Stiletto was used by anarchists as well as by members of various "Black Hand" (a method of extortion) organizations to assassinate Italian-Americans and others who either opposed the "Black Hand" or ignored its demands for blackmail. The "Black Hand" even established schools for training its members in the use of the stiletto. The emergence of fierce hand-to-hand combat in the trenches of World War I created a new need for stabbing weapons, resulting in the reappearance of the dagger and the stiletto. Many versions of these stabbing knives exist, some individually made by soldiers, while others were government-procured and authorized. On
Stiletto (1969 film) Stiletto (1969 film) Stiletto is a 1969 American crime film directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and starring Alex Cord, Britt Ekland and Patrick O'Neal. It is based on the novel "Stiletto" (1960) by Harold Robbins. The film marked the debut of Raul Julia A rich, jet-setting playboy has a secret life: he is also a professional Mafia hitman. When he decides it's time to retire from that life, he finds that his former employers don't like the idea that someone who knows so much about them won't be under their control anymore, and decide to send their own hitmen to