Roma a mano armata (1976)

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	...	Ambulance Driver
Claudio Nicastro	...	Receiver of stolen goods
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	...	Informer
Maria Rosaria Omaggio	...	Anna
Tomas Milian	...	Vincenzo Moretto, 'Il gobbo'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Renzo Ozzano
Umberto Amambrini	...	Man in gambling hall (uncredited)
Artemio Antonini	...	Thug (uncredited)
Rossana Canghiari	...	Hostage with hat (uncredited)
Nestore Cavaricci	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Michael Forest	...	Inspector Leonardo Tanzi (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Orso Maria Guerrini	...	Ferrender (uncredited)
Edward Mannix	...	Detective Poliani (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Giuseppe Marrocco	...	Hostage (uncredited)
Benito Pacifico	...	Uno dei rapinatori dell'agenzia ippica (uncredited)
Anna Maria Perego	...	Hostage (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)
Oscar Sciamanna	...	Bank clerk (uncredited)
Robert Spafford	...	Caputo (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Sergio Testori	...	Purse Snatcher on Motorcycle (uncredited)
Frank von Kuegelgen	...	Vincenzo Moretto (voice: English version) (uncredited)
Luciano Zanussi	...	Hostage (uncredited)
Zaira Zoccheddu	...	Screaming hostage (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 (1978) (USA) (theatrical) (cut version) (dubbed)
• Aquarius Releasing (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release) (cut version) (dubbed)
• International Video Entertainment (IVE) (1986) (USA) (VHS) (cut version) (dubbed) (as Adventure Video)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH (1986) (Germany) (VHS) (dubbed)

Other Companies

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

Also Known As:

Assault with a Deadly Weapon (USA) (reissue title)
Brutal Justice (USA) (dubbed version)
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 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | USA:R | France:-16

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dania Film

Trivia:

When Terry Levene distributed this film in the late 1970's, 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)

Scorching

Recently I had the pleasure of watching both the Italian "Roma a Mano Armata" and the US cut "Assault with a Deadly Weapon." Lenzi's reputation as a filmmaker rests mainly on his Crime films from the mid-to-late '70s for good reason and this is an addictive and fast-paced brilliant piece of that work. Maurizio Merli is great as the quietly intense Leonardo Tanzi and deserves much more credit than the "Franco Nero wannabe" usually leveled at him. The US cut is missing the first 8 minutes of Merli's failed bust of an illegal gambling ring (at least that's what I gleaned from the lack of subtitles) and sets up his frustration of being under the law himself while desperately trying to rid the world of those who break it. Even with a different credit sequence that oddly doesn't actually credit anyone but actor Arthur Kennedy (as the director!), the US cut (available on VHS in the '80s as part of Sybil Danning's Adventure Video series with a bizarre introduction by Ms. Danning herself) is still highly highly recommended. Hopefully this will be available on DVD for more people to discover these series of films, which can easily appeal to the same fans of Italian horror and Eurocult cinema.