Police inspector Baldassarre just happens to be nearby when two residents of an apartment building are seemingly struck by lightning simultaneously. Sensing foul play, Inspector Baldassarre begins his own investigation which takes him on a tour of all the unusual tenants in the building, each one with their own possible motive…

Based on a novel by Ugo Moretti, A Double Death in the old Government, it appears that Steno (or Stefano Vanzina) took quite a few liberties with the source material. For a start, the original Baldassarre is neither divorced or has kids (both key points in Steno’s version) There is also, apparently, far more eroticism and suspense in the original novel – something this effort is clearly lacking, and almost sinful for a giallo. At first glance, Steno seems to be harking back to the giallo-rosa (comedy giallo) of the 1930s and 40s where laughs and mystery go hand-in-hand, and with less of the serious tone that pervaded many of the gialli typical of around this time. But, the year is also important – the Italian giallo was now very suddenly past its peak from just a year earlier and the bubble had well and truly burst. So, perhaps (and more likely) taking a leaf out of Bruno Corbucci’s playbook – Steno also latched onto the comedy genre in an attempt to create something different to the competition. Corbucci’s comedy/crime capers starring Tomas Milian would prove to be cinematic gold for a good six or seven years – and well into the decline of the Italian film industry, fizzling out in around 1984 or 85 with the last Delitto… film. Unfortunately for Steno, his attempt to reinvent the giallo didn’t achieve anywhere near the same level of success…

A detailed breakdown of some of the locations courtesy of Davinotti

Availability

So far unreleased on DVD or Bluray – there are at least three or four different copies floating around, none of which are ideal…

A French TV recording with forced French subtitles and Italian audio

An Italian VHS released in the 1980s by Warner Brothers in Italy

A Russian copy with a Russian voice-over covering the English audio track underneath (this is the only place where the English audio can be heard – I’m still not sure where it originates from?) This copy was fandubbed by Commissario with the original Italian audio track – (this is the one with English fansubs)

At least two Italian TV recordings – one of which is on YouTube but with a very, very low bit-rate

Quite why a giallo with one of the most impressive (and costly) casts has been consigned to obscurity is a bit of a mystery – as I’ve observed elsewhere, I wonder if it boils down to the rights being too expensive for a low-run release? If any eventual distribution rights are based on the budget, this would also go some way to explaining why (as of 2022) we still haven’t seen Lizzani’s Bandits in Milan or Damiani’s I Am Afraid/The Bodyguard get an official release – both of which were also big productions at the time (although in this case for De Laurentiis/Paramount, not Warners)