Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

Black gangsters and the Italian mob embark on a turf war in 1950's Harlem.

Jive Turkey seems to be the retitled name for this film which seemingly went under the insane original title of 'Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes'. It's a typically low-budget bit of Blaxploitation that starts out claiming that it is based on a true story, only to then hilariously state that despite this it contains different names, places and events! So I initially thought this had to be a comedy, yet it never actually plays out like one at all, so have to imagine these opening lines were intended with no irony whatsoever. One definite defining feature though is the fact that it's a period piece given that it's set in the 50's. The trouble with this approach, however, is that the low budget hampers this quite drastically and it never feels very much like the 50's at all. It would've been far more sensible if it had been set in the present day as period detail costs money – something of which there was clearly not an abundance of here. But you have to at least give the film-makers credit for having the nerve to try to execute something so ambitious though.

Overall, despite certainly having interesting things about it, this is not truly a very successful movie. It really lacks focus and doesn't tell its story in a particularly engaging way, despite the fact that the plot elements have a fair bit of promise. There isn't even too much action either to make up for this. One definite standout aspect though was the inclusion of a transvestite psychopath hit-man character that killed people with spiked stilettos and a sharpened ring. I was interested to read here that the movie intended the fact that this character was a man to be a bit of a major surprise twist in the plot, yet I thought it was so obvious this was a guy in drag I just kind of assumed we were all meant to know this up front. On the whole, this is certainly one mainly for fans of Blaxploitation cinema; it's a bit rough around the edges and not especially good but it still has enough of that sub-genre's energy and attitude to ensure it has some interest level.

Jive Turkey (1974) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a pimp, street hustler who is approached by the mafia to be bought out of his business. When the pimp says no the police and mafia come down on his streets hard. He will band together with his "associates" to try and overcome both...

This movie is directed by Bill Brame (Scream Free!) and stars Frank DeKova (The Ten Commandments), Paul Harris (Truck Turner), Ernie Lee Banks (Mystery Man) and Henry G. Sanders (Selma).

The best part of this movie is the female muscle. The opening kill sequence with the ring and the use of the heel were my favorite parts of the movie. The storyline is fairly cliche and straightforward, but the soundtrack is superb and fun. There was some 70s nudity, but the seductive scenes are awkward and a bit funny. The cinematography was poor and felt low budget.

Overall, this is a very average blaxploitation movie that is still worth a watch. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing once.

This is what a grind house fan likes most a movie of the era that is not the best but a treat for some. It has it's moments with classic and forgotten songs of the area, one is especially timely of that style's vibe. And Sweetman was a slick numbers runner in the urban mafia who had to help his boss fight the Italian mob who wanted to take over the urban mafia. Not the best film but fun for a watch. It turns out the writers and director didn't go on to do many films after this. Sometime the plot gets confusing and not many of the actors ever went on to do much else. Could be why they changed the title is that it didn't do to well when released. As a fan of African American cinema in the 70's it still is a must to see them all, and the best ones are the ones in the early seventies. I guess this was shot right around 1973. Thanks for reading.

I just saw this film a few days ago under the name "Jive Turkey". In it, a numbers kingpin tries to keep control of his empire. In the process, he has to go against the Italian mob, the cops, snitches and all kinds of unscrupulous folks.

As far as low-budget blaxploitation goes (and really, what isn't?), it's not that bad. The acting is decent, sometimes even good. The direction and cinematography is competent, sometimes even great. But what really stands out here is the story. Yeah, yeah. Same old brother-against-whitey plot that's in 99 out of a hundred of blaxploitation films. But there's a desperation in there that shines through. The best example is a scene of Russian roulette between the kingpin and the mafia boss. It's actually fairly well acted and well written.

There's some confusing moments, like what the hell is up with the murdering-psycho man-girl that everyone wants to bang? And there's sprinkles of cheesy acting and poor production values. But there's actually a lot in here that, given better people behind it, could equal a pretty damned good movie. As it is, however, it's certainly above average on the Z-grade blaxploitation flick.

All in all, recommended.

"Pasha" (Paul Harris) is a black mobster who has a lucrative setup running the numbers racket in Harlem back in 1956. Additionally, an Italian mobster named "Big Tony" (Frank DeKova) also deals heroin in the same location which doesn't bother Pasha because their interests don't conflict with each other. Unfortunately, Big Tony gets a little greedy one day and decides that he wants to take over Pasha's gambling operation which will leave Pasha out in the cold. A turf war results with Big Tony using his influence with the local politicians to stake his claim while Pasha is forced to utilize his connections within the black community. Anyway, rather than detail the entire story and risk spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a cheaply made low-budget "blaxploitation" movie which manages to entertain to a certain degree. Although the acting was somewhat adequate the biggest problem was that the film was clearly low-grade and the lack of quality clearly shows. Overall I rate it as slightly below average.