Discovering Maurizio Merli movies 40 years after the popularity had waned is interesting. He was a leading man who specialised in cop thrillers during his relatively short career, but struggled to break out of this type casting. One of the slight departures from his typical outings is Magnum Cop or Fearless Fuzz or the original Italian title Poliziotto senza paura, an action comedy co-starring Joan Collins.
Magnum Cop, on paper, feels like one of those pairings of an action comedy with two hot stars we have seen so frequently over the years, Romancing the Stone, Bird on a Wire, Six Days Seven Nights, The Fall Guy and an endless list of mostly enjoyable, but normally forgettable date movies.
The most refreshing thing about Magnum Cop is seeing Merli relax and have a bit of fun. He proves to have some real comedy chops and is very game for the silliness contained within… the first 30 minutes. The humour gradually depletes as the film rolls on, but not because the ideas run out, but due to the story dealing with more serious subject matter. The humour drops back in here and there, however, Merli is a lot more relaxed losing his typical tough demeanour for the most part.
Collins’ had just come off Empire of Ants and would go onto infamy after Magnum Cop with The Stud. IMDB suggests that Sybil Danning had been attached to appear and I would love to see the film with Danning in the role. Collins it glamorous and sinister in the way we would come to appreciate over the next decade and a half on the small screen in Dynasty. I’ve never really considered if I like Joan Collins as an actress, but between this and the fun Empire of Ants, I do appreciate her and might look a little deeper into her work in the future.
Gastone Moschin from The Conformist and The Godfather Part II has an interesting support character who works with Merli throughout. It’s nice to see them share the screen a lot as I would imagine Merli takes a lot of inspiration from Moschin’s turn in Milano calibro 9 and even getting in on the gag at the end.
The tone of the movie waivers all over the place however. The first 30 minutes is fully entrenched in funny and silly hi-jinks, crowned by a brief car chase complete with comedy music and a Carry On style gag of a man caught… shitting in the countryside! However, things do take a more serious turn as the plot sets in an Merli has to get to the bottom of things, fighting and dispatching the villains. There is also a rather surprising amount of nudity, including Ms Collins herself.
There is a notable chase though the city with Merli resorting to hiding in a pay phone booth as his pursuers scramble to find him, it’s truly the highlight of the film. No jokes, no wacky music, just a well-constructed and tense chase that would have worked well and any of the other Merli’s cop movies. I have a feeling that this was to be a serious outing with Merli tiring of the typecasting and the lighter moments were installed with a less action focused narrative to influence his decision to join the production. Then jazzed up during production to make it fit in with the types of film Merli is known for.
The film deals with the pretty serious topic of child prostitution, which the opening zaniness doesn’t really compliment. There are bizarre scenes that feel incredibly uncomfortable for all involved here. One in particular sees Merli posing as a customer, picking up a young girl and taking her to a secluded spot to give her a good talking to. Every moment feels like something you read on the front page of a paper today, and yet in 1970’s it’s Merli doesn’t have a second thought about this approach and what may become of him if caught.
Director Stelvio Massi had worked with Merli on the superior Highway Racer prior to this, another less serious actioner. The two would go on to make another four films together, opting for in the tough guy Italian action movies mould and bulk out most of Merli’s starring roles until his career sadly came to an abrupt end. Massi was the cinematographer on Leone’s Fistful of Dollars, I wouldn’t say that Magnum Cop has anything memorable when it comes to it’s photography and everything is purely functional. Massi would have a few notable titles following the end of his collaboration with Merli, including the first Black Cobra movie and the saucy Arabella.
I quite enjoyed Magnum Cop, even if I lost interest in the second third of the movie only to have it restored thanks to some decent action. Merli works here and I would love to see him in another comedy, however, those are like hen’s teeth and the one obvious title (Tango Blue) is going to take some sleuthing to find.
As usual there is the hand drawn Italian art that looks superb, yet pushes Merli’s typical theme. However, the art changes once Collins hit superstardom with The Stud and a slew of fairly poor posters hit to capitalise on this and forget about Merli’s involvement.
We have a blu ray of Fearless Fuzz now and the movie seems to be fully embracing the Magnum Cop title. There isn’t too much in the way of extras, I will get around to watching the film with the commentary next time I give this a whirl. You can grab it from Amazon using my affiliate link.
