Celebrating 65 Years Of Richard Roundtree Sticking It To The Man

One of my favorite actors turns sixty-five today and I thought I would offer up a little tribute for him.
Since making his starring debut in Gordon Park's SHAFT in 1971, Richard Roundtree has been one of our most reliable, talented and unbelievably cool actors. With well over 100 films and tv appearances in his filmography, the New York born Roundtree has also been one of the most prolific actors of the past three decades.
Although he had a small role in 1970's WHAT DO YOU SAY TO A NAKED LADY, it was as detective John Shaft in 1971 that would mark Roundtree's introduction to film audiences all over the world. It is hard to over-emphasize the importance of SHAFT and Roundtree's performance in the film, and if it indeed has overshadowed the rest of his career then that only shows just how truly iconic it is.
SHAFT could have been just another early seventies cop picture starring any number of popular white male actors but talented photographer and director Gordon Parks had something else in mind. From the legendary sounds of Isaac Hayes score to Parks influential and kinetic directorial style, SHAFT remains a mind-blowing and door kicking down film. Much of the credit for the film's phenomenal success is due to Roundtree himself, who would not only give a a great performance but would provide a much needed positive and strong role model for kids of all colors all over the world. There had certainly been strong African American portrayals on the screen before Richard Roundtree as John Shaft but his success as a leading man, sex symbol and strong dramatic force was a triple play that few actors, black or white, had matched before or since. John Shaft is one of the most important, if often overlooked, characters in American film history.

Roundtree worked constantly throughout the seventies in films ranging from the SHAFT sequels and tv series to the big budget disaster film EARTHQUAKE to the interesting DIAMONDS and the ambitious A GAME FOR VULTURES.
James Fargo's A GAME FOR VULTURES really showed Roundtree attempting to escape the John Shaft persona and it remains one of his great performances even though the film is flawed. The film's failure could have hurt Roundtree but he didn't let it and he continued to work constantly throughout the eighties.
Highlights from Roundtree's second decade as one of our great leading men and character actors include Larry Cohen's awesome Q, the fun Fred Williamson collaborations ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO and THE BIG SCORE and William Lustig's fine MANIAC COP.
Even a cancer scare in 1993 couldn't slow Richard down and he continued to appear in many films and television roles throughout the decade, including a great spot in David Fincher's SEVEN and the underrated Larry Cohen picture ORIGINAL GANGSTAS.
Richard gives a really fantastic performance in ORIGINAL GANGSTAS and the sight of him, Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown and Ron Oneal in the same film still brings a smile to my face. This effective little film is deserving of much more attention than has been granted to it.
This decade began with the news that SHAFT was going to be remade. What could have been disastrous was actually handled very well by director John Singleton. Instead of a straight remake the film was a continuation, with Samuel L. Jackson playing the nephew of the original John Shaft. Richard had been a hero to both Jackson and Singleton and the new SHAFT was a splendid tribute to not only the original film but also to how much the character had meant to kids in the seventies. Roundtree would appear in the film, as would original director Gordon Parks, and essentially steal every scene he was in. His scenes with Jackson in Singleton's very solid film remain some of the best and most effective of his career.
Since the new SHAFT, the Golden Globe nominated Richard Roundtree has continued to work constantly and he remains at sixty five one of the most beautiful and best Actors in American cinema. I wish him a very happy birthday and many more years of success on and off the screen.

This Is Our Waterloo Baby!!!

Is there anything more awesome than the sight of Fred "The Hammer" Williamson in the opening moments of William Lustig's 1983 film VIGILANTE? Anyone who has seen the film will remember Williamson's impassioned opening monologue about taking back your rights and essentially sticking it to the man. In anyone else's hands, a line like, "This is our Waterloo baby" would have been just silly, but when The Hammer says it you know you should be listening.

