Dolemite

Blaxploitation "classic" that introduced the movie-going public to Rudy Ray Moore. The plot, such as it is, has pimp Dolemite (Moore) being framed and sent to prison. A friendly warden believes Dolemite is innocent, so he lets him out of prison to prove it (!). Dolemite sets out to take back control of his pimp business and get revenge against the man who set him up: Willie Greene (D'Urville Martin, also the director).

If you're unfamiliar with Rudy Ray Moore, this is as good a place to start as any. Dolemite features the standards of every Moore film: inept direction, unintentionally hilarious fight scenes, and the worst excuse for acting you'll ever see. Not to mention more colorful ways to fit the word 'mothereffer' into a sentence than I ever thought possible. A fun game to play while watching this cheapie is "spot the boom mic."

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.

Stand up comedian Rudy Ray Moore stars as the hip, badass, styling m.f.er pimp hero of the title. He's set up by conniving hoodlum Willie Green (D'Urville Martin, who doubles as director) for possession of drugs and stolen furs. Dolemite is subsequently released from prison so he can dig up the dirt on Willie and his associates. Fortunately for Dolemite, he has people like the formidable Queen Bee (Lady Reed) and his stable of karate chopping hookers at his disposal.

"Dolemite" wins no awards for quality filmmaking. For one thing, a lot of its action is pretty inept, even if the production supposedly had the services of Chuck Norris' karate school. But it IS quality entertainment. It's often hilariously crude and dumb, with some priceless dialogue. It's also pretty damn violent, and there's occasional flashes of female skin to attract viewer interest. The main attraction, though, is Mr. Moore himself, who's given two opportunities on screen to launch into two of his routines, one about a black named Shine who was on board the Titanic, and another about a monkey who attempts revenge on a bullying lion. The script by co-star Jerry Jones (who plays the lawman Blakeley) is deliciously profane.

The performances by all are unceasingly amusing. Moore is much more of a personality than an actor, but he does have a certain charisma about him. Martin is fun as his nemesis. Be on the lookout for hambone thespian Hy Pyke as the corrupt mayor Daley; as can be expected, he tears into the scenery in his typical fashion.

Definitely a blaxploitation classic, even if it's not for all the "right" reasons.

Seven out of 10.

"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.