Le pénitencier

First-rate prison crime drama with ample doses of action and humor. Exceptional of its type. Jim Brown stars with a great supporting cast including Ted Cassidy (Lurch from Addams Family) and Frank DeKova (Chief Wild Eagle from F Troop). Roland Bob Harris is great as the sleazy captain of the prison guards who meets a deservedly gruesome fate. Look fast for the legendary Dick Miller in a bit part as a carjacked taxi driver. For sensitive types be warned it's a violent movie with lots of foul language and racial slurs. Despite this, it somehow actually manages to be a fun movie that keeps you engrossed the whole time.

Despite having a lead actor who was one of the prominent actors in the 1970s blaxploiation film genre, "The Slams" has been all but forgotten since its theatrical release, not even getting a release on VHS or DVD. Watching the movie, it becomes pretty easy to figure out why no one has been clamoring for its resurrection. Even for 1973, I am sure audiences found nothing really that original here. Every plot turn will be familiar to people who have seen their share of prison films or prison television shows. As a result, there is no excitement, even though there are plenty of prison beatings and fisticuffs along the way. Jim Brown tries, but there is little he can do with such a flat script. Recommended only for die hard fans of the blaxploitation genre.

A robbery crew steals drugs and money from criminals. Curtis X. Hook (Jim Brown) beats his comrades to the double-cross and is the final survivor. He dumps the drugs and hides the money in an abandoned dock. He gets locked in prison and has to deal with many different sides. It's black against white. Others want him to work for them. Everyone who knows about the money wants it.

I'm not sure if this is considered blaxploitation. It's produced by Gene Corman, brother of B-movie legend Roger Corman. Blaxploitation is intended for a black audience. This is a more general B-movie. Legendary football player Jim Brown is not that great as an actor. He has some natural charisma and his size gives him just enough command. His amiability makes him a functional lead. This is undeniably a B-movie and it's a functional one.

Jim Brown is at his coolest as Curtis X. Hook, a criminal who rips off the mob and stashes his loot ($1.5 million) in a structure at an abandoned amusement park. But he is soon nabbed by the cops and sent to prison; there he gets caught up in various power plays by characters such as Macey (Frenchia Guizon, "Friday Foster") and white mobster Capiello (Frank DeKova, 'F Troop'). He learns that the park is scheduled for demolition, so he knows that he'll have to escape sometime very soon. Taking an interest in him is cheerfully corrupt captain of the guards Stambell (Roland Bob Harris, "Ray").

"The Slams" marks another capable effort by talented journeyman director Jonathan Kaplan, who handled a bunch of excellent exploitation flicks during the 1970s and graduated to major features such as "Heart Like a Wheel" and "The Accused" in the 1980s. The cast is filled with familiar faces: Judy Pace ("Cotton Comes to Harlem") as Hooks' lady, Paul Harris ("Across 110th Street"), Ted Cassidy ('The Addams Family'), John Dennis ("Soylent Green"), Quinn K. Redeker ("Spider Baby"), Robert Phillips ("The Dirty Dozen"), and Charles Cyphers ("Halloween"). The always welcome Dick Miller ("A Bucket of Blood") pops up briefly as a cabbie whose vehicle is briefly commandeered by Paul Harris as part of the escape plan. Brown and his co-stars are certainly easy enough to watch, although there's only so much they can do with a so-so script by Richard DeLong Adams ("I Escaped from Devils' Island"). The movie is certainly decently paced and competently made, but in the end "The Slams" is a rather standard prison movie. Roland Bob Harris and DeKova deliver the standout characterizations. Director Kaplan has a cameo as a port-a-potty delivery man.

Best of all is the tense, climactic prison escape, with a surprisingly grisly fate in store for one of the characters.

It's worth noting the variety of familiar names with technical credits: future director Andrew Davis ("Code of Silence") as the cinematographer, Luther Henderson as the composer of the music score, Jack Fisk as the art director, and actor Thalmus Rasulala ("Blacula") as an assistant director.

Six out of 10.

Jim Brown was such a stud. Retired as the NFL's all-time leading rusher, falling short of 1,000 yds/season only twice in 9 years and both times only barely. And that was back when they only played 12 (and then 14) game seasons.

He quit after one of his best seasons (and was named NFL MVP for the 3rd time) and headed to Hollywood. Everybody knows he was Jackson in The Dirty Dozen. But how many people have seen this little gem?

Heist goes wrong. Accomplices die but Brown manages to escape long enough to hide the loot before getting arrested and landing in jail. There rest is prison-drama fun between the whites, the blacks, the corrupt prison captain and the jailed mafioso. There are a bunch of good fights and some really good performances. It all climaxes in a clever escape attempt, which isn't a spoiler because Brown is hatching it from the get-go.

Doesn't make any big statements, but it sure is fun.