Double Game

Plot

A fatal stabbing of a wealthy doctor, a rape and strangulation of a seventeen-year-old girl, and a series of destructive smash-and-grabs keep police inspectors Danieli (Emanuel Cannarsa) and Moretti (George Hilton) working overtime. To top it off a growing gang war between the established local dons and an invading French crime syndicate threatens to blow the whole city sky high. To keep the Turin from becoming the most violent city in Italy, Moretti beats the streets at night to stop crime as a vigilante.

Production

Double Game came to be made because director Carlo Ausino couldn't find distribution for his previous film "Prima che il sole tramonti" (1976) so he asked the producers what to do. Poliziotteschi films about violent cities were popular at the time (Violent Rome, Violent Naples) and the producers were aware that Carlo lived in Turin so they asked him to make a crime film called Torino violenta to make up for the lost money. Carlo agreed only if the producers promised distribution. Needing a star to promote the film the lead role was offered to popular genre actor George Hilton. The rest of the cast and crew were made up of natives of Turin. Turin native Emanuel Cannarsa was cast as Hilton's partner as the director found Emanuel to look American and Charles Bronson-like (Emanuel would return to play the lead role in this film's sequel Tony: Another Double Game). When shooting first began first George Hilton questioned the ability of the crew and director because they were shooting much faster in Turin than crews in Rome. After a while however Hilton came to respect this aspect.

The production did have a few bumps along the way. The first major problem was finding cars to be used has police cars in the film. The crew was forced to use cars from a demolition site that were unable to go very fast. Director Carlo Ausino was then forced to use camera tricks to make them seem to be going much faster. To help out director Carlo Ausino also took one of the prop cars home to paint in order to look like a police car for the film. Someone gave an anonymous tip to the police that a suspicious person was painting a car to look like a police car. Because terrorism was high in Italy at the time the police showed up at the director's home wondering what he was doing.

Releases

Double Game was released in Italy on October 13, 1977 where it was distributed by Lark. It grossed 279 million Italian lira.

The film released on Region 1 DVD by NoShame films in 2005. This was the first time the film has ever been released on any home video format. As a bonus NoShame included the films ultra rare sequel Tony: Another Double Game. The DVD is currently out-of-print.