ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsrace films in the 1940s and 1960s in which black characters and communities are the protagonists and subjects of film and television, rather than sidekicks, antagonists or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...

in the 1970s. Blaxploitation films were originally aimed at an urban

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

audience but the genre's audience appeal soon broadened across racial and ethnic lines. Hollywood realized the potential profit of expanding the audiences of blaxploitation films. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' credited ''

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' is a 1971 American blaxploitation film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. His son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role, playing the title character ...

'' and the less radical Hollywood-financed film '' Shaft'' (both released in 1971) with the invention of the blaxploitation genre; ''

Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy thriller film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the ...

'' was released before either of those pictures. Blaxploitation films were also the first to feature

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

.

Description

General themes

Blaxploitation films set in the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

or

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

mainly take place in poor urban neighborhoods. Pejorative terms for white characters, such as " cracker" and "

honky Honky (also spelled honkie or sometimes honkey) is a derogatory term used to refer to White people, predominantly heard in the United States. The first recorded use of "honky" in this context may date back to 1946, although the use of " honky-to ...

," are commonly used. Blaxploitation films set in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

often deal with

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is the interbreeding of people who are considered to be members of different races. The word, now usually considered pejorative, is derived from a combination of the Latin terms ''miscere'' ("to mix") and ''genus'' ("race") ...

. The genre's films are often bold in their statements and use violence, sex, drug trafficking and other shocking qualities to provoke the audience. The films usually portray black protagonists overcoming " The Man" or emblems of the white majority that oppresses the black community. Blaxploitation includes several subtypes, including crime ('' Foxy Brown''), action/martial arts ('' Three the Hard Way''), westerns (''

Boss Nigger ''Boss Nigger'' (also known as simply ''Boss'' and ''The Black Bounty Killer'') is a 1975 blaxploitation Western film directed by Jack Arnold, and stars former football player Fred Williamson, who both wrote and co-produced. ''Boss Nigger'' i ...

''), horror ('' Abby'', ''

Blacula ''Blacula'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) b ...

''), prison (''

Penitentiary A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

''), comedy (''

Uptown Saturday Night Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico * Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina * Uptown, area surrounding the University of Ci ...

''), nostalgia (''

Five on the Black Hand Side ''Five on the Black Hand Side'' is a 1973 African American comedy film based on the 1969 play of the same name by Charlie L. Russell. It was shot in Los Angeles, California. Leonard Jackson appeared as John Henry Brooks. He was cast in Steven ...

''), coming-of-age (''

Cooley High ''Cooley High'' is a 1975 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film that follows the narrative of high school seniors and best friends, Leroy "Preach" Jackson ( Glynn Turman) and Richard "Cochise" Morris (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs). Written by Eric ...

/

Cornbread, Earl and Me ''Cornbread, Earl and Me'' is a 1975 American coming-of-age drama film that stars Tierre Turner, Laurence Fishburne (in his film debut), and NBA player Jamaal Wilkes. It was directed and co-produced by Joseph Manduke. The film is loosely based ...

''), and musical (''

Sparkle Sparkle may refer to: * Sparkle (catamaran), a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose * Sparkle (drink), a lemon-flavored soft drink * Sparkle, a brand of paper towels owned by Georgia-Pacific * Sparkle Plenty, a character in the ''Dick Tracy'' c ...

''). Following the example set by ''

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' is a 1971 American blaxploitation film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. His son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role, playing the title character ...

'', many blaxploitation films feature

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...

soundtracks with heavy bass, funky beats and wah-wah guitars. These soundtracks are notable for complexity that was not common to the radio-friendly funk tracks of the 1970s. They also often feature a rich orchestration which included flutes and violins. Following the popularity of these films in the 1970s, movies within other genres began to feature black characters with stereotypical blaxploitation characteristics, such as the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

underworld characters in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' Live and Let Die'' (1973),

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

's character in ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

'' (1973) and

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

's character in ''

The Inglorious Bastards ''The Inglorious Bastards'' ( it, Quel maledetto treno blindato, lit=That damned armored train) is a 1978 Italian Euro War film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, Jackie Basehart, and Ian B ...

'' (1978).

Black Power

Afeni Shakur Afeni Shakur Davis (born Alice Faye Williams; January 10, 1947 – May 2, 2016) was an American political activist and member of the Black Panther Party. Shakur was the mother of rapper Tupac Shakur and the executor of his estate. She founded t ...

claimed that every aspect of culture (including cinema) in the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by the Black Power movement. ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' was one of the first films to incorporate black power

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

and permit black actors to be the stars of their own narratives, rather than being relegated to the typical roles available to them (such as the " mammy" figure and other low-status characters). Films such as ''Shaft'' brought the black experience to film in a new way, allowing black political and social issues that had been ignored in cinema to be explored. ''Shaft'' and its protagonist, John Shaft, brought

African American culture African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on Ame ...

to the mainstream world. ''Sweetback'' and ''Shaft'' were both influenced by the black power movement, containing

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

themes, solidarity and social consciousness alongside the genre-typical images of sex and violence. Knowing that film could bring about social and cultural change, the Black Power movement seized the genre to highlight black socioeconomic struggles in the 1970s; many such films contained black heroes who were able to overcome the institutional oppression of African American culture and history. Later films such as '' Super Fly'' softened the rhetoric of black power, encouraging resistance within the

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

system rather than a radical transformation of society. ''Super Fly'' still embraced the

black nationalist Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...

movement in its argument that black and white authority cannot coexist easily.

