User Reviews

Here we have the rude, ill-mannered and unkempt Nicola Giraldi (Tomas Milian), a Roman policeman forced to hunt a band of senseless pickpocketers and thefts in the outskirts of Rome.

But when an American boss begins to mysteriously kill this young criminals one after another, Giraldi shows his exceptional inspection abilities.

Strange and entertaining movie, that starts like a rough comedy and turns into a serious police movie.

See it.

Surprisingly engaging poliziottesco spoof which actually led to a series, all featuring star Tomas Milian as maverick cop Nico Giraldi; in fact, a total of 11 films were made between 1976 and 1984! I know a few of them turned up on Italian TV as a kid but I had always considered them - and Milian's other contemporaneous series revolving around a character nicknamed "Monnezza" (Italian slang for "garbage"), but which lasted for only 3 'episodes' - low-brow, indeed bottom-of-the-barrel, stuff; considering that their titles - and I'm sure plot lines - were basically interchangeable certainly makes their longevity astounding!

Well, action-packed though it is - with the star (playing a street-wise ex-delinquent dressed as a bum with a mouse, Serpico, for a pet!) going through many a stunt on a motor-bike - the film's most prominent trait is its vulgarity which doesn't merely extend to a proliferation of colorful swearwords; indeed, the very first scene shows a chubby young man mooning a group of Japanese tourists from across the street, in order to distract them while his accomplices make off with their luggage in a van! As such, the film is enjoyable in an unassuming way - though the muddy soundtrack and the characters' frequent resort to the use of dialect made the dialogue a bit of a chore to understand, even for one who's fluent in the language like myself! - and it's certainly made even more tolerable by the presence of a predictably ruthless Jack Palance (whose real identity proves quite a revelation!).

The finale, then, is at once amusing and clever in that Milian - assigned to a special squad dealing with "snatch & grab" cases, hence the original title SQUADRA ANTISCIPPO - resorts to just such a crime in order to help his lovely girlfriend, whose job it is to smuggle provocative literature into the country!; they had met when Milian saved the girl from being raped: keeping her watch and other valuables in her bra, he wonders what she'd say if someone asked her the time, perhaps "a quarter to tits"?!

P.S. at one point, Milian says "La Polizia Ringrazia" (The Police Is Thankful) - which happens to be the title of the 1972 film (released in the U.S. as EXECUTION SQUAD) credited with kick-starting the whole poliziottesco subgenre!

I like old spaghetti police movies! Always dark, violents and originals. And they usually got a very good soundtrack. This one is no exception. The beginning is great, starting exactly like Street Law: small criminals doing pickpocket and many violent acts on bike. then come Millian violently punishing these little criminals. jack palance play a great bad guy, even if you know that he didnt put a lot of effort in this role. The first half is very good, but the second, I admit, is a little bit boring. Recommended for Millian and Bruno Corbucci fan and for the killer soundtrack by Guido and Maurizio...so cool.

THE COP IN BLUE JEANS, the US title of this film, was quite widely available in the video budget bins of the 80s and early 90s, so this may be the best known in the US of Tomas Milian's series of films as longhaired, unconventional cop Nico Giraldi. The films starts with a bang as a mini-crimewave is depicted in rapid-fire succession (the scene with the guy mooning the tourists to divert their attention as their possessions are stolen is a classic!), until after seven or eight minutes Milian jumps into action. Like most films of Bruno Corbucci, there is a serious political element in the film too, while it completely satisfies fans who just want an exciting violent action film. And of course, Tomas Milian is brilliant, creating an anti-hero (as he does so well!) who is unlike ANYONE in US cinema. I'm sure there are copies of this sitting in the 99-cent rack of video stores, so check it out if you want to see what is so good about the 1970s Italian police film genre or why Tomas Milian is one of the great icons of world film. My favorite film of this period w/ Milian is SWINDLE, where he is paired with David Hemmings. If you EVER see that offered or shown on TV, don't miss it!

I'm so glad that I actually enjoyed this one, because it has TEN sequels, and I would have watched them regardless. This is Tomas Milian as quirky cop Inspector Giraldi, a strangely-dressed, dirty-looking freak who keeps a mouse called Serpico and likes to get the bad guys in less violent fashion than his contempories (even those played by Milian himself).

