Arrow Video, with
domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group,
has carved out Jan. 8 for the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack debut of director Gilbert
Moses’ 1974 Blaxploitation classic, Willie
Dynamite.
Now put yourself, for a
moment, in the shoes of Roscoe Orman — who is known to his many fans as Gordon
Robinson of Sesame Street (44 years and going strong) — in the early months
of 1974. You’ve just landed the
starring role in Universal Pictures Blaxploitation
film, Willie Dynamite — as a New York City pimp — and at the same
time, in what will be a career-defining, multi-generational role on the PBS
kidvid series Sesame Street. Will
they stick with you?
The film’s path to the
screen began two years earlier when producers David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck,
seeing the success of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Shaft
and Super
Fly, quickly snatched up screenwriter Ron Cutler’s script (his
first). It would be Brown and Zanuck’s
only foray into Blaxploitation as
film such as Jaws, The Verdict and Driving Miss Daisy would
take their interests elsewhere.
By the end of the year
(or perhaps early 1973), they had recruited newcomer Gilbert Moses to direct
(his previous directing experience was on Broadway) and filming was completed soon
their after at Universal Pictures (interiors) and on location in New York
City. The film was released in early
1974 — panned by the critics, but audiences flocked to it … and, as they say,
the rest is history.
As to the story itself, Willie
is a New York City pimp, who supplies beautiful hookers to conventioneers, but
the police are taking a dim view of such activities.
Meanwhile, a former
hooker named Cora (Diana Sands) is in a relationship with DA Daniels (Thalmus
Rasulala) and has taken it upon herself to reform prostitutes by getting them
jobs as models, which brings her into head-to-head conflict with Willie when
she tries to recruit one of his top earners, Pashen (Joyce Walker).
This will be a running
battle between Willie and Cora throughout the film, with him constantly in and
out of jail — a running gag has his beloved Cadillac being towed away again and
again. Things, however, take a nasty
turn when a competitor by name of Bell (Roger Robinson) decides to push Willie
out of the business … and in a twist ending Willie finds help (and salvation)
from a very unlikely source!!!
Bonus features include “Kiss
My Baad Asss,” a guide to Blaxploitation
hosted by actor and musician Ice-T, and featuring interviews with Richard
Roundtree (Shaft), Melvin van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song),
Isaac Hayes (Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from Shaft) and more.
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