Franco Nero is Captain Bellodi, who starts this investigating the death of truck driver Salvatore Colasberna, a man murdered while delivering cement to a construction project. The only witness may be Rosa Nicolosi (Claudia Cardinale), a woman of somewhat loose morals. Either her husband caught her with Colasberna or the trucker was killed by a corrupt group of manufacturers under the orders of Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb).
This was one of the first of a wave of organized crime based films. The trend started when the Leonardo Sciascia's novel To Each His Own was adapted as We Still Kill the Old Way. Day of the Owl was based on another Sciascia novel which was the first book he'd written about organized crime in Sicily.
Written by director Damiano Damiani and Ugo Pirro, who also wrote We Still Kill the Old Way, this differs from the book that it's based on. Piro said, "To me, the book is a hint: I must try and preserve its message by using a different language."
This was one of the first of a wave of organized crime based films. The trend started when the Leonardo Sciascia's novel To Each His Own was adapted as We Still Kill the Old Way. Day of the Owl was based on another Sciascia novel which was the first book he'd written about organized crime in Sicily.
Written by director Damiano Damiani and Ugo Pirro, who also wrote We Still Kill the Old Way, this differs from the book that it's based on. Piro said, "To me, the book is a hint: I must try and preserve its message by using a different language."