Taking their influences from both France and the United States, Italian Poliziotteschi films of the 1960s and 1970s mix hard-boiled crime-fighting with a lot of running and chasing. Reacting to a soaring crime rate and a period of political turmoil within the country, more often than not they featured a vigilante in some shape of form and some kind of scandal involving a powerful man. In Free Hand for a Tough Cop, our hero must do it his own way.
The young daughter of a prominent family is kidnapped by a gang of thugs. Issued with a ransom demand they cannot meet and with their daughter in desperate need of medical attention, they turn to the only man who can help them. Inspector Sarti (Claudio Cassinelli) isn’t scared to bend the rules. Indeed, with little to go on he breaks Sergio ‘Monnezza’ Marazzi (Tomas Milian) out of prison. His only hope of tracking down the culprit, the infamous Brescianelli (Henry Silva).
While the hero of Free Hand for a Tough Cop is Sarti, the star is undoubtably ‘Monnezza’, aka ‘Garbage Can’. Indeed, he livens up every scene he’s in and adds a refreshing comedic element throughout. Umberto Lenzi’s film contains everything you’d expect and a good deal more. Amidst the shootouts and car chases there’s a lively repartee between the two leads. Not to mention a decent plot, which helps make Free Hand for a Tough Cop stand out from the crowd.
Special features:
- HD Presentation in the Original Aspect Ratio
- Original Italian Mono Audio with newly translated English subtitles
- English Mono Audio
- Cops and Robbers: An Interview with Nino Celeste
- No Small Roles: An Interview with Corrado Solari
- Producing Mayhem: An Interview with Ugo Tucci
- Portrait of a Daughter: An Interview with Alessandra Lenzi
- Audio Commentary with Eurocrime producer Michael A. Martinez
- Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
- Trailer
Limited Edition Contents (3,000 units)
- Collector’s Edition Slipcase
- 6 Art Cards
- Special Collector’s Booklet with new writing by Austin Fisher, Francesco Massaccesi & text interview with Umberto Lenzi by Eugenio Ercolani
Free Hand for a Tough Cop is released on Blu-ray by Fractured Visions on 29 November.
