venoms5
07-09-2008, 08:42 PM
Here's an abridged article I wrote back in '05 and '06. I had to amend some things and also make a couple of corrections...
BLAXPLOITATION MOVIES--BREAKING THE RACE BARRIER IN THE SENSATIONAL CINEMA OF THE 1970's
During the 70s a surge of films populated by predominantly African American actors, were hugely successful throughout the decade. Actors who, before the 70s, never really got a chance to shine were now getting that shot at the big time and acting, and in some cases, producing a plethora of movies with a popularity that, like the kung fu film imports of the time, has yet to be repeated in this day and age.
Football player Jim Brown (but not to forget Sidney Poitier) was probably the first black actor to attain respectable roles in big studio action movies beginning with ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968). Followed by other films such as THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), 100 RIFLES and I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND (1973), a film that was originally to have been a much bigger endeavor.
Arguably, the most popular of the blaxploitation actors would be another former football player, Fred "the Hammer" Williamson. He would appear in dozens of black action movies as well as creating his own production company through which he would even direct many of the films he starred in. The name of his company best described many of the movies he directed--Po' Boy Productions. Some of these included the horrendously awful MEAN JOHNNY BARROWS (1976; a film that wastes an extremely good cast), DEATH JOURNEY (1976) and the very dismal ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO (1982).
Williamson first starred in 1972's HAMMER. A fairly routine effort bolstered by a performance by lead heavy William Smith, a former weight lifter and major bad ass who, according to Williamson, was the toughest man he ever met. After HAMMER, Williamson would star in a film he would become synonymous with. 1972's BLACK CAESAR directed by Larry Cohen who also directed the blaxploitation movie BONE with Yaphett Kotto.
Cohen, like many of the other directors of blaxploitation, was a Caucasian. He also directed the follow-up to BLACK CAESAR, HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973). BLACK CAESAR was basically a re-telling of the Julius Caesar story whereby Williamson rises to the top in the criminal underworld taking on the mob and becoming a big boss in the process only to be toppled and eventually killed from an unlikely band of hoodlums from the gutter at the end. The film had two different endings. One in which Williamson lives and the original downbeat finish. After this, Williamson had a policy in his films, he would win all his fights, get the girl and lives at the end. He and Cohen had a parting of ways that wasn't on the best of terms but they mended long enough to do the blaxploitation throwback from 1996 entitled ORIGINAL GANGSTAS.
Williamson had a lot of charisma in his movies and filled them with witty banter and lots of swooning white girls. The one near constant trait in all the black action movies was the "impotence" of the white man and the dominance of the white women by the black heroes. This went over well with the black male audiences but reportedly, many of the black females going to these movies hated seeing that. This was probably a sentiment shared by many a white viewer who refused to accept such a story conceit but then, these movies were not made for white audiences. These movies didn't exclude them, they simply were a chance to give the black audiences to have their own heroes to (finally) root for and identify with.
One of the most controversial views of the blaxploitation movies was that although they were directed by white men (most of the time) and starred black actors, the films themselves still glorified racism. Many viewers were disturbed by this. Even though after years of being thought of as second class citizens, they were finally getting widespread notoriety in film, the consensus of many was that these movies glorified the notion that all black audiences wanted to see was brutal acts of violence and could not comprehend a more subdued or serious cinematic experience. This perpetuated the idea that black actors could and would not be taken seriously. Now, there were those who thought that instead of helping the black movement in film, this was hurting it instead.
Many of the films were made by American International Pictures. The big studios got in on the act after they saw how profitable these movies were. These movies were all very low budget (some more so than others) and absolutely filled with violence. Again, that's what the producers assumed that's what the intended audience wanted. Lots of mindless and often bloody violence filled with all manner of jive talking vigilantes.
