BB17-026 — The Violent Four
Shop Now YEAR: 1968
ORIGINAL TITLE: Banditi a Milano / Bandits in Milan
STUDIO / DISTRIBUTOR: Dino De Laurentiis Production / Paramount Pictures
DIRECTOR: Carlo Lizzani PRODUCER: Dino De Laurentiis
CAST: Gian Maria Volonté, Don Backy, Ray Lovelock, Margaret Lee, Tomas Milian
MUSIC: Riz Ortolani
GENRE: Crime / Drama / Thriller
FORMAT: Original Australian Daybill
PRINTER: Robert Burton Pty. Ltd., Sydney — visible along the lower edge of this example.
Released internationally as The Violent Four, the 1968 Italian film Banditi a Milano is a hard-edged crime drama inspired by real criminal activity in Milan, following a violent gang of bank robbers and the police pursuit that follows. It is regarded as an important precursor to the Italian poliziotteschi crime-film movement of the 1970s.
POSTER DESIGN FEATURES: A particularly striking Australian daybill dominated by vivid turquoise-blue, black and red artwork. Masked gunmen tower over smaller illustrated figures, while the bold red The Violent Four title sits centrally against the blue field. The sensational headline across the top — “These 4 men are on their way to do a day’s work… robbing banks — killing people!” — gives it the aggressive exploitation-style presentation associated with late-1960s crime advertising.
COLLECTOR’S NOTE: An original Australian daybill for Carlo Lizzani’s The Violent Four (1968), starring acclaimed Italian actor Gian Maria Volonté alongside Tomas Milian, Don Backy, Ray Lovelock and Margaret Lee. Beyond its strong late-1960s crime artwork, the film has genuine significance within Italian cinema: it was selected for competition at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival before that year's festival was halted, and was later included among the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s selection of 100 important Italian films. This combination of distinctive Australian artwork, Volonté and Milian collector interest, and the film’s place in Italian crime cinema makes it considerably more interesting than a routine crime daybill.