The film was a huge success in Italy, mainly due I guess to Milian's off the wall performance as Giraldi, a crook turned cop who is always trying to track down a bad guy called the Baron, plus some other guy who keeps leaving message consisting of nothing but 'Up Yours!' on Giraldi's answer machine. Things are played out lightly enough until the Baron accidentally steals five million dollars from a hard case gangster (Palance) and starts getting his mates killed while the Mafia try and get their money back.

This doesn't stop Milian getting it on with the strangely patient Maria Rosaria Ommagio (who looks like Kate Bush), a robbery victim who doesn't seem to mind going to bed with Milian even though he wears two pairs of socks, three jumpers and some nifty red budgie smugglers, because of course no Milian film is complete without him at least appearing once in his pants. He also takes her disco dancing which made me burst out laughing at Milian's moves, as well as his get-up and the hat he wears that has "Tomas Milian" written on it in red pen.

It has a mainly light tone this film, but don't think of it as some sort of Eurocrime 'Trinity' film. The film does mainly stick to the grim plots of before, just with a much better character up front than the usual stone-faced killing machines. And his mouse wears a little hat at the end!

Oh, and all Jack Palance did was chew cigarettes and scowl, as usual.

(There Are Some Spoilers) Light hearted crime movie that seems to have a wedding music soundtrack, even though some dozen people are brutally killed in it,about a robbery ring in Rome who end up getting way over their heads when they rob big time US mobster Norman Shelly, Jack Palance, of 5 million dollars in cash, or did they?

Shelly has his hoods track down one of the robbers at a pool hall where he's savagely beaten to death. The head of the ring the Barron, Guldo Mannari, tries to have the cash fenced into Italian Liars and US Traverlers Checks but is ambushed, at the fences office, by undercover cop Nico Giraldi, Thomas Millan. After a ten minute slug-fest the Barron is arrested and cuffed and later sent to the hospital as bait to get the Shelly gang to kidnap him to find out where he hid the money, which in reality Nico and the Roman PD. Grabbed by the Shelly mob, disguised as hospital workers, they get the information that they want from the Barron who tells them that the money is hidden in this old abandoned iron factory. Nico and the Roman police set up an ambush there of the Shelly Mob and after a wild shoot out and car motorcycle chase, with Nico on the bike,Shelly escapes from justice to the US Embessy in Rome!

We then find out that Norman Shelly is not just an American mobster in Rome but a high placed and Senior American diplomat, Richard Russo, at the US Embessy there and has immunity from arrest as long as he's at the American compound. Even though Nico can't arrest Shelly/Russo right then and there but gives the big time hood/diplomat something to remember him by with a hard kick in the midsection. It's also reviled, like Nico suspected, that Shelly/Russo was actually in charge of the robbery gang that robbed him of his 5 million dollars which was the result of a ransom that mobster/kidnapper Shelly/Russo got a while back. This was done to have the money later laundered by the fence and returned back to him clean and unmarked.

Thomas Millan as Nico styled himself after the NYPD crusading policeman Frank Serpico in the movie "Cop in Blue Jeans". Nico had a giant poster of Al Pacino as Serpico in his shabby apartment. The girls and young women in the movie went completely Ga-Ga over him, like they would have done over the handsome and heroic Frank Serpico. Nico also has a pet white rat in the movie that he aptly named Serpico. There was also a sub-plot and love interest, for Nico, in the film involving young and pretty book publisher Signora Callani, Maria Rosaria, who's important Russian novel manuscript was stolen.

Nico being a former crook before he joined the Rome police Department got the manuscript back to Signora by using his long out of practice and dormant pick-pocketing skills.

Ah, Record Explosion in NYC has granted me the privilege of watching this incredible piece of cinematic forte. OK, maybe not, but it was only $4.

This entertaining yarn mostly lets Nico show what he does best: catching baddies with street finesse. Tomas Milian (credited on the box as Tunas Milian) portrays a hardcore street tough turned on the good side of the law pretty well. Laughs a plenty with his pimping scene in the disco club. I believe there are 9 total motorcycle jumps and most are unnecessary and where where the ramps?? See Nico mistreat a gal who ends up coming back for more; despite his insisting on not changing his socks. And his jeans are clearly black, not blue!!

On the cover of the box is Jack Palance visage surrounded by dollar bills and is credited as starring in this. I think it should have said "Showing up on camera when the booze ran out". Jack mostly scowls and doesn't do any of the dirty work (he didn't get paid enough for it). Like in his other classic Outlaw of Gor, Jack shows up early on, then goes from bar to bar then reappears one hour and 12 minutes into it to pick up his paycheck. He really deserves a quick knee to the nether region.