This was never more apparent than in one of the best examples of the genre and one of my personal favorites. Jonathan Kaplan's TRUCK TURNER (1974) starring Isaac Hayes. Here, Hayes plays a skip tracer, or bounty hunter who, along with his partner, bust a drug pusher. This brings down some even bigger fish who all want Turner dead along with anybody close to him. Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from STAR TREK) plays the ringleader of a prostitute ring in one of the most amazingly raunchy and foul mouthed roles you'll ever see. The violence level is extremely high and bloody. Yaphett Kotto is very good as the main villain. He employs all manner of flamboyantly dressed pimps and hitmen to take out Turner. A bloody and violent shoot out in a hospital brings the film to a close. It's a true shame that there was never a TRUCK TURNER 2.
Hayes also starred in the only Italian-blaxploitation hybrid, TOUGH GUYS (1974) starring Fred Williamson as the main villain. Being a Dino de Laurentiis production, you'd expect some big set pieces but you get nothing. Some spaghetti western vets are on hand and Hayes is totally wasted. None of the hip one liners or charisma are present. What makes it an even bigger disappointment is that Duccio Tessari (A PISTOL FOR RINGO) directs. Apparently, the Italians did not know how to approach the material. Williamson also breaks his three rules for this movie as he is the main villain, he doesn't get the girl in the end and he loses his one lousy fight.
Speaking of the fight scenes, even though Williamson has a lot of charisma on screen I much prefer Jim Brown as he is far more believable in his action scenes. Williamson overplays the martial arts moves he tries to employ (not to mention his facial contortions) and many times quick edits mask some very sloppy action choreography from him. HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973) is a prime example of this. Brown always seems more at ease in his fight scenes and pulls them off flawlessly.
Around 1973 an actress named Pam Grier would shake up the blaxploitation world with a double punch of classics from the great exploitation director Jack Hill (SPIDER BABY, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS). The films were COFFY (1973) and FOXY BROWN (1974). Before these two, Grier had appeared in several movies already including SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM! (1973), the Filipino lensed THE TWILIGHT PEOPLE (1973) and BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA (1972) also starring Margaret Markov. It wasn't until COFFY (1973) that Grier really got hot. Here, she plays a nurse by day, shotgun packin' vigilante by night out to snuff out the drug pushers who killed her sister. Thalmus Rasthula is on hand as a pimp and the always reliable Sid Haig is here as a nasty villain. The violence level is extremely high and the tone is very serious. Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers even did their own version of COFFY in 1976 topping it in violence and sleaze entitled THE SEXY KILLER.
1974's FOXY BROWN was just as nasty and violent as its predecessor but there was a playfulness and sarcastic aura about this film that alleviates the general uneasiness of COFFY (1973). FOXY BROWN (1974) is also much better remembered than the previous film, although COFFY (1973) is better made and also preferred by its director. FOXY is about Grier avenging the murder of her cop boyfriend by infiltrating the crime ring and even aligning with a local branch of Black Panther-like vigilantes to take out the villains. Grier's character is brutally beaten, raped and forcefully shot up with drugs. She comes back with a vengeance at the end culminating in a shockingly memorable final moment that involves a "pickle jar". If ever there was a film to see in this genre, this is a good place to start.
Grier would also appear in BUCKTOWN (1975) with Fred Williamson, Tony King and Carl Weathers but her role here is diminished to damsel in distress about a black man who comes to a small southern hamlet to take over his dead brothers bar only to find trouble with the racist law in the town. He enlists the help of some of his gang friends from the city to get rid of the racists. After the black gangsters eliminate them, they decide to stay in the town and ultimately become worse than the racial discriminators ever were. Now, Williamson has to take out his friends.
Grier also appeared as FRIDAY FOSTER (1975) also starring Kotto and Carl Weathers as a silent hitman out to silence Grier who is a nosy reporter. SHEBA, BABY (1975) followed. A PG effort directed by the great exploitation director William Girdler. Then, Grier wanted to do more serious work so she appeared in a supporting role in the incendiary sequel to MANDINGO (1975), 1976's DRUM, an extremely wild movie experience that will never be repeated. Grier never did escape the blaxploitation roles that made her famous.
