aka: I Padroni Della Ciita'
(1976/Italy)
Reviewed by Peter Svensson Directed by Fernando Di Leo Cast Jack Palance, Al Cliver and Harry Baer Source - Raro Video (Italy) DVD Region 0 PAL (2005)
"You might be Marquis de Sade but I don’t swing like that"
I Padroni della cittB, or Mister Scarface as it was released in the US is, at least as far as I know, the only one of Di Leo’s crime thrillers currently available on R1 DVD at the moment. Unfortunately, it’s a Brentwood DVD that does the film no favours, a very poor looking, full screen edition where, as if to add insult to injury, the picture goes black and white during the last 15 minutes or so. Fortunately Italy’s Raro have decided to release the film so let us see if they’ve presented the film the way Di Leo intended it to be seen.
The film gets off to a great start; a creepy minimalist score by Luis Enríquez Bacalov accompany two criminals as they return to a flat in slow motion. Presumably they’re about to split the loot after a successful heist but one of them, Manzari (Jack Palance), has other plans and shoots his accomplice in front of his son and slaps the boy around a bit for good measure.
Flash forward 15 years, where a young man called Tony (Harry Baer) is working as a debt collector for gangster Luigi. Not happy with just cruising through Milan in his Puma GT buggy and picking up girls on his way to his next debt collection, Tony is keen to move on to bigger and better things. He gets his chance when Luigi needs somebody to recover three million Lire that Mister Scarface or Manzari, now the godfather of Milan, has cheekily stolen from Luigi. He teams up with Rick (Al Cliver), a former employee of Manzari with a vendetta, and Napoli (Vittorio Caprioli) an old school gangster, to set up a sting to get the money back. They manage to get not only the three million but also an extra seven that they intend to keep for themselves. Naturally both Manzari and Luigi find out and before long they’ve got two pissed off gangster bosses to contend with.
Mister Scarface may not be Di Leo’s finest moment but I think it’s a great little film. Far from the noir feeling of Milan Calibre 9 or the more straight up gangster feel of Il Boss, Mister Scarface comes off as a more light-hearted crime flick, an entertaining mix of well-choreographed fights, great stunt work and more than a dash of comedy. I suspect that the comedic elements might put some people off but there’s enough gunplay and action, especially during the ending set in a abandoned slaughterhouse area, to keep even the most hardened poliziesco fan entertained. Things are kept moving at all times and it’s certainly never boring.
German actor Harry Bear plays Tony and he does a great job as the likable hero. Tony is far from your ordinary hardboiled cop with a grudge hero; he is more of a youthful gangster with a good heart, a ladies man with some fairly acrobatic fighting skills. There’s less focus on Al Cliver’s character Rick, a man with a more serious agenda. Rick feels slightly underwritten but Cliver does well with what he’s got. Apart from Tony’s quips, the comic relief is mostly left to Di Leo regular Vittorio Caprioli, who you might recognize as the commune leader in Being Twenty. Finally there’s Jack Palance. Manzari isn’t really one Palance’s more inspired moments. He delivers a solid enough performance but he has certainly been better and he doesn’t come off quite as menacing as he usually does.
While not up there with Milan Calibre 9, The Boss or Manhunt, I still find it easy to recommend Mister Scarface. Those who prefer their euro crime strictly hardboiled might want to give this a miss but those willing to give it a go will find an entertaining, action filled and fun crime flick with some great touches by Di Leo.
The video is unfortunately presented in non-anamorphic widescreen but the print is clean and colourful. I’d say that it’s about as good looking as you can get for a film of this vintage without having anamorphic enhancement. It stands up well when you zoom in on it on a widescreen set. The only drawback is that you can’t do this with the Italian version since the subs aren’t 16:9 friendly.
The English audio fares quite well. There are a few snap, crackle and pops but there’s no hiss and apart from a few fleeting damaged moments there isn’t really anything to complain about. The Italian track sounds slightly better and is accompanied by optional English subs. As per usual for Raro you can’t turn these off and on during playback.
I was very pleased to find that Raro has decided to remove the four or five unskippable company logos that preceded all the extras on the earlier discs. The 15 minute featurette "CittB Violenta" features clips of Di Leo discussing the film. Al Cliver and editor Amedeo Giomini are on hand to share their memories of the film and also Di Leo, who they both seem to have very fond memories of. The most entertaining interviewee is Gilberto Galimberti though. Galimberti served as weapons expert during the film and is obviously not happy with his lot in Italian film history. He goes on to exaggerate his involvement in most aspects of the film and manages to make Umberto Lenzi look like a modest man during the few minutes he’s on camera. Those who have seen him in the featurette on the Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man disc will most likely remember him. There’s also a director bio and filmography. Sadly there is no trailer for the film.
Mister Scarface has finally received the release it deserves on this DVD from Raro. The lack of anamorphic enhancement is the only thing holding this back from being the definitive release of the film but the picture quality is surprisingly good and if, like me, you’re a fan of the film you’ve really got no excuse not to pick this up. Just remember to pop your fingers on mute button for the Raro company intro.
Story: 3,5 BITCH SLAPS Video: 3,5 BITCH SLAPS Audio: 3 BITCH SLAPS Extras: 3 BITCH SLAPS Overall: 3,5 BITCH SLAPS To Purchase this DVD visit X-Ploited Cinema.(Available soon!)
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