It would seem that this film is more of a godfather rip-off than anything else, but it's clear that the film takes its fair share of influence from the western genre. Many Italian films lift plots from other successful films, and in this case it's A Fistful of Dollars that provides the influence (though in fairness to this film, Leone's first masterpiece did take its plot from Yojimbo...). The film also takes influence from the crime films that were rising in popularity in 1974, and could be described as an urban western. The plot focuses on Tony Aniante, a loner who arrives in a Sicilian town with a pair of warring families. He decides to be friends with both of them, until the moment to strike presents itself and he can have both families implode on themselves. The prostitute of the title refers to Barbara Bouchet's character Margie; one of the mob's whores who takes a liking to Tony and ends up getting embroiled in his little war with the rival mafia families.
The film features all the things that make the Italian crime films popular, including fist fights, gun fights and car chases and none are in short supply. Andrea Bianchi never got himself a reputation for making high quality films, and that really isn't surprising considering how much Cry of a Prostitute borrows from other, more esteemed, sources. However, he does at least manage to keep things entertaining and that is of course the most important thing about a film like this. Of course, the fact that the plot has been seen many times before means that it is not difficult to guess what is going to happen by the end, which kind of spoils it a bit. The lead actor is Henry Silva and he does a good job in the central role. My main reason for seeing this film is the fact that it stars the lovely Barbara Bouchet. Barbara has never come across as being shy, and she doesn't here either! Overall, I wont say that Cry of a Prostitute is a must see Italian film; it adds very little for the experienced Italian film viewer; but it's not bad and is worth a watch.
