Le Parrain noir de Harlem

"The Black Godfather" begins with a young guy, J.J. (Rod Perry), nearly getting himself killed but being ultimately rescued and taken under the wing of a guy who is in charge of the numbers rackets in the inner city. Despite nearly getting killed, J.J. is insistent that he has plans---plans on taking down the established white mob that has set up shop in the ghetto. However, and this is odd, it's never really certain what his plans are once he's destroyed this mob. Does he want peace for his community or does he want to be the next mob boss.

This is an unusual blaxsploitation film in that I have seen similar types of movies but never one that is so muted and low-key. The normal bouncy 70s R&B music is gone and so are the loud stereotypical sorts of characters. Some, I am sure, will dislike this--they WANT the crazy over-the-top characters you see in many blaxsploitation films. Some might appreciate that the folks AREN'T so stereotypical. The problem I had is that although I appreciated these sorts of characters, the script itself just lacked energy and life--definitely making this a lesser film of the genre.

By the way, look for the rather visible mic at 20:00 at the top of the screen--much like you'll see deliberately included in the recent blaxsploitation parody "Black Dynamite" (a definite must-see).

The Black Godfather (1974) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows JJ, a rising drug dealer who can't stand what drugs are doing to his neighborhood. He decides he wants to change how he, and everyone else, do business his neighborhood and get crack off the streets. His business partners don't agree with his epiphany leading to a battle in the streets.

This movie is written and directed by John Evans (Speeding up Time) and stars Rod Perry (The Black Gestapo), Don Chastain (C. C. And Company), Tony Burton (Assault on Precinct 13) and John Alderman (Cleopatra Jones).

This movie had a classic blaxploitation storyline but all the charm that comes with this genre - a great soundtrack, fun attire and style, entertaining dialogue and characters that are easy to root for. There are some worthwhile nudity and sex scenes and the film does a great job of making the main character relatable despite his decisions and actions. The action is very average and the ending is as you'd expect.

Overall, this is an average addition to the blaxploitation genre that I would score a 5/10 and recommend seeing once.

It would only be fair to say that the title of this one gives a pretty clear clue of what it's going to be about in advance. Needless to say, The Black Godfather is about the head honcho of an African-American gangster group. It's clearly a Blaxploitation riff on the earlier mega hit, The Godfather (1972), except in this one there is no focus whatsoever on the rise of the central character up to the summit of his organisation. Basically, in this one he has arisen to the rank of godfather after approximately ten minutes in! So the focus is on things he has to deal with as the leader of a black gang, such as white hoods trying to introduce drugs into the neighbourhood, something the black criminals are strongly opposed to. In order to combat this, the godfather joins forces with a Black Panther styled militant group.

I was looking forward to this one, as it sounded like a sure fire winner but in all honesty it's a pretty poor effort from a genre where even most of the ropiest entries are still somewhat entertaining. It is a little too talky for its own good and it doesn't deliver enough fun on the whole. The black godfather himself wasn't truthfully the most interesting central character as it turned out, which was disappointing. It's probably a film suited mostly to Blaxploitation fanatics and I'm sure it will deliver something for most of them. One point of interest I did find though was the presence of Duncan McLeod as the requisite corrupt cop – he, of course, played the shady lawyer Porter Hall in the delicious cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) and it certainly was at least nice to see him appear in something else.

After a burglary in Harlem goes bad and his best friend is killed a wounded "J.J." (Rod Perry) is rescued by a man named "Nate Williams" (Jimmy Witherspoon) who is also known as "the Black Godfather" due to the fact that he owns the numbers racket there. After treating his wounds Nate decides to mentor J.J. because he recognizes something special in him. Sometime later J.J. becomes quite influential in both gambling and prostitution--but not in drugs which is controlled by an Italian mobster named "Tony Burton" (Don Chastain). Having seen the devastation within the black community caused by heroin J.J. decides to team up with some black militants led by a man named "Diablo" (Damu King) to make it more difficult for Tony to do business in this part of the city. Unfortunately, Tony has no intention of abandoning such a lucrative market and war soon breaks out. At any rate, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a fairly decent "blaxploitation" picture. Admittedly, some of the scenes were rather slow and it could have used a bit more action here and there but otherwise it turned out okay. Accordingly, I rate it as about average.

With the help of Kingpin, Nate Williams (Jimmy Witherspoon), a smalltime crook named J. J. (Rod Perry) works his way up to the big time. Unfortunately, as is often the case in these films, mob types are trying to move in on Williams' turf. Their boss, Tony Burton (Don Chastain) has been pushing his dope on the local youngsters, and that will not stand.

THE BLACK GODFATHER is a solid entry in the urban action / crime subgenre. Mr. Perry's character seems to get tougher and wiser as the film progresses. There are several interesting characters, like the bada$$ Diablo (Damu King). He's definitely the sort of guy you'd want on your side.

The final confrontation contains a surprise for old Tony!...