Silent Action

Three army officials (among them general Stocchi) commit suicide but Rome police inspector Giorgio Solmi suspects someone staged it. He's visited by captain Sperlì, an italian secret agent who has, just like Solmi, some suspicion about those suicide cases; Solmi is often advised by Maria, his ladyfriend, a professional journalist. A given day, in a countryside villa, someone kills Chiarotti, a dark and wealth man and the main suspect is an escort nicknamed "la Tunisina", the last one to have visited Chiarotti's villa. Solmi interrogates the woman and she tells the truth: she escaped from the villa because she looked at the killer's face; after, the killer is identified as Giovanni Andreassi, nicknamed Massù. Unfortunately the girl is found, kidnapped and strangled by Mossù.

Inspector Solmi gives an order to his co-workers (lieutenant Caprara and master-sergeant De Luca): they have to guard Chiarotti's villa. In facts, overnight, a man named Ortolani breaks the door seal with a key and tries to stole some recorded tape kept by Chiarotti then, arrested, Ortolani affirms to work for the "State Information", anyhow, captain Sperlì denies Ortolani is an agent.

Anyway, breaking the orders given by judge Mannino, the inspector listens to the recording; in it there's a secret dialogue between general Stocchi and a phantom character named "lawyer Rienzi". In the recording Rienzi proposes Stocchi to join a plot but the official categorically refuses. When the tape has to be heard by judge Mannino, it results demagnetized; no recording can be heard; so Solmi suspects there's an infiltrated traitor in the police station. An informer whistleblows Solmi that Massù has been seen at a sporting club, so the inspector and his men storm the local; Massù tries to escape but is arrested and beaten up by Solmi. Massù will confess he killed Chiarotti because he had collected some embarrassing evidences against Martinetti, a powerful politician, and his wife. Anyway, Martinetti strongly denies any connection to Massù and accuses Solmi to defame him.

After a while Massù is killed at the prison during an inmates riot; Solmi controls the prison security cameras images and discovers that a man (not inmate) pushed Massù down from the building roof. Solmi is completely convinced about the presence of a traitor policeman when an incident happens: De Luca is killed in place of Solmi when he tries to move Solmi's car already filled with explosive. Maria says to Solmi that there's a photograph in which appears Massù's killers next to general Stocchi. Then Solmi speaks to captain Sperlì about this news and the secret agent, after a hesitation, reveals he knows that killer. He's a german mercenary agent named Schmitt; he's actually housed in a roman hotel. Solmi and Sperlì goes to the hotel; Schmitt is about to run away because he's been warned. However, Solmi manages to grab him but, before interrogating him, Schmitt is killed dy Sperlì in a "self-defense" purpose. Then Solmi orders Sperlì not to move and goes into Schmitt's room. Inside a suitcase, the policeman finds various papers, on one of those there's a list of names, among them lawyer Rienzi's name; apart from the list, inspector Solmi finds the geographical coordinates of a mountain camp where a group of paramilitary forces are training and preparing a coup that, in case of success, will set Rienzi as Defence Minister of the putschist junta.

The camp is found and the mutinous rebels are encircled and overpowered by police forces. Anyway, someone manages to burn some secret documents before running away by a patrol-car. Inspector Solmi and vice-inspector Caprara go after him by helicopter before, on foot after; the fugitive is soon forced to surrender and, after seeing his face, the two policemen are stunned: the fugitive is captain Sperlì. so they understand that Rienzi and Sperlì are the same person. Anyhow, during the way back, Sperlì doesn't reveal the name of the other conspirators forming the coupist junta and, before being interrogated by judge Mannino, Sperlì is ambushed and killed by Caprara (he's the traitor policeman). Anyway, neither Solmi can speak to Mannino; the policeman will be killed by a commando under Maria's eyes.

• Luc Merenda as Commissioner Giorgio Solmi
• Mel Ferrer as Examining Judge Michele Mannino
• Delia Boccardo as Maria
• Tomas Milian as Lawyer Rienzi
• Michele Gammino as Deputy Commissioner Luigi Caprara
• Paola Tedesco as Giuliana Raimondi
• Gianfranco Barra as Officer De Luca
• Carlo Alighiero as Remo Ortolani
• Antonio Casale as Giovanni Andreassi, alias Massù
• Gianni Di Benedetto as General Eugenio Stocchi
• Claudio Gora as Martinetti
• Clara Colosimo as "Baroness" Isidora Grimani
• Arturo Dominici as Questor

Silent Action was distributed theatrically in Italy by Medusa on April 5, 1975.[1]

• List of Italian films of 1975

• Silent Action on IMDb