''La morte risale a ieri sera'' (translation: ''Death occurred last night'') is a 1970 crime film directed by

Duccio Tessari Duccio Tessari (11 October 1926 – 6 September 1994) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, considered one of the fathers of Spaghetti Westerns. Born in Genoa, Tessari started in the fifties as documentarist and as screenwriter ...

. The film was written by Tessari and

Biagio Proietti Biagio Proietti (23 June 1940 – 12 March 2022) was an Italian screenwriter, director and writer. Life and career Born in Rome, graduated in law, Proietti started his career as an assistant director of Francesco Maselli in '' Time of Indiffe ...

and based on the novel '' I milanesi ammazzano al sabato'' (translation: ''The Milanese Kill on Saturdays'') by

Giorgio Scerbanenco Giorgio Scerbanenco (; ; ; 18 July 1911 – 27 October 1969) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian-born Italians, Italian crime fiction writer. Life and works Giorgio Scerbanenco was born in Kyiv, in what was then the Russian Empire. At an early age, h ...

. ''La morte risale a ieri sera'' stars

Raf Vallone Raffaele Vallone (17 February 1916 – 31 October 2002) was an Italian actor and footballer. One of the top male Italian stars of the 1950s and 1960s, he first became known for his association with the neorealist movement, and found success in ...

and Frank Wolff. The film's score was composed by

Gianni Ferrio Gianni Ferrio (16 November 1924 – 21 October 2013) was an Italian composer, conductor and music arranger. Life and career Born in Vicenza, Ferrio studied at the conservatories of Conservatory of Vicenza, Vicenza and Conservatorio di Musica Be ...

, whose baroque and psychedelic contributions to the soundtrack were described by one critic as inconsistent with the tone of the film. The film was distributed internationally under the title ''Death Occurred Last Night'' in 1970, which only had a 95-minute running time.

Plot

Following the disappearance of his beautiful but mentally disabled daughter, Avanzio Berzaghi (

) travels to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to track her down. Local detective Duca Lamberti ( Frank Wolff) investigates the city's pimps and prostitutes for clues, eventually finding the girl's burnt body in a field. The pimps disposed of the young girl when they heard investigators were looking for her. Berzaghi vows to find the girl's murderer, eventually tracking down his quarry from a clue related to the girl's teddy bear. Berzaghi exacts his revenge but finds no satisfaction from having done so.

Cast

* Frank Wolff as detective Duca Lamberti * Raf Vallone as Amanzio Berzaghi * Gabriele Tinti as Mascaranti * Gillian Bray as Donatella Berzaghi *

Eva Renzi Eva Renzi (born Evelyn Renziehausen; 3 November 1944 – 16 August 2005) was a German actress. Biography Born in Berlin to a Danish father and a French mother, she enrolled in the Berlin Actors' Studio at age 16 and began appearing in plays in G ...

as the wife of Lamberti * Gigi Rizzi as Salvatore * Beryl Cunningham as Herrero * Wilma Casagrande as Concetta Giarzone * Marco Mariani as Franco Baronia *

Checco Rissone Francesco "Checco" Rissone (7 July 1909 – 26 September 1985) was an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Rissone was born in Turin, the younger brother of the more famous Giuditta Rissone, Giuditta. He debuted on stage ...

as Ing. Salvarsanti

Production

''La morte risale a ieri sera'' was written by Biagio Proietti and director

. the film is based on

's 1969 novel '' I milanesi ammazzano al sabato'' (translation: ''The Milanese Kill on Saturdays''). The book was published just a few months before the author's death. Several of Scerbanenco's works featuring the detective character Duca Lamberti were adapted to film around this time, including ''

Caliber 9 ''Caliber 9'' (; also released as ''The Contract'') is a 1972 Italian poliziottesco film written and directed by Fernando Di Leo and starring Gastone Moschin, Mario Adorf, Barbara Bouchet, Philippe Leroy, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli, and Lionel S ...

'' in 1972 and '' Safety Catch'' in 1970. The film's soundtrack was composed by

, who had previously worked with Tessari on the 1969

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

'' Sundance and the Kid'', and would do so again on his 1971

giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

'' The Bloodstained Butterfly''. Ferrio's score spans several musical styles, incorporating

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid-1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

and jazz.

Release

''La morte risale a ieri sera'' was distributed by

Titanus Titanus (also called Titanus Distribuzione) is an Italian film production and distribution company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Vi ...

in Italy on September 5, 1970. The film grossed a total of 568,294,000

Italian lire The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was 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 fo ...

domestically. The film was later released in West Germany as ''Gemordet wird nur Samtags'' on July 16, 1971. The film has been distributed internationally under the titles ''Death Occurred Last Night'', as well as ''Death Took Place Last Night'' and ''Horror Came out of the Fog''.

Reception

From retrospective reviews, Robert Firsching wrote in

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

that ''La morte risale a ieri sera''s plot featured "a great deal more humanity than is typical for the rimegenre", finding that Tessari's focus on characterisation over plot was its key strength. Firsching commented on the film's score negatively, stating that Ferrio's score and its "bouncy" tone was inconsistent with the film. The film, and the character of Lamberti, have been seen as precursors to the postmodernist works of American director

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

Footnotes

References

* * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morte risale a ieri sera 1970 films 1970 crime films Duca Lamberti films Films directed by Duccio Tessari Italian crime films Films set in Milan Films scored by Gianni Ferrio West German films German crime films 1970s Italian films 1970s German films