The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977)

A hardened cop is left for dead by the henchmen of a escapee gangster he had previously arrested, and upon recovery relentlessly pursues them.

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Sauro Scavolini (story), Ernesto Gastaldi (screenplay)

Stars:

Maurizio Merli, John Saxon, Renzo Palmer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maurizio Merli	...	Inspector Leonardo Tanzi
John Saxon	...	Frank Di Maggio
Renzo Palmer	...	Commissioner Astalli
Gabriella Lepori	...	Nadia
Robert Hundar	...	Dario
Bruno Corazzari	...	Ettore
Marco Guglielmi	...	Marchetti
Gabriella Giorgelli	...	Maria Balzano
Guido Alberti	...	Tanzi's Uncle
Aldo Massasso	...	Magistrate
Brigitte Petronio	...	Blonde Hooker at Fazi's
Gianni Musy	...	Nicola Proietti
Gianfilippo Carcano	...	The Professor
Tomas Milian	...	Luigi 'The Chinaman' Maietto
Dante Cleri	...	Di Maggio's Aide

Storyline

Luigi Maietto (Chinaman) escapes from prison he then orders two henchman to murder the inspector whose testimonal led to his being jailed. Inspector Tanzi is left for dead but lives. The local newspapers cover up for him and pretend the assassination had worked. When Tanzi's able to his superior wants him to hide in Switzerland. But Tanzi defies him and intends to make sure that Maietto is put back in prison.

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Plot Keywords:

j&b scotch | cool | italian exploitation | grindhouse film | cult film | 

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Taglines:

A feast of violence and action!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Tanzi's passport, he was born March 21st, 1940 in Tripoli, Italian Tripoliania to Giorgio Tanzi and Elena Zecua.

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Connections

Follows The Tough Ones (1976)

User Reviews

Another Gritty & Great Poliziottesco by Umberto Lenzi

With great works in a variety of genres, such as Gialli, Poliziotteschi and Cannibal Flicks, Umberto Lenzi is doubtlessly one of the most productive and versatile directors in Italian Exploitation/Cult-Cinema. And, along with Fernando Di Leo, he is arguably the ultimate master of the Italian crime-genre. Though maybe just not quite as great (and neither quite as brutal and uncompromising) as its predecessor "Roma A Mano Armata" ("Rome Armed To The Teeth", 1976) or the masterpiece "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" ("Almost Human", 1974), "Il Cinico, L'Infame, Il Violento" aka. "The Cynic, The Rat And The Fist" of 1977 is yet another gritty and great Poliziottesco by Lenzi.

Its title doubtlessly being derived from Sergio Leone's 1966 masterpiece "Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo" (better known as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and arguably the greatest Western ever made), "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" stars three iconic actors in Italian genre-cinema, Maurizio Merli, Tomas Milian and John Saxon. This is a sequel to Lenzi's own "Roma A Mano Armata", in which Maurizio Merli reprises his role of the super-tough and uncompromising Inspector Leonardo Tanzi. Tanzi is a supremely bad-ass, unorthodox Rome cop who hates criminals as he hates crime and whose methods make Dirty Harry seem tame in comparison. Tomas Milian is back with greatness, in a different villain-role than that he played in the predecessor. Leonardo Tanzi, who has retired from the police in this one and yet keeps chasing down (and beating up) criminals is targeted by Luigi 'Er Cinese' Maietto ("Tomas Milian") a brutal and unscrupulous criminal whom he helped bring to justice and who has just been released from prison. After an attempt on his life, Tanzi fakes his own death, which gives him the opportunity to secretly carry on with his investigations. 'Er Cinese', in the meantime, has founded an alliance with the Italian-American mob boss Frank Di Maggio (John Saxon), a man who likes to feed enemies to his dogs...

It isn't explained which titular attribute refers to whom of the characters. Even so, Merli is doubtlessly 'the Fist' ('Il Violento'), and it's safe to assume that Milian is 'the Cynic', which would make Saxon 'The Rat' ('L'infame'/the infamous). All three leading men are great as always. Merli is great in his typical leading role of the unorthodox and super-tough copper and John Saxon shines as the slick Mafia Don; however, one might still say that the number one performance in this film comes from Tomas Milian, who is once again downright brilliant in the role of another cynical and sadistic thug. The supporting cast includes many regulars of Italian genre-cinema, such as Guido Alberti or Bruno Corazzari. The film is action-packed, full of violent shootouts, chases and sequences of genre-typical brutality. As Lenzi's other Poliziotteschi, the film is accompanied by a great score, this one being composed by Franco Micalizzi, who also did the scores for "Roma A Mano Armata" and "Napoli Violenta". Even this does not quite reach the level of "Milano Odia" and "Roma A Mano Armata", in my opinion, it is still a gritty, violent, immensely entertaining and simply great Crime offering by Umberto Lenzi, carried by loads of action, three sublime leading men and Lenzi's magnificent direction. Not to be missed by lovers of cinematic bad-assery!

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

3 February 1977 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dania Film, Medusa Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1