La Bidonata, also known as The Rip-off, is a once lost 1977

1977 in film

The year 1977 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network....

 Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

/crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

film. This was the final film directed by giallo

Giallo

Giallo is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism...

 specialist Luciano Ercoli.

Production

Before the film's premier executive producer Niccolo De Nora was kidnapped. Soon after "La Bidonata" was shelved. Debate continues on whether the film was shelved due to the kidnapping of the producer or for the fact the film played poorly to test audiences. Either way the film was pulled and all elements were presumed lost. No promotional materials were printed and Luciano Erocli's final film would become lost for nearly thirty years. A print however was discovered in a box that was supposed to contain Japanese cartoons. The print was shipped off to an LVR lab where after examination they announced that it was in remarkably good condition. This one surviving print was used for the NoShame DVD release.

Releases

The film released on Region 0 NTSC DVD by NoShame

NoShame

NoShame, or NoShame Films, was an Italian-American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult Italian movies on DVD.-History:...

 films in 2006. Because of the obscurity of the film, NoShame included it as a bonus with the film Colt 38 Special Squad

Colt 38 Special Squad

Colt 38 Special Squad, also known as Those of the 38 Caliber is a 1976 poliziotteschi film...

. The DVD is currently out-of-print.