After this film, Merli would continue playing essentially the same role throughout his career: the tough pissed of cop, who works for justice, not for the system.
Now typcasting isn't nessesarily a bad thing, look at Robert DeNero; he plays the seedy gangster type perfectly, but look at his atempts at comdey. I rest my case.
After Roma Violenta Merli teamed up with the master of Italian crime Umberto Lenzi to film the classic of the genre Napoli Violenta-Vioent Napels/Violent Protection. Merli's skill as a character actor is in full force here. Squitning, sneering, clenching his jaw muscles, he always looks like he's about to bitch smack the piss outta someone. In this film, he plays inspecter Berti, an out of control cop tranfered to Napoli from Roma. He's barely in town two minutes before he's beating up a couple of car thieves, smacking the bejesus out of one, then slammimg the hood of a car on his head.
Next up for Merli was Roma A Mano Armata aka:The Tough Ones/Assault With A Deadly Weapon. This film, also Directed by Lenzi, was the first time Merli would team up with the great Cuban-born actor Tomas Milian. Supposedly, Milian and Merli couldn't stand each other, which added quite a bit to both of their performances-Merli as the tough cop, and Milian as the low-life criminal. One especially brutal and effective scene is where Merli plants some drugs in Milian's car, and after they haul him down to the station he is viciously smacked around by Merli. Another, possibly the coolest thing i've ever seen in any movie, is where Merli makes Milian swallow a bullet! Now that's a bad mutherfucker!
Merli made a few films with director Stelvio Massi (one without his mustache! I gotta see that!), and even took a break from police films to make Manaja aka:A Man Called Blade-a violent horror/spaghetti western with Director Sergio Martino.
In 1977 Merli once again teamed up with Lenzi in Il Cinico, L'Infame, Il Violento aka: The Cynic, The Rat And The Fist, an exellent more comical crime flick co-staring Milan and John Saxon. Merli seems to have the time of his life running around shooting crooks and delivering his hilarious one liners.
The following year Merli starred in what would be his last film with Lenzi Da Corleone A Brooklyn-From Corleone To Brooklyn. A very well made and tense film, more of an action/thriller than police film. The film has Merli ecsorting a hitman who the mob belives is dead, from Coleone, Italy to Brooklyn New York so that he can testify against the gangster that killed his sister. The mob soon finds out that the hitman is still alive, and are out to stop them from reaching thier destination. Not only does Merli have to worry about the gangsters around every turn, but also the criminal he has formed an uneasy truce with. Unfourtuately, this would also be Lenzi's last real crime film.
Some say that Maurizio Merli is just the poor man's Franco Nero, and that may be what producers inteded, but i think that Merli has gone on to create his own persona. No actor plays the tough, fed up cop with such passion and conviction. In a scene from Roma A Mano Armata, Merli catches two purse snatchers. He grabs one by the shirt collar and raises his hand to smack 'em one, and the kids says "Hey man, what's the matter with you?" and Merli just looks at him, as if he just got carried away in the moment. It's things like this that make Merli's performances so fun to watch, whether he smashin' heads through pinball machines or shouting at his supperiors that "his methods get results!" he always gives a good performance.
Sadly, in 1989, at the age of 40 Maurizio Merli suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Rome while playing tennis.
