THE GIALLO PROJECT - DATE FOR A MURDER

Vince Dreyser is an American living in Rome. He is, among other things, a private investigator and bodyguard to anyone with the cash to afford him. Vince has a chance meeting with an old friend, a chemical research scientist named Walter. Walter is off to be married in a few days time. The two friends, both on tight schedules, arrange a meet-up for later in the week. Only Walter never shows up. Shortly after, Vince catches word that Walter's traveling companions were found dead in an apparent car accident. Vince suspects foul play, a suspicion which proves to be all too correct. While nosing around, Vince is knocked unconscious by two thugs and left to die in a burning car.

Narrowly surviving the ordeal, Vince goes to work. He tracks down the mechanic who rented the car to Walter's traveling companions, beating the man mercilessly and threatening to set him on fire. The man gives him a name: Guido Salvatorelli. Vince tries setting Guido up, luring him out into the open at night to ambush him. Things go south however and Vince ends up in hot water with the local cops, men none too happy with an American shooting down an Italian, criminal or not, in the streets. The Police Commissioner, although weary of Vince's rough nosed tactics and penchant for shooting first and asking questions later, soon comes around to Vince's side. Men are being found dead all over the place, all of whom are connected in some way to Vince's missing friend.

Truth be told, DATE FOR A MURDER isn't really a giallo. It's more of a standard European action flick. Yes, there is a central mystery involving a string of murders and a few missing people, but the intent of the film is never to scare or even puzzle the brain. It's lightweight and airy, built around action set pieces rather than cold, spine tingling moments of suspense. But as the film is often referred to as a giallo, I thought it was worth a look and inclusion on the list, even if I don't personally feel that it belongs there. 

DATE FOR A MURDER was co-written by Fernando Di Leo, one of the great masters of the Italian poliziotteschi. It feels very much like a first draft for the harder edged crime thrillers Di Leo would craft in the future, films like MILANO CALIBRO 9 and THE BOSS. It's filled with macho men, high fashion women, rooftop fistfights and flying bullets. The first time we see Vince, he's practicing dodging rubber bullets in his hotel room. The next time we see him, he's seducing a pretty blonde. The poliziotteschi preferred their heroes to be Men with a capital M. Often cruel and rarely above using violence to prove a point, the heroes of the Italian crime thrillers were often quite difficult to sympathize with or even care for. They're brutes, hyper-masculine alpha males, with blood lusts and libidos cranked to 11.

Thankfully, Vince Dreyser is more Euro-spy than gun toting rampage beast. As played by veteran Italian character actor George Ardisson, Vince is a likeable chap, one with a serious romantic interest in Fidelia, the fashionable upper class and sharp witted daughter of a wealthy family. The moments between the two are rife with flirting and light comedy, perfect for transforming a hard-nosed P.I. with a gun into the kind of character you can actually root for as he's gunning down gangsters and fear for as he rushes headlong into danger. And there's plenty of danger afoot, too. There's a terrific chase and scuffle on a rooftop, more than a few shoot-outs and a fantastic, tense climax set in a meat packaging plant. The highlight of the film however is the fight between Vince and an elderly cripple, the latter riding about in a wheelchair constructed from an old motorcycle. Watching the cripple try to run over a staggered Vince, swerving back and forth inside a cramped office, sums this film up better than I could ever hope to do.

The final confrontation in DATE FOR A MURDER is a surprisingly emotional affair, as is the moment just before the closing credits. Over the course of the film's 105 minutes, I found myself liking Vince quite a bit and as a result, I found myself becoming more and more invested in his search for his missing friend. I liked the film a great deal, even if it didn't turn out to be the giallo I thought it was going to be. It's free from the cynical excesses and graphic brutality that ran rampant in the Italian crime thrillers of the 70s. It's enjoyable and lightweight, shot through with just the right flavor of humor. Is it suspenseful? Sometimes, but rarely. Is it nerve shredding? Barely. Is it really a giallo?

Well, I guess the jury is still out on that. For my money, no, it isn't. It's a crime thriller with just a pinch of yellow.

