Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Free Hand for a Tough Cop Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 6, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's Violent Streets: The Umberto Lenzi/Tomas Milian Collection box set.

In one of several worthwhile supplements Severin has aggregated for Violent Streets, commentators Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson make the case that director Umberto Lenzi may not have achieved the renown of some of his contemporaries at least in part perhaps due to the fact that, at least according to Howarth and Thompson, his directorial style wasn't "flashy" enough, though the fact that Howarth's book about Lenzi includes the word kinetic in its title might subliminally undercut this thesis, one way or the other. There is a certain stolid quality to some of Lenzi's work, to be sure, but there are also at least moments of flourishes, but one way or the other, when you have a star like Tomas Milián snarling in front of the camera, how much additional "style" do you really need? Milián is a near feral presence in all five films Severin has aggregated in this appealing new collection culled from Lenzi's rather impressively long filmography. Some of the supplementary interviews with Lenzi included on the various discs in this set might suggest that his relationship with Milián may not have always been smooth sailing, so to speak, and in a way I was reminded (perhaps only due to it very recently passing through my review queue courtesy of a bonus feature on Arrow's release of Black Sunday) some remarks by John Frankenheimer speaking to his evidently intermittently stormy relationship with Burt Lancaster, another leading man with a somewhat feral presence. One way or the other, much as with the Frankenheimer - Lancaster collaborations, Lenzi and Milián formed a viscerally compelling symbiotic unit for whatever reason, and the five films collected here offer more than abundant proof of the energy the duo brought to some admittedly at times otherwise pedestrian efforts. Severin has perhaps sweetened the pot for a certain demographic by including soundtrack CDs with some of the films.

In a way the Violent Streets collection might have been titled Violent Kidnappings just as easily, at least given the fact that several of the films in this set do feature rather disturbing plot involving the abduction of children. If that is a weird and unsettling through line of sorts for this collection, the involvement of Tomas Milián is of course the central one (as evidenced by the set's subtitle), and in that regard, Free Hand for a Tough Cop is a somewhat iconic entry in Milián's overall filmography since it introduced the character of Monnezza, whom Milián would play in some subsequent outings, including Brothers Till We Die, also included in the Violent Streets collection.

Mannezzo (which is a nickname with various unseemly euphemistic meanings) is a scheming con as the film opens, but he's the kind of scheming con it's easy to root for, especially when he's more or less conscripted by Police Commissioner Antonio Sarti (Claudio Cassinelli) to go after a crime lord named Brescianelli (Henry Silva) who has, yep, you guessed it, kidnapped a little girl, albeit one with a potentially lethal health issue, which makes her rescue all the more urgent. The back cover of this release argues that Free Hand for a Tough Cop actually inspired 48 Hrs., and there are some obvious tethers, including a con sprung from stir paired with a cop in order to bring down a bad guy. Perhaps surprisingly, one other thing the two films share is a somewhat cheeky sense of humor, something that may seem especially odd in the context being perceived as a politziottesco.

As with several of the films in this set, Free Hand for a Tough Cop has had a previous release on Blu-ray, this one courtesy of Fractured Visions for the Region B market. Those interested in a detailed plot recap as well as another reaction to the film are encouraged to read Svet Atanasov's Free Hand for a Tough Cop Blu-ray review of that version.

Free Hand for a Tough Cop Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Free Hand for a Tough Cop is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Once again Severin doesn't provide a ton of technical information on the transfer, though the back cover states "uncut for the first time ever" (though it's salient to note this evidently has the same running time as the older Blu-ray release from Fractured Visions) as well as a brief comment that this was "scanned in 2K from the original negative". Svet wasn't particularly pleased with the video quality of the Fractured Visions release, and while I haven't seen that version, even a brief glance at the screenshots Svet uploaded to accompany his review show an often kind of sickly green or yellow-green skew that I'm happy to report is missing from this version. And in fact I'd argue that the palette reproduction is one of this presentation's strengths, with some appealingly natural looking fleshtones that admittedly can occasionally flirt with brown territory. Svet mentioned some odd anomalies with grain in the Fractured Visions version, and while I didn't see a ton of fluctuations in this version, I also didn't see much grain, or at least not the at times rather textured and thick layer that accompanies some of the other transfers in this set. As with some of the other titles in Violent Streets, there's some very minor age related wear and tear that can be spotted. My score is 3.75.

Free Hand for a Tough Cop Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Free Hand for a Tough Cop features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono options in either English or Italian. As with all of the titles in the Violent Streets set, while there may be some slight differences between the two tracks, they're pretty minimal in my estimation, to the point that the two in fact may be largely interchangeable. I'd argue that the Italian track may be just slightly hotter, but only by incremental degrees, and both tracks provide more than capable support for dialogue, score and effects. Optional English subtitles for both versions are available.

Free Hand for a Tough Cop Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• In the Asphalt Jungle (HD; 3:46) is an interview with director Umberto Lenzi. Subtitled in English.


• Tough Guy Corrado (HD; 38:45) provides an overview of the career of Corrado Solari. Subtitled in English.


• The Father of Monnezza (HD; 34:02) is an interview with screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti. Subtitled in English.


• Hand Held Camera for a Tough Cinematographer (HD; 15:40) is an interview with DP Nino Celeste. Subtitled in English.


• Making Movies (HD; 12:10) is an interview with producer Ugo Tucci. Subtitled in English.


• Extended Bank Robbery Scene (HD; 3:27) is advertised as having been sourced from the original camera negative. In English with some noticeable crackling and background noise.


• Trailer (HD; 3:24)

Free Hand for a Tough Cop Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Considering the fact that Free Hand for a Tough Cop has a mortally ill child who's been abducted, the overall tone in the film is kind of unabashedly bright and even whimsical at times. Milián hasn't quite tipped over into full gonzo comedy mode as he would in some later films, and that perhaps adds a bit of balance to the proceedings. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.