The Counsellor

The Counsellor (1973)

Il consigliori

When the godson of San Francisco's crime lord asks permission to leave "the business," Don Antonio agrees, but reluctantly. Such behavior by either one is a violation of the code, and a bloody mob war breaks out. It is only through the strong support of his family connections in Sicily that Don Antonio is able to survive the mêlée and come out on top. Aghast at the situation he has caused, the godson becomes his leader's "consigliere," or Counselor at Crime.

Date of release
1973-08-30
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (15)
Runtime
1h 42m
Genres
Crime
Director
Alberto De Martino

Casting

Interesting facts

Counselor at Crime is a 1973 Italian-Spanish crime film directed by Alberto De Martino and starring Tomas Milian, Martin Balsam and Francisco Rabal.

Production

Counselor at Crime was filmed at Cinecitta in Rome, Estudios Cinematograficos in Madrid and on location in San Francisco, Albuquerque, Palermo and Sicily.

The cinematography was done by Joe D'Amato, who was credited under his birthname Aristide Massaccesi. Director Alberto de Martino spoke positively on working with D'Amato, stating that he "didn't talk nonsense, he knew how to do his job, and he was quick. It took him a couple of seconds to understand how to light a scene. And whenever he was in trouble with the lighting, he would take the camera in his own hands".

De Martino admitted to having trouble during the screenwriting of the film, stating that he initially wrote the script with his collaborators. They later hired Leonardo Martin to write another part and when they gave the script to producer Edmondo Amati, he stated that it was alright but wanted the dialogue to be revised by his friend Michael Gazzo. A month later, Gazzo sent him a script that was entirely re-written.

De Martino also spoke about Dagmar Lassander, stating that he "cast her in Rome a couple of months before shooting started. She'd just had a baby and I told her she had to lose weight. She said 'Of course, one month's a long time!". When arriving in Albuquerque, she had not lost the weight and De Martino kept her in the film as he would not be able to find a replacement.

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