Stereotypes

The genre's role in exploring and shaping

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...

in the United States has been controversial. Some held that the blaxploitation trend was a token of black empowerment but others accused the movies of perpetuating common white stereotypes about black people. As a result, many called for the end of the genre. The

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

,

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...

and

National Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

joined to form the Coalition Against Blaxploitation. Their influence in the late 1970s contributed to the genre's demise. Literary critic

Addison Gayle Addison Gayle, Jr. (June 2, 1932 – October 3, 1991) was an American professor, literary critic, and author in New York City. He advocated for a Black aesthetic. Biography Gayle was born in Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from the City Coll ...

wrote in 1974, "The best example of this kind of nihilism / irresponsibility are the Black films; here is freedom pushed to its most ridiculous limits; here are writers and actors who claim that freedom for the artist entails exploitation of the very people to whom they owe their artistic existence." Films such as ''Super Fly'' and ''The Mack'' received intense criticism not only for the stereotype of the protagonist (generalizing pimps as representative of all African-American men, in this case) but for portraying all black communities as hotbeds for drugs and crime. Blaxploitation films such as '' Mandingo'' (1975) provided mainstream Hollywood producers, in this case

Dino De Laurentiis Agostino "Dino" De Laurentiis (; 8 August 1919 – 10 November 2010) was an Italian-American film producer. Along with Carlo Ponti, he was one of the producers who brought Italian cinema to the international scene at the end of World War II. He ...

, a cinematic way to depict plantation slavery with all of its brutal, historical and racial contradictions and controversies, including sex, miscegenation, rebellion. The story world also depicts the plantation as one of the main origins of boxing as a sport in the U.S. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a new wave of acclaimed black film makers, particularly

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

(''

Do the Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, a ...

''),

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

(''

Boyz n the Hood ''Boyz n the Hood'' is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and An ...

''), and Allen and Albert Hughes (''

Menace II Society ''Menace II Society'' (pronounced ''Menace to Society'') is a 1993 American teen drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers in their directorial debut. The film is set in Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and follows the life of K ...

)'' focused on black urban life in their movies. These directors made use of blaxploitation elements while incorporating implicit criticism of the genre's glorification of stereotypical "criminal" behavior. Alongside accusations of exploiting stereotypes, the NAACP also criticized the blaxploitation genre of exploiting the black community and culture of America, by creating films for a profit that those communities would never see, despite being the vastly misrepresented main focus of many blaxploitation film plots. Many film professionals still believe that there is no truly equal "Black Hollywood" as evidenced by the " Oscars So White" scandal in 2015 that caused uproar when no black actors were nominated for " Best Actor" Oscar Awards.

Slavesploitation

Slavesploitation, a subgenre of blaxploitation in literature and film, flourished briefly in the late 1960s and 1970s. As its name suggests, the genre is characterized by sensationalistic depictions of slavery. Abrams, arguing that

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

's ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...

'' (2012) finds its historical roots in the slavesploitation genre, observes that slavesploitation films are characterized by "crassly exploitative representations of oppressed slave protagonists". One early antecedent of the genre is ''Slaves'' (1969), which Gaines notes was "not 'slavesploitation' in the vein of later films", but which nonetheless featured graphic depictions of beatings and sexual violence against slaves. Novotny argues that ''Blacula'' (1972), although it does not depict slavery directly, is historically linked to the slavesploitation subgenre. By far the best-known and best-studied exemplar of slavesploitation is ''Mandingo'', a 1957 novel which was adapted into a 1961 play and a 1975 film. Indeed, ''Mandingo'' was so well known that a contemporary reviewer of ''Die the Long Day'', a 1972 novel by

Orlando Patterson Horace Orlando Patterson (born 5 June 1940) is a Jamaican historical and cultural sociologist known for his work regarding issues of race and slavery in the United States and Jamaica, as well as the sociology of development. He is the John Cowl ...

, called it an example of the "Mandingo genre". The film, panned on its release, has been subject to widely divergent critical assessments. Robin Wood, for instance, argued in 1998 that it is the "greatest film about race ever made in Hollywood, certainly prior to Spike Lee and in some respects still".

Legacy

Influence

Blaxploitation films have had an enormous and complicated influence on American cinema. Filmmaker and exploitation film fan

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

, for example, has made numerous references to the blaxploitation genre in his films. An early blaxploitation tribute can be seen in the character of "Lite," played by

Sy Richardson Sy Richardson is an American film and television actor. Also a two-time screenwriter, Richardson wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film ''Posse''. Early life and education He was born in Cincinnati and grew up in Chicago. He attended Farragut C ...

, in '' Repo Man'' (1984). Richardson later wrote ''

Posse Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates. Posse may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Posse'' (1975 ...

'' (1993), which is a kind of blaxploitation

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

. Some of the later, blaxploitation-influenced movies such as ''

Jackie Brown ''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel '' Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Jac ...

'' (1997), ''

Undercover Brother ''Undercover Brother'' is a 2002 American satirical spy action comedy blaxploitation film directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Eddie Griffin. The screenplay by John Ridley and Michael McCullers is based on the Internet animated series c ...

'' (2002), ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and M ...

'' (2002), ''

Kill Bill Vol. 1 ''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as The Bride (Kill Bill), the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, ...

'' (2003), and ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...

'' (2012) feature

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

nods to the genre. The parody ''Undercover Brother'', for example, stars

Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tiberius Jef ...

as an

afro The afro is a hair type created by natural growth of kinky hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" ''Ebony'', February 1973. ...

-topped agent for a clandestine organization satirically known as the ''"B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D."''. Likewise, ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' co-stars

Beyoncé Knowles Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

as the

Tamara Dobson Tamara Janice Dobson (May 14, 1947 – October 2, 2006) was an American actress and fashion model. Beginning her career in modeling during the late 1960s, Dobson became best known for her title role as government agent Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones the 1 ...

/

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

-inspired heroine,

Foxxy Cleopatra ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and M ...

. In the 1977 parody film ''

The Kentucky Fried Movie ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' is a 1977 American independent sketch comedy film, produced by Kim Jorgensen, Larry Kostroff, and Robert K. Weiss, and directed by John Landis. Among the numerous star cameos are George Lazenby, Bill Bixby, Henry G ...

