Gli esecutori / Street People (1976)
Notes about the film and the 2006 Koch Media DVD edition
Back in 1976, "Gli esecutori" wasn't well received and could damage Moore's credibility as a leading man for top quality productions. Thirty five years later it is regarded as one of his most campy pictures. However, it is now also perceived among the actor's fans as a very interesting filmographic curiosity, which actually gave Moore a chance to play a less sympathetic character and divest himself of the heroic image which the public associated him with. So, was the film a missed opportunity? Not entirely.
Anyway, one shouldn't be suprised with the overall B-quality of "Gli esecutori" as it was executively produced by the legendary Samuel Z. Arkoff, co-founder of American International Pictures (which distributed the film in USA). The company was specialising in making low budget exploitation movies and is now best remembered for a number of horror pictures, Stuart Rosenberg's "The Amityville Horror" being the most popular of them. Arkoff, however, has also handled production of more high profile films, such as Brian De Palma's "Dressed to Kill" or James Ivory's "The Wild Party".
"Gli esecutori" was directed by Maurizio Lucidi, editor turned director, whose experience by 1975 included a number of low budget westerns and action movies, mainly Europoean co-productions, some of them filmed in America and featuring Hollywood actors, such as Eli Wallach, Ursula Andress, Jack Palance and Barbara Bach. "Gli esecutori" was Lucidi's first film to premiere the same year in Italy and USA and featuring two major film stars of the time - Roger Moore and Stacy Keach.
Although "Gli esecutori" has already been released on DVD in the Far East, the German edition is actually the first official one. The film has been digitally remastered and the picture quality is definitely the best that can be achieved from the old reel. The DVD also features bonus material: original English and German trailers; and 72 photo stills, incl. posters and lobby cards. The release was supervised by experts - Oliver Bayan, who co-wrote Sir Roger Moore's authorised biography in 2002, and Marie-France Vienne of Roger-Moore.com.
Here's an excerpt about the film from the Roy Moseley biography of Roger Moore: "While in Rome [in mid 1975] he was approached to make a thriller in Italy and, towards the end of the year, found himself at the De Paolis Incir Studios in Rome making a film entitled 'Gli esecutori' for producers Manolo Bolognini and Luigi Borghese. Apart from American actor Stacy Keach, who played Roger's side-kick Charlie in the film, the cast was made up entirely of Italian actors, unknown outside their own country. They would later have their voices dubbed into English when the film was released in Britain in 1976 under the title 'The Sicilian Cross'."
"Filmed partly on location in both San Francisco and Italy, Roger was cast as Ulysses, a half-Sicilian educated at an English law school who becomes a corrupt San Francisco lawyer working for the Mob. The screenplay, credited to no less than six writers, was incoherent in its handling of the attempt of a Mafia boss to leave 'the family', having become tired of the life he has been leading. The story is of a mish-mash of car chases, murders, family vendettas, drug smuggling, religion and soft-focus flashbacks - all of which defy logical explanation. The film looked no more than it was - a low-budget feature cashing in on the name of Roger Moore to give it a push into the international market".
Nevertheless, the film is pretty enjoyable if you like the 1970s feel to it and like 'buddy movies' in general. If there is one thing to remember about the film it has to be the pairing of Moore and Keach which works suprisingly well. Both actors seem to share the same distancing attitude to the story and obviously have fun taking part in action sequences (especially car chases which are definitely one of the highlights of the picture). One can imagine how much better the film could have been if it was handled by more experienced director who could make better use of the wonderful chemistry between the two actors. Still "Gli esecutori", and especially the German DVD edition (entitled "Abrechnung in San Franzisko"), is highly recommended to all Roger Moore fans.
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