Order to Kill
Order to Kill | |
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Italian film poster | |
Directed by | Josè Gutiérrez Maesso |
Produced by | Josè Gutiérrez Maesso |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Music by | Adolfo Waitzman[1] |
Cinematography | Aiace Parolin[1] |
Edited by | Angel Serrano[1] |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Alpherat[1] |
Release date |
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Country |
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Box office | ₤360.6 million |
Order to Kill (Spanish: El clan de los inmorales, Italian: La testa del serpente) is a 1974 Spanish-Italian crime-action film written and directed by Josè Gutiérrez Maesso.[2][1] In the movie the police inspector (Jose Ferrer) offers passports to a hit man (Helmut Berger) and his girlfriend (Sydne Rome) if the hit man kills a mob boss.
Cast
- Helmut Berger - Clyde Hart
- Sydne Rome - Anne
- Kevin McCarthy - Ed McLean
- José Ferrer - Detective Reed
- José María Caffarel - Richard
- Howard Ross - Richard
- Manuel Zarzo - Hugo
- Juan Luis Galiardo
- Álvaro de Luna - Daniel
Production
Eugenio Martin minimized his contributions to the script in the film, stating that itw as "It was Maesso's project, and Moncada and I were to write it. However, there was no way we could come up with a good plot, so we soon called ourselves out. Maesso did not give up, though, and he called and Italian screenwriter to do the job" When the film was finished, Maesso credited both Moncada and Martin for their work on the film, but Martin stated that he probably did not use much of it.[3]
Release
Order to Kill was released in Italy on August 31, 1974.[3] In Italy, the film grossed a total of 360,601,000 lire.[3]
Reception
In his book Italian Crime Filmography 1968-1980, Roberto Curti referred to the film as a "tiresome variation on the classic theme of a lonely man's vengeance, notable mainly for a script that in the second part predates Enzo G Castellari's powerful The Big Racket" and that actor Helmut Berger "is given little to do with the cliched character".[3]
Notes
References
- Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. McFarland. ISBN 0786469765.