44. Specialist, The (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Stelvio MassiRelease Date(s)
1976 (September 30, 2025)Studio(s)
P.A.C. (Raro Video/Kino Lorber)- Film/Program Grade: C-
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
Dramatically almost schematic, The .44 Specialist (Mark colspisce ancora, “Mark Strikes Again,” 1976) in fact is, as its original Italian title suggests, a sequel. Mark of the Cop (Mark il poliziotto, 1975), with fotoromanzi (photo comics) star Franco Gasparri headlining as undercover cop Mark, was an unexpected sensation at the Italian box-office, the picture earning 1.667 billion lire. Mark Shoots First (Mark il poliziotto spara per primo) followed later in 1975.
The .44 Specialist, conversely, was apparently not conceived as a third Mark the Cop movie, but I guess it was just too tempting, and at some point—some sources say it was during production or postproduction—the decision was made that the film, however disconnected from the previous entries it might be, would be a second Mark the Cop sequel.
Whatever happened along the way resulted in a poliziottesco full of the usual requisite action, but the film feels like a series of set pieces that don’t much connect to one another: one sequence comes to a halt and a new one begins. The characters are neither interesting nor consistent; their motives and relationships to one another murky and contradictory.
To wit: the movie opens with hippie-loafer Mark Patti (Gasparri) arrested by police, but since Mark is actually an undercover cop, the arrest was merely a ruse to pass along instructions. The faux arrest does, however, attract the attention of left-wing terrorist Olga Kuber (Marcella Michelangeli), who flirts with Mark upon his release and takes him back to her apartment. Waiting there, however, is her fellow terrorist boyfriend, German Paul Henkel (John Steiner), and a third terrorist mortally wounded during a political assassination. Paul and Olga immediately offer Mark the job of taking the wounded man’s place, surprising since she literally picked him up off the street minutes earlier and he’s been vetted less than a Trump cabinet position. Paul and Olga make a big deal about finding a doctor for their friend and getting him bandaged up, but then Paul shoots him immediately after the doctor leaves, and rather sadistically in the stomach besides.
The three engage in various generic acts of terrorism for no clear purpose, all under the watchful eye of (Interpol? CIA?) Inspector Altman (John Saxon), though his motives are as murky as those of our treacherous trio. Mark is dispatched to Vienna, maybe for the scenery, and he and Paul ride the same Ferris Wheel that Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten rode memorably in The Third Man. Nothing very interesting happens.
Indeed, the only really amusing bit in the entire film is a minor surprise when the gang try to blow up a bus (or something) using a bomb Olga has in her backpack. Just as they’re getting ready, a pair on a motorbike purse-snatch Olga’s backpack, ride off, and in a single, unbroken turn a corner where there’s a huge explosion. Given the crime rate of such purse snatchings with this M.O. in Italy at the time, no doubt the movie audience burst into applause.
After appearing in a handful of peplum as a child actor, Franco Gasparri as an adult starred in less than a half-dozen movies, this being his last. He was nearly killed in a 1980 motorcycle accident and spent the last 19 years of his life in a wheelchair, dying in 1999 at just 50. One suspects his relaxed demeanor contrasted the more intense leading men associated with this genre (Franco Nero, Tomás Milián, etc.) and presented something of a novelty. Otherwise, he’s not much of a screen presence.
There are a couple of other okay if slightly incompetent action scenes: for instance, the political assassination that opens the film is seen from two angles, yet the target seems to be riding two different makes of automobiles! For the climax, deep undercover cop Mark’s name and photograph are broadcast on a national news broadcast Olga and Paul happen to be watching. No reason is given for Mark’s “outing” from deep undercover nor is one needed—it’s just an incredibly clumsy way to move the plot to its conclusion.
RaroVideo’s Region-Free Blu-ray of The .44 Specialist isn’t the video transfer disaster of many of their recent Blu-ray releases, but it’s still problematic. Generally better overall, the 1.85:1 widescreen image is sharp with decent color, but it includes a persistent anomaly I’ve never encountered before. It’s particularly noticeable around the 55-minute mark, an exterior with a big lake in the background. What looks like a repeating, slow-moving vertical scan of the image, moving from top-to-bottom, subtly shifting the color as it goes. It’s only noticeable in a couple of scenes, but it is an undeniable distraction.
Audio consists of both the original Italian track with optional English subtitles and an English-dubbed version, both in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. John Saxon’s own voice is heard in the English-dubbed version, but the other voice actors are generally poor, and “Mark Patti” is changed to “Mark Pasty,” which, repeated often throughout the film, had the subliminal effect of making me hunger for the traditional meat pastry entrée popular in Northern Michigan and elsewhere. Further, the actor (presumably not Steiner) dubbing Paul affects a German accent that wouldn’t pass muster on Hogan’s Heroes.
Supplements are limited to a trailer and a new audio commentary by film historian Rachael Nisbit.
Not much here, The .44 Specialist has limited appeal, and only hardcore genre fans need apply.
- Stuart Galbraith IV