''Gardenia'' ( it, Gardenia, il giustiziere della mala) is a 1979 Italian ''

poliziottesco Poliziotteschi (; singular ''poliziottesco'') constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as ''polizieschi all'italiana'', ...

'' film directed by

Domenico Paolella Domenico Paolella (18 October 1915 - 7 October 2002) was an Italian director, screenwriter and journalist. Born in Foggia, between 1933 and 1935 Paolella won several contests for amateur directors; in the same years he started working as a journa ...

. It represents the first leading role for the singer-songwriter

Franco Califano Franco Califano (14 September 1938 – 30 March 2013) was an Italian lyricist, composer, singer-songwriter, author and actor. During his career he sold about 20 million records. Life and career Born in an airplane above Tripoli, Libya, Califan ...

Plot

In the city of Rome lives Gardenia, a respected exponent of Roman organized crime who shows a certain humanity in managing his business. He runs a restaurant and a clandestine gambling house, and has a woman named Regina. Contacted by Don Salluzzo, a mafia boss, he categorically refuses to enter the drug business and sell it in his restaurant. Because of his refusal he comes into conflict with Salluzzo who tries several times to eliminate him, but with the help of some childhood friends he finally manages to win.

Cast

as Gardenia *

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Yo ...

as Salluzzo *

Robert Webber Robert Laman Webber (October 14, 1924 – May 19, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, roles that included Juror No. 12 in the 1957 film ''12 Angry Men''. Early life Webber was born in Santa Ana, ...

as Tony Caruso * Eleonora Vallone as Regina *

Licinia Lentini Licinia Lentini (born 4 March 1959) is an Italian actress and television personality. She was sometimes credited as Lilian Lacy and Licia Lee Lyon. Life and career Born in Rome, Lentini achieved a wide popularity in 1980 as a showgirl in the R ...

as Miriam Bella *

Franco Diogene Franco Diogene (20 October 1947 – 27 May 2005) was an Italian actor and comedian. Life and career Born Concetto Francesco Diogene in Catania, he was the son of a Sicilian father and a Ligurian mother. At 5 years old, Diogene moved to Genoa ...

as Friend of Gardenia *

María Baxa María Baxa (born Marija Baksa, sr-cyr, Марија Бакса, translit=; 15 April 1946 – 14 November 2019) was an Italian-Serbian film actress, mainly active in Italian cinema. Born in Osijek, Baxa made her film debut in Branko Čelović's ...

as Gardenia Girl *

Venantino Venantini Venantino Venantini (17 April 1930 – 9 October 2018) was an Italian film actor.Lory Del Santo Loredana "Lory" Del Santo (born 28 September 1958) is an Italian television personality and actress, now retired. Early life Lory Del Santo was born Loredana Del Santo on 28 September 1958, in Povegliano Veronese, a ''comune'' in the Itali ...

as Laura * Lorraine De Selle as Consuelo * Melissa Chimenti as Melissa

Release

''Gardenia'' was released theatrically in Italy on 5 May 1979 where it was distributed by P.A.C. It grossed 108 million

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

on its release in Italy.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* 1979 films Poliziotteschi films 1979 crime films Films directed by Domenico Paolella 1970s Italian-language films English-language Italian films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub