Willie Dynamite

This Blaxploitation classic merits a viewing on at least two bases: one, you've got none other than Gordon of 'Sesame Street', a.k.a. actor Roscoe Orman, playing a pimp, and two, you have to love these COSTUMES! "Willie Dynamite" (Orman) is a capitalism-oriented flesh peddler with a wardrobe to die for. But he'll have a few thorns in his side: a pair of detectives (George Murdock, Albert Hall) out to righteously bust him, a mysterious enemy determined to screw him over, and a crusading social worker named Cora (Diana Sands), who acts as a patron saint to hookers.

Directed with style by Gilbert Moses, "Willie Dynamite" is generally engaging entertainment. Some viewers may be pleased to note that, although the rating is R, there's no excessive violence, and very little in the way of bare female skin. That doesn't mean, however, that it's not worth other peoples' time. It spins a decent yarn (screenplay by Ron Cutler, based on a story by Cutler and Joe Keyes Jr.) that unfolds at a respectable pace, gives us some agreeable action set pieces, and makes fine use of locations. There's a wonderful score provided by J.J. Johnson, and a rousing title theme song that gets you in the proper mood immediately.

Orman is great fun playing a charismatic antihero. The scenario lets you wait until the end to let you know whether or not Willie D. can be redeemed, leading to some poignant moments. Sands, sadly dying of cancer during this time, gives the best performance in the movie. Thalmus Rasulala is saddled with little to do as her attorney boyfriend. Similarly, there are other familiar faces here that are rather wasted. Judith Brown, Juanita Brown, Marcia McBroom, and Mary Charlotte Wilcox as some of Willie D.'s hookers mostly just take up space. The pretty Joyce Walker gets the lions' share of attention as novice ho Pashen. Roger Robinson, as an antagonistic pimp named Bell, is most amusing, but there may be viewers who will take offense to his stereotypical portrayal of a gay character.

"Willie Dynamite" is lively, funny, and sometimes touching. Blaxploitation completists will want to check it out, for sure.

Seven out of 10.

Not a very common blaxsploitation film released through Universal Pictures. This one had a decent budget and starred the one and only Gordon from Sesame Street (Roscoe Orman). It was a little odd watching him play a pimp but he did do an amazing job. I wonder if this role landed him the job as Gordon.

This isn't really exploitative at all with no violence or nudity instead tells a story of a pimps hardships with the police always arresting his girls and shaking him down constantly. His competition works him over as well every chance they get. His biggest problem seems to be his mother who obviously disapproves of his life choice.

A great film all the way through but the only thing missing was a funky soundtrack.

A classic 70's Blaxploitation film. Pimps as colorful as peacocks with land cruisers dressed in chrome.

Roscoe Orman (Gordon from Sesame Street) plays Willie, a pimp who has the patter down pat and the clothing that rivals anything that your imagination can come up with. He runs afoul of a determined social worker and the police, both determined to bring him down. They use every trick in the book to make his life hell and bring on him the wrath of his fellow pimps.

Diana Sands, who was one of the top black actresses of the 50s and 60s, shined as the social worker. This was one of her last films as she died of cancer before its release. She was 39.

Like Al Capone, Willie's downfall was the IRS.

It is impossible to deny that this film has some hilarious parts. You can't help enjoying the absolutely ridiculous outfits and mannerisms of the pimps.

Everything from Willie's beyond gaudy car to even the characters' names (i.e. the white pimp named Milky Way) is pretty entertaining.

But it does have some serious (well okay, maybe not serious) implications as well. It is basically set up like most classic tragedies; a man in a position of great power falls due to a tragic flaw. Willie is likable enough not to deserve our hatred, but ruthless enough that we accept that he deserved his fate. Okay, so it's a bad idea to overthink this movie, but it is important to at least recognize that format.

Furthermore, its social implications are pretty relevant. It portrayed Black and White characters in both positive and negative stereotypes, as well as providing more well rounded characters to serve as positive rolemodels. It started out glorifying the pimp lifestyle and slowly de-glamorized it as a life of dishonesty, drug addiction, violence, and eventual ruin. It may have really given young kids growing up in ghettoes in that era as made something to think about by slowly exposing the harsh realities of a life outside the law. Especially since it also presented positive Black role models who came from similar situations, like Cora, a prostitute-turned-social worker on a quest to help rescue other young girls from a life on the streets.

In the course of one week, poor Willie the pimp is getting the heat from rival pimps, from the cops (including the wonderful Albert Hall), and from a reformed prostitute who is trying to get Willie's ‘girls' to unionize (`You can call me the Ralph Nadar for prostitutes', she snaps in one of the film's funniest lines). He even gets the IRS on his ass, although that scene isn't terribly realistic since no pimp and/or drug dealer with even half a brain would put his earnings in a bank!. What else? His purple Caddy gets towed about twice a day, his girls get busted (or worse!) and ultimately, his poor mom strokes out. Pimping just doesn't pay! This film isn't like most of the other blaxploitation films. It downplays the guns and drugs angle, and the lead character is not so baaad that he's good – or vice versa. He's a nut, really. You can even see people in the background who were unaware they were in a film, pointing at him and laughing. You can almost feel sorry for him because he's more stupid than evil, and that's where the film wins the viewer over. The film breaks away from formula a number of times, and despite the OUTRAGEOUS costumes and decor (even the telephones are fur-lined!), we care about the people in this film. There are good cops and bad cops, and there is a nice balance of giving us women with brains and brawn, but who are still capable of a pretty nasty catfight when the need arises. Something for everyone! My only beef is that despite a pretty ‘bad' theme song, the score doesn't rock at all. In fact, there are even a number of scenes that are scored with folky harmonica music. How uncool is that? It's also a shame that this film wasn't nominated for Best Costume design, but we all know how unlikely it was that most of the Academy members ever even saw this film. Just isn't fair! Overall, I think this is one of the best films of the blaxploitation genre, and along with `Unholy Rollers' and `Switchblade Sisters', one of the best exploitation films of the seventies.