The former, a 1958 black-and-white gangster melodrama in which Wolff does not even receive a billing, was presented as a first-person narrative by the title character, Murder, Inc. (fictional) boss Joe Sante (Steve Cochran).

Later in the year, however, Wolff's billing dramatically increased to co-lead status in his next two Corman productions, scripted by Charles B. Griffith, Beast from Haunted Cave and Ski Troop Attack.

Shot back-to-back in the snowy wilderness outside Deadwood, South Dakota, the films used the same crew and cast, which, in addition to Wolff, included Michael Forest, Wally Campo, Richard Sinatra (Frank's nephew) and Sheila Carol.

In contrast, the equally poverty-budgeted Attack, on which Corman himself took over the directorial reins, turned out to be a little-noticed World War II quickie in which a quartet of GIs on skis slog through a snowbound landscape.

As Vartan Damadian, the Armenian friend of the central character, played by Stathis Giallelis, a heavily mustached Wolff assayed a complex, multi-layered personality.

Wolff's numerous Italian films of the 1960s included The Four Days of Naples, Salvatore Giuliano, Il demonio, La morte risale a ieri sera, The Great Silence, God Forgives...

[4] It was speculated that the unrequited love for the young woman might have contributed to Wolff's fatal act, already suffering from a nervous breakdown for some time, after his wife had left him for another man.