Shoot First, Die Later

Fernando Di Leo aims the corrupt-cop picture at its most respectable target: a decorated, universally liked detective who has quietly been on the mob's payroll for years. Luc Merenda plays the golden boy whose arrangement holds up fine until his honest father stumbles onto a file he was never meant to see. Di Leo skips the macho catharsis of the Merli cop movies and studies instead how the rot works its way into a family. Richard Conte lends the syndicate real weight, and the last stretch is upsetting rather than exciting. One of the sharpest and meanest entries in the cycle's late phase.