Disco Godfather.

Review #2507: Disco Godfather.

Cast: 

Rudy Ray Moore (Tucker Williams), Carol Speed (Noel), Jimmy Lynch ("Sweetmeat"), Jerry Jones (Dr. Fred Mathis), Lady Reed (Mrs. Edwards), Hawthorne James (Ray "Stinger Ray"), Julius Carry ("Bucky")", Hazel Spears (Ellen Davis), Frank Finn (Lieutenant Frank Hayes), Fitz Houston (Kilroy), and Pucci Jhones ("The Angel of Death") Directed by J. Robert Wagoner.

Review: 

This was the fifth and final movie where you could reasonably see Rudy Ray Moore on the big screen in a substantial role (okay so he wasn't in The Monkey Hustle [1976] that much, but he was on the poster, so...). Honestly, he pretty much peaked with his first one with Dolemite (1975), which somehow soared in its amusement and entertainment value despite clear and obvious flaws (the filmmaking, for one). The Human Tornado (1976) could've gone better. Petey Wheatstraw (1977) was flat out weird. By this point, Moore was actually in his fifties. Okay, so here is a movie written by two people: Cliff Roquemore (who directed Moore in The Human Tornado and Petey Wheatstraw and did a performance film of Moore's act in 1982) and J. Robert Wagoner. For the rest of his life, Moore would make bit appearances in a variety of programs of television and direct-to-video and theatrical works while doing his comedy albums and even being invited to appear in songs. Needless to say, he lived a colorful life that very well could be a hero of what he called "ghetto expression"*.

Well, there were a few disco-related movies at the time too, so why not cross that with a message about angel dust? Sure won't see that in Roller Boogie (1979), I imagine. I'm not exactly sure why the movie is called "Disco Godfather", because the lead character is an ex-cop that goes on a double-sided crusade: cracking down on where the drug structure is coming from and pushing along with a community alliance of activists to (no I'm not joking) "Attack the Wack". What I wish I could know about the movie is what type of atmosphere this film was made under: sure, it was probably a B-movie made fast and cheap (Moore was also co-producer) but was there any sort of substances involved to come up with such an incoherent movie? You get plenty of hallucinations (get it, because PCP is like being in hell) for a movie that actually does feature plenty of blood from its array of goofy fights (and one suicide because, yes, a guy gets busted for being an informant) and even goofier stakes, at least when not detailing PCP-affected people that may or may not recover from their addiction while others apparently deal with the ramification of roasting babies when high. Consider one scene where our hero has a hit put on him where the hitmen are right at the disco ready to shoot him...only for the bad guy to put a hit on the hitmen! Because he wants the hero to be alive to deal with. You might wonder how the movie lasts 97 minutes. Well, between all of the goofy sequences involving disco (don't take a shot every time someone says "weight"), I think you can understand. There is a sense of tiredness that becomes apparent in the imagination of all involved with Moore (suffice to say, one does miss the kung-fu trained prostitutes of Dolemite). Here you just get a movie that would probably make a goofy doubleheader with Reefer Madness (1936). As a whole, the film is a goofy hit-or-miss experience that never really clicks into serious gear for any of its interests but is at least committed enough in its vision to provide curiosity that may be up your alley if you like old-time oddball movies.

 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

*I'm not sure if I ever linked to this article, but it is interesting to note that Moore apparently was in the closet: My Coke-Fueled Nights With Dolemite - OZY | A Modern Media Company + New Doc Reveals Details Of ‘Dolemite’ Actor Rudy Ray Moore’s Sexuality

Petey Wheatstraw.

Review #2345. Petey Wheatstraw.

Cast: 

Rudy Ray Moore (Petey Wheatstraw; Danny Poinson as Young Petey Wheatstraw and Clifford Roquemore II as Baby Petey Wheatstraw), Jimmy Lynch (Jimmy), Leroy Daniels (Leroy), Ernest Mayhand ("Skillet"), Ebony Wright (Nell / Pet, The Devil's Daughter), Wildman Steve (Steve), G. Tito Shaw (Lucifer / The Devil), and Ted Clemmons (Ted) Directed by Cliff Roquemore (#1974 - The Human Tornado)

Review: 

