Brutish and corrupt detective Stefano Belli (smoothly played by the always reliable Franco Nero) finds himself up to his eyeballs in murder, deceit, and deadly double crosses after he decides to investigate a black mail case for prominent lawyer Avvocato Fontana (a fine performance by Adolfo Celi).Director Romolo Giurriera keeps the complex and compelling story moving along at a constant pace, maintains a hard-hitting gritty tone throughout, and throws in some exciting rough'n'tumble fisticuffs and a smidgen of bare female skin for good measure. The intricate script by Massimo D'Avak, Alberto Silvestri, and Franco Verucci provides a few neat twists and builds to a surprise grim ending which packs a startling punch. Nero's assured and charismatic presence ensures that Belli is a continually interesting, if not especially likeable and appealing main character. Moreover, the bevy of beautiful women in colorful supporting roles certainly doesn't hurt matters in the least: Florinda Bolkan makes for a sultry and intriguing femme fatale as Fontana's duplicitous spouse Vera, Delia Boccardo registers well as classy British model Sandy Bronson, and Susanna Martinkova vamps it up with delightfully saucy aplomb as decadent tart Emmanuelle. Roberto Gerardi's vibrant cinematography gives this picture an attractive stylish look. Fred Bongusto's groovy jazz score hits the swinging spot. A worthwhile film.

A dialogue heavy murder mystery whose story is just full of twists and turns, "Un Detective", a.k.a. "Detective Belli", a.k.a. "Ring of Death", is a reasonably entertaining, competently made movie that does provide handsome leading man Franco Nero with a good vehicle, based upon the novel "Macchie Di Belletto" (translated as "Make Up Stains" in the English dubbed version) by Ludovico Dentice. He plays police commissioner Stefano Belli, a shamelessly crooked individual who takes a pair of cases offered to him by prominent criminal lawyer Fontana (Adolfo Celi). The details of these cases include a provocative photograph, blackmail, and cheating partners. The first review on this page is certainly on the mark when it comments on the story's resemblance to the legendary "The Maltese Falcon", right down to the final showdown when Belli confronts the killer with the knowledge he's gained. (Of course, the denouement here is one that the viewer may NOT expect.) A fair amount of the screen time actually involves Belli confronting one character after another, so it gets kind of repetitive, and what with all of the exposition relayed throughout, it does require one to pay close attention. One standout scene features Belli intimidating British model Sandy Bronson (Delia Boccardo) into giving up information by driving dangerously through the city streets. There's a brief scene of delectable bare female skin but the scene is over a little too quickly. Still, it's nice to see an assortment of "Euro-babes" among the cast: Florinda Bolkan, Boccardo, and Susanna Martinkova (whose dubbed in French voice is ridiculous yet still rather cute). Uncredited appearances are made by the likes of Laura Antonelli, Geoffrey Copleston, Silvia Dionisio, and John Stacy. But the most fun to be had is in watching Nero play a man of absolutely no moral fibre who always looks out for number one while becoming intent on solving the cases. He's a real brute of a man, yet is very democratic about it, roughing up men and women alike. The movie is decent entertainment overall, if not particularly memorable, and may please plans of European crime stories. Seven out of 10.

The film came out as "Detective Belli", starring Franco Nero, then a European heart-throb when the movie came out. Nero plays against type as an unrepentantly corrupt police detective. During the course of the investigation of a murder, Det. Belli makes his way through the upper society of Rome. Amazingly, he begins to develop a conscience and decides to "do the right thing" and find out who the real murderer is. Like all sentient males, he is attracted to Florinda Bolkan who looks fantastic in this film, having also shared the screen with Michael Caine in another movie around this time. The upshot--in a reprise of the famous ending scene in the Maltese Falcon, Nero confronts Bolkan in a graveyard and, although attracted to her, confronts her with the fact that she is the murderer. She tries to bribe him, alluding to a life together. Det. Belli is intransigent. But then, in a very atypical ending, she shoots him and he dies and she gets away with it. A very twisty thriller when it first came out. I enjoyed it and remember the surprise ending to this day.

This review is based on the horrendous video released (as Ring of Death) by Congress Video Group and apparently culled from an original theatrical print, complete with MPAA rating. This choppy, washed out, and badly mastered tape also features the world's laziest telecine work, as even modest pan and scanning is avoided in an effort to repeatedly keep speaking characters out of frame. As for the film itself, it's mildly diverting at best. Franco Nero stars as Belli, an immoral and brutal detective trying to get to the bottom of the murder of a man named Romanis. There are plenty of suspects: was it glamourpuss English model Sandy (Delia Boccardi)? Jealous young Mino (Maurizio Bonuglia)? How about Mino's frosty stepmother (a gaunt looking Florinda Bolkan)? Ultimately, you won't really care, but you'll wonder why the filmmakers chose to under utilize Adolfo Celi, who plays Mino's dad in the early going and then disappears until the last reel. Perhaps a DVD restoration would restore cut footage as well as the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but it could just as easily expose the film to be a disappointing and overlong police procedural (the tape version feels long and clocks in at a mere 91 minutes).