By 1978 the Italian crime film was beginning to
fade away after about 10 years of a blizzard of them. Nothing shows this
more than this turgid mess with one of the biggest Poliziotteschi stars,
Maurizio Merli. Admittedly, this is the dubbed version which does Merli no
favors. It is directed by Stelvio Massi who had helmed the excellent Emergency
Squad four years previously. Perhaps the problem is that the English title
is misleading; there is no magnum and there is no cop. To a large extent
the Italian crime genre survived on the Dirty Harry type of cop, willing
to break the rules and a few heads to get the bad guys. At a time of rabid
crime and violent political unrest in Italy, audiences cheered this on. It
made Nero, Merli, Milian, Testi and Luc Merenda into tough fearless stars.
But Merli's character isn't a cop. He is a private detective and most of
the film takes place in Austria which may be a beautiful locale but doesn't
have the right grit for an Italian crime film. I suspect the filmmakers are
aiming for Marlowe but end up with Rockford. Merli isn't particularly tough,
keeps getting beat up and doesn't even carry a gun. In the end he solves
the case, but more through luck than smarts.
Spada (Merli) is an ex-cop but now a down and nearly out private eye barely
able to pay the bills when he gets a job to find a missing daughter in Rome.
He easily does, but then loses her and goes to Austria to locate her. Instead,
he gets involved in a sex trafficking case of teenage girls. He keeps getting
conked on the head and warned to leave town. Like any reputable P.I. he sticks
to the case like super glue and gets beat up again. His main lead is a high
class stripper played by Joan Collins who surprised me by going topless.
I am not sure why, but that scene creeped me out. Merli plays his detective
as slightly goofy and not smart or tough. Very little action and not all
that much suspense.
