The Black Klansman

Black Klansman, The (1966)

** (out of 4)

Well meaning but wondering exploitation film from director Ted V. Mikels. The KKK are striking terror after the Civil Rights agreement so they decide to bomb a church where a black man is killed as well as a little girl. The father of the little girl, a light skinned man, decides to join the Klan so that he can get revenge. I went into this film expecting exploitation trash but the film actually tries to pass a message and doesn't really exploit the seriousness of the subject matter. The opening scenes of the Civil Rights laws being passed are handled well as one black man wants to go to a white diner for coffee. The Klan scenes are well done and show the horrors of the time and there's some interesting discussion about what violence can actually get done. The only problem is that the story runs out of ideas around the fifty-minute mark and that leaves us with nearly forty-minutes of nothing happening until the final where the father finally gets to see the man responsible for his daughter's death.

After a black man's daughter is killed by the KKK, he seeks revenge by becoming a Klansman.

This film can be dismissed as an exploitation film, and maybe it should be, but I personally thought it was a strong social commentary on color and race in America. Definitely during the 1960s, but probably even to some degree today (2013).

The real honor of this film has to go to the actor who played Jerry, because he had to balance between looking black and looking white and making this believable. He succeeded. I actually do not know if he was completely white or if he was lighter-skinned and black. I could look it up, but I think that his character makes the point -- it does not matter. If he can be treated as either, then race should not matter.

This film begins in Los Angeles with a black jazz musician by the name of "Jerry Ellsworth" (Richard Gilden) learning that his young daughter has just been killed by members of a racist organization in the small town of Turnerville, Alabama. Seeking revenge upon the people that committed this act, he immediately boards a flight to Turnerville where he hopes his light-skinned complexion will allow him to masquerade as a white man long enough for him to infiltrate the local chapter of the KKK. What he doesn't know, however, is that his white girlfriend "Andrea" (Rima Kutner) and his good friend "Lonnie" (James McEachin) have followed right behind him and their appearance creates unforeseen difficulties which endangers his extremely hazardous plan. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a fairly interesting film which was hindered somewhat by the rather low-budget production values and mediocre acting of all concerned. It does, however, serve as a decent precursor to the blaxploitation films which followed a few years later and for that reason I have rated this film accordingly. Average.

What can be said? This movie is as disturbing now as it was when it was made. But the acting is so irregular. Sometimes it's comically bad which makes it extremely uncomfortable. The ending is also disappointing.

"The Black Klansman" is a film from Ted Mikels--the same guy who brought us schlock like "The Astro-Zombies", "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils", "Girl in the Gold Boots" (on IMDb's Bottom 100 list), "The Corpse Grinders" and "The Worm Eaters". So, you can only assume that "The Black Klansman" will be a horrible film, right? Well, not really. As I sat and watched the film I was surprised, as the acting was actually pretty good--something you'd NEVER expect! In fact, while this is an exploitation film, it's an awfully good one.

The story is set partially in the South in the 1960s. Despite civil rights laws, the Klan is strong and lynchings and fire bombings continue. And, following one of these incidents, a very light-skinned black man has had enough. He decides he's going to pass as white and infiltrate the mob! What happens next you'll need to see for yourself, but suffice to say that the film ends on a VERY exciting note--very exciting.

Reasonably well-written, very good and natural acting and competent direction. It sure makes you wonder what Mikels could have done if he had tried harder! Well worth seeing.

By the way, if you like this film, try another excellent low-budget film about race from this same era--"The Intruder" by Roger Corman.