Luciana Paluzzi and Antonio Sabato in a police thriller with giallo elements
The Italian crime film "...a tutte le auto della polizia" (1975) would have to be translated in German as "...an alle Einsatzwagen!". It was directed by Mario Caiano and stars Antonio Sabato and Luciana Paluzzi in the leading roles.
A 16-year-old daughter from a good Roman family disappears. A little later her body is found in the idyllic Lake Alban. An inspector played by Antonio Sabato (confidently and this time emphatically reserved) takes up the investigation, supported by a police inspector played by Luciana Paluzzi (as Fiona Volpe in "Fireball" (1965), the best Bond villain of all time).
In the first half of the film, we as viewers follow the investigators' patient police work. They are finding more and more evidence that the disappeared woman was probably part of a prostitution ring. A typical theme from Italian crime films of the 1970s is taken up here: the prostitution of young people (Ilona Staller also plays a role, who was to achieve a certain scandalous fame in the 1980s as an entertainer for adults and as a member of the Italian Parliament). But this is by no means as sensational as in other films of the genre. Different characters are developed who are somehow involved in this matter. This offers interesting roles for such excellent actors as Enrico Maria Salerno, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ettore Manni and Franco Ressel.
The second half of the film surprises with blatant giallo elements that bring us, the audience and the investigators, ever closer to solving the case.
"Calling all police cars" is a crime film well worth seeing that skilfully combines elements of the police film and the giallo. The actors are very convincing. It's great that Luciana Paluzzi plays a police officer on a par with her colleague Antonio Sabato. Her role could have been accentuated a little more, but compared to other female roles in Italian films from the time, that's huge.
Absolutely recommended!