 

DATE FOR A MURDER 
(Omicidio per appuntamento)

Director: Mino Guerrini
Writer: Fernando Di Leo, Mino Guerrini, Franco Enna
Starring: George Ardisson, Halina Zalewska, Gunther Stoll, Hans von Borsody, Mario Brego
Italy, West Germany; Discobolo Films, Parnass Film
1967, 105 minutes

Narrative Variety: Amateur Detective
Murderer(s): 1 Male
Murderer(s) Role: Friend
Murderer(s) Motive: Greed
Victims: Man (found dead), Man (found dead)
Murderer(s) Death: Shot to death

THE GIALLO PROJECT - A... COME ASSASSINO

In a grand Italian villa, just shortly after 10 in the evening, a murder has been committed. Poor old John Prescott, the wealthy proprietor of an African diamond mine, has been found with his throat cut from ear to ear. Days later, his relatives gather in the villa to listen to an audio recording of John Prescott's will, joined by Prescott's most trusted business associate, his secretary Giacomo. We learn rather quickly why no one is in mourning. Prescott wasn't a kind man, nor was he especially loving to his family. In fact, it seems as if he hated every single one of them with a red hot passion. His will demonstrates this. Prescott's millions are to be divided in three, only payable after every man and woman in the room has spent a month living together in the villa. Then, after the 30 days have passed, the first three people to travel to Prescott's notary will be rewarded with one third of the inheritance. The not-so-subtle suggestion is quickly realized by Prescott's wormy nephew George. 

“It's a provocation to...”, George screams out. He doesn't even have to finish the sentence. Everyone knows full well what John Prescott's intentions were.

The other members of the party include George's flirtatious wife, Adriana, an ex-stripper who was courted aggressively by the now deceased Mr. Prescott, and Martha, Prescott's sister, forever mourning the death of her husband. There's Angela, Prescott's pretty blonde niece and her milquetoast husband Armando. Rounding out the Prescott family is John's giggling idiot son, Julian, a man-child who is always seen playing with knives. The only real outsider is Giacomo, a beefy, bitter man not at all sorry to see his old boss dead. Around these suspects orbits a police detective, the ever watchful Inspector Matt. He's here to find out who killed John Prescott. What he should really be worried about is who is willing to kill for John Prescott's millions.

And that's the driving force behind Angelo Dorigo's A… COME ASSASSINO. To be honest, I shouldn't be classifying this film as an Amateur Detective story, in part because the Detective in question is a professional. It's also because A… COME ASSASSINO is more BAY OF BLOOD than it is THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. It isn't a story with a single killer. It's a story practically littered with them. In the tally below, you'll only see two victims, but the film is stuffed full of dead bodies. See, no one actually cares who murdered John Prescott that night. They hated the man and he hated them in return. All anyone cares about is the money and it's that greed that sets the murderous mayhem in motion.

This is a film with many, many layers of deception going on all at once. We no sooner learn that Character A has been conspiring with Character B to frame Character C than we learn that Character B has been working with Character D to bring down Character A. It's an ever-shifting mass of bad intentions, ulterior motives and triple crosses. Of course, every character in this film is a horrible, despicable person so their eventual deaths don't exactly fill us with sadness, but there is a wonderful time to be had in watching these godawful creatures twist each other in murderous pretzels, only to have their greedy venom spit right back in their faces. It's such a joy to watch this all go down that I half forgot this was supposed to be a mystery rather than a glorious bit of cynical black comedy.

The solution to the puzzle of who killed John Prescott quite literally doesn't matter. It's just a MacGuffin, a bloody bit of plot to get this whole ball rolling downhill. What matters here is the whirlpool of immorality and greed, and the eventually drowning of all these disgusting characters in it. Taken as a tasty bit of hyper-cynical melodrama, the film works damn well. It has a brisk pace, the black and white cinematography is gorgeous (even though my copy of the film leaves MUCH to be desired), and the acting is all on point. Every actor, from Mary Arden to Sergio Ciani (aka Alan Steel aka the guy in all those awful Hercules movies), plays their part perfectly. They're just awful, terrible, horrible human beings.

But that's where I can see A… COME ASSASSINO losing much of it's audience. Because even though this is technically a giallo, there really isn't an awful lot of giallo in it. This is not a film that will appeal to murder mystery purists or even casual armchair detectives. Try as you might, you will not be able to piece together all the alibis, facts and lies in any kind of logical manner. Every character in this film is playing every other character in this film. It is lie after lie after lie for 70 straight minutes. So if you're looking for a puzzle to solve, stick with the jigsaw variety. But if you want a wonderful bit of immoral, blackly comedic melodrama full of backstabbings, rooftop brawls, shoot-outs and polite insults, A… COME ASSASSINO is a film to seek out. It's a great, entertaining ride.

A… COME ASSASSINO

(aka A… For Assassin)

Director: Angelo Dorigo

Writer: Sergio Bazzini, Roberto Natale, Ernesto Gastaldi

Starring: Sergio Ciani, Mary Arden, Ivano Davoli, Aiche Nana, Giovanna Galetti

Italy; Bival Film

1966, 76 minutes

Narrative Variety: Amateur Detective

Murderer(s): 1 Woman

Murderer(s) Role: Sister

Murderer(s) Motive: Revenge

Victims: Man (throat cut), Woman (stabbed to death)

Murderer(s) Death: N/A