In the 1970s the crime film flourished in Italy as the country went through years of political and social unrest, the so-called ‘Years of Lead’. Italian movie producers would capitalise on these times by producing cheap, violent movies about the country’s organised crime and corruption, establishing the genre of the poliziotteschi. One of the most celebrated poliziottesco directors was Fernando Di Leo, a director as concerned with telling entertaining stories as he was with creating socially relevant backdrops. In Di Leo’s The Boss, Henry Silva plays mob enforcer Nick Lanzetta, who assassinates key members of a rival gang in order to put his boss in a position to seize power. However, one surviving member of the gang, Cocchi (Pier Paolo Capponi, The Cat o' Nine Tails) plots his revenge involving corrupt cop Torri (Gianni Garko, If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death), leading to a bloody series of double-crosses and power plays to find who will ultimately become the boss.