Calling All Police Cars (1975)
"...a tutte le auto della polizia" (original title)

Director:

Mario Caiano

Writers:

Massimo Felisatti, Fabio Pittorru

Stars:

Antonio Sabato, Luciana Paluzzi, Enrico Maria Salerno

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Antonio Sabato	...	Commissario Fernando Solmi
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Ispettrice Giovanna Nunziante
Enrico Maria Salerno	...	Police Chief Carraro
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Professore Andrea Icardi
Elio Zamuto	...	Professore Giacometti
Ettore Manni	...	Enrico Tummoli
Marino Masé	...	Franz Hekker - 'Francesco Pagano'
Bedy Moratti	...	Emilia Icardi
Adriana Fiore	...	Stripper
Franco Ressel	...	Gynaecologist
Margherita Horowitz	...	Antonietta - Icardi's maid
Tino Bianchi	...	Police Commissioner
Valentino Macchi	...	Petrol Station Attendant
Andrea Lala	...	Marshall Attardi
Benedetto Benedetti

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

giallo | ellipsis in title | police dog | police investigation | punctuation in title | 

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

28 August 1975 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Maniac Responsible

Filming Locations:

Nemi Lake, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Capitol International, Jarama Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

User Reviews

THE MANIAC RESPONSIBLE (Mario Caiano, 1975) **1/2

I don't know how many times I missed out on this one on late-night Italian TV, believing it to be a low-brow poliziottesco; having recently enjoyed Caiano's WEAPONS OF DEATH (1977) and, noticing it was scheduled for yet another passage this week, I decided to check it out (even if I knew that particular channel would suffer from bad reception).

As it turned out, the film contains strong elements of the giallo and, in fact, most resembles a similar hybrid I watched a couple of weeks ago – Massimo Dallamano's WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? (1974)! The plot again involves the uncovering of a teenage prostitution ring (also treated in Romolo Guerrieri's CITY UNDER SIEGE [1974]) – though, in this case, it emerges as a red herring (a false trail picked up by the police in its investigation into the disappearance of the 15 year-old daughter of eminent surgeon Gabriele Ferzetti).

The above-average cast also includes Antonio Sabato (better than expected as the cop assigned to the case), Enrico Maria Salerno as his superior, Luciana Paluzzi as a social worker (paralleling the feminist angle seen in the Dallamano film), Ettore Manni as a peeper, Marino Mase' as the racketeer leading an outwardly respectable life, etc. Similar to WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS?, the police procedural is quite thorough and takes center-stage; however, a couple of the murders are pretty graphic (one of them was basically replicated outright into Alberto Negrin's RINGS OF FEAR [1978] – another giallo which recently received a first-time viewing from me). Actually, the film feels a bit too voyeuristic in its intent (with plenty of gratuitous female nudity) – though making up for this by not providing any easy answers with its unexpected revelation at the finale…