Jim Brown, whom I consider a much better actor than Williamson, who had some degree of fame already, cemented that fame with the 1972 film SLAUGHTER directed by one of my favorite 70's directors Jack Starrett. This was another very violent venture involving the mob. Stella Stevens and Rip Torn (what a name!) who plays one of the simply nastiest bad guys I've seen. The film was successful enough that a sequel followed in '73 entitled SLAUGHTER'S BIG RIP-OFF. Here, Ed McMahon(!) plays the head bad guy who assigns an assassin (played very well by frequent baddie Don Stroud) to take out Slaughter before he can avenge the death of a friend and expose his criminal activities. There is one incredibly effective scene here where Stroud has Brown and his girlfriend at gunpoint and forces him to drive his car over a cliff(!) or he will shoot his girlfriend. This film was directed by Gordon Douglas who directed the famous and excellent sci-fi film THEM! from 1955 and starring James Whitmore and James Arness.
His most famous role, Brown also appeared in the American spaghetti western influenced EL CONDOR (1970; also starring Lee Van Cleef), BLACK GUNN (1972), the blaxploitation western from Antonio Margheriti TAKE A HARD RIDE (1975) and Williamson's pitifully bad ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO (1982) also featuring Williamson, Jim Kelly and Richard Roundtree.
Meanwhile, there were many other black action movies being churned out--BAMBOO GODS & IRON MEN (1974), THE BLACK GESTAPO (1975), THE BLACK SIX (1974), IF HE HOLLERS LET HIM GO (1968; an early entry before the genre became fashionable), BLACK VENGEANCE (1975), HITMAN (1972), DR. BLACK & MR. HYDE (1976), BLACULA (1972), BLACKENSTEIN (1973), BOSS NI**ER (1975), THE LEGEND OF NI**ER CHARLEY (1972), SOUL OF NI**ER CHARLEY (1973), MEAN JOHNNY BARROWS (1976), BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH (1976), THE KLANSMEN (1975; with O.J. Simpson as a Klan killer!) and on and on. There were also some seriously twisted entries such as DARKTOWN STRUTTERS (1975), WELCOME HOME BROTHER CHARLES (1975) and BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL (1984).
One film in particular would become one of the most famous and most raunchy and crude examples of the genre--DOLEMITE (1975) starring Rudy Ray Moore, a stand up comedian who utilized very rude and dirty rhymes in his acts akin to what Andrew Dice Clay would do years later. DOLEMITE (1975) is a pretty bad movie but its badness works in its favor. Moore is hilarious in the role. Especially in his entrances. Whenever an opportunity arises for him to appear, the bad guys will say something like "Who's gonna help you?" followed by Moore appearing out of nowhere and proclaiming, "Dolemite, mother fu**er!" before either filling the bad guys with machine gun fire or beating them to pulps with his kung fu skills. Moore did a handful of these movies like DISCO GODFATHER (1979), THE HUMAN TORNADO (1976) and PEATY WHEATSTRAW, THE DEVIL'S SON-IN-LAW (1977). Moore is quite a character and at least DOLEMITE (1975) is required viewing for fans of the genre.
Fred Williamson would keep the genre afloat through the remainder of the 70's and into the early 80's with many films but most of them forgettable. When the genre would die out, Williamson moved on to Italy where he did a string of MAD MAX rip-offs that were popular briefly over there. These included Castellari's THE NEW BARBARIANS (1983) which had Williamson taking on George Eastman and his merry gang of faggot villains who call themselves The Templars. Williamson uses a bow that fires explosive arrows. Numerous gory scenes of heads exploding follow. Williamson also appeared in Fulci's gory and downbeat ENDGAME (1983) which was later ripped off in Paul Michael Glaser's (the guy from STARSKY & HUTCH) THE RUNNING MAN. The story is essentially the same. Whether Steve King wrote his story before Fulci's movie is unknown to me but ENDGAME was shot in '83 while the Schwarzenegger film was lensed in '86.
Williamson would also appear in the unfinished THE NEW SPARTANS which had an absolutely incredible dream cast that included Patrick Wayne, Toshiro Mifune, Jimmy Wang Yu among others. Apparently the producers ran out of money. A promotional still of the cast together is all that remains of what could have been one of the greatest exploitation actioners.
