La polizia accusa: il servizio segreto uccide

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.

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.

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!

In 1970 there was almost a coup d'état by neo-fascists in Italy. The exciting film by Sergio MARTINO is based on this GOLPE BORGHESE.

Luc MERENDA plays a police officer who investigates murders in Rome and comes across inconsistencies. Since he is repeatedly told off by his superior (FALCON CREST star Mel FERRER), he teams up with a colleague from the secret service (unusual role for Tomas MILIAN). But the matter is becoming more and more dangerous...

Delia BOCCARDO, who celebrated her 75th birthday on January 29, 2023, is there as a brilliant journalist. Paola TEDESCO and Loredana NUSCIAK (Django) appear in smaller roles.

Very exciting crime film that also has elements of a political thriller (not quite as strong as in Damiano DAMIANI's films)!

The only famous name in this Martino movie is Mel Ferrer and I guess he was just taking the money and running to invest it in one of his productions .Ferrer could not care less and he really seems to want to leave as soon as possible this muddled political-cum-thriller effort ,a genre that was so popular in Italy at the time .It did produce good works ("Cadaveri Eccellenti" (Rosi) or Elio Petri's "Indagine Su Un Cittadino Al Di Sopra Di Ogni Sospetto" ).Alas ,such is not the case here.

"La Polizia Accusa " (which became in France "The city accuses ") features a "meaningful" scene on a plane where the villain explains Hitler's "philosophy" (Mao's doctrine was the same ,we are told ) to the virtuous cop (played by Luc Merenda whose only claim to fame was his part in the "Chateauvallon" miniseries).