Born in 1916, Anthony Caruso established himself as a formidable presence in American cinema, often portraying villains and gangsters. His role as a menacing figure in His Kind of Woman (1951) showcased his ability to embody complex characters, while his performance in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) further solidified his status in the realm of horror and crime. Caruso's contributions to films like A Cry in the Night (1956), Mean Johnny Barrows (1976), and Zebra Force (1976) reflect his versatility and enduring impact on cult and exploitation genres.
Zebra Force
A squad of Vietnam veterans launches a private war against Los Angeles organized crime, using stolen money, military tactics, and racial disguise to provoke rival gangs into destroying one another. The film opens with a raid on an illegal casino performed by a group of blacks with automatic weapons. The audience discovers the perpetrators are white disguised as blacks. The story moves to a Vietnam War flashbacks with a patrol being ambushed by the Vietcong, and the resulting firefight. The leader of the vigilante veterans is a man known simply as the Lieutenant who was their platoon leader and disfigured in the action. Recuperating in a hospital he regroups the survivors for a series of escalating raids to not only to enrich themselves, but to wipe out organised criminal gangs involved in illegal gambling and narcotics distribution. The main protagonist of the film is Carmine Longo, a Mafia enforcer sent to meet with local chief to discover who performed the action. The two are assisted by a corrupt Los Angeles Police Department detective sergeant. Their suspicion falls on their only known suspects, a gang of drug dealing black criminals who deny their involvement. Longo schemes to eliminate them through their police contact who will set up a drug deal where they can be killed by the police. A group of Vietnam vets, tired of the depredation of the Mafia on their neighborhood, decide to take on the mob on their own terms--but by using a very different twist. In this post Vietnam War actioner, a group of veterans, former members of a crack guerrilla team, decide to reteam and use their specialized skills to fight organized crime.
