Arguably best known for directing a pair of rather prestigious nudie nunsploitation pictures, director Domenico Paolella also made the action-packed poliziesco STUNT SQUAD (1977) for Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.), the same production company who also produced the present title. Essentially a contemporized spaghetti western set amidst the shadow world of the Roman malavita, GARDENIA (1979) is a sufficiently engaging gangster picture, yet despite the presence of yank guest stars Martin Balsam and Robert Webber, it was doomed to remain a real obscurity prior to 88 Films’ excellent Blu-ray.
Here making his big screen acting debut, Italo pop singer Franco Califano (a.k.a. Il Califfo) stars as Gardenia, a charming restaurateur and owner of the trendy Mayfair eatery. As described in the English export press synopsis in La Produzione Italiana 1978-79, Gardenia is “one of the best loved rogues in the business, perhaps because he uses his brain and his imagination, more than arms or violence in his dealings.” When underworld bigwigs Salluzzo (Martin Balsam) and Caruso (Robert Webber) propose to consolidate the local syndicates to try and increase the flow of illicit drugs into the country via some of their legitimate business ventures (including Gardenia’s restaurant), Gardenia stubbornly resists buckling under the pressure. Later, when a group of thugs disrespect his establishment, Gardenia responds by serving their meal completely uncooked, but as predicted, the rabble-rousers – actually local gangsters in the employ of Salluzzo and Caruso – subsequently ambush Gardenia and break his arms. Seeking revenge, Gardenia returns to bludgeon his attackers with his hefty plaster casts, but when one of Saluzzo’s men lob a hand grenade into a giant pot of pasta in the Mayfair’s kitchen, they not only destroy his restaurant, but kill his prized chef in the process, which instigates the expected gang war…
Despite his unconventional looks, complete with a pinched, hooked nose, Califano makes for a charismatic enough hero. A real flashy dresser, he appears in an all-new dapper suit with a fresh white gardenia for practically every scene. Gardenia also has a fondness for both cats and pussy, though not necessarily in that order, which include love interests Eleanora Vallone as Regina, Lory Del Santo as Laura, and the always welcome Lorraine De Selle as Caruso’s main squeeze Consuelo. In between hopping in and out of bed, he seeks wholesale revenge against the underworld, and with a little help from his friends (including frequent character actor Franco Diogene), he inaugurates his vendetta with the capture of a junior Mafioso who he ties to a pillar and then drops a live grenade into his breast pocket with the pin pulled. Further counter-retaliations occur soon thereafter with Gardenia donning a death-black outfit with ever-present blossom, which he leaves at the scenes of his crimes as a sort of signature.
Even at a lengthy 100 minutes, Paolella’s picture is consistently paced thanks to Amedeo Giomini’s effective cutting, and while it does remain slim on action, it makes up for this shortage with engaging principal performances. Califano seems relaxed, into his character (which may just be an extension of his real – and rather troubled - persona), and actually acts, which is a credit to Paolella’s directorial control, while American guest stars Balsam and Webber put in an easy few days of work as the rival gangsters (both of whom post-synch their dialogue), but still add immeasurably to the overall film. Another big bonus is Califano’s and Willy Brezza’s joint score that mixes together traditional Italian folk music and ’70s pseudo-funk, while the star even uses many motifs favoured by spaghetti western antiheroes. In the final scene, Gardenia even strolls off into the sunset.
Never released onto domestic home video, GARDENIA did show up at a number of ethnic Italian video stores in many North American cities, but of course, this VHS videocassette (distributed in Canada by Ital Video Disco) was in Italian only. The film eventually surfaced in English on South Korean VHS courtesy of NVC Video, but their print was a drab-looking mess with burned-in Korean subtitles. In Italy, the film made the jump to DVD in 2006 thanks to Cecchi Gori, but again, no English-language option was offered. Twenty-years later, 88 Films debuted the film on Blu-ray in a “brand new 4K scan,” which benefits Sergio Rubini’s photography a great deal. Emphasizing far greater detail in the film’s dimly-lit nightclubs and dingy billiardi halls, Rubini also exploits the beautiful, and at times, gritty Roman streets lending the film plenty of authenticity. Overall, this is a handsome new restoration and far better than any previous release. As is now customary, 88 Films offers both English and Italian LPCM 2.0 audio options, which sound clean and free of any noticeable distortion, and while some of the Roman dialect is lost on English audiences, the English track is still preferable with Balsam and Webber dubbing their own performances. And for those that care about such minutiae, Califano is well dubbed by seasoned voice talent artist Edward Mannix.
88 Films’ Blu-ray also delivers a wealth of interesting special features beginning with a valuable audio commentary from author and film historian Eugenio Ercolani and film critic Nanni Cobretti who delve into this “strange, anomalous crime film.” They appreciate Califano’s attempt to try something different with his career, even if this “Italian Frank Sinatra” had “no real rapport with cinema” in terms of the long work days. They also discuss the history of P.A.C., and the company’s prolific output, the true definition of a “poliziesco,” Califano’s known friendship with camorra bosses and how the film “ticks all the boxes” when it comes the actor’s persona, P.A.C.’s proposed three picture deal with Califano and its eventual cancellation due to his run-in with the law, which leads into a further discussion of his larger-than-life personality. Functioning as both an overview of the film itself and the “changing landscape” of Italian crime films in the late-’70s, this is an enthusiastic and very worthwhile listen.
Additional extras include several on-camera interviews (again from Ercolani) beginning with prolific writer Gino Capone in Gino of All Trades (15m17s) wherein he discusses his career working on mostly commedia all’italiana, how he got involved on GARDENIA, Califano’s subsequent arrest following the release of the film, his thoughts on director Paolella whom he refers to as a “gentleman,” and his eventual involvement with producer Giovanni Di Clemente during the ’80s. In Who Framed the Caliph? (24m55s), Sergio Rubini talks about his early work as a camera operator alongside veteran DOP and future director Stelvio Massi, as well as his subsequent collaborations as a DOP on several of Massi’s police actioners such as HIGHWAY RACER (1977). He goes on to discuss the present film with fond memories (“It was smooth sailing.”), his friendly relationship with Califano, and his dedication to each production, even if some of the films are “undeniable B-movies.” Lastly, Ercolani sits down for a nicely-detailed on-camera interview in Pac Men (32m56s), which has him talking about the film and its place in the crime film landscape, the use of the word “poliziottesco” (a “belittling” term which he feels doesn’t really mean anything) and how most Italian crime films are erroneously lumped into this same category, the genesis of the present film and Califano’s “recurring face and name in gossip magazines for his high-profile love affairs and scandals,” a detailed history of P.A.C., and how the film is a “romanticized, hyperbolic version of what Califano was famous for being - a melancholic, bitterly ironic figure.”
As Ercolani points out in one of his many featurettes, GARDENIA is an “anomaly,” but it still emerges as a consistently entertaining picture that should please Eurocrime fans, which is made extra watchable thanks to 88 Films’ quality, extras-filled presentation. Order it directly from 88 Films or DiabolikDVD.
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