THE ITALIAN CONNECTION

year: 1972 cast: Mario Adorf, Henry Silva, Woody Strode, Cyril Cusak rating: ***1/2

Although two New York hit men, Henry Silva and Woody Strode, supposedly templates of Quentin Tarantino’s Jules and Vincent PULP FICTION thugs, are far better villains than blocky local Mario Adorf is a lead-role/antihero, this Italian mobsploitation juggles each character decently enough... and everything narrows down to one thing only: Adorf, as small time pimp Luca Canali, is – if Silva and Strode can help it – a dead man.

The endearing traits of imported crime movies are here in droves: the wah-wah peddle guitar vibrates through the bursting horn section orchestrating insert-heavy action scenes, naked ladies, and a pivotal car chase as Canali, with a fierce boar-like countenance, seeks the thug who killed his family.

More attention on Silva, a sly womanizing braggart, and Strode, the brooding baseline, would have been nice – they’re far too cool to serve as an eventual backdrop to Canali’s quest to survive and then seek answers. That is, until the incredible climactic shootout between all three within a junkyard