Pronto ad uccidere

Risking was apparently seen as something of a routine thriller upon its release in 1976; and despite a good first half hour and some decent scenes during the movie, I can certainly see the reason for that. The film is often considered a part of the "Poliziotteschi" genre, and for good reason as the film focuses a lot of the eternal war between Italy's cops and Italy's robbers; but the film also ties in a revenge theme and this somewhat distances it from the average Polizi thriller. The film begins with a jewel heist gone wrong as hapless criminal Massimo Torlani breaks into a jewel store, only to have the shutters closed on him immediately. Naturally, he is sent straight to jail; but the plot thickens when it transpires that the young man is actually an undercover police officer sent to jail to infiltrate a gang of crooks lead by Giulianelli. However, the copper has more on his plate than just orders from the top as the criminals were also responsible for paralysing his mother and he takes the opportunity to get some revenge.

The film stars Ray Lovelock, who gives a charismatic performance as usual; but fails to thoroughly convince as the undercover copper mostly down to his boyish good looks. I'm sure he was cast in the film more because of his popularity than because he was essentially the right actor for the part. The film gets off to a really good start as our hero finds himself in jail, gets in with the criminals and then breaks out of it. From there, the plot takes a bit of a downturn as the film loses focus and becomes more wayward. The plot also doesn't flow very well and at times feels like it's just skipping from one action scene to another. The fact that the story isn't exactly on course to make a point also lets the film down. However, the main reason for watching a film like this is always the entertainment value; and Risking isn't exactly lacking in that department. We've got fist fights, car chases and all the rest of it and the film is normally at least entertaining. I wouldn't call this an essential Polizi flick, nor one of the best; but it's certainly worth a look if you can find it.

Non-stop action in this as Ray Lovelock is a jewel thief who gets himself caught committing his first robbery, only for it to turn out that he's going undercover to break a drug dealing ring.

Martin Balsam is the wiseguy in Lovelock's sights, at least a first, because Lovelock has a bit of an agenda going on and this only comes to light when his contact in the force doesn't particularly think that Lovelock killing of every bad guy he sees as necessarily a good thing. Luckily Ray doesn't listen to him anyway, and continues to work his way up the ranks of the gang while working his way through the rival gangs ranks with a big ass gun.

At no point does Lovelock sit down with Woody Allen and discuss sexual politics, nor does he symbolically bugger a goat that represents the land being buggered by agriculture. This is a Eurocrime film, and fulfils its obligations nicely by barraging our brain sensors with violence of the punchy and shooty kind, romance with Elke Sommer, double-crossing and people being shot in the face, and a fairly decent chase sequence where Ray takes on a truck while riding a bike, and that's after he's chased the bike down on foot.

There's quite a lot packed into this one, although Martin Balsam is kind of shoved into the background toward the end of the film, Lovelock's one track mind of revenge keeps this one flowing along nicely.

An Italian revenge- themed crime film.

A young man tries to rob a jewellery store but gets caught and sent to prison. Inside he befriends a crime boss and they break out together. After this comes the first plot twist which I'm not going to reveal...

All in all an entertaining crime flick for fans of European hardboiled cinema of the seventies. Includes a truly remarkable motorcycle chasing a lorry- scene which includes either real crash footage or the most convincing effects I've ever seen.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

Ready to kill - exciting police film with Ray Lovelock and Elke Sommer

This Italian-German crime film by Francesco Prosperi has a good story, lots of action and excellent actors.

After his mother (Anna Taddei) was seriously injured in the robbery of a jewelry store, the young police officer Massimo Torlani (Ray Lovelock, 1950-2017) seeks revenge. As an undercover investigator, he gets himself locked up in prison. After a hearty fight with prison thug Manolo (Emilio Messina), he gains the trust of gangster Giulianelli (Martin Balsam, best known from "Psycho" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's"), with whom he ultimately escapes. After some confusion, Giulianelli establishes contact with mafia boss Perroni (Ettore Manni) in Genoa. Torlani also meets his charming secretary (Elke Sommer), with whom the smart youngster soon ends up in bed. In the meantime, there is still trouble with Piero (Heinz Domez, who is known from the West German political thriller "Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein / Dear Fatherland, May Be Quiet" (1976)) and the mafia rival Bavoso (Peter Berling (1934-2017), who is also involved in the script ). Commissario Sacchi (Riccardo Cucciolla) is always on the lookout, but he can hardly keep up with the furious showdown...

Lots of action and good actors make this film a very special Italian-style crime film. The Trevi-born Italian actor Ray Lovelock more than lives up to his reputation as a heartthrob and also sings the title song "I'm starting tomorrow". Elke Sommer, the global star from Franconia, who turned 80 in November 2020, is as sexy as ever here and always good for a big surprise. Thanks to her appearances in Mario Bava's films, the likeable Golden Globe winner (1964 for "The Prize") was no longer unknown in the Roman Cinecitta.

By the way, the fan riots in the local derby between AS Roma and Lazio are real and fit into the film's plot.

Very exciting and with a lot of sleeeeeeaaaaze...