Shadows in an Empty Room (1976) Una Magnum Special per Tony Saitta (original title)

Director:

Alberto De Martino

Writers:

Vincenzo Mannino (screenplay) and
Gianfranco Clerici (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 March 1976 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Walk with her if you dare...for every step will bring you closer, closer, closer to the meaning of fear!

Plot:

An Ottawa police captain searches for the person who poisoned his sister, who was attending the university in Montreal...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Police | Sister | Magnum Handgun | Necklace

Cast

Stuart Whitman	...	Capt. Tony Saitta
John Saxon	...	Sgt. Ned Matthews
Martin Landau	...	Dr. George Tracer
Tisa Farrow	...	Julie Foster
Carole Laure	...	Louise Saitta
Jean LeClerc	...	Robert Tracer (as Jean Leclerc)
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Margie Cohn
Jean Marchand
Anthony Forrest		(as Antony Forest)
Andrée St-Laurent		(as Andree St. Laurent)
Peter MacNeill		(as Peter Mac Neil)
Julie Wildman
James Tapp
Jérôme Tiberghien		(as Jerome Thibergien)
Terence G. Ross		(as Terence Ross)
Dave Nichols
Jene Chandler

Directed by
Alberto De Martino		(as Martin Herbert)

Writing credits
Vincenzo Mannino		(screenplay) (as Vincent Mann) and
Gianfranco Clerici		(screenplay) (as Frank Clark)

Produced by
Edmondo Amati	....	producer
Maurizio Amati	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Armando Trovajoli

Cinematography by
Anthony Ford		(as Antony Ford)

Film Editing by
Vincenzo Tomassi		(as Vincent P. Thomas)

Production Design by
Michel Proulx		(as Michel Proulux)

Costume Design by
Louise Jobin
Luc Leflaquais

Makeup Department
Henry Brown	....	assistant makeup artist
Louiselle Champagne	....	assistant makeup artist (as Louisette Champagne)
Pierre David	....	hair dresser

Production Management
Mychèle Boudrias	....	assistant production manager (as Michele Boudrias)
Ginette Hardy	....	second assistant production manager
Robert Ménard	....	production manager (as Robert Menard)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joel Douglas	....	assistant director (as Joe Douglas)
Mireille Goulet	....	second assistant director
Rémy Julienne	....	second unit director: car chases (as Julienne Remy)

Sound Department
Normand Mercier	....	boom operator
Patrick Rousseau	....	sound

Stunts
Rémy Julienne	....	stunt coordinator: car stunts
Tom Sutton	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Jacques Gervais	....	camera operator (as Jean Jacques Gervais)
Allan Smith	....	assistant camera
Ivanove Wladimir	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Ivan Friends	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Peter Fernandez	....	dialogue director
Monique Maranda	....	script girl
Mario Nadeau	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Fida Cinematografica
• Security Investment Trust Company

Distributors

• Fida Cinematografica (1976) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Hemdale Film Distribution (1976) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ambassador Film Distributors (1977) (Canada) (theatrical) (Ontario)
• American International Pictures (AIP) (1977) (USA) (theatrical) (as "Strange Shadows In An Empty Room")
• World Eiga (1977) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Medusa Communications and Marketing (1987) (UK) (VHS)
• Atlas Film (1976) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Atlas Film Video (????) (Sweden) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Prima Edizioni Musicali  music publisher

Also Known As:

"Una Magnum Special per Tony Saitta" - Italy (original title)
"Blazing Magnum" - Philippines (English title), UK (censored version)
"Strange Shadows in an Empty Room" - USA (video box title)
"The 44 Specialist" - Philippines (English title)
"Tough Tony Saitta" - Europe (English title)
"Big Magnum 77" - Japan (English title) (promotional title)

Runtime:

Canada:100 min | USA:99 min | France:100 min | West Germany:88 min

Country:

Italy | Canada | Panama

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | UK:18 (1987) | UK:X (1976)

Filming Locations:

Cinévision, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Fida Cinematografica

Trivia:

Clips of the car chase from this film are used in the Geico commercials "Do dogs chase cats?"

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The driver of a car passing by can be seen watching filming as cop walks into sex shop.

As over the top as an Italian rip-off can be!

Italian filmmakers are famous for ripping off successful American films; but with this film director Alberto De Martino has taken it to a whole new level; as he's collected just about everything that made films such as Dirty Harry successful and mashed it all together in this action packed and over the top cop flick. Most of the Italian Polizi flicks have things that were clearly taken from American films; but usually they retain a sense of the Italian style. This is not the case here; the film is Italian, but you can actually believe that it's an American film, and it was clearly made to appeal to American audience. As the title suggests, the film focuses on Tony Saitta; the type of hard nosed cop that will punch you in the face and smash your car up before even thinking about asking any questions. The plot kicks off properly when Saitta's sister (who is a good twenty years his junior) dies in mysterious circumstances. The cop then sets out to find out who did it; by forsaking the usual police methods. After following the clues...he eventually gets close to the killer.

Despite taking influence from such great films, this one is a long way from being brilliant itself; but it is at least great fun. The way that the central characters jumps in with both feet at every opportunity is great, and seeing him brutalise suspects at the drop of a hat does ensures that the film doesn't become boring on many occasions. Alberto De Martino is backed up by a good cast; with Stuart Whitman in the lead role and receiving good support from cult star John Saxon as well as the A-lister Martin Landau. This film is not very seen; but anyone who does see it will undoubtedly remember the car chase, which is peppered with clichés but is at least really well done; not least for the fact that it all comes off as the result of a minor piece of plot development! The film also borrows from other genres; with the Giallo genre creeping in during some scenes. It soon becomes clear that the film is not going to deliver anything meaningful by the ending but the climax does at least wrap things up nicely and while this is not a great film on the whole; it is lots of fun and well worth a look.