'', a mock trailer for ''Cleopatra Schwartz'' depicts another Grier-like action star married to a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. In a famous scene in ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward B ...

'', the protagonists discuss ''

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Gr ...

'', a mid-1970s blaxploitation television series. In the catalytic scene of ''

True Romance ''True Romance'' is a 1993 American romantic crime film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It features an ensemble cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt ...

'', the characters watch the movie ''

The Mack ''The Mack'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by California native Michael Campus, starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. The film also stars Oscar-nominee Juanita Moore and Tony-nominated actor Dick Anthony Williams. Filmed in O ...

''.

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

's '' Shaft'' (2000), starring

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

, is a modern-day interpretation of a classic blaxploitation film. The 1997 film ''

Hoodlum A hoodlum is a thug, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft. Early use The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was ...

'' starring

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

portrays a fictional account of black mobster Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson and recasts gangster blaxploitation with a 1930s twist. In 2004,

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

released ''

Baadasssss! ''Baadasssss!'' is a 2003 American biographical drama film, written, produced, directed by, and starring Mario Van Peebles. The film is based on the struggles of Van Peebles' father Melvin Van Peebles (played by Mario himself), as he attempts to f ...

'', about the making of his father Melvin's movie (with Mario playing Melvin). 2007's '' American Gangster'', based on the true story of heroin dealer

Frank Lucas Frank Lucas (September 9, 1930 – May 30, 2019) was an American drug trafficker who operated in Harlem, New York City, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly ...

, takes place in the early 1970s in Harlem and has many elements similar in style to blaxploitation films, specifically its prominent featuring of the song "

Across 110th Street ''Across 110th Street'' is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Barry Shear and starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin. The film is set in Harlem, New York and takes its name from 110th Street, the ...

". Blaxploitation films have profoundly impacted contemporary hip-hop culture. Several prominent hip hop artists, including

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

,

Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs in hi ...

, Ice-T,

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...

, and

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

, have adopted the no-nonsense pimp persona popularized first by ex-pimp

Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Ma ...

's 1967 book ''Pimp'' and subsequently by films such as '' Super Fly'', ''

The Mack ''The Mack'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by California native Michael Campus, starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. The film also stars Oscar-nominee Juanita Moore and Tony-nominated actor Dick Anthony Williams. Filmed in O ...

'', and ''

Willie Dynamite ''Willie Dynamite'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Gilbert Moses and starring Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, and was released by Universal Pictures. The eponymous Willie Dynamite is a pimp in New Yo ...

''. In fact, many hip-hop artists have paid tribute to pimping within their lyrics (most notably

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

's hit single "

P.I.M.P. "P.I.M.P." is a song by American rapper 50 Cent, from his debut studio album '' Get Rich or Die Tryin (2003). The song features production from Mr. Porter of D12 and was mixed by Dr. Dre. A remixed version of the song, featuring fellow ...

") and have openly embraced the pimp image in their

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s, which include entourages of scantily-clad women, flashy jewelry (known as "''

bling Bling-bling, often shortened to just bling, is "flashy jewelry worn especially as an indication of wealth or status; broadly: expensive and ostentatious possessions" such as grills and designer bags. The term arose as slang, but grew into a cu ...

''"), and luxury

Cadillacs The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed in ...

(referred to as "

pimpmobile A pimpmobile is a large luxury vehicle, usually a 1960s, 1970s or 1980s-model Lincoln, Cadillac, Buick or Chrysler vehicle, that has been customized in a garish, extravagant and kitsch or campy style. The style is largely an American phenomenon. ...

s"). The most famous scene of ''The Mack'', featuring the "Annual

Players Ball The Players Ball is an annual gathering of pimps, held in Chicago, Illinois. Other Players Balls take place across the country, most notably in Miami and Atlanta. The first Players Ball held in 1999 took place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Presently, ...

", has become an often-referenced

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

icon—most recently by ''

Chappelle's Show ''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were ...

'', where it was parodied as the "Playa Hater's Ball". The genre's overseas influence extends to artists such as Norway's hip-hop duo

Madcon Madcon is a Norwegian musical duo formed in 1992 by Yosef Wolde-Mariam and Tshawe Baqwa. They have released eight albums as of 2022. They are best known for the 2007 cover of " Beggin'" by The Four Seasons and the 2015 single " Don't Worry" feat ...

. In

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

's novel ''

Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley cam ...

'', set in 2004, two characters are former blaxploitation stars. In 1980, opera director

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...

(not to be confused with actor

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

) produced and directed a staging of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's opera ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'' in the manner of a blaxploitation film, set in contemporary Spanish Harlem, with African-American singers portraying the anti-heroes as street-thugs, killing by gunshot rather than with a sword, using recreational drugs, and partying almost naked. It was later released on commercial video and can be seen on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. A 2016 video game, ''

Mafia III ''Mafia III'' is a 2016 action-adventure video game developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K Games. It was released in October 2016 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, in May 2017 for macOS, and in October 2021 for Google Stadia. It is ...

'', is set in the year 1968 and revolves around Lincoln Clay, a mixed-race African American orphan raised by "black mob". After the murder of his surrogate family at the hands of the

Italian mafia Organized crime in Italy and its criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially Southern Italy, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions since at least the 19th century. There are six ...

, Lincoln Clay seeks vengeance on those who took away the only thing that mattered to him.

Cultural references

The notoriety of the blaxploitation genre has led to many parodies. The earliest attempts to mock the genre,

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...

's '' Coonskin'' and Rudy Ray Moore's ''

Dolemite ''Dolemite'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack. Moore, who started his career as a stand-up comedian in ...