Honestly, I forgot that it has nearly been five years since I stumbled across Dolemite (1975), which starred the one and only Rudy Ray Moore, which was gloriously ridiculous from the top all the way down in terms of filmmaking and general execution in a way that you can't really hope to replicate. But of course, Moore continued to appear in movies, such as 1976's The Human Tornado and The Monkey Hustle (where he basically was doing a cameo) ...which did not go great. But you can't blame Moore for continuing to dip the toe in doing movies when the time seems right to do them. Cliff Roquemore (who, well, directed the Dolomite follow-up) is credited as having written the film as "based on the character created by R. R. Moore", one in which the movie also has a subtitle of "The Devil's Son in Law". Moore would headline one more theatrical film with Disco Godfather (released in 1979 that Roquemore co-wrote) before a string of appearances ranging from bit parts to "direct-to-video" would occur for the rest of his career. Okay, get this: our title character is one who came out of the womb as basically a six-year-old that turns to kung fu and, well, nightclub comedian. In the first twenty minutes, one gets to see our lead have his vehicle nearly robbed before he does a chase on foot to beat them up and make them re-assemble his car, for example. It doesn't take too long for him to do a line pretty similar to Dolemite, what with a line such as, "you no-business, barn rat, soup-eating, son of a- (well you get the idea)". This goes right in hand with, uh, a child getting shot and murdered as part of the thrown-together plot of extortion that yes, does deal with a guy dying and coming back to life with help of the Devil. Actually, I almost forgot, right after the, you know, child murder, the funeral party is *shot at with machine guns in broad daylight*. At least this Devil story has its own twist: the Devil will grant our hero the chance for revenge (which starts by rewinding the whole "murder in broad daylight" thing) ...as long as he marries the Devil's daughter and gets busy. 

Did I mention the magic pimp cane? At any rate, the nicest thing I can say about this movie is that it might be the kind of movie one watches for sheer curiosity. Just describing scenes that happen in the movie for a review seems like a futile way to talk about a movie that doesn't exactly take itself seriously in the first place, as if being a piece of schlock is the worst thing imaginable. For the most part, it is committed to just throwing gags to the wall and living by what seems to stick, which is basically hit and miss for its 95-minute runtime, where Moore is amusing here and there. I just wish Shaw was a more interesting figure when it comes to, you know, playing the Devil, because even a moderate foil to go against Moore would be helpful rather than a movie that drifts in commitment from moment to moment. Daniels and Mayhand were actually a comedy duo in their time and even did a bit of television together (hey, ever heard of Sanford and Son?), so the bumbling they do is about on point moment to moment. You get a few silly fights and some tricks with rewinding/fast forwarding to go with one joke about scaring someone right in the pants. The ending is probably about as appropriately half-assed as possible: you get a bit of "fighting" to go along with a fake-out ending, which I suppose works better than the Devil being brought down by a comedian that loves the hell out of a cane. As a whole, the rule of diminishing returns doesn't apply as severely here with Moore because one can at least appreciate the brazen energy displayed on screen while noting that a hit-or-miss comedy is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes you might just get lucky with what you find. I can't say it's "good enough" to win out, but if you can dig what the movie is selling, well, start digging...

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

The Monkey Hustle.

Review #2176: The Monkey Hustle.

Cast: 

Yaphet Kotto (Daddy Foxx), Kirk Calloway (Baby D), Thomas Carter (Player), Rudy Ray Moore (Goldie), Rosalind Cash (Mama), Debbie Morgan (Vi), Randy Brooks (Win), Lynn Harris (Sweet Potatoe), and Donn Carl Harper (Tiny) Directed by Arthur Marks.

Review: 

Oh sure, the "blaxploitation" genre had their share of hits and misses in that noted era of the 1970s, some of which being pretty evident to see fall in and out of the public eye. Arthur Marks was one of those directors that made a handful of films in that decade that can be thought of as belonging to that certain label. Born in Los Angeles to a family involved in show business, Marks was an assistant director in the early days of television alongside film before getting his chance to direct with television, most notably with over 75 episodes of Perry Mason. Marks started directing features with Togetherness (1970), but the films that likely stick with people best were the five (for which he also sometimes produced) in the "blaxploitation" label with each featuring a prominent name (in varying levels): Detroit 9000 (1973, starring Alex Rocco), Bucktown (1975, starring Fred Williamson and Pam Grier), Friday Foster (1975, starring Grier with Yaphet Kotto and Godfrey Cambridge), J. D.'s Revenge (1976, with Glynn Turman and Louis Gossett Jr.), and this feature, which actually was his last as a feature director. He directed a bit of TV afterwards before his death in 2019 at the age of 92. The film was cited later by Michael Jai White as an inspiration when growing up (prior to starring in films such as Black Dynamite), where he described it as "just brash, unlike anything I'd ever seen".

