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Highway Racer
Highway Racer
Directed by	Stelvio Massi
Screenplay by	Gino Capone
Story by	Gino Capone
Produced by	Giovanni Di Clemente
Starring	Maurizio Merli
Cinematography	Richard Pallottini; Franco Delli Colli;
Edited by	Mauro Bonanni
Music by	Stelvio Cipriani
Production; company	Cleminternazionale Cinematografica
Distributed by	Titanus
Release date	August 10, 1977 (Italy);
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Italy
Box office	₤1.308 billion

Highway Racer (originally titled Poliziotto sprint) is a 1977 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.^[2]^[3] It was the first collaboration between Massi and Maurizio Merli, who worked together in six titles between 1977 and 1980.

The plot of the film was partly inspired by the career of Armando Spatafora, an Italian "flying squad" police officer whose patrol car was a Ferrari 250 GTE. Many car chases in the film, such as bank robbers in a Citroen DS as well as cars rolling down the Spanish Steps, mirror famous police chases in Rome during the 1960s.

Cast

Maurizio Merli as Marco Palma
Angelo Infanti as Jean-Paul Dossena il "Nizzardo"
Giancarlo Sbragia as Maresciallo Tagliaferri
Lilli Carati as Francesca
Orazio Orlando as Silicato
Glauco Onorato as Pistone

Production

Highway Racer was the first of six films starring Maurizio Merli that director Stelvio Massi directed between 1977 and 1980. When he was shooting his third film in the Mark the Cop series, Merli met Massi who was busy shooting Special Cop in Action for Marino Girolami.^[1] Highway Racer was shot on location in Rome.^[1]

Release

Highway Racer was released in Italy on August 10, 1977, where it was distributed by Titanus.^[1] The film premiered at the Brancaccio cinema in Rome. It grossed a total of 1.308 billion Italian lira in Italy, which lead to Roberto Curti described as film being a "box office hit" in Italy.^[4]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, Italian critics generally gave the film better reviews than the usual Italian crime films, with one critic describing it as "more amiable and astute than other films of its ilk, because it's more spectacular in its 'police and thieves on four wheels' game."^[5]

References

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Curti 2013, p. 221.
^ Roberto Curti. Italia odia: il cinema poliziesco italiano. Lindau, 2006.
^ Enrico Lancia, Fabio Melelli (2005). Spionaggio, avventura, eroi moderni. Gremese, 2005. ISBN 8884403707.
^ Curti 2013, pp. 222–3.
^ Curti 2013, p. 223.