'', date back to the genre's heyday in 1975. ''Coonskin'' was intended to deconstruct racial stereotypes, from early

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

stereotypes to more recent stereotypes found in blaxploitation film itself. The work stimulated great controversy even before its release when the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

challenged it. Even though distribution was handed to a smaller distributor who advertised it as an exploitation film, it soon developed a cult following with black viewers. ''Dolemite,'' less serious in tone and produced as a spoof, centers around a sexually active black pimp played by Rudy Ray Moore, who based the film on his

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

act. A sequel, ''

The Human Tornado ''The Human Tornado'' is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Cliff Roquemore. The film is a sequel to ''Dolemite''. Plot After coming off a successful comedy tour, Dolemite throws a get-together at his mansion. The party is crashe ...

'', followed. Later spoofs parodying the blaxploitation genre include ''

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' is a 1988 American blaxploitation parody film written, directed by, and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy African-American actors who were part of the ...

'', ''

Pootie Tang ''Pootie Tang'' is a 2001 American comedy film written and directed by Louis C.K. Adapted from a comedy sketch that first appeared on ''The Chris Rock Show'', the character Pootie Tang is a satire of the stereotyped action heroes who appeared in ...

'', ''

Undercover Brother ''Undercover Brother'' is a 2002 American satirical spy action comedy blaxploitation film directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Eddie Griffin. The screenplay by John Ridley and Michael McCullers is based on the Internet animated series c ...

'', '' Black Dynamite'', and ''

The Hebrew Hammer ''The Hebrew Hammer'' is a 2003 American comedy film written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman. It stars Adam Goldberg, Judy Greer, Andy Dick, Mario Van Peebles, and Peter Coyote. The plot concerns a Jewish blaxploitation crime fighter known a ...

'', which featured a Jewish protagonist and was jokingly referred to by its director as a "Jewsploitation" film. Robert Townsend's comedy ''

Hollywood Shuffle ''Hollywood Shuffle'' is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadbl ...

'' features a young black actor who is tempted to take part in a white-produced blaxploitation film. The satirical book '' Our Dumb Century'' features an article from the 1970s entitled "Congress Passes Anti-Blaxploitation Act: Pimps, Players Subject to Heavy Fines".

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's network television comedy, "

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...

", has frequently spoofed the Rudy Ray Moore-created franchise ''

Dolemite ''Dolemite'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack. Moore, who started his career as a stand-up comedian in ...

'', with a series of sketches performed by comic actor Aries Spears, in the role of "The Son of Dolemite". Other sketches include the characters " Funkenstein", "

Dr. Funkenstein "Dr. Funkenstein" is a song by the funk band Parliament. It was the second single released from their 1976 album, ''The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein''. It reached number 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart.Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Uni ...

as a blaxploitation superhero. A recurring theme in these sketches is the inexperience of the cast and crew in the blaxploitation era, with emphasis on ridiculous scripting and shoddy acting, sets, costumes, and editing. The sketches are testaments to the poor production quality of the films, with obvious boom mike appearances and intentionally poor cuts and continuity. Another of

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's network television comedies, "

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

" starring

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...

, frequently references the blaxploitation genre. In the Season Three episode "All The Players Came", when Martin organizes a "Player's Ball" charity event to save a local theater, several stars of the blaxploitation era, such as Rudy Ray Moore,

Antonio Fargas Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series '' Starsky & Hutch''. Early life Fargas was born in New ...

,

Dick Anthony Williams Richard Anthony Williams (August 9, 1934 – February 16, 2012) was an American actor. Williams is best known for his starring performances on Broadway in ''The Poison Tree'', ''What the Wine-Sellers Buy'' and ''Black Picture Show''. Williams also ...

and

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

all make cameo appearances. In one scene, Martin, in character as aging pimp "Jerome", refers to Pam Grier as "

Sheba, Baby ''Sheba, Baby'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation action film directed by William Girdler and starring Pam Grier and Austin Stoker. Plot Private investigator Sheba Shayne (Grier) returns from Chicago, Illinois to her hometown of Louisville, K ...

" in reference to her 1975 blaxploitation feature film of the same name. In the movie ''

Leprechaun in the Hood ''Leprechaun in the Hood'' (also known as ''Leprechaun 5'' or ''Leprechaun 5: In the Hood'') is a 2000 American black comedy slasher film directed by Rob Spera and the fifth installment in the ''Leprechaun'' series. The film follows Warwick Davis ...

'', a character played by Ice-T pulls a baseball bat from his Afro. This scene alludes to a similar scene in '' Foxy Brown'', in which

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

hides a small semi-automatic pistol in her Afro. Adult Swim's ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...

'' series has a recurring character called "Boxy Brown" - a play on Foxy Brown. An imaginary friend of

Meatwad This is a list of characters featured in the Adult Swim animated television series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. Main characters Master Shake Voiced by Dana Snyder, Master Shake (or simply Shake) is a narcissistic, lazy, shallow, selfish, and idi ...

, Boxy Brown is a cardboard box with a crudely drawn face with a French cut that dons an afro. Whenever Boxy speaks, '70s funk music, typical of blaxploitation films, plays in the background. The cardboard box also has a confrontational attitude and

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

similar to many heroes of this film genre. Some of the TVs found in the action video game '' Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne'' feature a Blaxploitation-themed parody of the original '' Max Payne'' game called ''Dick Justice'', after its main character. Dick behaves much like the original Max Payne (down to the "constipated" grimace and metaphorical speech) but wears an afro and mustache and speaks in Ebonics.

Duck King The following is a list of player character, video game characters featured in the ''Fatal Fury'' fighting game series developed by SNK. The series consists of the original ''Fatal Fury: King of Fighters, Fatal Fury'', ''Fatal Fury 2'', ''Fatal F ...