Tomas Milian is a very good Italian actor who is know for play non-traditional protagonists. He plays Nico, 1/2 cop - 1/2 ex-con, who is dirty (literally), unshaved and doesn't like to wash (he also wears multiple pairs of socks, shirts and an ugly assortment of hats). This movie attempts (unsuccessfully) to capture (exploit) various elements of successful American movies and themes. The director definitely enjoyed Steve McQueen in the Great Escape (the director loves motorcycles - he put them everywhere in the movie. I'm surprised they weren't listed in the credits) and Al Pacino in Serpico (a poster hangs in Nico's apartment - and he names his white mouse Serpico). Thats where the similarities end. There are so many pointless motorcycle jumps, and chase sequences (the sequences are accompanied by Italian "spaghetti" music - one expects some pizza and sausages to fly in during the sequences) and fights, that one wonders what movie the director is trying to pay "homage" to. The criminal element in Italy is quite comical. The "bad" guys, who are indistinguishable from the "good" guys, usually surrender willingly once caught. They actually stand there .. and wait patiently while the cops fumble to cuff them. This movie does have a heavy Hollywood power to the credits, namely Jack Palance. If you watch this movie, you will be saying the same thing : "Where the hell is Jack ?" Jack is literally in 4 scenes (one scene shouldn't count considering it was mostly a stunt driver and Jack in a stationary vehicle) throughout the movie and a total screen presence of about 10 minutes. Out of the scenes he is in, he is dealt much physical harm; from the spray paint (mace) to the face to the infamous Nico knee to the crotch diplomacy tactic. In the end, this movie is more pointless than going to the corner store to get some smokes. If you want to see a good Milian movie, check out Companeros. If you want to see a good Jack Palance movie .. ... keep looking. In the end, this is a great movie for insomniacs and those returning from a night of debauchery.

Enjoyed this Italian Film, which had comedy, drama and plenty of gang-buster shootings and mob torture. Women seemed to get their clothes ripped off and also slapped in the face back and forth. There was some very clever old and young thieves who managed to rip off plenty of men and woman. Some of the police were former crooks and at times used this experience in their detective plans to catch the big mob fences, who did money laundering through out the country. Jack Palance of course played the king pin and was a bad guy who hid in an American Embassy. This is definitely a very low budget film, but great to see Jack Palance trying to make a few bucks.

...so retarded, in fact, that it is actually mildly amusing. I highly recommend this for anyone who plans to watch it with a bunch of friends while in an intoxicated state. Although I was not intoxicated when I viewed this bowl of soggy Italian pasta (in fact, i was eating vegetables and whole wheat crackers) I still had a difficult time picking out any blue jeans. As others have mentioned...Jack Palance only staggers onto the screen for a few brief moments before collecting his paycheck and heading out for booze (or vegetables and wheat crackers). There seems to be no story line whatsoever - just a few vaguely familiar thugs (didn't I see that guy with the terrible haircut a few scenes ago? no wait...that was another terrible haircut guy) thumping on each other (just for the fun of it) to tinny Italian meatball music. An incredibly painful/comical waste of 95 minutes.

Cool music signed by Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis. Super action. All the actors are of an exceptional naturalness. Culminating with Jack Palance as the villain and Thomas Milian as the nonconformist cop. In addition, it's funny. And Maria Rosaria Omaggio looks very sexy. Absolute worth seeing!

A criminal fiction with suspense , intrigue , frantic action , turns , a lot of twisted incidents , at the same time charged with tension and level staging enough which the viewer could really enjoy . Nico Giraldi (Tomas Milian) is a two-fisted undercover cop acting in the violent and rude manners of the Roman periphery and confronting the heaviest situations . Here Tomas Milian performs the likable and sui-generis role of commissary Nico Giraldi , formerly a robber who decided to join on the other side of the law by enlisting in the police , without loosing his slutty and dirty appearance ; however , when he's working proceeds with seriousness and effectivity enough , regarding crime and offenders . Along the way , the unkempt , wisecrack undercover cop pursues and detains a series of purse snatchers until he discovers an American at the top of an evil ring of robbers . As a ring of pickpockets and thieves plagues Geraldi's city , he attempts to find the hoodlums and the criminal mastermind behind the thieves . Eventually , he arrests Baronetto (Guido Mannari) ; later on , and from now on , Gerardi finds out the nasty Richard Russo (Jack Palance) is the true crime boss . The latter successfully dodges the police , while he leads his criminal empire with cunning and ruthlessness . Only a cop in blue jeans can bring justice to a city gone mad. He's clever . Sadistic. Ruthless . Jack Palance is the master criminal too twisted for even the toughest cops on the force . But he's about to meet a cop who's even crazier... The Cop in Blue Jeans...is dressed to kill.

