Roma a mano armata (1976)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Umberto Lenzi (story)
Dardano Sacchetti (screenplay)

Release Date:

July 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A tough, violent cop who doesn't mind bending the law goes after a machine-gun-carrying, hunchbacked psychotic killer. |

Plot Keywords:

Poliziottesco

Cast

Maurizio Merli	...	Commissioner Leonardo Tanzi
Arthur Kennedy	...	Vice questore Ruini
Giampiero Albertini	...	Commissioner Caputo
Ivan Rassimov	...	Tony Parenzo
Biagio Pelligra	...	Savelli
Aldo Barberito	...	Detective Poliani
Stefano Patrizi	...	Stefano
Luciano Pigozzi	...	Savelli's Henchman
Luciano Catenacci	...	Ferdinando Gerace
Carlo Alighiero	...	Avvocato di Savelli
Carlo Gaddi	...	Ambulence Driver
Claudio Nicastro	...	Jeweller
Valentino Macchi	...	Franco
Alessandra Cardini	...	Sandra Savelli (as Sandra Cardini)
Gabriella Lepori	...	Marta Assante
Maria Rosaria Riuzzi	...	Paola
Corrado Solari	...	Albino, getaway driver
Dante Cleri	...	Lincenses & permits officer
Mara Mariani	...	Vedova Assante
Fulvio Mingozzi	...	Agent Colantoni
Ruggero Diella	...	One of Stefano's Friends
Tom Felleghy	...	Judge Bennato
Riccardo Petrazzi	...	Savelli's Henchman
Gaetano Russo	...	Teppista
Ottaviano Dell'Acqua	...	Gaetano, Stefano's Friend
Franco Macchi	...	Teppista
Filippo De Gara	...	Informatore
Maria Rosaria Omaggio	...	Anna
Tomas Milian	...	Vincenzo Moretto, 'Il gobbo'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Renzo Ozzano
Artemio Antonini	...	Thug (uncredited)
Michael Forest	...	Inspector Leonardo Tanzi (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Orso Maria Guerrini	...	Ferrender (uncredited)
Edward Mannix	...	Detective Poliani (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Benito Pacifico	...	Uno dei rapinatori dell'agenzia ippica (uncredited)
Renzo Pevarello	...	Guard at gambling house (uncredited)
Claudio Ruffini	...	Uno dei rapinatori dell'agenzia ippica (uncredited)
Ted Rusoff	...	Boyfriend in Car (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Robert Spafford	...	Caputo (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Sergio Testori	...	Purse Snatcher on Motorcycle (uncredited)
Frank von Kuegelgen	...	Vincenzo Moretto (voice: English version) (uncredited)

Directed by
Umberto Lenzi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Umberto Lenzi		story
Dardano Sacchetti		screenplay

Produced by
Mino Loy	....	producer
Luciano Martino	....	producer

Original Music by
Franco Micalizzi

Cinematography by
Federico Zanni

Film Editing by
Daniele Alabiso

Production Design by
Giorgio Bertolini

Costume Design by
Franco Carretti

Makeup Department
Teodora Bruno	....	hair stylist
Massimo Giustini	....	makeup artist
Marcello Longhi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Sergio Borelli	....	production manager
Luciano Catenacci	....	production supervisor
Lamberto Palmieri	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Goffredo Unger	....	assistant director

Art Department
Francesco Bidoccu	....	assistant production designer

Sound Department
Fabio Antonini	....	boom operator
Bruno Moreal	....	sound mixer
Umberto Picistrelli	....	sound

Special Effects by
Gino Vagniluca	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Roberto Belli	....	chief electrician
Giuseppe Gabrielli	....	key grip
Mario Pastorini	....	assistant camera
Elio Polacchi	....	camera operator
Mario Sabatelli	....	still photographer
Mario Sbrenna	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Davide Cenci	....	costumes: Maria Rosaria Omaggio
Vanda Pruni	....	costumes
Anna Rasetti	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Maurizio Alabiso	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Roberto Donati	....	composer: song "Se l'averebbe saputo"
Fiamma Maglione	....	composer: song "Se l'averebbe saputo"

Other crew
Mirella Malatesta	....	script supervisor (as Mirella Roi)
Gino Vagniluca	....	arms supplier
Aldo Mafera	....	titles (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Dania Film
• Medusa Produzione
• National Cinematografica

Distributors

• Aquarius Releasing (1982) (USA) (video) (dubbed) (cut version)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH (1986) (Germany) (VHS) (dubbed)
• USA Home Video (II) (1982) (USA) (VHS) (dubbed) (cut version)

Other Companies

• Sage Stallone Properties  archive (Techniscope) (2-perf) (1996 restoration)

Also Known As:

Assault with a Deadly Weapon (USA) (video title)
Brutal Justice (USA)
Rome Armed to the Teeth
Tough Ones (Europe: English title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | USA:R | France:-16

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dania Film

Trivia:

When Terry Levine distributed this film in the early '80s, he replaced a few of the establishing shots with those of American locations. For an establishing shot of the Rome youth center where Tanzi meets Stefano, Levine used a shot of the Manhattan night club "Fascination". Strangely enough, in the later Lenzi film Da Corleone a Brooklyn (1979) (which also starred Maurizio Merli as an Italian policeman), Merli drives by the club "Fascination" after he arrives in New York.

Quotes:

Vincenzo Moretto, 'Il gobbo': Hey what's your name, man?
Theodore: Theodore.
Vincenzo Moretto, 'Il gobbo': Ah, Theodore, son of a whore. Good to know you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La banda del gobbo (1978)

Almost a Cult

Sometimes I think that what really takes you into this movies is... the tune. At the beginning you see an "Alfetta" driven by a guy wearing a red and black scarf, some creepy skyscrapers in the background while the credits appear on the bottom right of the screen. You feel just surrounded by a massive soundtrack and you smile. I wonder if it used to feel the same in the seventies. I've seen only another Lenzi's movie. "Milano odia. La polizia non puo' sparare" has got a similar plot (Same subject, to be honest) but the director chose to put the criminal as the protagonist. In "Roma a mano armata" the policeman is violent and aggressive, in "Milano odia" the outlaw is a sort of victim of the system. It looks like the fight against criminality gets tougher day after day. The cinematographic relevance of these movies is their success in celebrating the action. But I found in Lenzi's a strong attention in the sociological issues related to his stories. His characters have got a good inner nature, they seem like gotten worse because bred in a hard environment. Finally, it is just amazing how a 31 years old film is still perfectly enjoyable and that is probably due to a neat and careful direction.