, a fictional character created for the video game series ''

Fatal Fury ''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system. Games Canon * ''Fatal Fury'' – The first game of the ''Fatal Fury'' series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terry B ...

'', is a prime example of foreign black stereotypes. The sub-cult movie short '' Gayniggers from Outer Space'' is a blaxploitation-like science fiction oddity directed by Danish filmmaker, DJ, and singer Morten Lindberg. Jefferson Twilight, a character in ''The Venture Bros.'', is a parody of the comic-book character Blade (a black, half human, half-vampire vampire hunter), as well as a blaxploitation reference. He has an afro, sideburns, and a mustache. He carries swords, dresses in stylish 1970s clothing, and says that he hunts "Blaculas". He looks and sounds like

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

. The intro credits of ''

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America ''Beavis and Butt-Head Do America'' is a 1996 American adult animated comedy film based on the MTV animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. The film was co-written and directed by series creator Mike Judge, who reprises his roles fro ...

'' feature a blaxploitation-style theme sung by

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

. A scene from the Season 9 episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', ''

Simpson Tide "Simpson Tide" is the nineteenth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 29, 1998. After being fired from the Springfield Nuclea ...

", shows Homer Simpson watching "Exploitation Theatre." A voice-over announces the fake movie titles such as "The Blunch Black of Blotre Blame." ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' has parodied blaxploitation numerous times using fake movie titles such as "Black to the Future" ''(

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...

)'' and "

Love Blactually "Love, Blactually" is the first episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series '' Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 28, 2008. The episode features anthropomorphic dog Brian as h ...

" ''(

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

)''. These parodies occasionally feature a stereotyped black version of Peter Griffin.

Martha Southgate Martha Southgate (born December 12, 1960) is an African-American novelist and essayist best known for her novel '' Third Girl from the Left''. Her work has appeared in ''The New York Times Magazine'', '' O'', ''Premiere'', and ''Essence''. Early ...

's 2005 novel '' Third Girl from the Left'' is set in Hollywood during the era of blaxploitation films and references many blaxploitation films and stars such as

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

and

Coffy ''Coffy'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. The story is about a black female vigilante played by Pam Grier who seeks violent revenge against a heroin dealer responsible for her sister's addiction.Gary A. ...

.

Notable blaxploitation films

1968

*''

Uptight (film) ''Uptight'' (also known as ''Up Tight!'') is a 1968 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin. It was intended as an updated version of John Ford's 1935 film '' The Informer'', based on the book of the same name by Liam O'Flaherty, but the se ...

'' a 1968 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin. It was intended as an updated version of John Ford's 1935 film The Informer, based on the book of the same name by Liam O'Flaherty, but the setting was transposed from Dublin to Cleveland. The soundtrack was performed by Booker T. & the MG's. This movie follows the story of a Black nationalist organization in Cleveland (largely based in the Hough and Glenville neighborhoods) who becomes disillusioned with non-violence after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and prepares for urban guerilla warfare.

1970

* ''The Black Angels'' is about a black motorcycle gang and is part of the

outlaw biker film The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club. History Outlaw biker clubs formed in the late 1940s on the West Coast after the en ...

genre. *''

They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! ''They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'' is a 1970 American DeLuxe Color crime drama film directed by Gordon Douglas. The second installment in a trilogy, the release was preceded by '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1967) and followed by '' The Organizati ...

'' A sequel to '' In the Heat of the Night'', it is a pre-''Shaft'' blaxploitation, and stylistically different from the original film. * '' Carter's Army'' is a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

about a unit of black soldiers in World War II. * ''

Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy thriller film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the ...

'' (dir.

Ossie Davis Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...

) is based on a novel by

Chester Himes Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is be ...

. Features two black NYPD detectives, Coffin Ed Johnson ( Raymond St. Jacques) and

Gravedigger Jones The ''Harlem Detective'' series of novels by Chester Himes comprises nine hardboiled novels set in the 1950s and early 1960s: List of novels * ''For Love of Imabelle'', a.k.a. ''A Rage in Harlem'' * ''The Real Cool Killers'' * ''The Crazy Kill'' ...

(

Godfrey Cambridge Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge (February 26, 1933 – November 29, 1976) was an American stand-up comic and actor. Alongside Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, and Nipsey Russell, he was acclaimed by ''Time'' in 1965 as "one of the country's foremost celeb ...

), on the hunt for a money-filled cotton bale stolen by a corrupt reverend named Deke O'Malley.

1971

* ''

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'' is a 1971 American blaxploitation film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles. His son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role, playing the title character ...

'' is written, produced, scored, directed by and stars

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...

. The hero, named Sweetback because of his sexual powers, is an apolitical sex worker. His pimp, Beadle, makes a deal with a couple of police officers to let them take Sweetback into the station so it looks like the cops are picking up suspects. While Sweetback is in custody, the police arrest a young black militant and take him to a rural area to torture him. Sweetback steps in and beats the police unconscious. With the police chasing him, Sweetback comes to understand the power of the black community sticking together. He uses his ingenuity and survival skills to outwit the police and escape to Mexico. Music by Earth Wind & Fire. * '' Shaft'' (dir.

Gordon Parks Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks (November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006) was an American photographer, composer, author, poet, and film director, who became prominent in U.S. documentary photojournalism in the 1940s through 1970s—particu ...

) features

Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film ''Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...

as detective

John Shaft John Shaft is a fictional character created by author/screenwriter Ernest Tidyman for the 1970 novel of the same name. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and in its four sequels, '' Shaft's Big Score!'' (1972), '' Sh ...

. The soundtrack features contributions from

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

, whose recording of the titular song won several awards, including an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. ''Shaft'' was deemed culturally relevant by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, and it spawned two sequels, ''

Shaft's Big Score ''Shaft's Big Score!'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation action- crime film starring Richard Roundtree as private detective John Shaft. It is the second entry in the ''Shaft'' film series, with both director Gordon Parks and screenwriter Ernest ...

