Great Crime Films from Italy
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- DirectorMario BavaStarsLea LanderGeorge EastmanRiccardo CucciollaFollowing a bungled robbery, three violent criminals take a young woman, a middle-aged man, and a child hostage and force them to drive them outside Rome to help them make a clean escape.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsFabio TestiVincent GardeniaRenzo PalmerNico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums terrorising a sleepy Italian village, extorting cash from the locals.
- DirectorMatteo GarroneStarsGianfelice ImparatoSalvatore AbbruzzeseToni ServilloScampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsGiuliano GemmaEleonora GiorgiMichele PlacidoNino, a regular working-class guy, finds that a hitman has been hired to kill him. He discovers that a wealthy woman has been kidnapped and that everyone who was involved in it is being killed off. However, Nino had nothing to do with the kidnapping and has to find out who has sent the killers and stop them before it's too late.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsMaurizio MerliJohn SaxonBarry SullivanAn uncompromising cop gets transferred to Naples on account of this city's atrocious crime levels. His no-hold-barred police methods are considered to be the perfect anti-dote.
- DirectorStefano SollimaStarsPierfrancesco FavinoFilippo NigroMarco GialliniA look at the controversial riot cops unit, told through the stories of three veteran cops and a young recruit.
- DirectorFabio GrassadoniaAntonio PiazzaStarsSaleh BakriLuigi Lo CascioSara SerraioccoSalvo is a body guard and hit man for a mafioso. After foiling an attack on his employer, Salvo hunts down the man who organised it and encounters the man's blind sister. She causes Salvo to question himself and his existence.
- DirectorCarlo LizzaniStarsPeter BoylePaula PrentissFred WilliamsonThe rise and fall of a Mafia gangster, based on the life of murdered New York gangster "Crazy" Joey Gallo.
- DirectorPasquale SquitieriStarsFabio TestiJean SebergRaymond PellegrinThe fast career of a young Neapolitan among contraband, gambling dens, bribes and illegality. He will upgrade its rank till the maximum level of the "Family".
- DirectorFernando Di LeoStarsMario AdorfHenry SilvaWoody StrodeA Milanese pimp is pursued by - and then pursues - a pair of New York hitmen and the gangsters who framed him for stealing a shipment of heroin.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsMaurizio MerliMario MerolaVan JohnsonItalian mobster, Michele Barresi heads for the safer climate of Brooklyn after his chief rival is gunned down in the small Sicilian town of Corleone. Commissioner Berni learns of his involvement so Barresi takes out a contract on the only two people alive who can put him away. One is Barresi's hired assassin and the other is his girlfriend. Unable to save the girl, Berni manages to arrest the assassin, Salvatore Scalia. The plan is to get Scalia from Palermo to New York to testify against Barresi in court. But the mafia has no intentions of allowing either Berni, or Scalia to make it to New York alive.
- DirectorFernando Di LeoStarsLuc MerendaRichard ConteDelia BoccardoA police lieutenant suddenly faces the consequences of his choice to part for the local mobs.
- DirectorFernando Di LeoStarsHenry SilvaRichard ConteGianni GarkoA hitman finds himself embroiled in the middle of a Mafia war between the Sicilians and the Calabrians.
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsErno CrisaMarisa BelliVincenzo MusolinoA Sicilian nobleman is very jealous of his mistress and when she gets married flies off his handle and commits a murder of which an innocent man is accused. He is however tormented by his conscience.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsBen GazzaraLaura del SolLeo GullottaRise and fall of an Italian crime empire.
- DirectorPasquale SquitieriStarsGiuliano GemmaClaudia CardinaleFrancisco RabalTwo friends grow up together in the Sicily of the '50s. Two different destiny, two different way of life. Could their friendship survive to the mafia shadow?
- StarsVinicio MarchioniAlessandro RojaMarco BocciThis crime drama, set in Rome in the 1970s, tells the story of the Banda della Magia, a prolific Italian crime family responsible for some of the country's most violent crimes.
- DirectorMarco Tullio GiordanaStarsLuigi Lo CascioLuigi Maria BurruanoLucia Sardo"I cento passi" (one hundred steps) was the distance between the Impastatos' house and the house of Tano Badalamenti, an important Mafia boss, in the small Sicilian town of Cinisi. The movie is the story of Peppino Impastato, a young left-wing activist who in the late seventies (when almost nobody dared to speak about the Mafia, and several politicians maintained that the Mafia did not even exist) repeatedly denounced Badalamenti's criminal activities and the whole Mafia system, by using a small local radio station to broadcast his political pronouncements in the form of ironic humour. In 1978 Peppino (30 years old) was killed by an explosion. The police archived the case as an accident or a suicide, but his friends never accepted this conclusion. Note: This is a true story. More than twenty years after Peppino's death, the case has been re-opened. Tano Badalamenti, meanwhile, has been convicted in the USA for drug trafficking.