BLAXPLOITATION MOVIES--BREAKING THE RACE BARRIER IN THE SENSATIONAL CINEMA OF THE 1970's
During the 70s a surge of films populated by predominantly African American actors, were hugely successful throughout the decade. Actors who, before the 70s, never really got a chance to shine were now getting that shot at the big time and acting, and in some cases, producing a plethora of movies with a popularity that, like the kung fu film imports of the time, has yet to be repeated in this day and age.
Football player Jim Brown (but not to forget Sidney Poitier) was probably the first black actor to attain respectable roles in big studio action movies beginning with ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968). Followed by other films such as THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), 100 RIFLES and I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND (1973), a film that was originally to have been a much bigger endeavor.
Arguably, the most popular of the blaxploitation actors would be another former football player, Fred "the Hammer" Williamson. He would appear in dozens of black action movies as well as creating his own production company through which he would even direct many of the films he starred in. The name of his company best described many of the movies he directed--Po' Boy Productions. Some of these included the horrendously awful MEAN JOHNNY BARROWS (1976; a film that wastes an extremely good cast), DEATH JOURNEY (1976) and the very dismal ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO (1982).
Williamson first starred in 1972's HAMMER. A fairly routine effort bolstered by a performance by lead heavy William Smith, a former weight lifter and major bad ass who, according to Williamson, was the toughest man he ever met. After HAMMER, Williamson would star in a film he would become synonymous with. 1972's BLACK CAESAR directed by Larry Cohen who also directed the blaxploitation movie BONE with Yaphett Kotto.
Cohen, like many of the other directors of blaxploitation, was a Caucasian. He also directed the follow-up to BLACK CAESAR, HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973). BLACK CAESAR was basically a re-telling of the Julius Caesar story whereby Williamson rises to the top in the criminal underworld taking on the mob and becoming a big boss in the process only to be toppled and eventually killed from an unlikely band of hoodlums from the gutter at the end. The film had two different endings. One in which Williamson lives and the original downbeat finish. After this, Williamson had a policy in his films, he would win all his fights, get the girl and lives at the end. He and Cohen had a parting of ways that wasn't on the best of terms but they mended long enough to do the blaxploitation throwback from 1996 entitled ORIGINAL GANGSTAS.
Williamson had a lot of charisma in his movies and filled them with witty banter and lots of swooning white girls. The one near constant trait in all the black action movies was the "impotence" of the white man and the dominance of the white women by the black heroes. This went over well with the black male audiences but reportedly, many of the black females going to these movies hated seeing that. This was probably a sentiment shared by many a white viewer who refused to accept such a story conceit but then, these movies were not made for white audiences. These movies didn't exclude them, they simply were a chance to give the black audiences to have their own heroes to (finally) root for and identify with.
One of the most controversial views of the blaxploitation movies was that although they were directed by white men (most of the time) and starred black actors, the films themselves still glorified racism. Many viewers were disturbed by this. Even though after years of being thought of as second class citizens, they were finally getting widespread notoriety in film, the consensus of many was that these movies glorified the notion that all black audiences wanted to see was brutal acts of violence and could not comprehend a more subdued or serious cinematic experience. This perpetuated the idea that black actors could and would not be taken seriously. Now, there were those who thought that instead of helping the black movement in film, this was hurting it instead.
Many of the films were made by American International Pictures. The big studios got in on the act after they saw how profitable these movies were. These movies were all very low budget (some more so than others) and absolutely filled with violence. Again, that's what the producers assumed that's what the intended audience wanted. Lots of mindless and often bloody violence filled with all manner of jive talking vigilantes.
