Quadroon

This film begins in the antebellum South with a young man from Boston named "Caleb" (Tim Kincaid) coming to New Orleans to visit some relatives. Unfortunately, upon his arrival he gambles and subsequently loses all of his money to an evil slaveholder named "Monsieur Dupree" (George Lupo) and as a result decides to become a tutor to several young ladies of mixed race. While doing so he becomes attractive to one particular young woman named "Coral" (Kathy McKee) who eventually falls in love with him as well. The problem, however, is that she is soon to be auctioned off in a special ceremony frequented by wealthy men of Creole descent--with Monsieur Dupree being one of those men having an intense interest in acquiring her. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, even though this was one of the first blaxploitation films that focused on slavery, it wasn't nearly as popular as a couple of others movies (like "Mandingo" and "Drum") that came a few years later. To that extent, part of the reason for its lack of popularity probably had to do with its low-budget nature which manifested itself throughout the course of the film. The picture quality wasn't that great, the acting was bad and some of the action scenes could have used significant improvement as well. Be that as it may, while this movie wasn't terribly bad, it definitely had its faults and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Quadroon appears to be a vanity project from New Orleans. The acting is strictly dinner theatre variety, except for Larry Buchanan veteran Bill McGhee as Jacques and the production values are extremely low. There are also some excruciatingly bad Creole 'accents' on display, most notably by George Lupo as the depraved villain Dupree. Nonetheless there is something charming and honest about this film, which manages to avoid the voyeuristic excesses of later big budget bloaters like Drum and Mandingo. Sarah Riggs script is reasonably well written and perceptive. For anyone interested in that long gone sub-genre of cinema, the regional film, this is a must see. Sorta like a Herschell Gordon Lewis film, without the gore.

...is what they danced at the Presentation Balls where quadroon debutantes were presented to rich Creole patrons so that they could outbid each other for their mistress of choice. No doubt swept under the umbrella of blaxploitation at the time, except for one egregious plot hole on which the entire resolution depends, this is a story on a subject certainly not overexposed in cinema and well worth filming, but so many aspects of the all too obviously modest production budget sometimes make it almost impossible to watch. The ubiquitous creole accents are some of the most painful ever heard, and the acting a very mixed bag, particularly the villain (George Lupo} and leading lady (Kathy Mckee), perfectly cast for her beauty, but, being her screen debut, she definitely needed more acting lessons, She was ready for her close-ups, but not any screen time where she had to speak.

A worthy effort, hopelessly flawed. .