Hail Mafia (Je vous salue, mafia!)
Directed by Raoul Levy
Written by Raoul Levy from a novel by Pierre Lesou
1965/France/Italy
Filmstudio/ITTAC/PECF
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] “I can’t stand squealers, hit that guy! ~ Albert Anastasia[/box]
Interesting French take on American mafia business.
Rudy Hamberg (Eddie Constantine) is hiding out in the South of France. He has been summoned to testify before a Congressional Organized Crime Commission and the bosses want him rubbed out before he can do so. They assign the hit to Schaft (Henry Silva) and Phil (Jack Klugman). In addition to duty, Phil says he wants to get to Rudy, a former friend, for impregnating his sister and arranging the abortion that left her mentally scarred for life.
Schaft and Phil bicker as they get closer and closer to their target. Film ends with a nice twist.
I enjoyed this quite a lot. Raoul Coutard did the cinematography and I imagine it would be even more impressive if cleaned up a bit. The dialogue between the two hitmen reminded me of something Tarantino might do. I wonder if this was an inspiration. Fine cast doesn’t hurt nor does the fantastic jazz score.