Long before William Lustig made many genre lover's dreams come true with his work for DVD comapny Anchor Bay and his own Blue Underground, he was one of the most interesting American directors that came out of the late seventies. Along with Larry Cohen, Lustig's films helped reshaped the exploitation genre. Also more than any of his peers Lustig had a real fascination and love affair with the Italian horror and action films that played in New York's grindhouse district throughout the seventies.
Lustig got his start in the adult film industry of the seventies, including one film with Serena, but he became an instant underground sensation with his astonishing and controversial 1980 film MANIAC. The film, starring a majestically sleazy Joe Spinell, is one of the key American horror films of eighties. Inspired by the giallo work of Mario Bava, Dario Argento's early films and the rougher world of Sergio Martino, MANIAC was marked by the astonishing makeup effects of Tom Savini, and Spinell's truly disturbing turn as deranged Frank Zito. The film would be picketed across the United States, cause Gene Siskel to walk out of a screening and was a major financial smash. MANIAC is one of the great American slasher flicks and one of the most truly terrifying films ever made.
Lustig chose to follow up MANIAC with another Italian influenced film, only instead of the horror genre he would look towards the Italian crime films of the seventies that he had fallen so much in love with. VIGILANTE is a virtual valentine to filmmakers like Enzo Castellari, Fernando Di Leo, Umberto Lenzi and again Sergio Martino. Working from a solid script by Richard Vetere and an incredible cast featuring not only Williamson but also Robert Forster, Woody Strode, Carol Lynley and once again, Joe Spinell, VIGILANTE would allow Lustig to realize one of the great revenge films ever.
VIGILANTE'S story line is very much in the mold of the genre and there isn't a lot surprising about it. The usual mix of a city out of control, personal loss and finally revenge all play themselves out in the expected manner. What isn't so typical though is the way Lustig gets inside these characters and makes them feel very real. Much of this of course has to be credited to the phenomenally talented cast but I think there was a lot of heart in Vetere's original script and it is a shame he hasn't done more.
Williamson gives one of his best performances as a man who announces at the beginning that he, "Has had it up to here." The Hammer was at his physical peak here and is just incredible to watch. Even more compelling is the always astonishing Forster who plays the loving father and husband who loses everything. Their is a real gravity and power to Forster here and I am sure this is one of the roles Tarantino had in mind when he gave Forster his greatest role, as the weary Max Cherry in JACKIE BROWN (1987). Spinell, Strode and Lynley are all solid in their small roles and genre favorites Richard Bright and Don Blakely give their usual great supporting turns. Keep a look out for many familiar faces throughout VIGILANTE'S slim running time as many inevitably pop up.
Featuring another innovative score by MANIAC composer Jay Chattaway and solid photography by James Lemmo (who had given Abel Ferrara's masterful MS 45 such an unforgettable look), VIGILANTE is a remarkable assured piece of low budget film making that was just as well thought out as the more acclaimed MANIAC.
VIGILANTE opened up in the spring of 83 but it didn't make the waves that MANIAC had. It would be another five years before the talented Lustig would direct another feature, the extremely fun MANIAC COP (1988). Lustig was lined up to direct TRUE ROMANCE in the early nineties but studio politics got in the way and the job was handed to super slick Tony Scott. I like Scott's film but in the hands of William Lustig, TRUE ROMANCE would have been a much grittier, and I think effective, film and would have altered William Lustig's directorial career completely.
VIGILANTE is one of the last films of its kind, one of the last true films of the seventies if you will. The home video market quickly changed the way low budget films were made and released and by the late eighties a film like VIGILANTE would have been unthinkable in theaters. Along with the original DEATH WISH and MS 45, VIGILANTE is my favorite American entry into the revenge thriller genre. It is an exceedingly well made and brave little film that feels big due to Lustig's stylish direction and the flawless cast. The current DVD is a real treat and features an unforgettable commentary including Lustig, Forster and Williamson plus some additional treats...check it out if you haven't already.

The Blaxploitation Operation: Hammer (1972)

Some films survive just based on the strength of the personalities starring in them. Take 1972’s Hammer for instance, a film that is flawed in nearly every aspect of its production from the script to the direction and yet it remains immensely watchable, thanks to the aura of its stars Fred Williamson and Vonetta McGee. Hammer is not a good film, hell it’s not even a particularly good exploitation film, but every time Williamson and McGee are on screen all of its faults and flaws just fall away.

