Flics en jeans

I'm so glad that I actually enjoyed this one, because it has TEN sequels, and I would have watched them regardless. This is Tomas Milian as quirky cop Inspector Giraldi, a strangely-dressed, dirty-looking freak who keeps a mouse called Serpico and likes to get the bad guys in less violent fashion than his contempories (even those played by Milian himself).

The film was a huge success in Italy, mainly due I guess to Milian's off the wall performance as Giraldi, a crook turned cop who is always trying to track down a bad guy called the Baron, plus some other guy who keeps leaving message consisting of nothing but 'Up Yours!' on Giraldi's answer machine. Things are played out lightly enough until the Baron accidentally steals five million dollars from a hard case gangster (Palance) and starts getting his mates killed while the Mafia try and get their money back.

This doesn't stop Milian getting it on with the strangely patient Maria Rosaria Ommagio (who looks like Kate Bush), a robbery victim who doesn't seem to mind going to bed with Milian even though he wears two pairs of socks, three jumpers and some nifty red budgie smugglers, because of course no Milian film is complete without him at least appearing once in his pants. He also takes her disco dancing which made me burst out laughing at Milian's moves, as well as his get-up and the hat he wears that has "Tomas Milian" written on it in red pen.

It has a mainly light tone this film, but don't think of it as some sort of Eurocrime 'Trinity' film. The film does mainly stick to the grim plots of before, just with a much better character up front than the usual stone-faced killing machines. And his mouse wears a little hat at the end!

Oh, and all Jack Palance did was chew cigarettes and scowl, as usual.

I like old spaghetti police movies! Always dark, violents and originals. And they usually got a very good soundtrack. This one is no exception. The beginning is great, starting exactly like Street Law: small criminals doing pickpocket and many violent acts on bike. then come Millian violently punishing these little criminals. jack palance play a great bad guy, even if you know that he didnt put a lot of effort in this role. The first half is very good, but the second, I admit, is a little bit boring. Recommended for Millian and Bruno Corbucci fan and for the killer soundtrack by Guido and Maurizio...so cool.

Released in 1976, "The Cop in Blue Jeans" is a loner-cop thriller in the mold of "Dirty Harry" (1971) and "Serpico" (1973). The titular protagonist even looks like Serpico. The difference is that this is an Italian production directed & co-written by Bruno Corbucci. The plot revolves around an undercover cop named Nico Giraldi (Tomas Milian) who arrests several thugs of the purse snatching variety and zeroes-in on the mastermind of the ring (Jack Palance).

The Italian title is "Squadra Antiscippo," which means "Swindle Squad" and I assume refers to the theft ring. Anyway, the movie's an interesting way to observe the more obscure parts of Rome in the mid-70s. The story's relatively compelling and there's a lot of undercover cop type of action (naturally). Maria Rosaria Omaggio is easy on the eyes, but not enough is done with her. Nico's pet mouse, named Serpico, is a nice addition.

While this is a decent Euro flick and worth catching for the highlights noted, don't expect the greatness of any of the Dirty Harry installments.

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes and was shot in Rome.

GRADE: B-/C+

THE COP IN BLUE JEANS, the US title of this film, was quite widely available in the video budget bins of the 80s and early 90s, so this may be the best known in the US of Tomas Milian's series of films as longhaired, unconventional cop Nico Giraldi. The films starts with a bang as a mini-crimewave is depicted in rapid-fire succession (the scene with the guy mooning the tourists to divert their attention as their possessions are stolen is a classic!), until after seven or eight minutes Milian jumps into action. Like most films of Bruno Corbucci, there is a serious political element in the film too, while it completely satisfies fans who just want an exciting violent action film. And of course, Tomas Milian is brilliant, creating an anti-hero (as he does so well!) who is unlike ANYONE in US cinema. I'm sure there are copies of this sitting in the 99-cent rack of video stores, so check it out if you want to see what is so good about the 1970s Italian police film genre or why Tomas Milian is one of the great icons of world film. My favorite film of this period w/ Milian is SWINDLE, where he is paired with David Hemmings. If you EVER see that offered or shown on TV, don't miss it!

After the spaghetti western genre died in Italy, Italian filmmakers moved to cop movies. Like with spaghetti westerns, there were good and not so good efforts, this movie belonging to the latter category. Tomas Milian, an actor who's made an impression in other movies, seems kind of helpless here, thanks to the costume department dressing him up like a homeless person, and a screenplay that gives him very few opportunities to show some kind of character. Jack Palance is pretty much wasted - he only makes two very brief appearances in the first hour, and not much more in the last half hour. But the main problem with the movie is that it feels oh so tired. There are chases, punch-ups, and guns fired, but it all feels so mechanical. Maybe that's why the musical score plays the same bars of music over and over ad nauseum. Even die hard fans of Eurocult movies would be better off skipping this one.