Cult Clash: Il Boss (Wipeout!) (1973)

by Pete Roberts

When I watch films by Italian crime master Fernando DiLeo, what I enjoy most is the honest depictions of Italian underworld characters and the light and dark humor that runs through his work. He both wrote and directed some of the best works in the polizioteschi (Italian police-crime) genre. Films like Milano Calibre 9, La Mala Ordina, I Padroni Della Citta and Il Boss give viewers a very clear look into the mafia life in Italy in the 1970s. For me, DiLeo's films are spicy Italian genre gems that get better with each viewing.

The difference between the Italian mafia films and the Hollywood films were that the Italians didn't glorify the gangsters, instead they showed them for the true treacherous, traitorous lowlifes they really were.

Lanzetta (Henry Silva) works for Don Corrasco (Richard Conte) and his associate Don Giuseppe Danielo (Claudio Nicastro). Like a good soldier, Lanzetta takes out a rival family at the opening of the film (this is one of the most badass violent openings ever). When the family associate Cocchi (Pier Paolo Capponi) sees the bloody burnt mess of the hit, he is enraged and plans on getting revenge on Don Giuseppe. He figures out a way to hit him the hardest: kidnap his daughter. The only thing Cocchi didn't see coming was that Rina Daniello (Antonia Santilli) would be a complete sex crazed nymphomaniac. When Cocchi and his men get Rina back to their hideout, they begin to berate Rina and tell her that she's going to be used like a ragdoll. Instead of being afraid, she asks "Got a drink? Im thirsty". Cocci's men give her the Italian cinema drink of choice, J&B Scotch, and Rina gets liquored up and ready to play.

Meanwhile, Don Giuseppe is in anguish over his daughter being taken. Don Corrasco explains that Rina will probably die since the family refuses to cooperate with Cocchi. This would humiliate them. Lanzetta gets an idea to pretend that they will give a ransom for Rina, but this is just a ploy to give him enough time to find out where she is. Lanzetta plans on bringing the money to Cocchi's men with Don Giuseppe and another friend of the family. When they arrive, Lanzetta gets out of the car and Don Giuseppe proceeds to thank him for all his help. Then bang, Lanzetta takes out Giuseppe and his friend. Lanzatta and his friend Pignatro (Marino Mase) take their bodies and throw them in a furnace, take the money and eventually meet with one of Cocchi's men and get the whereabouts of Rina.

Lanzetta sneaks into Cocchi's hideout while the men and Rina are having an orgy (what else would they be doing?) He shoots two men, grabs Rina and brings her back to his pad. These scenes between Henry Silva and Antonia Santilli are really hilarious. He slaps her around and calls her a "dirty fucking slut" one minute, then the next they're kissing tenderly as if it's a romantic love story. Santilli is a foul mouthed wiseass and she continously instigates Lanzetta into smacking her and telling her to get lost. Since they're holed up while Cocchi and his men are buzzing like angry Italian hornets, Lanzetta has to stay put until he gets word from Don Corrasco for his next move.

The thing I love about DiLeo's films is that EVERYONE is corrupt. No one is safe from being knocked off at any time for any reason. If someone raised and took care of you, but you see a better place to be, bingo, you get rid of them. If someone is your boss and you have "loyalty" to them, it doesn't mean jack. No one really has any honor and no one can be trusted in the Mafia, which is really what DiLeo was trying to get across with his crime films.

One of the film's main highlights is the great Gianni Garko (The Psychic, Five For Hell) as Police Comissario Torri. Instead of being the tough hero representing the police force, he's just another one of Don Corrasco's stoolies. He has some great lines in the film and really makes the most of his screen time.