La 'Flic' chez les poulets

While the original "Poliziotta" with Mariangela Melato touched upon some serious issues on the role of women in Italian society, "La Poliziotta fa carriera" is more like a silly, low brow remake than a sequel. Edwige Fenech stars as Gianna Amicucci, who longs to join the police force, even though her enthusiasm clearly out ways her skills. Lucky for Gianna, good connections ensure her a place on the force (after a brief Police Academy training sequence, just like in the Melato version).

Foreshadowing Frank Drebin, Gianna is unable to park her car without bumping into another (always one belonging to a superior). Her immediate boss is portrayed by Mario Carotenuto as a Chief Inspector Dreyfuss clone who cannot get any appliance in his office to work without the help of dogsbody Alvaro Vitali. Michele Gammino plays Gianna's co worker and boyfriend, Arturo, while his blonde Doppelganger Giuseppe Pambieri is a neighboring doctor also vying for la Poliziotta's affections. When one of her first assignments finds Gianna working undercover as a streetwalker, naturally both love interests happen to intrude on the scene.

Having set all the different characters in place, the rest of the film consists merely of mainly unrelated comedy routines. Gianna tries to find the mother of a lost boy (an idea greatly expanded in the next installment) and gets into a silly Bud Spencer fight sequence. Here, La Fenech is obviously doubled by a masculine Kung Fu double. Eventually the entire flying squad (Squadra Volante) goes after a drug pushing pimp called Bouno Talco, leading as always to a long and tiresome car chase in the final reel (with poor old Alvaro propelling a car Fred Flintstone style). On top of this there is also a useless subplot involving a lost parrot and the obligatory medal of honor at the end.

7 out of 10

Edwige Fenech has long wanted to join the police force. Thanks to the pull of police commissioner Mario Carotenuti, who lives in the same apartment building as her, she does so, because her beauty is exceeded only by her dedication and her ineptness. She is not alone in the last quality, as her supervisor, Gigi Ballista, cannot make anything work in his office, whether it is the water cooler or the telephone.

Those, combined with every man she meets wanting to rape her, are the primary jokes in this very low-brow but funny Italian farce. In between the gags and the camera ogling Signorina Fenech's thighs there is some criticism of the corruption of Italian bureaucracy, common, alas, to every power structure. But mostly it's a light-hearted and dirty-minded comedy with a few good laughs and, in the copy I saw, some bad editing.

I still believe that Gianna Amicucci, the Italian policewoman that Edwige Fenech played 3 times in her career, is one of her best roles - more interesting than a mindless sex object, more lively than a potential giallo victim. "La Poliziotta fa carriera" is the first of those three films, though I saw it last. As far as I remember, it is better than the next entry, "La Poliziotta della squadra del buon costume", but not as good as the last one, "La Poliziotta a New York" (which was shot on location in NY and had Fenech in a double role). The problem with this film is that it's billed as a comedy, but it is largely unfunny - if you get more than 3 good laughs out of it, you must be easily amused. There is some action, too, but it is of a strictly slapstick nature. Edwige looks great as usual, but unless you're collecting all her pictures you can miss this one. (*1/2)