La polizia chiede aiuto (1974)

Police investigate apparent suicide of teen girl and uncover details of a teenage prostitution racket. They go on the hunt for a motorcycle riding killer.

Director:

Massimo Dallamano

Writers:

Massimo Dallamano (screenplay), Ettore Sanzò (screenplay),

Stars:

Giovanna Ralli, Claudio Cassinelli, Mario Adorf

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Giovanna Ralli	...	Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori
Claudio Cassinelli	...	Inspector Silvestri
Mario Adorf	...	Inspector Valentini
Franco Fabrizi	...	Bruno Paglia (photographer)
Farley Granger	...	Mr. Polvesi
Marina Berti	...	Mrs. Polvesi
Paolo Turco	...	Marcello Tosti
Corrado Gaipa	...	District Attorney
Micaela Pignatelli	...	Rosa
Ferdinando Murolo	...	Sgt. Giardina
Salvatore Puntillo	...	Napoli
Eleonora Morana	...	Polvesi's housekeeper
Sherry Buchanan	...	Silvia Polvesi (as Cheryl Lee Buchanan)
Roberta Paladini	...	Patrizia Valentini
Luigi Antonio Guerra	...	Journalist

Storyline

Police investigate apparent suicide of teen girl and uncover details of a teenage prostitution racket. They go on the hunt for a motorcycle riding killer.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitution | police | racket | girl | motorcycle | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Coed Murders

Filming Locations:

Botticino, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Primex Italiana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Cassinelli and Ralli are using a film projector, they ask the operators to reverse the film. The film starts again at the footage asked for, without rewinding.

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Connections

References L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

User Reviews

A giallo by virtue of association and a police proceedural at heart.

As is probably obvious by the lurid title, Massimo Dallamano returns to the same teenagers in peril themes he explored two years earlier in his giallo What Have You Done to Solange. Only this time around the focus is more on the police procedure than the blood and sleaze that is associated with the giallo. What remains the same though is the classy visual style and the mystery aspect.

The discovery of a young girl hanged in a run-down attic leads the police to an underground prostitution ring. The story lacks the myriad red herrings of the giallo but it retained suspense and mystery well enough to keep me glued on the screen. Dallamano however throws a black-clad killer in the mix and punctuates this police proceedural with a couple of very well done gore scenes (hand decapitation, machete in the head, screwdriver in the belly; take your pick). As a testament to Dallamano's style, the killer is always shot close-up with wide-angle lenses that adds a reality distortion of sorts.

Add to that a sterling score by Cipriani that is equal parts suspenseful and subtle and some well handled action scenes and car chases in the poliziottescho mold (although it lacks the rampant energy of one, so I wouldn't classify it as such) and here you have a movie that is definitely worth the time of ANY fan of 70's Italian crime cinema. I shouldn't forget to mention that the copy I saw had surprisingly good dubbing too.