Nice first entry in cop Nico Gerardi series with noisy action , thrills , shooutous , motorcycle chases , car pursuits and brief doses of humor in charge of the main character . Formula thriller with plenty of action , crisply edition , tension , intrigue , suspenseful , skin bared and lots of violence in exploitation style . It belongs to Italian Poliziesco sub-genre , essentially developed in the Seventies and including ordinary trappings .The film is interesting enough , though it has some flaws , gaps and failures . This film results to be one of the best among the whole saga of the Tomas Milian/Nico , adding usual seasonings about the particular role Girardi. In the end , Nico must deal with Russo in a thrilling chase , causing a real pandemonium and including a surprising confrontation at an Embassy . Stars Tomas Milian , a sympathetic actor , well known for his several Spaghetti Westerns . After the tremendous success of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of dollars (1964) starring Clint Eastwood, Milian grubbed up his own image and propelled himself to stardom in similar fashion in such classic "spaghetti westerns" as The Bounty Killer (1966) , A fistful of Dollars (1966) with Lee Van Cleef , Face to Face (1967) , Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967) and ¡Corre, Cuchillo... corre ! (1968). He later turned to comedy , playing the recurrent characters of petty thief Monnezza and Serpico-like police officer Nico Giraldi a peculiar top undercover cop who often uses unofficial means to track down delinquents without avoiding his attitude of rude man, this is an attractive role who he performed in a variety of crime-comedy pictures playing in the manner of Serpico . He's well accompanied by a good cast , such as : Jack Palance during his Italian period and overacting in his regular style , Guido Mannari , Roberto Messina , Benito Stefanelli and the gorgeous Maria Rosario Omaggio as his girlfriend .

The motion picture Squadra antiscippo or Cop in Blue Jeans or Brigada Todo Terreno (1976) was professionally directed by Bruno Corbucci, Sergio Corbucci's brother . Bruno wrote and directed various Hill-Spencer films as ¨Banana Joe¨ , ¨Miami Supercops¨ , ¨Par-Impar¨ , ¨Cat and Dog¨ and ¨Aladdin¨ . He was a prolific writer and director , writing the famous cult Spaghetti : ¨Django¨ and many others . If you love the Tomas Milian's other movies, go for it , and if you've never seen one this is an acceptable start ; but being especially appointed for Milian fans .This is an acceptable entertaining juvenile that will appeal to Italian thrillers buffs .

After the spaghetti western genre died in Italy, Italian filmmakers moved to cop movies. Like with spaghetti westerns, there were good and not so good efforts, this movie belonging to the latter category. Tomas Milian, an actor who's made an impression in other movies, seems kind of helpless here, thanks to the costume department dressing him up like a homeless person, and a screenplay that gives him very few opportunities to show some kind of character. Jack Palance is pretty much wasted - he only makes two very brief appearances in the first hour, and not much more in the last half hour. But the main problem with the movie is that it feels oh so tired. There are chases, punch-ups, and guns fired, but it all feels so mechanical. Maybe that's why the musical score plays the same bars of music over and over ad nauseum. Even die hard fans of Eurocult movies would be better off skipping this one.

Released in 1976, "The Cop in Blue Jeans" is a loner-cop thriller in the mold of "Dirty Harry" (1971) and "Serpico" (1973). The titular protagonist even looks like Serpico. The difference is that this is an Italian production directed & co-written by Bruno Corbucci. The plot revolves around an undercover cop named Nico Giraldi (Tomas Milian) who arrests several thugs of the purse snatching variety and zeroes-in on the mastermind of the ring (Jack Palance).

The Italian title is "Squadra Antiscippo," which means "Swindle Squad" and I assume refers to the theft ring. Anyway, the movie's an interesting way to observe the more obscure parts of Rome in the mid-70s. The story's relatively compelling and there's a lot of undercover cop type of action (naturally). Maria Rosaria Omaggio is easy on the eyes, but not enough is done with her. Nico's pet mouse, named Serpico, is a nice addition.

While this is a decent Euro flick and worth catching for the highlights noted, don't expect the greatness of any of the Dirty Harry installments.

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes and was shot in Rome.

GRADE: B-/C+