and sadism featuring strongly. The actual plot is a little convoluted, and follows Italian mob boss 'The Chinaman', as he hooks up with New York crime lord Frank Di Maggio. The cop looking to take the pair of them down is Leonardo Tanzi, a man not afraid to break the law in order to bring in his man.

Exactly which of the title monikers apply to which of the three characters is never really explained; although personally, I wager that Tomas Milian's Chinaman is 'The Cynic', John Saxon's mob boss is 'The Rat' and Maurizio Merli violent copper is the aptly named 'The Fist'. One of the film's strongest elements is undoubtedly the cast list, as the central trio of characters are brought to life by three of cult cinema's best actors. Tomas Milian certainly knows his way around a sadistic part, while the underrated (and sadly here underused) John Saxon's resume speaks for itself. Maurizio Merli is perhaps the least accredited member of the cast, but lead roles in this and Lenzi's Violent Naples certainly shows that the man can play the gritty copper. The plot flows very well, and Lenzi's direction continually impresses. It can be a little hard to follow at times, but there's always enough shooting and murders to keep genre fans happy. The ending is a major strongpoint too, as Lenzi spends the entire film building up to a showdown, and when it hits; it doesn't disappoint. Overall, this is a first class example of the Italian crime thriller and comes highly recommended.

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.

'The Cynic, The Rat & The Fist' boisterously remains a most genial Lenzi-helmed poliziottesco classic, starring the appealingly familiar Teflon-tough triumvirate of Merli, Milian and Saxon; replete with so much scene chewing testosterone, it's a miracle that any celluloid remained for the final print!!! Sinful Saxon plays the boorish crim, Frank Di Maggio with charismatic muscularity, and there really can be only one avenging, fists-first, triumphantly thug-baiting copper up to the titanic task of carving a crimson swathe of retrograde justice through the ubiquitously iniquitous backstreets of Rome, and that man is the icon of hep-cat Poliziotteschi cool; an uber bellicose, bullet-blasting geezer with a majestic moustache fashioned out of living granite; give it up for, Maurizio Merli!!! The protean arch nemesis to sordid skeezers, blood-thirsty blaggers, and pernicious pimps, be they vertical inebriate, or horizontal degenerate; you foolhardily cross that intractable line on murderously macho Merli's gimlet-eyed watch and you're going home in a gore-spattered, snug-fitting zip lock tuxedo! The swarthy Saxon fatally bites off more than he can chew, and ends up choking on the fist-sized, jaw-breaking, righteously roundhouse-rocking might of Maurizio Merli!

While 'The Cynic, The Rat & The Fist' isn't the greatest Merli/Lenzi pairing, it's pretty damn close, and that can only mean one thing, my Eurocrime-loving compadres, an exhilaratingly intense example of J&B-fuelled, ferociously Fiat-fragging Italian action!

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!