The Al Adamson produced Hammer came out in the late summer of 72 and it is mostly remembered as one of the film’s that gave the mighty Fred Williamson one of his first starring roles. Directed with very little finesse by Bruce D. Clark, a filmmaker with only one other credit to his name after this (1981’s Galaxy of Terror) and featuring a good if very spare score by legendary Philadelphia soul man Solomon Burke, Hammer tells the rather tired and routine story of a struggling boxer under the thumb of a corrupt and savagely unfair system.

Producer Adamson is of course best known as the director of such horror exploitation titles such as Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971) and Blood of Ghastly Horror (1972) but he didn’t limit himself to any one genre and he tried his hand at Blaxploitation several times, with Hammer being the first. He would later go onto produce and direct such titles as Black Heat (1976), Black Samurai (1977) and perhaps most memorably the infamous Nurse Sherri (1978). I’ve often wondered how involved Adamson was with Hammer’s production and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had his hand in some of its direction although I can’t say for sure.

With a killer cast surrounding Williamson and McGee, including the awesome William Smith (one of the cinema’s great bad guys), Bernie Hamilton, Mel Smith and D’Urville Martin, and some surprisingly stylish nice photography from first time cinematographer Robert Steadman, the biggest problem that plagues Hammer is its by the number script by Charles Johnson. Johnson, who would later write the much stronger Blaxploitation productions Slaughter’s Big Rip Off and That Man Bolt (both 1973), was also making his debut with Hammer and there is nothing to separate the film from any other exploitable product of the early seventies with the exceptions of Williamson and McGee, but trust me brother they are two potent exceptions.

I’ve praised McGee here before for her performance in Gordon Parks Jr’s stunning Thomasine and Bushrod and she is impressive here as well. One of the seventies most stunning looking women, McGee radiates a real intelligence and more than holds her own with the imposing Williamson. The two are quite a team and Hammer really comes alive in their scenes together. A smarter crew would have abandoned Johnson’s predictable script and just made a complete love story for Williamson and McGee.

Williamson is incredible in the film. Cool, unbelievably handsome and projecting the kind of casual but ferocious charisma most actors can’t even dream of, Williamson is unforgettable in Hammer and he’s great even though the material isn’t. Williamson is also a good actor and, even in this early role, that is obvious even though both he and McGee are so much better than the material they are given here.

I don’t mean to be too hard on Hammer as it is an entertaining picture (with some fairly striking boxing sequences and one solid chase sequence) but it ultimately isn’t among the more memorable productions of the seventies most distinctive and prolific genre.

MGM’s DVD is a full-frame disappointment that makes the film seem even less than it is, with boom mike shadows creeping in constantly due to the inaccurate framing. The print itself is nice and it’s a shame MGM made the odd decision to not release this widescreen as most of their Soul Cinema series features at least that courtesy. A trailer is the only extra on hand and the reasonably priced disc is fairly easy to find as it is still in print.

"Ethereal material that's straight up classic": Gordon Parks Jr's Three the Hard Way (1974)

The exciting second feature from the very gifted and much-missed Gordon Parks Jr., Three the Hard Way (1974) is one of the great Blaxploitation films of the seventies. Featuring a towering cast, energetic stunt-work, impressive photography and energized direction, Three the Hard Way remains an exploitation fans dream; a hard-hitting quickly paced racehorse of a film that is another reminder of the greatness of Gordon Parks Jr., one of the seventies most under-appreciated icons.






Gordon Parks Jr. was riding high when he set out to follow-up his first groundbreaking feature, the mega-hit masterwork Super Fly (1972). He was also a filmmaker enflamed by much of the unjustified criticism thrown at him for supposedly celebrating negative stereotypes with his first influential film. With Three the Hard Way, Parks Jr. was on a mission to squash those who condemned his first film by producing a follow-up that would offer up three of the biggest stars of the day near Super-Hero roles that had more in common with James Bond than John Shaft.




