Exciting police film with Leonard Mann as Capitano Murri
This Italian police film by Giuseppe Rosati, also known as "La polizia interviene: ordine di uccidere" (in English: The police intervene to kill) and "The Left Hand of the Law", was released on June 4th, 1976 the West German cinemas.
The main role as Capitano Mario Murri (not to be confused with the Murri that Maurizio Merli would play a year later) stars the fantastic American actor of Italian origin Leonard Mann (born in Rome in 1947).
During a police operation during a kidnapping, several members of a Roman special unit die. Their superior Murri takes the whole thing personally and, after being whistled back by an important person (ACADEMY AWARD nominee James Mason as Senator Leandri), takes matters into his own hands. Great sacrifices have to be made and amazing things come to light. Other roles include outstanding actors such as Enrico Maria Salerno, Antonella Murgia, Fausto Tozzi, Franco Interlenghi, Janet Agren and GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Stephen Boyd.
The outstanding thing about this film is the main character Murri, who is played impressively by Leonard Mann. His sometimes solitary captain is an idealist who still believes in the system, does not despair after setbacks and is willing to take the initiative himself. He can be tough when it comes to protecting weaker people. In a very beautiful scene, Murri helps German tourists who are being robbed in the middle of the streets of Rome. He flattens his opponents with practiced punches, but at the same time he can also be a man of thoughtful tones. Through this main character, the film manages to penetrate much deeper into the political and social entanglements than is the case in other police films.
The cast overall is great. The best known are of course the American actors James Mason ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954) / father-in-law of the singer Belinda Carlisle) and Stephen Boyd (antagonist of "Ben Hur" (1959), but also the Swedish actress Janet Agren (" "Eaten Alive" (1980)) is convincing in her small role as Gloria.
Even if this representative of the EuroCrime genre may be a little less well-known, it is worth a look, and not just for die-hard genre fans.