- CreatorLeonardo FasoliStefano BisesRoberto SavianoStarsSalvatore EspositoMarco D'AmoreIvana LotitoCiro disregards tradition in his attempt to become the next boss of his crime syndicate. The internal power struggle puts him and his entire family's life at risk.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsFabio TestiDavid HemmingsSherry BuchananAn Italian policeman goes undercover to break up an international heroin smuggling ring, and butts heads with a hot-tempered Interpol agent assigned to the same task.
- DirectorElio PetriStarsGian Maria VolontèIrene PapasGabriele FerzettiA leftist professor wants the truth about two men killed during a hunting party; but the mafia, the Church and corrupt politicians don't want him to learn it.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsRod SteigerSalvo RandoneGuido AlbertiPrior to a city council election, the collapse of a building leaves a land developer and his political backers defending themselves against a scandal.
- DirectorPiero ZuffiStarsMichael ReardonBarbara BouchetCarmelo BeneFrank Berin (Michael Reardon) was removed from an investigation into Mac Brown (Vittorio Duse), the owner of a pharmaceutical company, who was suspected of drug trafficking and illegal experiments on teenagers. When Brown is murdered, Frank is called to investigate.
- DirectorLuigi ZampaStarsJennifer O'NeillFranco NeroJames MasonA female school teacher is implicated in a murder in a Sicilian town only hours after her arrival. The dead man insulted her on the bus on the way into town. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes clear that the town is hiding some very sinister secrets.
- DirectorEnzo G. CastellariStarsFranco NeroGiancarlo PreteBarbara BachAn engineer seeks vigilante justice against the gangsters who took him hostage, and forms an unlikely partnership with a young robber to bring them down.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsFranco NeroMartin BalsamMarilù ToloIn a city rife with corruption, a cynical police captain clashes with an idealistic district attorney as they attempt to nab an elusive Mafia boss.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsTomas MilianClaudio CassinelliNicoletta MachiavelliWhen his former partner-in-crime kidnaps a critically-ill girl to blackmail her rich father, a shabby crook teams up with a hard-nosed cop to save her.
- DirectorCarlo LizzaniStarsGian Maria VolontèDon BackyRay LovelockA detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsTomas MilianPino ColizziIsa DanieliA hunchbacked gangster is betrayed by his gang during a robbery, and plots his revenge with the help of his no-good brother.
- DirectorStelvio MassiStarsLuc MerendaElio ZamutoKatia ChristineA cop seeking to avenge his partner's death during a robbery is put on the right path by a scruffy restaurateur who operates a non-violent thieves' school.
- DirectorGiuseppe FerraraStarsGiuseppe Di BellaAccursio Di LeoFranca Sciutto'The Stone in the Mouth' is the live chronicle of how the mafia conquered Sicily, the whole Italy and parts of the United States. Or how it tried to do so, thanks to the guilty underestimation of many who should have fought it.
- DirectorStenoStarsEnrico Maria SalernoMariangela MelatoMario AdorfThis is a story of a secret organization of former police officers, who go beyond the law, to kill notorious criminals without trial. One police inspector, (Enrico Maria Salerno) tries to stop them, but the attorney (Mario Adorf) is not convinced by his conspiracy theories, so the inspector is basically on his own and can't trust anyone.
- DirectorMario CaianoStarsLeonard MannIda GalliHenry SilvaA police commissioner tries to bring a gangster to justice as the kingpin's out-of-control crimes set even his own underworld allies against him.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsMaurizio MerliArthur KennedyGiampiero AlbertiniA tough, rule-bending cop pursues a maniacal, trigger-happy hunchback, a one-handed bank robber and their cronies in an effort to bring Rome's most powerful crime lord to justice.
- DirectorPietro GermiStarsPietro GermiClaudia CardinaleFranco FabriziA police detective and his team attempt to solve two crimes committed within a day of each other in neighboring apartment rooms.
- DirectorDuccio TessariStarsAlain DelonRichard ConteCarla GravinaA mob hitman wants to retire, but his bosses don't think that's a good idea. Complications and many bloody shootouts ensue.
- DirectorBruno CorbucciStarsTomas MilianEnzo CannavaleBomboloUndercover cop Nico Giraldi travels to New York and Las Vegas to find a crooked cop who gave his squadron back in Italy a bad name.