The plot of Three the Hard Way introduces a new element to the Blaxploitation genre, namely science fiction. Parks Jr’s film concerns a militant group of nazi-like white supremacists who have come up with a water-based formula that will kill off America’s black population. The group make a fatal error though when they kill the buddy of Record Producer Jimmy Lait and kidnap his girlfriend. All hell breaks loose when Jimmy enlists two of his hard-hitting-friends, Jagger Daniels and Mister Keyes, and sets out to get his girl back and stop this new evil empire from blossoming.





Three the Hard Way is more than anything else a star vehicle for Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly and Park’s Jr. was clearly well aware of this. Photography the three with the same bravado that Terence Young had captured Sean Connery in Thunderball (1965), Parks Jr. highlights his stars considerable ass-kicking charisma at every turn. Kelly’s introduction into the film (highlighted by a jaw-dropping karate kickdown that has to be seen to be believed) alone would make Three the Hard Way a Blaxploitation classic, but Brown and Williamson also deliver the goods throughout, especially Brown who was fresh off his bruising success as the unstoppable Slaughter.




Three the Hard Way also features a vibrant supporting cast including Shelia Frazier as Jimmy’s kidnapped lady, Alex Rocco as a police lt. and in a small role the incredible Roberta Collins. The real scene-stealers though are Pamela Serpe, Marie O’Henry and Irene Tsu, who play one of the strangest (and most fetching) torture squads in screen history.




While Three the Hard Way is very much a vehicle for Parks Jr’s impressive cast, that doesn’t stop him from offering up the same skillful and inventive direction that is seen in all of his work through Super Fly onto Thomasine and Bushrod and his final-feature Aaron Loves Angela. Like in his other works, Parks Jr’s startling trademarked still-photography sections are here to punctuate the thematic elements of the film, and his peerless street shooting (helped wonderfully here by the dazzling work of cinematographer Lucien Ballard) is simply astonishing. Park’s Jr. was a force to be reckoned with behind the camera and Three the Hard Way is another fine example of a clear auteur at work.





Despite the greatness of the cast and the direction, perhaps the real star of Three the Hard Way is stunt coordinator Hal Needham, who was just a few years away from coming to fame as a director himself, with the extraordinary and uber-succesful Smokey and the Bandit (1977). Needham’s work here for Parks Jr. is incredible to say the least, and his bold decision to include all three of the stars within the stunts is genius and gives Three the Hard Way a real visceral punch lacking from many action movies before of since. The success of the film can finally be credited to Parks Jr’s exquisite shot choices, Needham’s stunt coordination and editor Robert Swink’s inspired cutting…not to mention the onscreen characterizations of three of seventies greatest stars in their absolute prime.






Three the Hard Way, and its soundtrack from Curtis Mayfield’s backing group The Impressions, was a big hit when it played to thrilled audiences in 1974. Unlike Thomasine and Bushrod and Aaron Loves Angela it didn’t slip under the radar and it quickly become known as one of the essential works of the new Black Cinema. Despite this, Three the Hard Way was only just released on DVD this past year, after being out of print on home video since a VHS release in the eighties. The DVD (part of the Urban Action Collection where it is matched up with Black Samson, Hot Potato and Black Belt Jones) features a sharp looking widescreen print of the film but no extras. Sadly the DVD is missing a sequence that runs about three minutes but all of the nudity and language are intact. The missing sequence (that should be between Kelly’s introduction and the car-wash shootout) is a jarring omission and it is truly unfortunate that Warner Brothers didn’t restore it for what is otherwise an essential DVD collection.





Three the Hard Way is Gordon Parks Jr’s most flat-out entertaining film. It perhaps isn’t as groundbreaking as Superfly, or as genre-bending as Thomasine and Bushrod, or as moving as Aaron Loves Angela but it’s an extremely exciting work and a great, great action film (which is exactly what Parks Jr. set out to make).







American cinema lost a true visionary when Gordon Parks Jr. was tragically killed in a plane crash less than five years after Three the Hard Way hit theaters. His four feature-length films stand as a vibrant tribute to his memorythough and are essential viewing for fans of American Cinema…to paraphrase a song The Beastie Boys Named after Three the Hard Way, Parks Jr certainly did ‘Rock the Motherfucker” and the stunning shock-waves can still be felt everytime one of his films is on.