Poliziotteschi genre rose up in Italian cinema after the wave of Giallo. It was an abrupt attitude change. Giallo was all about how normal people had to track down the leather gloved killers because the cops were only good for cleaning up a crime scene. Poliziotteschi was all about badass cops. While it’s easy to imagine that this genre was ripping off Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movies, the genre was tearing its stories from newspaper headlines. Italy in the mid-70s was crime ridden by mobsters and terrorists. Rich families were kidnapped on the streets. The attackers didn’t care who they shot to grab their target. Politicians and judges were exposed as being in the pockets of criminal organizations. The Italian film industry knew the people wanted to see a hero on the screen. They gave viewers cops that were willing to fight the criminals on the street and the crooked officials in government buildings. One of the icons of this time was Maurizio Merli. His steely blue eyes and mustache let you know he meant business when he flashed a badge. He quickly became a cinematic superstar with Violent Rome and Violent Naples. He knew how to clean up the cities. Convoy Busters (Un Poliziotto Scomodo) has Merli tackling criminal element in Rome and the seaside.
On what should be a picture-perfect day in Rome, a local finds a woman’s body floating in the river. Inspector Francesco Olmi (Merli) arrives on the scene looking for clues. He gets a witness that remembers the girl and three others with a car. The guy even remembered the license plate number. This is comes in handy since soon Olmi locates the car after its been torched with the driver still inside. He gets the dead guy’s mother to talk about this friends which leads him to his next suspect. Except this person might not be the killer since someone sent a hit squad to mow her down in a hail of bullets. There’s only one suspect left and it’s the child of a high placed official. When he beats the proper confession out of the kid, his boss doesn’t give him a promotion. He’s transferred from homicide to the Emergency Squad. This leads to a thrilling sequence where mobsters disguised as cops ambush the real cops to free a member. During the escape, they’re tracked down by Olmi in a helicopter. Even though he’s effective, Olmi has upset people with his police techniques. This leads to him getting transferred to a seaside town where he might not need his gun since the crime rate is low. He has a such a good and peaceful time that he starts dating a local teacher (Keoma & Murder Rock‘s Olga Karlatos) instead of being obsessed with tracking down criminals. But are things really this peaceful in the port city?
As a Poliziotteschi, Convoy Busters is top tier. We’re given three separate cases that Olmi has to break. There’s plenty of badassery on the screen including Olmi beating a confession out of a bratty kid. Olmi leaning out of the helicopter to shoot the fugitives is visually exciting. Maurizio Merli is in full effect as he refuses to backdown from any criminal that commits a crime on his shift. Director Stelvio Massi paces the action so you don’t get bored waiting for the next shootout. You don’t even feel bored when Olmi falls in love with the school teacher. If Olga Karlatos looks familiar, it’s because a few years later she’d play Prince’s mother in Purple Rain. She ended up married to Arthur Rankin Jr. who is half of Rankin Bass, the guys who made Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus and The Little Drummer Boy.
You might be wondering why the movie is called Convoy Busters since it doesn’t have a plot about infiltrating a criminal trucking firm. There are trucks involved in the third act. which probably allowed the distributors to rename Un Poliziotto Scomodo so it sounded like the Trucker movies that were Hollywood hits. Around the time Convoy Busters debuted, Sam Peckinpah’s Convoy was playing in theaters. A few people must have bought a ticket expecting a sequel and being confused at the lack of Kris Kristoferson. The good news was they did get to see Maurizio Merli kick butt as he busted three cases wide open. Convoy Busters gives us a cop who won’t play nice with anyone except his woman.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the Italian charms and the grizzly nature of a few murders. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono for both the Italian and English dubs. The levels are fine for when Merli gets tough. The subtitles are English.
My Father, the Cop: Interview with Mauizio Matteo Merli (20:22) has a son talk about how much his father meant to people after his untimely death at 49 in 1989. He found himself hungering to know more about his father through his films. He describes knowing his father was an icon of the Poliziotteschi genre. His dad saw the Poliziotteschi as an update of the Westerns that were made a decade before.
The Massi Touch: Interview with Danilo Massi (24:19) has the director’s son talk about seeing him on the set for the first time. He was thrilled to see his dad doing a lot more than his friends’ fathers who mostly worked in office. He eventually became his dad’s assistant on Mark of the Cop and had a small role on screen. He describes his father as one who avoided excessive. Stelvio Massi didn’t want characters to be too extreme or the film too comedic or violent. His dad also viewed the cop films as Urban Westerns. There’s a lot of great shots of his dad on the set.
Maurizio Merli: A Lethal Hunter of Subtle Variation (29:00) has Mike Malloy (director of Eurocrime: The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s) discuss the actor. Malloy talks about the roles that Merli took that slightly deviated from his cop character that ruled the Italian box office in mid-70s with the release of Violent Rome. His character hated hoodlum punks and the justice system that kept these creep on the streets of Italy. He made a lot of films with Umberto Lenzi.
Stelvio Massi Image Gallery (5:41) has the director and cinematographer on locations and sets.
Audio Commentary with Mike Malloy and Mike Martinez gets deep into the film. Both worked on Eurocrime so they are full of juicy details on cast, crew, locations and the crime scene in Italy. If you get a chance, you can watch Eurocrime for free on Tubi.
A Conversation with journalist Eolo Capacci (16:02) has him talk about his friendship with Maurizio Merli. They had nearby places at the beach. Eolo was an agent back then and not a journalist. Merli was only interested in small roles that didn’t take much time since he wanted to focus on the stage. But then he stumbled upon the role of Garibaldi for a mini-series. After that, Merli was able to get his first cop role and things exploded. The interview is in Italian with subtitles.
A Conversation with director Ruggero Deodato (6:27) has him talk about how Merli was like Franco Nero in that they both wanted to show off their blue eyes in the frame. He also talks about the first time he cast Merli when he was a kid. Turns out he got into serious trouble when he was falsely accused of a crime and spent a year in jail waiting for his trial. Ruggero talks of their final meeting. Ruggero directed Cannibal Holocaust.
A Conversation with director Enzo G. Castellari (22:20) has his him remember Merli wanting to work on a set so Enzo’s acting brother Ennio would take him on the set as an assistant. He’s eagerness led him to getting small roles. We hear quite about Merli’s journey to leading man. Enzo directed Keoma.
A Conversation with Maurizio Matteo Merli (20:26) is more time with his son. He spent a lot of time with dad on the sets and locations. He talks about his father’s parenting skills.
A Conversation with actor Enio Girolami (15:54) has him recount how he grew up with Merli in the same part of Rome. They both enjoyed cinema and parties. We learn about the “Cakes for the Countess” prank.
Alternate English opening credit sequence (0:59) has “Convoy Busters” on the screen, but then goes German with “mit” for supporting cast.
Trailer – English (4:01) opens with what looks like cops ambushing cops. We gets a lot of shooting up on the screen.
Trailer – Italian (3:50) sells the film with the super cop image of Merli.
Image Gallery (2:42) includes press photos, scenes from other movies, behind the scenes and family pics.
Cauldron Films present Convoy Busters. Directed by Stelvio Massi. Screenplay by Gino Capone, Teodoro Corrà & Stelvio Massi. Starring Maurizio Merli, Massimo Serato, Mimmo Palmara & Marco Gelardini. Running Time: 100 Minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 16, 2023.