The script was done by Odie Hawkins and Charles Eric Johnson (which ended up as the last feature screenplay credited to each) for distribution by American International Pictures. Honestly, the fact that Kotto is featured with Rudy Ray Moore (in his first non-Dolemite film) on the poster seemed like a useful enough argument to go looking for this film, even though it sounded like one of those films that could go either way in varying entertainment level. Unfortunately, the movie is not particularly consistent enough to work for 90 minutes beyond the occasional chuckle. It may seem like an interesting ensemble idea, but it lacks proper tension and all-around energy to actually pull it off. It seems more like a collection of half-baked ideas of trying to shape the youth into productive lines of work (read: hustling) that practically begs for a bigger presence in the overall endgame. Kotto does have a generally useful presence when it comes to huckster charm, because his confidence in not needing to do an honest day of work to live another day for the tricks of trade is satisfactory to the bare minimum required. Oh to live with better material to watch. Moore does not have as much schtick to play with  (who appears lightly but has his own music cue pop up a handful of times when he appears in a scene), but he at least seems game to actually play the role of playing the strings of the community in flair rather than just sit there. Good God, I'd rather watch Kotto and Moore try to ham each other out rather than spend time with Calloway and the nonconsequential story that comes in youth (remember that that the main "plot" only comes together because of having to appeal to the folks lording over the rest in hustles and not anyone else). Who care about romance between a bunch of folks in the mean (citation needed) streets of Chicago when they have the connection of a battery with 5% remaining? It basically is a series of vignettes that loosely tie together with the all-encompassing "protect the streets from pesky construction" that falls on deaf ears. If the action or hustling (the plans shown here sure are detailed enough for such small-time gains) is going to seem like something you've seen before, the least one can do is have some fun with ham acting or noted names, but here it just is a flatly average experience all the way through. Everything is rudimentary here, but a 5 is just about right for a few curious stares on a late night, because a halfway there rating seems accurate enough in hustle and accuracy.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

The Human Tornado.

Review #1974: The Human Tornado.

Cast: 

Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Lady Reed ("Queen Bee"), Jimmy Lynch (Mr. Motion), Howard Jackson (Himself), Gloria Delaney (Annie "Hurricane Annie"), Jerry Jones (Pete), Sir Lady Java (Herself), J.B. Baron (Sheriff Beatty), Jack Kelly (Captain Ryan), Herb Graham (Cavaletti), Barbara Gerl (Mrs. Cavaletti), James R. Page (Jimmy), and Ernie Hudson (Bo) Directed by Cliff Roquemore.

Review: 

"I wasn't saying dirty words just to say them... It was a form of art, sketches in which I developed ghetto characters who cursed. I don't want to be referred to as a dirty old man, rather a ghetto expressionist." - Rudy Ray Moore

I'm sure you remember Dolemite, the 1975 blaxploitation crime comedy directed by D'Urville Martin that saw Rudy Ray Moore as cowriter/star. As the story goes, Moore took the idea for the character from stories he had heard from a man that was around the record store Moore was working at, who did them in rhyme. Moore took the idea and did it himself to the tune of jazz and R&B music for comedy albums, which he distributed from word-of-mouth. The movie that came from it was one that (to put it mildly): kicked ass from all sides of the street. Granted, it was ridiculous in execution to see a hero with sexual prowess and kung-fu fighting skills with profanity galore in a movie that couldn't even keep the boom mic from being seen (at least if one was watching it on a VHS or DVD). Moore would appear in a starring role in four further feature roles after Dolemite: The Human Tornado (1976), The Monkey Hustle (1976), Petey Wheatstraw (1977), and Disco Godfather (1979). Moore has been cited as an influence in rap, as cited by noted icons such as Snoop Dogg, and Moore was the subject of Dolemite Is My Name (2018), which had Eddie Murphy play him in the process of making Dolemite, and the 2009 film Black Dynamite (a parody/homage of the blaxploitation era) even honors the first film with visible boom mic shots. As for the director of the sequel, Cliff Roquemore was behind the director's chair.  The Detroit native studied theater at Wayne State University and directed a variety of regional productions before becoming involved in film, for which he was behind the production of a handful of blaxploitation features, with him directing Moore in this film Petey Wheatstraw. Jerry Jones wrote the script for this film just like he did for Moore's last film, albeit without Moore serving as a writer this time. 

