''The Cop in Blue Jeans'' () is a 1976 Italian crime and comedy film directed by

Bruno Corbucci Bruno Corbucci (23 October 1931 – 7 September 1996) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He was the younger brother of Sergio Corbucci and wrote many of his films. He was born in Rome, where he also died. The vast majority of h ...

. The film was a major commercial success and generated a film series consisting of eleven entries starring

Tomas Milian Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa (3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and humor he brought to starring ...

as Inspector Nico Giraldi.

Plot

An undercover cop named Giraldi is assigned to the anti-mugging squad. He tries to capture one of the main

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

thieves Achille Bertinari called Baron. But when the later robbed the American crime boss, Richard Russo, also known as Shelley, Giraldi understands that it is not an easy task to arrest Russo-Shelley, so he should resort to ruses to bring him down.

Cast

as Nico Giraldi *

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

as Norman Shelley / Richard J. Russo *

Maria Rosaria Omaggio Maria Rosaria Omaggio (; 11 January 1954 – 30 June 2024) was an Italian actress and writer. Early life and career Born in Rome, Maria Rosaria Omaggio debuted in 1973 in the Italian show ''Canzonissima''. In 1976 she made her film debut wit ...

as Mrs. Cattani *

Guido Mannari Guido Mannari (13 December 1944 – 10 August 1988) was an Italian actor of film and television. Life and career Guido was born in Castiglioncello, Province of Livorno into a large family. He had three half-brothers. His father, Giulio Mannari ...

as Achille Bertinari "Er Baronetto" *Jack La Cayenne as Colombo *Raf Luca as Gargiulo *

Toni Ucci Antonio "Toni" Ucci (13 January 1922 – 16 or 19 February 2014)E' morto Toni Ucci
16 February 2014 ...

as Lando Rossi "Grottaferrata" *

Vincenzo Crocitti Vincenzo Crocitti (16 July 1949 – 29 September 2010) was an Italian cinema and television actor. Crocitti was born in Rome. He won a David di Donatello and a Nastro d'Argento for the role of Mario Vivaldi in '' An Average Little Man''. Select ...

as Er Zagaja *

Benito Stefanelli Benito Stefanelli (2 September 1928 – 18 December 1999) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and weapons master who made over 60 appearances in film between 1955 and 1991. Biography and career Stefanelli is best known in world cinema for his ...

as Shelley's Henchman *John P. Dulaney as Ballarin

Production

''The Cop in Blue Jeans'' was the first film where

would portray Marshall Nico Giraldi, nicknamed ''Il Pirata'' (). The character would go on to be portrayed in 11 films between 1976 and 1984. The producer Galliano Juso recalled that the idea for the character came when Bruno Corbucci and he were making a film titled ''

Il trafficone ''Il trafficone'' is a 1974 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana written and directed by Bruno Corbucci and starring Carlo Giuffrè. Plot A Neapolitan Vincenzo LoRusso that lives of expedients in Rome, as he tries to sell at an intersection a faux ...

''. While filming, Juso had his purse stolen by thieves on Kawasaki motorcycles. This even led to Corbucci and him to develop a film about an "anti-snatch" squad. The sequels to the film, ''

Assassinio sul Tevere ''Assassinio sul Tevere'' (''Assassination on the Tiber'') is a 1979 Italian "poliziottesco"-comedy film directed by Bruno Corbucci. It is the sixth chapter in the Nico Giraldi film series starred by Tomas Milian. Cast * Tomas Milian: Nico Gira ...

'', ''

Delitto a Porta Romana ''Delitto a Porta Romana'' (''Crime at Porta Romana'') is a 1980 Italian "poliziottesco"-comedy film directed by Bruno Corbucci. It is the seventh chapter in the Nico Giraldi film series starred by Tomas Milian. Cast * Tomas Milian: Nico Girald ...

'', ''

Crime at the Chinese Restaurant ''Crime at the Chinese Restaurant'' () is a 1981 Italian "poliziottesco"-comedy film directed by Bruno Corbucci. It is the eighth chapter in the Nico Giraldi film series; in this chapter Tomas Milian plays a double role, the inspector Nico Girald ...

'', '' Delitto sull'autostrada'', '' Crime in Formula One'' and '' Cop in Drag'' grew more comedic with each film.

Release

''The Cop in Blue Jeans'' was distributed theatrically in Italy on 11 March 1976. It grossed a total of 2,013,807,160

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 ...

. Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti stated that it was among the most profitable domestic productions of the year. The film was released on DVD by Raro Video in Italy.

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Scott Meek of the ''

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

'' reviewed a 75-minute edit of the film. Meek stated that the film had a fractured plot which "maybe largely due to the twenty minutes missing from this version, but it is doubtful if, even in its complete form the story would have been at all coherent" stating the film "is aimed, to an almost fetishistic degree, at the lowest common denominator of the young, male, Italian audience," and that film was far too full of "sexism, anti-gay jokes and dubbed American dialogue, mostly consisting of unimaginative terms of abuse."

References

Sources

* *

External links

* 1976 films Films directed by Bruno Corbucci Italian comedy films 1970s crime comedy films Films set in Rome Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis 1976 comedy films 1970s Italian films {{comedy-crime-film-stub