'' (1972) and ''

Shaft in Africa ''Shaft in Africa'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by John Guillermin, and the third film of the '' Shaft'' series, starring Richard Roundtree as John Shaft. Stirling Silliphant wrote the screenplay. The film's budget was $1.5 m ...

'' (1973), as well as a short-lived TV series starring Roundtree. The concept was revived in 2000 with an all-new

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

starring

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

as the nephew of the original John Shaft, with Roundtree reprising his role as the original Shaft. A direct sequel to the 2000 film was released in 2019, also titled '' Shaft''.

1972

* '' Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972 American comedy film)'' Peter DeAnda as Charleston Blue, starring Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques, loosely based on Chester Himes' novel The Heat's On. It is a sequel to the 1970 film Cotton Comes to Harlem. All tracks written by Donny Hathaway except "Little Ghetto Boy" * ''

Hit Man Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

'' (dir.

George Armitage George Brendan Armitage (born March 2, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed the films '' Miami Blues'' (1990) and '' Grosse Pointe Blank'' (1997). He worked frequently with Roger Corman. Life and career Ar ...

) is the story of an

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

hit man, played by former NFL player

Bernie Casey Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American actor, poet and professional American football player. Early life Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia, the son of Flossie (Coleman) and Frank Leslie Casey. He graduated ...

, who comes to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

after his brother is murdered. He learns that his niece has been forced into pornography. She is eventually murdered. He sets out to murder everyone directly involved, from a porn star (

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

), to a theater owner ( Ed Cambridge), to a man he looked up to as a child (

Rudy Challenger Rudolph Michael Challenger (October 2, 1928 – August 22, 2012) was an African-American supporting actor who had roles in various projects over the course of his thirty-four year career in film and television in Hollywood. He appeared on such ...

), and a mobster (

Don Diamond Donald Alan Diamond (June 4, 1921 – June 19, 2011) was an American radio, film, and television actor who portrayed "Crazy Cat", the sidekick and heir apparent to Chief Wild Eagle on the popular 1960s television sitcom, ''F Troop'' (1965–19 ...

). * '' Super Fly'' (dir.

Gordon Parks Jr. Gordon Roger Parks Jr. (December 7, 1934April 3, 1979) was an American film director, best known for the 1972 film '' Super Fly''. Life and career Parks was born to Sally Alvis and photographer and director Gordon Parks in Minneapolis in 1934 ...

) features a soundtrack by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. ''Super Fly'' is one of the most controversial, profitable and popular classics of the genre. * ''

The Legend of Nigger Charley ''The Legend of Nigger Charley'' is a 1972 blaxploitation Western film directed by Martin Goldman. The story of a trio of escaped slaves, it was released during the heyday of blaxploitation films. Filmed in Charles City, Virginia, Eve's Ranch, ...

'' (dir. Martin Goldman) is written by, co-produced by and stars

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

. It was followed by the sequel ''

The Soul of Nigger Charley ''The Soul of Nigger Charley'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation Western film directed by Larry Spangler and starring Fred Williamson. It is the sequel to 1972's '' The Legend of Nigger Charley''. It is followed by '' Boss Nigger''. It is rate ...

'' (1973). * '' Hammer'' (dir. Bruce D. Clark) stars Fred Williamson as B.J. Hammer, a boxer who gets mixed up with a crooked manager who wants him to throw a fight for the Mafia. * ''

Across 110th Street ''Across 110th Street'' is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Barry Shear and starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin. The film is set in Harlem, New York and takes its name from 110th Street, the ...

'' (dir.

Barry Shear Barry Shear (March 23, 1923 in New York City – June 13, 1979 in Los Angeles) was an American film and television director and producer. Career Television career Shear began directing for television in the 1950s for the DuMont Television Net ...

) is a crime thriller about two detectives (played by

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

and

Yaphet Kotto Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born Frederick Samuel Kotto; November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) as ...

) who try to catch a group of robbers who stole $300,000 from the Mob before the Mob catches up with them. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

by

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

reached #19 on the Billboard Black Singles Chart. * ''

Black Mama, White Mama ''Black Mama White Mama'' (also known as ''Women in Chains'') is a 1973 women in prison film directed by Eddie Romero and starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. The film has elements of blaxploitation. The movie also was released as ''Hot, Har ...

'' is a

women in prison film The women in prison film (or WiP film) is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the early 20th century and continues to the present day. Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by ...

partly inspired by ''

The Defiant Ones ''The Defiant Ones'' is a 1958 American adventure drama film which tells the story of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive. It stars Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier ...

'' (1958) starring

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

and

Margaret Markov Margaret Mary Markov (born November 22, 1948) is an American retired actress. She had a supporting role in the romantic drama ''The Sterile Cuckoo'' (1969) with Liza Minnelli and co-starred in '' There Is No 13'' (1974), as well as appearing in ...

in the roles originated by Sidney Poitier and

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

. * ''

Blacula ''Blacula'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) b ...

'' is a take on '' Dracula'' which features an African prince (played by William H. Marshall) who is bitten and imprisoned by

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

. Once freed from his coffin, he spreads terror in modern-day Los Angeles. * ''

Melinda Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...

'' (dir. Hugh Robertson) features music by Jerry Peters and Jerry Butler. * '' Slaughter'' stars Jim Brown as an ex-Green Beret who seeks revenge against a crime syndicate for the murder of his parents. It spawned the sequel, ''

Slaughter's Big Rip-Off ''Slaughter's Big Rip-Off'' is a 1973 blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Douglas and written by Charles Eric Johnson. The film stars Jim Brown, Ed McMahon, Don Stroud, Brock Peters, Gloria Hendry and Dick Anthony Williams. The film was rel ...