You know, this may actually be slightly a better-made feature than Dolemite, but that isn't exactly saying much. Saying random highlights might be a disservice when one could see it for themselves, really. The original film was sheer ridiculousness in the level of things it wanted you to go with when it came to general staging. The sequel isn't quite as ridiculous, but there are still various little moments of "of course that happened" here and there, such as trying to pass off the opening as taking place not in California when you can see the Hollywood sign and then find yourself looking at Bronson Cave, the familiar cave of countless B-movies. Hell, Dolemite is shown doing a routine in various clothes, as if they could only film some the funny bits of Moore's act and have to come back on random other days without regard for if the clothes matched or not. The "kung-fu" action is just sped-up regular moving (complete with funny noises), which somehow is sillier than when Dolemite was blowing people away the first time around (since he had a stable of women that were trained in kung-fu). Hell, now you have scenes of Dolemite doing a scene of lovemaking in, uh, a trippy sequence where the "bed" is first seen as building blocks. It even has an "Instant Replay" scene right before the character rolls down a hill (naked, I might add).  It is a weird movie that sees Moore talk mostly in rhymes (which seems more noticeable this time around than the previous film). The actors that return from this film aren't any different than before, which sure says something when one deals with a plot involving kidnapping and brief appearances from folks best known for either Maverick or Ghostbusters. The villain this time is just a bunch of weirdo white folks, which is a bare change from the minimally developed villain of the last film (well, at least when you consider that the first film not only had hustlers as adversaries but crooked cops). Hell, the climax is scattershot to the max, considering it ends with our hero having a bullet taken for him only to see him minutes later trick the villain into shooting him in the back due to his convenient bullet-proofed vest (considering all of this started because of adultery, you would think the man would check for more than five seconds about a man he just shot). Calling this a sleazy B-movie is like calling your dumb friend a dumb friend when they do something dumb: what do you expect?  These were movies made for audiences that wanted to see Moore and some fun action, which works to the benefit of a viewer who knows what they are going for with Moore: silly weird fun that is clearly of the 1970s. That doesn't mean I endorse the movie as "good", but there isn't anything here that is reprehensible (unless one really expected a "film" rather than a "movie"). A man unlike no other in terms of vibrant ambition, Rudy Ray Moore made a worthwhile second feature after Dolemite that continued the entertainment value found within a persistent and distinctive personality that clearly has a place within black cinema, or cinema in general when it comes to movies that might as well qualify as outsider art. 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Next time: Killer of Sheep.

Dolemite.

Review #1451: Dolemite.

Cast: 
Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Lady Reed (Queen Bee), D'Urville Martin (Willie Green), West Gale (Reverend Gibbs), John Kerry (Mitchell), Jerry Jones (Blakely), Vainus Rackstraw (Creeper), Hy Pyke (Mayor Daley) Directed by D'Urville Martin.

Review: 
"My structure has an art-form flow, and I do what I do as a form of art. I'm a ghetto expressionist, not a dirty old man."

ACTUAL FILM QUOTE: "I'm gonna let 'em know that Dolemite is back on the scene! I'm gonna let 'em know that Dolemite is my name, and fuckin' up motherfuckers is my game!"

What do you expect from a film once described as "the Citizen Kane of kung fu pimping movies"? This was the brainchild of Rudy Ray Moore, who was an comedian and singer after serving in the US Army for the entertainment unit in Germany., after realizing his desire to be an entertainer through seeing a talent contest as a teen. His first persona was "Prince DuMarr" (done at 17 while in Milwaukee), in which he performed a singing and dance act with a turban. He joined the service in 1950 and found himself stationed to perform for fellow service men, for which he served for over two years that helped inspire him to do stand-up comedy. His initial comedy albums (the first in 1961) were moderate hits on release. It was during his time working at Dolphin's of Hollywood that he would first hear about an eccentric drunk named Rico, who would trade his tall tales for money to Moore, which he was soon inspired to use a routine and persona of his own in Dolemite, with the act differing from other comedians of the time with his profanity that included rhymes and music. In 1974, he got the inspiration to further Dolemite into the public consciousness through a motion picture, for which Moore would use the money made from his records to help fund this project to the sum of over a hundred thousand dollars while Jerry Jones would write the script. Moore would prove to have a career in film (of sorts), with a sequel following in The Human Tornado the following year along with a few other blaxploitation films later in the decade while still continuing to do albums that continued until his death in 2008 at the age of 81. A film depicting the film's production was released in 2019 in Dolemite Is My Name, featuring Eddie Murphy as Moore.

It is obvious fairly quickly that this is a nonprofessional kind of film, one where the editing and shot composition seem to fight each other for whose is more obviously ridiculous, and the acting is basically nonexistent. In comparing it to other blaxploitation fare, I would say that this is probably around the level of Shaft's Big Score! (1972) in terms of general entertainment, where you will laugh plenty for this stupefying film (whether with or at what you see) with curiosity in more ways than one. It isn't great by any means, but it is admirably average enough to override flaws that could've sank in less ambitious hands. Perhaps it is like watching one of those so-bad-it's-good films, where you can poke at the holes present here and still smile a bit, such as the supposed martial arts sequences or the key fight between Moore and Martin (who apparently was not too enthusiastic in directing this film) that ends with a liver pulled out of all things. One can't resist watching Moore on screen, who generates plenty of laughs with excitement with too many actions to count. Martin may not be on screen too much as the villain, but he sure makes the confrontation scene between him and Moore worthwhile. You know why this works enough to be recommended as a winner over other certain average "cult classics"? Because this one actually managed to make me actually really care about what could happen next, whether that involved a sling of unmentionable words to make a cheeky insult by our star or where the cardboard cutouts will do next to react to what resembles a vanity project but with kung fu and style. It is a 90 minute amateur explosion that makes for a good curiosity to view and laugh as an irresistible film of its time and era.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.