- DirectorMarino GirolamiStarsMaurizio MerliRichard ConteSilvano TranquilliA detective sick and tired of the rampant crime and violence in his city, and constantly at odds with his superiors, is finally kicked out of the department for a "questionable" shooting of a vicious criminal. However, he is soon approached by a representative for a group of citizens who themselves are fed up with what they see as criminals going unpunished, and they make him an offer he may very well not refuse.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsMichele PlacidoMark ChaseSimona CavallariMario (Placido), an Italian American who manages a pizzeria in NYC, is charged with an assassination of a judge in Palermo. He leaves the States, comes back to Sicily and recruit Michele, his younger brother, for some help. Michele is a good guy not involved with the Mafia, who is trying to build his life on honesty and hard-working. Michele needs some money to give freedom to a prostitute he is in love, and Mario promise his help in change of an hands to set up his trap for the judge. Anyway Michele isn't made with the same "pasta" of Mario, he couldn't never be a real Mafioso and this causes many between the two brother and the Mafia. There is only a way for Mario to save his brother. A way that Mafia could like.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsFranco NeroFrançoise FabianPierluigi ApràA filmmaker's popular movie about a corrupt judge who is killed by the Mafia seemingly foretells the murder of a magistrate who orders the film's seizure.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsMarc PorelRay LovelockAdolfo CeliFred and Tony are members of an elite 'special squad' of police in Rome, Italy, who are licenced-to-kill, undercover cops who thrive on living dangerously.
- DirectorMarco RisiStarsFrancesco BenignoAlessandra Di SanzoRoberto MarianoYoung men with no future have little in the present as well. Natale is released from prison: he takes up with his friends again but none can find work. Claudio, from Palermo, gets out of juvenile detention in Naples and he's met by Vita, a girl who's come from home to run away with him. Where can they go? A young dad, whose potato stall at the market is shut down because he has no permit, takes his two small children to the beach and yells at them. Mario, gay, a prostitute in drag, gets a visit from his mom; he offers tea, then finds the water to his apartment is shut off. Social workers drop by, parole officers file reports. What hope is there? What options besides crime?
- DirectorSergio SollimaStarsOliver ReedFabio TestiPaola PitagoraAn Italian prison warden is forced to exchange a French criminal for his kidnapped wife, but they soon find themselves on the trail of a larger conspiracy.
- DirectorMario MonicelliStarsAlberto SordiShelley WintersVincenzo CrocittiA meek middle-aged man finally takes justice into his own hands.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsFabio TestiIvana MontiMarcel BozzuffiSomeone is muscling in on the two brothers' cigarette smuggling into Italy at Naples. The police is tipped off, then Mickey's stable burns down, then the killing etc. starts. Luca responds.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsRod SteigerSalvo RandoneGuido AlbertiPrior to a city council election, the collapse of a building leaves a land developer and his political backers defending themselves against a scandal.
- DirectorPasquale SquitieriStarsGiuliano GemmaClaudia CardinaleStefano Satta FloresIn 1925, Cesare Mori - known as the "Iron Prefect" for his iron-fisted methods - wages a one-man war against the Mafia in Fascist Sicily.
- DirectorAlberto De MartinoStarsMartin BalsamTomas MilianFrancisco RabalWhen the godson of San Francisco's crime lord asks permission to leave "the business," Don Antonio agrees, but reluctantly. Such behavior by either one is a violation of the code, and a bloody mob war breaks out. It is only through the strong support of his family connections in Sicily that Don Antonio is able to survive the mêlée and come out on top. Aghast at the situation he has caused, the godson becomes his leader's "consigliere," or Counselor at Crime.
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsVivi GioiAndrea ChecchiCarla Del PoggioImmediately after the war, bandits attack a truck that is transporting newlyweds Michele and Giovanna and the accountant of an agricultural cooperative charged with bringing four million lire into office.
- CreatorLucio BattistradaMassimo De RitaStarsRemo GironePatricia MillardetMichele PlacidoAn epic crime saga of power, money, violence and corruption. the mafia controls everything through local and international networks like an octopus, anyone who tries to bring them down pays the ultimate price.
- DirectorUmberto LenziStarsTomas MilianHenry SilvaLaura BelliA small-time homicidal maniac kidnaps a young heiress, prompting a cop to pursue him before he can kill the girl once the hefty ransom is paid.
- DirectorFernando Di LeoStarsGastone MoschinBarbara BouchetMario AdorfA former gangster is forced to resume his old lifestyle when his violent, jealous ex-colleagues and the police believe that he knows the location of a stolen cache of $300,000.
- DirectorFrancesco MunziStarsMarco LeonardiPeppino MazzottaFabrizio FerracaneThe story of three brothers, the sons of a shepherd, close to the ndrangheta and of their divided soul.
- DirectorMario MonicelliStarsVittorio GassmanMarcello MastroianniRenato SalvatoriA motley quintet of inept small-time thieves attempt the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiFranca PasutSilvana CorsiniA pimp with no other means to provide for himself finds his life spiraling out of control when his prostitute is sent to prison.
- DirectorFernando Di LeoStarsLuc MerendaJames MasonIrina MaleevaBased on an actual event "The Kidnap Syndicate" is the story of two boys, one from a rich family and the other from a poor family, who are kidnapped and held for ransom.