'' (1973). * '' Trouble Man'' stars

Robert Hooks Robert Hooks (born Bobby Dean Hooks; April 18, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and activist. Along with Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald S. Krone, he founded The Negro Ensemble Company. The Negro Ensemble Company is credited with the laun ...

as "Mr. T.", a hard-edged private detective who tends to take justice into his own hands. Although the film itself was unsuccessful, it did enjoy a successful soundtrack written, produced and performed by

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

artist

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

. * ''

The Final Comedown ''The Final Comedown'' is a 1972 blaxploitation drama film written, produced and directed by Oscar Williams and starring Billy Dee Williams and D'Urville Martin. The film is an examination of racism in the United States and depicts a shootout bet ...

'' (dir. Oscar Williams) features music by Grant Green and Wade Marcus, and stars Billy Dee Williams. The film is an examination of racism in the United States and depicts a shootout between a radical black nationalist group and the police, with the backstory leading up to the shootout told through flashbacks.

1973

* '' Black Caesar'', Tommy Gibbs (

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

) is a street-smart hoodlum who has worked his way up to being the crime boss of Harlem. Music by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. * ''

Blackenstein ''Blackenstein'', also known as ''Black Frankenstein'', is a 1973 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William A. Levey and starring John Hart, Ivory Stone, Andrea King, Roosevelt Jackson, Joe De Sue, Nick Bolin, and Liz Renay. It is ...

'' is a parody of ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

'' and features a black

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

. * ''

Cleopatra Jones ''Cleopatra Jones'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Jack Starrett. Tamara Dobson stars as an undercover government agent who uses the day job of supermodel as her cover and an excuse to travel to exotic places. Bernie Casey, S ...

'' (1973) and its sequel, ''

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold ''Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold'' is a 1975 American action-adventure film directed by Charles Bail and starring Tamara Dobson as Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones, Stella Stevens and Norman Fell. The film is a sequel to the 1973 action film ''Cle ...

'' (1975), star Tamara Dobson as a karate-chopping government agent, with the mutual support of the Black Nationalist B&S (Brothers & Sisters) House. The first film marks the beginning of a subgenre of blaxploitation films focusing on strong female leads taking an active role in shootouts and fights. Some of these films include ''

Coffy ''Coffy'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. The story is about a black female vigilante played by Pam Grier who seeks violent revenge against a heroin dealer responsible for her sister's addiction.Gary A. ...

'', ''

Black Belt Jones ''Black Belt Jones'' is a 1974 American blaxploitation martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and starring Jim Kelly and Gloria Hendry. The film is a spiritual successor to Clouse's prior film ''Enter the Dragon'', in which Kelly had a sup ...

'', '' Foxy Brown'' and '' T.N.T. Jackson''. * ''

Coffy ''Coffy'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film written and directed by Jack Hill. The story is about a black female vigilante played by Pam Grier who seeks violent revenge against a heroin dealer responsible for her sister's addiction.Gary A. ...

'',

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

stars as Coffy, a nurse turned vigilante who takes revenge on all those who hooked her 11-year-old sister on heroin. ''Coffy'' marks Grier's biggest hit and was re-worked for ''Foxy Brown'', ''

Friday Foster ''Friday Foster'' is an American newspaper comic strip, created and written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Jorge Longarón. It ran from January 18, 1970, to February 17, 1974 and was notable for featuring one of the first African-American w ...

'' and '' Sheba Baby''. * ''

Detroit 9000 ''Detroit 9000'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Arthur Marks from a screenplay by Orville H. Hampton. Originally marketed as a blaxploitation film, it had a resurgence on video 25 years later. Plot Street-smart white detective Dan ...

'' is set in

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the ...

and features street-smart white detective Danny Bassett (

Alex Rocco Alex Rocco (born Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr.; February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive, gravelly voice, he was often cast as villains, including Moe Greene in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and his Pr ...

) who teams with educated black detective Sgt. Jesse Williams (Hari Rhodes) to investigate the theft of $400,000 at a fund-raiser for Representative Aubrey Hale Clayton (Rudy Challenger). Championed by

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

, it was released on video by

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

in April 1999. * ''

Gordon's War ''Gordon's War'' is a 1973 action film written by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, and directed by Ossie Davis. It stars Paul Winfield as Gordon Hudson. Plot A Vietnam veteran returns home to find drug dealers and addicts now rule his old neig ...

'' stars

Paul Winfield Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark fil ...

as a Vietnam vet who recruits ex-Army buddies to fight the Harlem drug dealers and pimps responsible for the heroin-fueled death of his wife. * '' Live and Let Die'', a James Bond movie directed by

Guy Hamilton Mervyn Ian Guy Hamilton, DSC (16 September 1922 – 20 April 2016) was an English film director. He directed 22 films from the 1950s to the 1980s, including four James Bond films. Early life Hamilton was born in Paris on 16 September 1922, wh ...

and starring Roger Moore. Many of the villains and allies are based on stock blaxploitation characters. * ''

The Mack ''The Mack'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by California native Michael Campus, starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. The film also stars Oscar-nominee Juanita Moore and Tony-nominated actor Dick Anthony Williams. Filmed in O ...

'' is a film starring Max Julien and

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

. It was produced during the era of such Blaxploitations as ''Dolemite''. It is not considered by its makers a true blaxploitation picture. It is more a social commentary according to ''Mackin' Ain't Easy'', a documentary about the making of ''The Mack'', which can be found on the DVD edition of the film. The movie tells the story of the life of John Mickens ( Goldie), a former drug dealer recently released from prison who becomes a big-time pimp. Standing in his way is another pimp: Pretty Tony. Two corrupt white cops, a local crime lord, and his own brother (a black nationalist), all try to force him out of the business. Set in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, it was the highest grossing blaxploitation of its time. Its soundtrack was recorded by Motown artist

Willie Hutch William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005), better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s. Biog ...

