Free Hand for a Tough Cop
Free Hand for a Tough Cop is a 1976 film from Italy, directed by Umberto Lenzi, running 90 minutes. reelscum files it under poliziotteschi.
- Year
- 1976 · 1970s films
- Country
- Italy
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Director
- Umberto Lenzi
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- obscure (59/100)
- Also known as
- Tough Cop
Defined in the glossary: Poliziotteschi
Tomas Milian debuts Er Monnezza, the filthiest man in Italian crime cinema, and steals his own movie.
A rogue Rome cop springs a foul-mouthed petty thief from custody to help him run down a child kidnapper, and Umberto Lenzi shoots the chase at a dead sprint. The thief is Tomas Milian debuting Er Monnezza, the greasy-wigged, rotten-toothed Roman lowlife he would ride through a decade of crime pictures, and he walks off with every scene he is in. Henry Silva supplies the cold-blooded villainy.
The plot is an excuse. Milian is the film.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 7 Nov 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
The cycle in depth
- Poliziotteschi: the Italian cop film, 1973 to 1980
A moustache, a Magnum, and total contempt for the courts.
Filed alongside
The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist
Late-cycle Castellari. Everyone is exhausted and it shows productively.
Cops vs. Thugs
Fukasaku again, arguing the two categories in the title are the same.
The Violent Professionals
Martino sends Luc Merenda undercover and off the leash. Prime cop-on-a-rampage stuff.
Violent Naples
Merli takes his no-mercy cop routine to Naples. Fast, brutal, and politically incoherent as ever.
Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man
Two cops who are clearly the villains. Ruggero Deodato, before the jungle.
Shoot First, Die Later
Di Leo's dirty-cop picture, and the rot goes all the way home.
Rome Armed to the Teeth
Maurizio Merli punches Rome for 100 minutes. Politics: incoherent.
The Big Racket
Castellari's best. The car-rolling-down-the-hill shot is famous for a reason.
Street Law
Castellari's Death Wish. An ordinary engineer, brutalised and ignored, arms himself.
High Crime
Castellari's breakout in the genre, and Franco Nero furious for ninety minutes.
Almost Human
Tomas Milian as a repellent psychopath. Deeply unpleasant, very good.
The Italian Connection
Mario Adorf on foot versus a car. Best chase in Italian cinema.