''Convoy Busters'' ( it, Un poliziotto scomodo) is a 1978 ''

poliziotteschi 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

Stelvio Massi Stelvio Massi (26 March 1929 – 26 March 2004), sometimes credited "Max Steel", was an Italian director known for his "''poliziotteschi''" films. Career Massi entered the cinema industry in 1952 as assistant camera operator, and in 1954 he becam ...

and starring

Maurizio Merli Maurizio Merli (February 8, 1940 – March 10, 1989) was an Italian film actor and a star of many Italian police thrillers. Career After a decade of minor film roles, 1974 saw a breakthrough for Merli with his first starring role in a rema ...

Cast

: Inspector Francesco Olmi *

Olga Karlatos Olga Karlatos ( el, Όλγα Καρλάτου; born Olga Vlassopulos, April 20, 1945) is a retired Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer, known primarily for performing in Italian horror cinema. Career Between the end of the sixties and the e ...

: Anna *

Massimo Serato Massimo Serato, born Giuseppe Segato, (31 May 1916 – 22 December 1989) was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years. Serato was born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy and started appearing in films in 1938. He played leading roles in ...

: Degan Sr. *

Mario Feliciani Mario Feliciani (12 March 1918 – 11 August 2008) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan, after completing his classical education Feliciani attended the Accademia dei filodrammatici obtaining the diploma. He ...

: Quaestor *

Mimmo Palmara Domenico "Mimmo" Palmara (25 July 1928 – 10 June 2016) was an Italian actor. Biography Born in Cagliari, Palmara made his film debut in 1952 as a character actor in drama films by eminent directors such as Luchino Visconti, Mario Monicelli and ...

: Corchi * Marco Gelardini: Degan Jr. * Attilio Duse: Brigadier Ballarin *

Nello Pazzafini Nello Pazzafini (15 May 1933 – 9 January 1996) was an Italian actor who appeared in a very large number of Peplum movies, Spaghetti Westerns and Poliziotteschi. He was an ex-bodyguard and often played a "tough guy" character. Partial filmog ...

:criminal

Production

''Convoy Busters'' was filmed on location in Rome and Civitanova Marche.

Releases

''Convoy Busters'' was distributed theatrically in Italy by P.A.C. - Produzioni Atlas Consorziate on 23 December 1978. It grossed a total of 989,390,960

Italian lira 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 ...

on its domestic release. Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti stated that this gross was no par with

's previous films noting that his star power was beginning to fade at this point. The film released by

NoShame NoShame, or NoShame Films, was an Italian-American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult Italian movies on DVD. History NoShame Films started its office in Italy and opened an office in Los Angeles, California the foll ...

on DVD in the United States.

Reception

Curti stated that the film was "unusually well-received by critics", including Vittorio Spiga who praised the film as Massi's best work, referring to Massi as managing "to renew the genre somehow: by borrowing the style of the Italian Western, its violence and characters, while taking the spectacular angle and the fast pacing from American cinema." Tom Milne of the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' stated that "Although Stelvio Massi places numbing reliance on the zoom lens, it is competently enough done, with a sound performance by Maurizio Merli in the Eastwood role." Milne also commented on the dubbing, declaring it "horribly dubbed and stultifyingly tedious." In a retrospective review, Curti declared the film to be "perhaps

's best effort, and one of the better late Italian ''

''"

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* 1978 films 1970s Italian-language films 1970s crime thriller films 1970s action thriller films Poliziotteschi films Films scored by Stelvio Cipriani Films set in Rome 1970s Italian films Films directed by Stelvio Massi {{1970s-Italy-film-stub