Review: Willie Dynamite

Roscoe Orman is the title braggadocios pimp looking to outmuscle all other competition. Unfortunately, opposition from a fellow pimp (Roger Robinson) whose request of forming a syndicate of pimps is rejected by Willie, and the meddling of a former hooker turned ambitious social worker (Diana Sands) manage to make things tough for Willie. Also making it difficult for Willie? His loud and boastful overconfidence and cold-blooded nature towards the girls he makes money off. Willie’s kind of an idiot, at the end of the day. A somewhat violent and dangerous one sure, but an idiot all the same. Thalmus Rasulala plays the square Assistant DA who is the main squeeze of Sands, whilst Joyce Walker (as the poorly treated Pashen), Juanita Brown and Marcia McBroom are among the increasingly discontent working girls. Alan Weeks (“Truck Turner”) has a cameo as a photographer.

Having a more moralistic, dramatic side to it than a lot of other Blaxploitation films, this 1974 film tends to do better with critics than fans of the genre. Being that I kinda have a foot in each, I happen to see both sides. However, I ultimately come out on the film’s side. Directed by Gilbert Moses (who was strictly a TV guy after this) and scripted by Ron Cutler (“Blood Red”, “Article 99”) it’s certainly a must for fans of cult cinema at the very least. How many pimp movies are there that star Gordon from “Sesame Street”? Just this one, and it’s pretty damn good I must say.

A Zanuck/Brown production for Universal Pictures (a year before “Jaws”!), you can tell some cash was thrown this film’s way. It looks typically gaudy for the genre, but kinda classy as well. Speaking of gaudy, lead actor Roscoe ‘Gordon’ Orman wears several of the greatest pimp suits in cinematic history (a purple and white one, and a shiny gold and red one with blue hat being my favourites), perhaps just behind Robert DoQui’s canary yellow one in “Coffy” in awesome ostentatiousness. DoQui has a cameo here as one of the pimp council, wearing a thoroughly ordinary pimp suit, unfortunately. The costume design should’ve been Oscar nominated, at one point Orman even wears a Papal-themed suit that it simply outstanding, and his green and orange ensemble is stylish, too. The ‘Dynamite’ licence plate on his purple pimpmobile is priceless, as well (Nice leopard-print interior, too).

I’ve got a lot of affection for this film, it might even be in the Top 10 or so Blaxploitation films ever, certainly close to it. I’m not going to sit here and say that Orman (who looks like a skinny Isaac Hayes) necessarily gives a great performance here but he certainly gives the appropriate one for what the film is trying to say and achieve. He’s playing what is ultimately a foolish, braggadocios man who is about to come down hard from the top of the mountain. If Willie weren’t such a loudmouth fool, the second half of the film simply wouldn’t work. So Orman playing Willie for the big-talking moron that he is, is the right approach. So yes, it’s a pretty hammy performance, but it fits the material for the most part. Even better than Orman however, is the late Diana Sands, who sadly died of cancer before the film was even released. Like Orman, she gives quite a ‘big’ performance that commands attention, but she’s also afforded some humanity and softness as well. The film’s biggest flaw however, is that her character seems to make a transition late in the film that just isn’t convincing. Sands tries her best, but I wasn’t quite buying it. I also wish the film had much more with the awesome Thalmus Rasulala, one of the best Blaxploitation actors, relegated to playing Sands’ square boyfriend, the Assistant D.A. He seems to belong to an entirely different film, though I did appreciate the attention to detail in making him look as dorky as possible by giving him the world’s ugliest bow-tie to wear. Flaws are evident in even the best Blaxploitation films however, so don’t let any of the above necessarily dissuade you from seeing and enjoying the film. The film benefits from a nice sense of humour, with a pimp council scene you simply can’t take seriously (“Black Dynamite” pretty much parodied it), and a hilarious scene where Willie’s pimpmobile gets stripped to pieces by hooligans. The humour is important, given the rather nasty subject matter of a manipulative, cold-blooded pimp exploiting young women for financial gain. It could’ve been quite unwatchable if Willie weren’t slightly comical and clearly headed for a fall. Also funny is Roger Robinson as one of the pimps in an outrageously silly, arch performance that doesn’t really jive with anything else but is too silly not to entertain anyway. He’s on another plane of existence to everyone else. Fans of cult cinema will also notice “Foxy Brown” co-star Juanita Brown and “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” beauty Marcia McBroom among the stable of Willie’s girls. Look out for an uncredited cameo by the unmistakable Clarice Taylor at Willie’s parents’ house. I’m absolutely certain it’s her. I should also mention that the film’s requisite catfight has one change from the norm in that the result is fatal. Usually the chicks just pull each other’s hair and lose a couple of buttons on their tops. So that’s a new one.

So gaudy and over-the-top you can’t take it seriously, this is an enjoyably ostentatious Blaxploitation film with a kind of Shakespearean rise-and-fall morality to its tail. It doesn’t always quite come together convincingly, but you’ll likely be enjoying the sights and sounds too much to really notice. A sense of humour definitely helps give this one a bit of a lift, and lighten things up a tad too given we’re dealing with essentially scummy characters. Fun cast too, though it needed much more Thalmus Rasulala. And more of that pimpin’ Pope suit, too. Far more enjoyable than the more popular “The Mack”, I’m not quite so sure I needed to see Orman in his underwear, though. Just how in the hell did he get to “Sesame Street” after making this? Is Elmo aware of what Gordon got up to in the 70s?    

Rating: B-