Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Alberto De Martino
Starring: Stuart Whitman, Carole Laure, Martin Landau, John
Saxon, Tisa Farrow, Gayle Hunnicutt
Italian cop thrillers of the 1970s were generally set in two locations,
usually the Mafia infested metropolises of home soil or the gritty
streets of a then notoriously crime ridden New York.
Alberto De Martino's 1976 thriller
Blazing Magnum is an oddity in that it picks the not so
notorious streets of Canada, an early example of foreign filmmakers
taking advantage of that country's tax breaks and geographical
similarities to the US. Where subsequent Canadian shot genre pics would
usually have Canadian cities stand in for American counterparts,
Blazing Magnum is actually set in the Canuck cities of Ottawa and
Montreal.
In the former city we find tough police detective Tony (an alternate
title for the film was 'Tough Tony'), played by Stuart Whitman.
In classic Dirty Harry fashion he accidentally stumbles
across a crime in progress, giving chase to a bunch of bank robbers and
mowing them down once he catches up with the hoods. Tony's actions mean
he misses a phone call from his troubled sister Louise (Carole Laure, who might have been more appropriately cast as Whitman's daughter:
side-note, check out her 1978 album 'Alibis'), a Montreal based student
whom we witnessed having an unheard argument with her professor, Dr.
Tracer (Martin Landau), in the opening credits sequence.
When Louise collapses and dies unexpectedly at a party that night, Tony
heads to Montreal where he begins to suspect foul play in his sister's
death. Sure enough, an autopsy reveals she was poisoned. The chief
suspect is Tracer, who administered a drug to Louise as he attempted to
revive her. Landau adds a touch of class to the drama, and his
performance is reminiscent of his turn as the villain of the week in the
Columbo episode 'Double Shock'. The actor is so good at
playing weaselly types that he really keeps us guessing as to whether
Tracer is actually guilty or just a victim of circumstance.
Whoever the killer might be, they don't want to leave any witnesses,
and so the various characters who were present when Louise dropped dead
are either killed or manage to escape such a fate. This plot sees the
film veer into giallo territory, with the sort of stalking sequences and
deaths at the hand of an unseen killer you expect from that sub-genre.
In similar fashion to the Clint Eastwood thriller Tightrope, Blazing Magnum is a curious mix of a
Dirty Harry type cop movie and a sleazy murder mystery.
Another of the film's alternate titles was 'Strange Shadows in an Empty
Room', a giallo title if ever there was one.
Unlike many Italian genre movies, Blazing Magnum has a
relatively straightforward plot that won't give you too much of a
headache. At times it could be mistaken for a pilot for the sort of cop
dramas that were popular on US TV at the time, but every 10 minutes or
so De Martino reminds us we're watching an Italian film, with stylish
murders and outrageous action.
The action side is largely down to the work of legendary second unit
director and stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne, who was to 1970s
car chases as Yakima Canutt was to 1950s chariot races. There's a
cracking chase through the streets of Montreal that prefigures
To Live and Die in LA with Tony giving chase to a suspect
through oncoming traffic. A not so politically correct punch-up involves
Tony taking on a transvestite trio, leaving him hanging off the edge of
a high rise building at one point. Such sequences are shot with an
urgency that adds a realistic edge to their over-the-top
exuberance.
On the giallo side we have Tisa Farrow following her sister
Mia's tentative See No Evil footsteps by playing a young
blind woman who finds herself targeted by the killer. There's a tense
sequence in which the fiend tries to lure her into walking off the edge
of a building under construction by rearranging the protective guard
rails. Classy Gayle Hunnicutt is cast against type as a
promiscuous professor who likes to sleep with her students, and her
performance makes you wish she had done more work in the Italian
exploitation field.
If you're looking for a realistic depiction of police work, look
elsewhere. Whitman's Tony would be hauled in front of an IA panel for
his actions in the opening scene alone, never mind the havoc he wreaks
on a city that isn't even in his jurisdiction later on. But if you're
already onboard with the unique delights of Italian genre cinema of this
era you'll embrace the madness on display here. If you're new to this
sort of thing, Blazing Magnum might act as a sturdy bridge
between American genre cinema and its more lurid Mediterranean
cousin.
An audio interview with De Martino; an interview with the always
informative Kim Newman; choice of English and Italian audio;
trailer.
