Runtime: 102 minutes
Directed by: Gilbert Moses
Starring: Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, Roger Robinson
From: Universal
If you ever wanted to see Gordon from Sesame Street dressed in the wildest pimp outfits…
Yes, this legit stars Roscoe Orman, who played Gordon on Sesame Street for a few decades. The clothing he wore was outrageous even by blaxploitation standards. Despite that, this was more serious than a typical genre effort and actually was about the downfall of the title character as he had to deal with rivals in New York City (yes, the crappy NYC of old was shown), unjust police practices-insert your own comments if you wish-and a social worker who is trying to save all the women in his harem. Lest you think he’s portrayed in a sympathetic light, he lies and otherwise doesn’t treat his women well. In addition, “the B word” is said A LOT in the film and Ol’ Willie definitely was one who talked about his prostitutes that way.
It may seem like a slog when there are many negative characters but instead it was rather intriguing seeing Dynamite and how he dealt with all that strife. Even if there’s funny clothing, a Cadillac pimpmobile, mounds of cocaine everywhere, funky music that included a title song from Martha Reeves right after she left Motown, and the pimp lair has an amazing black & yellow design, the film is actually serious in presenting how unglamorous the hooker life really is. There are arrests, catty arguments, and far worse. There are actual pimp meetings but those “gentlemen” have an uneasy alliance at best.
The movie takes at least one unexpected turn which I know won’t be one that everyone will agree with; be that as it may, for having known of this movie for years and hearing some positive reviews yet putting it off for this long, I was glad to have finally given it a chance on the Criterion Channel in the final days that they have it in their lineup. It was amusing to me that this was the first producing credit of Zanuck/Brown, who soon thereafter were responsible for the likes of The Sting & Jaws along with 80’s films like Cocoon and Driving Miss Daisy.
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