Mean Frank and Crazy Tony (1973) 720P

Old-Time Mobster teaches Greenhorn: Lee Van Cleef's Mobster Crime movie! Mean Frank and Crazy Tony 1973 ft. Edwige Fenech

Also known as Escape from Death Row or by its original Italian title Dio, sei proprio un padreterno!, Mean Frank and Crazy Tony is a quintessential product of the 1970s Italian Poliziotteschi (Euro-crime) boom, brought to life by legendary super-producer Dino De Laurentiis. De Laurentiis was a master at packaging European genre films with imported American star power to guarantee international box office returns. He used director Michele Lupo, a reliable journeyman of the Italian B-movie industry who had cut his teeth on sword-and-sandal epics and spaghetti westerns before transitioning to urban crime. Lupo had a fantastic eye for kinetic, practical action and shot the film extensively on location in the grimy, sun-drenched port city of Genoa. He packed the production with high-speed car chases, brutal practical stunts, and real-world urban textures that perfectly captured the "lawless frontier" of 1970s Italy.

Frank Diomede (Lee Van Cleef) is an old-school mafia don ruling the port city of Genoa. His  lieutenant Joe Sciti (Mario Erpichini) is corrupted by rival French syndicate Massignier boss Louis Annunziata (Jean Rochefort) and eight of Frank’s men are blown up or shot in cold blood. Frank gets himself arrested, gets a corrupt corrections officer to let him out of jail for a few hours at night, and proceeds to extinguish his corrupt Lieutenant, pushing him out of a sixth floor window. He then returns and uses the imprisonment as an alibi. Unfortunately, the rival syndicate tortures his lawyer Luigi Massara (Fausto Tozzi), the only other person that knows about the plot, and leaks the details to the cops, and Frank now faces decades in prison. Deflated, he tries to expose the whole syndicate by attempting to leak all his files to the police, which would take down his rivals, but the syndicate uncovers the plot and kills his brother (Silvano Tranquilli). Inside the jail, he crosses paths with Tony Breda (Tony Lo Bianco), a manic, low-level street hustler who idolizes the gangster lifestyle and him. The two form sort of a Maestro/Apprentice friendship. Tony springs Frank during a prison transfer and with Frank leading, they dismantle the French syndicate and kill the rival leader Louis Annunziata. Frank is still sought for the murder so he goes into retirement in a different country and Tony goes back to his old life and his girlfriend (Edwige Fenech).

Lee Van Cleef is the ultimate cinematic badass, immortalized as "The Bad" (Angel Eyes) in Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and alongside Clint Eastwood in For a Few Dollars More. When the Spaghetti Western craze died down in the 70s, he seamlessly transitioned his icy, hawk-nosed glare into urban Euro-crime and martial arts films. He is one of my favorite actors of all time when he plays the villain. With the quintessential tobacco pipe and the gritty looks, he always impresses as the villain. 

The rest of the cast were also heavy hitters. Tony Lo Bianco was an  American actor. US audiences know him best as the manic Sal Boca in the 1971 Oscar-winner The French Connection. Jean Rochefort is one of the most celebrated, award-winning actors in French cinema history, instantly recognizable by his signature mustache and deep, aristocratic voice. Silvano Tranquilli was the go-to guy in 1970s Italian cinema when a director needed someone to play a respectable professional (a doctor, a cop, or a lawyer) who usually ends up dead. Fausto Tozzi was another heavyweight in Italian cinema who frequently crossed over into American productions shot in Europe. He appeared alongside Charlton Heston in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) and with Charles Bronson in the gritty mafia hit The Valachi Papers (1972). Mario Erpichini was a workhorse of the Italian B-movie machine, popping up in numerous Euro-crime staples like High Crime and the trippy 1974 horror film Spasmo.

Last but certainly not least, is Edwige Fenech, with a small role in this movie. Edwige was the “Queen of the Giallo”. For the European B-movie crowd, Fenech is the undisputed face of 1970s Italian Cinema playing a variety of horror, drama, suspense and comedy roles. She is so revered, even in modern times, that Quentin Tarantino (a massive fan) named Mike Myers' character 'General Ed Fenech' after her in Inglourious Basterds.