Milano rovente (1973)

Milano rovente: Directed by Umberto Lenzi. With Antonio Sabato, Philippe Leroy, Antonio Casagrande, Carla Romanelli. A Milan produce vendor, whom moonlights as a pimp, faces off against a ruthless and greedy French gangster whom wants to unite the organized crime ring of Italy.

“Antonio Sabato is the perfect mixture of smarm and charisma in the role of Salvatore u0026quot;Totou0026quot; Cangemi. Heu0026#39;s a big name in the produce business in Milan, but this is really just a legitimate front for what he really likes to do: run a prostitution ring. His troubles begin when a smooth French criminal, Roger u0026quot;The Captainu0026quot; Daverty (Philippe Leroy), starts putting the pressure on Toto to get into drugs. Toto is pretty peeved, especially when The Captain insists on pocketing most of the potential income. This leads to a war between Toto and his fellow Sicilians and the Frenchman and his gang, with some interesting twists and turns along the way.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s amusing watching an amoral p.o.s. like Toto be the focal point of a solid, if unexceptional, Eurocrime story. You donu0026#39;t like him – heu0026#39;s misogynistic, for one thing – but he remains fairly compelling. In fact, in this yarn there are very few innocents, or characters with genuine rooting interest. Still, itu0026#39;s fun to watch as these not-so-honourable crooks figure out ways to mess with each other. The film has its moments of violence – like acid thrown in a face, or the mutilating of a breast – but in truth is not all that gory. It IS an entertaining exercise in sleaze, and fans of the genre will have cause to be reasonably pleased. Itu0026#39;s very nicely shot in widescreen and given an atmospheric score by Carlo Rustichelli.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSabato is ably supported by a rich gallery of European talent: Leroy as the drug kingpin, Antonio Casagrande as Totosu0026#39; associate Lino, lovely Carla Romanelli as novice hooker Virginia, Alessandro Sperli as wise American mobster Billy Barone, Franco Fantasia as the Inspector tasked with fighting organized crime, Tano Cimarosa as the victimized Nino Balsamo, and sexy Marisa Mell as Jasmina Sanders, the woman who turns Totosu0026#39; head.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNoteworthy as the first Eurocrime feature for Umberto Lenzi, who may be better known (at least to some North American viewers) for his horror films of the 80s, like u0026quot;Cannibal Feroxu0026quot; and u0026quot;Nightmare Cityu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTrashy and politically incorrect, u0026quot;Gang War in Milanu0026quot; shows its audience a good time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeven out of 10.”