Dolemite

The King of all Black Action films, Dolemite is the story of Dolemite, the most bad ass brother in LA. Go with Dolemite from the jail house to the mean streets of LA in search for the man who killed his fellow brother. Get the Unrated version to get the whole gut punching scenes with all the great moments. Need more? This film has a sequel...enjoy.

1975... before Rudy Ray Moore was hailed as the "Father Of Rap Music" he was touring Black clubs around the nation doing routines from his brisk selling "Party Records". In his spare time and when finances allowed, he would make the opccasional movie on a shoestring budget. This was his first. A classic blaxploitation action movie. The flubs are legendary and have been detailed elsewhere, this looks like a backyard movie, very similar to movies kids would make in their yards with the advent of home Video cameras.

Great flick from a strictly guilty pleasure standpoint. You ignore the errors and weak plot, you see Rudy's obvious pleasure over acting in front of a camera for the first time. I imagine this was a dream come trur for Rudy, he could finally bring his nightclub character Dolemite to the big screen. Of course, Dolemite is an almost mythological character, much bigger than real life, sort of like a Black Paul Bunyan, but Rudy gives an admirable attempt in bringing Dolemite to the screen. This movie had a revival of sorts when Arsenio Hall's TV talk show would feature clips from this movie and also when Arsenio had Rudy Ray on his show. Worth seeing if not taken seriously.

Certainly far, far from the quality end of the Blaxploitation genre, this nonetheless shares some of the staple ingredients which make many of its more illustrious brethren so charming. The plot concerns the titular hero (the term applied in the loosest possible manner as our man is a bit of a scumbag) who does a deal with the warden in the prison he is being held in (after he was framed by bent cops) to clean up his old hood. This our man sets about with great gusto, partially fuelled by the need to avenge the senseless murder of his nephew. It turns out that the crime in the area is far more deep rooted than a few mere drug dealers and gun runners however, indeed a whole conspiracy is afoot involving bent law enforcement officers and a dirty mayer.

With multiple attempts on our heroes life and the pressure on, will our man be able to save the day? Well, if Dolemite's inimitable way with obscenities is anything to go by, then the answer is 'hell yes'!!! Indeed, Rudy Ray Moore's fast and foul outbursts are probably the real highlight here and are sure to raise much mirth. Unfortunately, matters do tend to drag when our man isn't busy berating someone which is a real shame but don't switch off just yet, for the finale in this is an absolute hoot! Yes, the final fight or perhaps more appropriately, small riot which breaks out in a night club is absolutely hilarious and showcases a plethora of poorly choreographed karate fights, our hero literally punching through a guys chest(!) and all this backed up by a cool and thumping seventies soundtrack! Damn! - What more could one wish for in a film I ask?

Fellow fans of the genre will probably derive at least some enjoyment here, not least of all the aforementioned sequences but just be warned - as if to act as a reflection of just how low rent this entry is, if one were to base a drinking game on the number of times the boom mike is visible throughout the film, then you'll probably be comatose by the end credits!

"Dolemite" was definitely not made for a "rat-soup-eatin', insecure honky MF" like me but I liked it anyway. The movie is a 'Blaxploitation classic' (which some people may consider an oxymoron) – it's hard to say what's worse: the acting or the karate fights, but it's also hard to say what's better: the pimp suits or the funk. I find it amusing that these extremely crude, subversive, counterculture movies now show up, unedited, on TV Turner Classic Movies – it's like seeing poisonous snakes in a display case at a petting zoo. Times have certainly changed. Worth watching for its own sake as well as from a cultural history perspective, as a lot of modern comedy and rap culture are rooted in movies like this.

The blaxploitation genre certainly produced some bizarre oddities that's for sure. Dolemite is firmly in this category. On a technical level its appalling, with bad camera work, acting, action and story. The boom mic is visible so often that it really deserves a mention in the credits. But these considerations are ultimately irrelevant. In fact, the sheer scale of the cinematic incompetence is certainly one of the actual joys of the movie. The film-makers just didn't care and seemingly knocked this one out with little concern for such matters.

The rough and ready style of Dolemite kind of seems appropriate though, given the nature of the central character, who is a super-shady bad mutha in a pimp suit. This character, Dolemite, spends most of the film swearing in creative ways. His routines are like proto-rap and seem to have influenced hip-hop culture. The movie is really a superb time-capsule flick. The insane fashions and jive talk are all almost alien in their bizarreness now. While the movie sports various other strange characters such as Reverend Gibbs, the mayor and the Hamburger Pimp. The latter of which actually appears to be out of his head on something or other – I don't think this bloke was really acting! There's also an extended scene near the end in a nightclub that really has to be seen to be believed. It has a priceless performance from a soul act and a crazy dance routine with some guy battering hell out of a drum-kit, it then climaxes with Dolemite's swearing rap thing. It's strange, like the movie in general. This may be super-trashy but it's highly original. It's yet another example of why the 70's ruled when it came to movies.