The Big Racket (1976)

Nico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums terrorising a sleepy Italian village, extorting cash from the locals.

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Enzo G. Castellari (screenplay), Massimo De Rita (screenplay)

Stars:

Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia, Renzo Palmer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Fabio Testi	...	Nico
Vincent Gardenia	...	Pepe
Renzo Palmer	...	Giulti
Orso Maria Guerrini	...	Rossetti
Glauco Onorato	...	Mazzarelli
Marcella Michelangeli	...	Marcy
Romano Puppo	...	Doringo
Antonio Marsina	...	Giuni
Sal Borgese	...	Velasci (as Salvatore Borgese)
Joshua Sinclair	...	Rudy (as Gianluigi Loffredo)
Daniele Dublino	...	Commissioner
Anna Zinnemann	...	Anna (as Anna Bellini)
Edy Biagetti	...	Chief
Salvatore Billa	...	Fabrizi
Giovanni Bonadonna	...	Cuomo

Storyline

Nico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles a criminal gang terrorising a sleepy Italian town, extorting cash from the local merchants. With the threat of violence, no one dares to act, except for a restaurant owner who is forced by Palmieri to tell the truth. As a result, the owner's young daughter is raped, and the violence continues. Discovering that the gang is associated with drug dealers, Palmieri is forbidden to continue investigating his case by his superior - so he takes matters into his own hands. Palmieri recruits a couple of men who have become victims of the gang and sets out for a bloody revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | police | restaurant | suicide | hospital | 

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Taglines:

Someone's gonna pay...

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

12 August 1976 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Big Racket

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinemaster S.r.l.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Enzo G. Castellari said that while he usually shoots his films in English, he shot this one in Italian, to be dubbed into English later, because lip-synching in English was too difficult for star Fabio Testi, who spoke no English at all. Castellari also said that he was quite dissatisfied with the English dubbing that was done.

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Goofs

Luigi loads a fresh clip into his MP-40 but does not chamber a round before he shoots himself.

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Quotes

Luigino: [gesturing with a doll he is holding to the storekeeper] Is this the kind that makes water?
Storekeeper: Yes, everything, it's the latest model from Japan.
Luigino: One of these days they'll make one that bleeds real blood... when you cut its throat!

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Alternate Versions

The film was rejected for a UK cinema certificate in 1977 by the BBFC. It was finally released on DVD in 2002 after 14 secs of cuts for 'violent rape focusing on forcible breast exposure and female nudity'.

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Connections

Referenced in Escale à Nanarland: Le Justicier de New York (2013)

User Reviews

Nico Palmieri, an Italian cop, is up against a band of blackmailers who wish to expand their operations indefinitely. For that, he gathers a bunch of individuals who want revenge from these band for differen

A script doesn't necessarily have to be realistic to be good. In my opinion, all it needs its to make sense, to be credible within itself. This movie has it all and its very fast paced. It is a very good attempt to expand the perspective of the action movies back then, and I consider it, along with "Perros Callejeros 1 and 2" the best european action movies of the 70s, the background for much of the filmmaking that we see today as "new", and a great spectacle. The enchant of these movies is that, even though some special effects are not credible at all (some of the shot wounds don't bleed at all), those that do required cars to be burnt and some stunts to expose themselves are better than those the new computarized hollywood movies have.It doesnt make you feel like you are watching cartoons. I admit that the beauty of movies is fantasy. But when i compare this movie to any action movie from hollywood, I come to the conclusion that fantasy doesn't necessarily have to please anybodies wishes nor to be custom made for a certain public, but to show different prespectives than those that public has.

the only problem...Real hard to find