This was never more apparent than in one of the best examples of the genre and one of my personal favorites. Jonathan Kaplan's TRUCK TURNER (1974) starring Isaac Hayes. Here, Hayes plays a skip tracer, or bounty hunter who, along with his partner, bust a drug pusher. This brings down some even bigger fish who all want Turner dead along with anybody close to him. Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from STAR TREK) plays the ringleader of a prostitute ring in one of the most amazingly raunchy and foul mouthed roles you'll ever see. The violence level is extremely high and bloody. Yaphett Kotto is very good as the main villain. He employs all manner of flamboyantly dressed pimps and hitmen to take out Turner. A bloody and violent shoot out in a hospital brings the film to a close. It's a true shame that there was never a TRUCK TURNER 2.
Hayes also starred in the only Italian-blaxploitation hybrid, TOUGH GUYS (1974) starring Fred Williamson as the main villain. Being a Dino de Laurentiis production, you'd expect some big set pieces but you get nothing. Some spaghetti western vets are on hand and Hayes is totally wasted. None of the hip one liners or charisma are present. What makes it an even bigger disappointment is that Duccio Tessari (A PISTOL FOR RINGO) directs. Apparently, the Italians did not know how to approach the material. Williamson also breaks his three rules for this movie as he is the main villain, he doesn't get the girl in the end and he loses his one lousy fight.
Speaking of the fight scenes, even though Williamson has a lot of charisma on screen I much prefer Jim Brown as he is far more believable in his action scenes. Williamson overplays the martial arts moves he tries to employ (not to mention his facial contortions) and many times quick edits mask some very sloppy action choreography from him. HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973) is a prime example of this. Brown always seems more at ease in his fight scenes and pulls them off flawlessly.
Around 1973 an actress named Pam Grier would shake up the blaxploitation world with a double punch of classics from the great exploitation director Jack Hill (SPIDER BABY, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS). The films were COFFY (1973) and FOXY BROWN (1974). Before these two, Grier had appeared in several movies already including SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM! (1973), the Filipino lensed THE TWILIGHT PEOPLE (1973) and BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA (1972) also starring Margaret Markov. It wasn't until COFFY (1973) that Grier really got hot. Here, she plays a nurse by day, shotgun packin' vigilante by night out to snuff out the drug pushers who killed her sister. Thalmus Rasthula is on hand as a pimp and the always reliable Sid Haig is here as a nasty villain. The violence level is extremely high and the tone is very serious. Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers even did their own version of COFFY in 1976 topping it in violence and sleaze entitled THE SEXY KILLER.
1974's FOXY BROWN was just as nasty and violent as its predecessor but there was a playfulness and sarcastic aura about this film that alleviates the general uneasiness of COFFY (1973). FOXY BROWN (1974) is also much better remembered than the previous film, although COFFY (1973) is better made and also preferred by its director. FOXY is about Grier avenging the murder of her cop boyfriend by infiltrating the crime ring and even aligning with a local branch of Black Panther-like vigilantes to take out the villains. Grier's character is brutally beaten, raped and forcefully shot up with drugs. She comes back with a vengeance at the end culminating in a shockingly memorable final moment that involves a "pickle jar". If ever there was a film to see in this genre, this is a good place to start.
Grier would also appear in BUCKTOWN (1975) with Fred Williamson, Tony King and Carl Weathers but her role here is diminished to damsel in distress about a black man who comes to a small southern hamlet to take over his dead brothers bar only to find trouble with the racist law in the town. He enlists the help of some of his gang friends from the city to get rid of the racists. After the black gangsters eliminate them, they decide to stay in the town and ultimately become worse than the racial discriminators ever were. Now, Williamson has to take out his friends.
Grier also appeared as FRIDAY FOSTER (1975) also starring Kotto and Carl Weathers as a silent hitman out to silence Grier who is a nosy reporter. SHEBA, BABY (1975) followed. A PG effort directed by the great exploitation director William Girdler. Then, Grier wanted to do more serious work so she appeared in a supporting role in the incendiary sequel to MANDINGO (1975), 1976's DRUM, an extremely wild movie experience that will never be repeated. Grier never did escape the blaxploitation roles that made her famous.
