CLEOPATRA JONES 1973 On Blu

It doesn't get much better then Tamera Dobson & CLEOPATRA JONES in HD!! 

"She's Ten Miles of Bad Road For Every Hood in Town!"

  Tamera Dobson made only a handful of film in her short career, but she will forever be enshrined in the grindhouse/drive-in hall of fame for her title roles in the two Cleopatra Jones films and the all-time WIP classic CHAINED HEAT in 1983. A tall statuesque 6' 2" (much was made of the this in the film's publicity) ex-model her last role was in the TV movie AMAZONS in 1983 and she sadly passed away in 2006 after being diagnosed with MS in 2000. 

   A great example of what you could get away with in the 70's with a PG rating and directed by the great Jack Starrett (RACE WITH THE DEVIL) Warner archive brings CLEOPATRA JONES to Blu-ray in a gorgeous 2.40:1 16X9 transfer with 2.0 DTS Master Audio.

   Patterned after the James Bond films (Dobson has a tricked out '73 Stingray) the plot has Cleopatra Jones as a Los Angeles based U.S. secret agent going after drug kingpin "Mommy" (a screeching & scenery chewing Shelly Winters) thanks to Starrett's brisk direction the film moves at a brisk pace and features a surprising amount of comedy most likely thanks to co-screenwriter Sheldon Kelly who worked on The Dick Van Dyke show.

   A sequel CLEOPATRA JONES AND THE CASINO OF GOLD (available on DVD from Warner archive) appeared in 1975 but it did poorly at the box office as blaxploitation was winding down. It features Stella Stevens as Cleopatra's main nemesis (a huge improvement over Winters) and moves the location to Hong Kong ramping up the action and toning down the more urban feel of the first movie. Always a bit under regarded it's a great film (in some ways I prefer to the original) and hopefully Warner will release this on Blu-ray soon. 

Happy Birthday Jim Kelly

 "The Cool Master of King-Fu and Karate !"

Tagline from BLACK SAMURAI 1977

     A very special birthday wish and remembrance needs to go out today for Jim Kelly who was born on this day in 1946. In a decade that spawned more then it's share of cinema bad-asses, Jim Kelly was one of the 70's baddest.

    Winner of many karate championships, he became the first African American martial arts movie star and initially rose to prominence as Williams in the Bruce Lee classic ENTER THE DRAGON from 1973. In 1974 he starred as the title character in BLACK BELT JONES, kicked ass alongside Fred Williamson and Jim Brown in Gordon Park's THREE THE HARD WAY and appeared  with Joe Don Baker in GOLDEN NEEDLES. In 1977 there was Al Adamson's BLACK SAMURAI and the blacksploitation western TAKE A HARD RIDE FROM 1975.
    At 6' 2" with his trademark afro and sideburns he made a striking presence in his films and was able to convey an aura "don't mess with me" attitude without saying a word.
    He would later become a professional tennis player and passed away in 2013 much too young  from cancer at the age of 67.

DOLEMITE 1975 On Blu - Ray

     Kicking off their series of Rudy Ray Moore releases Vinegar Syndrome has unleashed DOLEMITE on a Blu-ray/DVD combo package. A former R&B singer and nightclub entertainer/comedian, Moore in the early 70's released a series of raunchy albums featuring a character named "Dolemite" with Rudy reciting explicit stream of conscious rhymes with jazz/R&B background music.
   DOLEMITE kicked off a series of films (all starring and co-produced/written by Moore) that in the past couple of decades have achieved a legendary cult status among fans of 70's exploitation cinema.  Although labeled with the "blacksploitation" genre tag (which at their core base they are) Rudy's films seem to exist in world unto themselves. Filled with hilarious dialogue, wooden acting, inept kung-fu and head scratching editing all the while with Moore's outrageous personalty and entertainingly inflated ego front and center.

    Referred to by everybody as simply "Dolemite", Moore here plays the title character as a wrongly accused and set up nightclub owner/pimp who's freed from jail to clean up his old neighborhood by the prison warden (who appears to be in charge of the entire police investigation). Helped out by his head madam "Queen Bee" (Moore regular Lady Reed) and a gang of "expert kung-fu ladies" referred to as "The Dolemite Girls" he butts heads with new neighborhood boss "Big Willie" (director D'Urville Martin) along with passels of corrupt politicians, police and a militant local minister. As Dolemite says -"gonna clean out all those rat soup eatin' motherf*#%ers !!"

    Filled with long stretches of rambling dialogue (that do nothing to move the threadbare plot along), seemingly random scenes strung together and more big ol' 70's Cadillac cars then you can shake a stick at - all of which is punctuated by brief flashes of blood and bare skin (more of which is shown in the accompanying trailer included on the disc). DOLEMITE arrives on Blu from Vinegar in beautiful new 1.85 transfer taken from a 35mm negative which is eons ahead of the semi-legit transfers we've seen before. Also included is a passel of extras including now & then photos from the films L.A. locations, making of documentary, trailers, commentary by Rudy Ray Moore biographer Mark Jason Murray plus an open frame version complete with visible boom mikes.
    Also on schedule from Vinegar if the form of more Rudy Ray Moore goodliness is THE HUMAN TORNADO (May), PETEY WHEATSTRAW : THE DEVIL'S SON-IN-LAW (June) and the truly amazing DISCO GODFATHER in July.

All above screen captures are from the Vinegar Syndrome DVD

     

SLAUGHTER 1972

  

    Coming on blu-ray from Olive Sept. 22 is this 1972 blacksploitation action classic. After his parents are killed by the mob ex-green beret captain Jim Brown (only ever referred to by his surname of Slaughter) vows vengeance and after being recruited by the U.S. Government he goes on a one man rampage which leads to mob boss Dominic Hoffo (played by a weaselly Rip Torn).

    Directed by master drive-in director Jack Starrett (RACE WITH THE DEVIL & CLEOPATRA JONES) the film is anchored by Brown's commanding presence and also features Don Gordon (BULLITT), Cameron Mitchell (THE TOOLBOX MURDERS), Marlene Clark (BLACK MAMBA) and Stella Stevens (CLEOPATRA JONES AND THE CASINO OF GOLD). The nude lovemaking scenes between Brown and Stevens (who spends most of her time in various states of undress) caused quite a stir at the time of release.