| Convoy Busters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Stelvio Massi |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Danilo Massi [1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sergio Rubini [1] |
| Edited by | Mauro Bonanni [1] |
| Music by | Stelvio Cipriani [1] |
Production company | P.A.C. - Produzioni Atlas Consorziate [1] |
| Distributed by | P.A.C. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes [1] |
| Country | Italy [1] |
| Box office | ₤989.391 million |
Convoy Busters (Italian : Un poliziotto scomodo) is a 1978 poliziotteschi action film directed by Stelvio Massi and starring Maurizio Merli.
Convoy Busters was filmed on location in Rome and Civitanova Marche. [1]
Convoy Busters was distributed theatrically in Italy by P.A.C. - Produzioni Atlas Consorziate on 23 December 1978. [1] It grossed a total of 989,390,960 Italian lira on its domestic release. [1] Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti stated that this gross was no par with Maurizio Merli's previous films noting that his star power was beginning to fade at this point. [2]
The film released by NoShame on DVD in the United States. [1]
Curti stated that the film was "unusually well-received by critics", including Vittorio Spiga who praised the film as Massi's best work, referring to Massi as managing "to renew the genre somehow: by borrowing the style of the Italian Western, its violence and characters, while taking the spectacular angle and the fast pacing from American cinema." [2] Tom Milne of the Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "Although Stelvio Massi places numbing reliance on the zoom lens, it is competently enough done, with a sound performance by Maurizio Merli in the Eastwood role." [3] Milne also commented on the dubbing, declaring it "horribly dubbed and stultifyingly tedious." [3]
In a retrospective review, Curti declared the film to be "perhaps Stelvio Massi's best effort, and one of the better late Italian poliziotteschi " [2]
Poliziotteschi constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as polizieschi all'italiana, Euro-crime, Italo-crime, spaghetti crime films, or simply Italian crime films. Influenced by both 1970s French crime films and gritty 1960s and 1970s American cop films and vigilante films, poliziotteschi films were made amidst an atmosphere of socio-political turmoil in Italy known as Years of Lead and increasing Italian crime rates. The films generally featured graphic and brutal violence, organized crime, car chases, vigilantism, heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels. The protagonists were generally tough working class loners, willing to act outside a corrupt or overly bureaucratic system.
Maurizio Merli was an Italian film actor and a star of many Italian police thrillers.
Violent Naples is a 1976 poliziottesco film directed by Umberto Lenzi. It starred Maurizio Merli, John Saxon and Barry Sullivan, and was the first sequel to Violent Rome and the second entry into the Commissioner Betti Trilogy. Saxon appeared in several such movies.
Werewolf Woman is a 1976 Italian horror film directed by Rino Di Silvestro.
Fabio Testi is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Testi continued stunt work and getting roles in low budget genre films until he was cast in Vittorio De Sica's film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. Following this film, Testi became a star in Italy, appearing in some artistic films by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and Claude Chabrol. Testi also continued to work in poliziotteschi genre films in the 1970s as well as a few gialli, and gained infamy for his publicised relationships with actresses Ursula Andress and Charlotte Rampling.
From Corleone to Brooklyn is an Italian poliziotteschi film directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film was released in Italy on 13 April 1979 and stars Maurizio Merli, Mario Merola and Van Johnson.
Detective Belli is a 1969 Italian poliziotteschi directed by Romolo Guerrieri and starring Franco Nero. It is based on the novel Macchie di belletto by Ludovico Dentice.
Stelvio Massi, sometimes credited "Max Steel", was an Italian director known for his "poliziotteschi" films.
The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist is an Italian poliziotteschi film directed in 1977 by Umberto Lenzi and third entry into the Tanzi/Moretto/Monnezza shared universe
as well as serving as a direct sequel to The Tough Ones. The film was described by Italian film critic and historian Roberto Curti as "a sequel of sorts" to Lenzi's 1976 The Tough Ones, with Maurizio Merli reprising the role of Inspector Leonardo Tanzi.
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Violent Rome is an Italian 1975 poliziottesco film directed by Marino Girolami It obtained a great commercial success and launched the career of Maurizio Merli. The film is the first entry into the Commissioner Betti Trilogy and has two sequels, Violent Naples and A Special Cop in Action.
Fearless is a 1978 poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.
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The Rebel ') is a 1980 poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.
Il commissario di ferro (transl. The Iron Commissioner is a 1978 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.
Cross Shot is a 1976 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.
Mark il poliziotto spara per primo is an Italian poliziottesco film directed in 1975 by Stelvio Massi. It is the sequel of Mark il poliziotto.
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Hunted City is a 1979 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi. It represents one of the few negative roles for Merola.
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