Salvatore Manini (Louis Vito
Russo) is an enterprising, but reckless, mobster within the American underworld
and during a rather messy drug deal in Las Vegas, one of his rivals (John
Bartha) is killed during a brief gunfight. Outdated and mis-matched stock shots of Vegas
nightlife accompany the scene leaving no doubt as to the cheapness of this
production. Because of all the ensuing
heat on Sal, New York crime boss Angelo Lupari (Arturo Dominici) advises him to
leave the US and go to Palermo, Italy.
Once in Palermo, Sal is
greeted at the airport by Vito (Leonard Mann) and escorted to a country villa
owned by the powerful and influential Don Domini (Guido Celano) who also happens
to be confined to a wheelchair. Almost
immediately, Sal befriends Domini’s wife Marina (Karin Schubert) and, in an
incredibly brazen and dangerous move, begins an illicit affair, which also
allows Schubert to flash her ample assets.
Later in the week, Sal and
Vito visit an illegal gambling house and before they even have a chance to lose
money, they rob the premises and inadvertently kill the pit boss (Attilio
Dottesio). Then, in another risky move,
the elusive owners of the illegal casino are gunned down in a hale of
machine-gun fire before revenge can even be met. Although he should be lying low, Sal seems to
be stirring up more shit in Palermo than in the United States. Later at a ritzy party, Sal befriends Betty
White (Helene Chanel), a high-end call girl who introduces him to numerous
high-ranking politicians. Naturally, Sal
sleeps with his “hostess” as more nudity fills the screen while Vito makes it
with another girl outside in a chair. Although
treading dangerous territory, Sal begins to blackmail various politicians
utilizing a secret hotel room with a two-way mirror as he and Vito photograph
them in a variety of compromising positions.
Even more nudity fills the screen during a brief montage of scandalous
behavior featuring plenty of jiggling breasts and, in a ridiculous moment, even
some nude calisthenics.
More travelogue shots of
Paris and London are liberally inserted into the narrative to help establish
Sal and Vito’s escapades blackmailing numerous politicians throughout
Europe. However, their travel is cut
short when they see a mysterious and vaguely familiar man (Romano Puppo) at the airport. Suspicious of him, they neglect to board their
flight as a cheap toy plane explodes against a phony looking background. Not taking any chances, Sal and Vito decide
to do away with him as they leave the airport with a high-end scope rifle. Further blackmailing ensues (“Lord Walley caught with call-girls!” screams The London Times), leading to another
politician’s public embarrassment and eventual resignation.
Back in the US, Don Lupari is
getting increasingly concerned with the uproar Vito has been causing in Palermo,
which eventually leads to his murder while Sal and Vito’s blackmailing scheme
also begins to slowly wither away when the police get wind of it, no doubt in
part to all the connected politicians getting harassed. Meanwhile, back at Don Domini’s heavily
guarded mansion, Marina’s infidelities begin to get the better of him so, in a completely
gratuitous scene, he forces some of his goons to rape her as he watches from
his wheelchair. Even though Lo
SGARBO has been quite sleazy up to this point, this particular scene hits
you like an unexpected punch to the gut and, quite honestly, is surprisingly
nasty. As various underworld factions begin
closing in, Sal and Vito try and seek refuge at Don Domini’s villa and inadvertently
surprise him and his goons during this vindictive act, which leads to the rather
arbitrary finale.
Helmed by veteran director
Marino Girolami under his usual alias of Franco Martinelli, this may have been a
job-for-hire gig, which he directed between his more polished and infinitely
more entertaining VIOLENT ROME
(1975) and ROMA, L’ALTRA FACCIA DELLA VIOLENZA (1976). Quite different from your average crime film,
Lo
SGARBO (which roughly translates as “disrespect”) has more in common
with a softcore sex opus than a typical crime flick with copious amounts of
nudity interspersed throughout the narrative. The climatic rape with Karin
Schubert is especially nasty as well, a tactic Girolami always seemed to employ
in most of his crime films with the same shocking and out-of-left-field
approach. The home invasion scene from VIOLENT ROME with Richard Conte
helplessly watching his daughter raped in front of his eyes definitely comes to
mind. Maybe producer Gabriele Crisanti
provided some input to help make it a little more “marketable” in permissive
territories by upping the sleaze quotient, but of course this is all
speculation. Considering some of his
later output though, including Andrea Bianchi’s super-scuzzy MALABIMBA
(1979) and Mario Landi’s rather shocking GIALLO A VENEZIA (1979), this
certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Overly enthusiastic plotting
- both Antonio Margheriti and Luigi Russo had a hand in the script - may
account for the rather uneven feel, but it moves at a decent enough pace and is
certainly never boring. The unknown Louis
Vito Russo is also a suitably sleazy anti-hero who drops his pants more than he
draws his gun, but that doesn’t stop him from crackin’ some heads in his quest
to usurp as much power as he can.
Low-budget director and occasional actor Guido Celano also seems to
relish his part as the tormented Don Domini who can only watch as his wife
seeks the attentions of other men right up until the shocking and completely
unexpected climax.
Never released on DVD, this
was available on numerous Italian language VHS tapes including an imported NTSC
release from Master Video Productions, a Canadian distributor of Italian
language films back in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
By no means very good, this is mildly entertaining stuff as far as
Italian crime films go, but fans Euro sleaze will no doubt find plenty to
appreciate. A subtitled copy would
definitely add further enjoyment.