Jim Brown, whom I consider a much better actor than Williamson, who had some degree of fame already, cemented that fame with the 1972 film SLAUGHTER directed by one of my favorite 70's directors Jack Starrett. This was another very violent venture involving the mob. Stella Stevens and Rip Torn (what a name!) who plays one of the simply nastiest bad guys I've seen. The film was successful enough that a sequel followed in '73 entitled SLAUGHTER'S BIG RIP-OFF. Here, Ed McMahon(!) plays the head bad guy who assigns an assassin (played very well by frequent baddie Don Stroud) to take out Slaughter before he can avenge the death of a friend and expose his criminal activities. There is one incredibly effective scene here where Stroud has Brown and his girlfriend at gunpoint and forces him to drive his car over a cliff(!) or he will shoot his girlfriend. This film was directed by Gordon Douglas who directed the famous and excellent sci-fi film THEM! from 1955 and starring James Whitmore and James Arness.
His most famous role, Brown also appeared in the American spaghetti western influenced EL CONDOR (1970; also starring Lee Van Cleef), BLACK GUNN (1972), the blaxploitation western from Antonio Margheriti TAKE A HARD RIDE (1975) and Williamson's pitifully bad ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO (1982) also featuring Williamson, Jim Kelly and Richard Roundtree.
Meanwhile, there were many other black action movies being churned out--BAMBOO GODS & IRON MEN (1974), THE BLACK GESTAPO (1975), THE BLACK SIX (1974), IF HE HOLLERS LET HIM GO (1968; an early entry before the genre became fashionable), BLACK VENGEANCE (1975), HITMAN (1972), DR. BLACK & MR. HYDE (1976), BLACULA (1972), BLACKENSTEIN (1973), BOSS NI**ER (1975), THE LEGEND OF NI**ER CHARLEY (1972), SOUL OF NI**ER CHARLEY (1973), MEAN JOHNNY BARROWS (1976), BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH (1976), THE KLANSMEN (1975; with O.J. Simpson as a Klan killer!) and on and on. There were also some seriously twisted entries such as DARKTOWN STRUTTERS (1975), WELCOME HOME BROTHER CHARLES (1975) and BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL (1984).
One film in particular would become one of the most famous and most raunchy and crude examples of the genre--DOLEMITE (1975) starring Rudy Ray Moore, a stand up comedian who utilized very rude and dirty rhymes in his acts akin to what Andrew Dice Clay would do years later. DOLEMITE (1975) is a pretty bad movie but its badness works in its favor. Moore is hilarious in the role. Especially in his entrances. Whenever an opportunity arises for him to appear, the bad guys will say something like "Who's gonna help you?" followed by Moore appearing out of nowhere and proclaiming, "Dolemite, mother fu**er!" before either filling the bad guys with machine gun fire or beating them to pulps with his kung fu skills. Moore did a handful of these movies like DISCO GODFATHER (1979), THE HUMAN TORNADO (1976) and PEATY WHEATSTRAW, THE DEVIL'S SON-IN-LAW (1977). Moore is quite a character and at least DOLEMITE (1975) is required viewing for fans of the genre.
Fred Williamson would keep the genre afloat through the remainder of the 70's and into the early 80's with many films but most of them forgettable. When the genre would die out, Williamson moved on to Italy where he did a string of MAD MAX rip-offs that were popular briefly over there. These included Castellari's THE NEW BARBARIANS (1983) which had Williamson taking on George Eastman and his merry gang of faggot villains who call themselves The Templars. Williamson uses a bow that fires explosive arrows. Numerous gory scenes of heads exploding follow. Williamson also appeared in Fulci's gory and downbeat ENDGAME (1983) which was later ripped off in Paul Michael Glaser's (the guy from STARSKY & HUTCH) THE RUNNING MAN. The story is essentially the same. Whether Steve King wrote his story before Fulci's movie is unknown to me but ENDGAME was shot in '83 while the Schwarzenegger film was lensed in '86.
Williamson would also appear in the unfinished THE NEW SPARTANS which had an absolutely incredible dream cast that included Patrick Wayne, Toshiro Mifune, Jimmy Wang Yu among others. Apparently the producers ran out of money. A promotional still of the cast together is all that remains of what could have been one of the greatest exploitation actioners.