. * ''

Scream Blacula Scream ''Scream Blacula Scream'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation vampire horror film. It is a sequel to the 1972 film ''Blacula''. The film was produced by American International Pictures (AIP) and Power Productions. This was the acting debut of Ri ...

'' is the sequel to ''Blacula''. William H. Marshall reprises his role as Blacula/Mamuwalde. * '' The Spook Who Sat By the Door'' is adapted from

Sam Greenlee Samuel Eldred Greenlee, Jr. (July 13, 1930 – May 19, 2014) Margaret Busby"Sam Greenlee obituary" ''The Guardian'', June 2, 2014. was an American writer of fiction and poetry. He is best known for his novel '' The Spook Who Sat by the Door'', fir ...

's novel and directed by

Ivan Dixon Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III (April 6, 1931 – March 16, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom '' Hogan's Heroes'', and for his starring roles in the 1964 independent drama '' No ...

with music by

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

. A token black

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

employee, who is secretly a

black nationalist Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...

, leaves his position to train a street gang in CIA tactics and guerilla warfare to become an army of "

freedom fighter A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

s". The film was reportedly pulled from distribution because of its politically controversial message and depictions of an American

race war An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

. Until its 2004

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release, it was hard to find, save for infrequent

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

VHS copies. In 2012, the film was included in the USA Library of Congress National Film Registry. * '' Superfly TNT'' (dir. Ron O'Neil) * ''

That Man Bolt ''That Man Bolt'' is a 1973 American action film directed by David Lowell Rich and Henry Levin. It stars Fred Williamson in the title role of a courier and Byron Webster. The film combined several genres: blaxploitation, the martial arts film ...

'', starring

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

, is the first

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

in this genre, combining elements of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

with martial arts action in an international setting. * ''

Trick Baby ''Trick Baby'' is a 1972 Blaxploitation film directed by Larry Yust and starring Kiel Martin and Mel Stewart. This crime-drama is based and named after a novel by Iceberg Slim written in 1967. The film was produced by Marshal Backlar and James L ...

'' is based on the book of the same name by ex-pimp

Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Ma ...

. * ''

Hell Up in Harlem ''Hell Up in Harlem'' is a 1973 blaxploitation American neo-noir film, starring Fred Williamson and Gloria Hendry. Written and directed by Larry Cohen, it is a sequel to the film '' Black Caesar''. The film's soundtrack was recorded by Edwin S ...

'' is the sequel to ''Black Caesar'' and stars

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

and Gloria Hendry, with a soundtrack by Motown singer

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one ...

.

1974

* '' Abby'' is a version of ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...

'' and stars Carol Speed as a virtuous young woman possessed by a demon. Ms. Speed also sings the title song. William H. Marshall (of ''

Blacula ''Blacula'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) b ...

'' fame) conducts the exorcism of Abby on the floor of a

discotheque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gene ...

. A hit in its time, it was later pulled from the theaters after Warner Bros. successfully sued AIP over copyright issues. * ''

Black Belt Jones ''Black Belt Jones'' is a 1974 American blaxploitation martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and starring Jim Kelly and Gloria Hendry. The film is a spiritual successor to Clouse's prior film ''Enter the Dragon'', in which Kelly had a sup ...

'',

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

, who is better known for his role as "Mister Williams" in the Bruce Lee film ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

'', is given a leading role. He plays Black Belt Jones, a federal agent/martial arts expert who takes on the mob as he avenges the murder of a karate school owner. * ''

Black Eye A periorbital hematoma, commonly called a black eye or a shiner (associated with boxing or stick sports such as hockey), is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than to the eye. The name refers to the dark-colo ...

'' is an action-mystery starring Fred Williamson as a private detective investigating murders connected with a drug ring. * ''

The Black Godfather ''The Black Godfather'' is a 1974 American blaxploitation film written and directed by John Evans and starring Rod Perry, Don Chastain, Diane Sommerfield and Jimmy Witherspoon. The plot is about J.J. (Rod Perry), a rising star in the black cri ...

'' stars

Rod Perry Rodney Cornell Perry (born September 11, 1953) is an American football coach and former professional player who is the defensive backs coach for the Oregon State Beavers. He played as a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL), primar ...

as a man rising to underworld power based on ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

''. * ''

The Black Six ''The Black Six'' is a 1974 American blaxploitation and outlaw biker film written by George Theakos and directed by Matt Cimber. It starred several National Football League stars in the title roles. It was one of the first all-black biker films. ...

'' is about a black motorcycle gang seeking revenge. It combines blaxploitation and

outlaw biker film The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club. History Outlaw biker clubs formed in the late 1940s on the West Coast after the en ...

. * '' Foxy Brown'' is largely a remake of the hit film ''Coffy''. Pam Grier once again plays a nurse on a vendetta against a drug ring, who seeks help from the Black Panthers. Originally written as a sequel to ''Coffy'', the film's working title was ''Burn, Coffy, Burn!''. The soundtrack was recorded by Willie Hutch. * ''

Claudine (film) ''Claudine'' is a 1974 American romantic comedy-drama film, produced by Third World Cinema and distributed by 20th Century Fox, starring James Earl Jones, Diahann Carroll, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. ''Claudine'' was written by Lester Pine an ...

'': Music by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

and

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simpl ...

. Cast/ Diahann Carroll. * ''

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Gr ...

'' is a TV movie later released to some theaters. This police drama, starring an attractive young black woman (

Teresa Graves Terresa M. Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series '' Get Ch ...

) as an undercover cop, was later made into a short-lived TV series. * '' Johnny Tough'' stars Dion Gossett and

Renny Roker Renny Roker is a promoter and actor. As a promoter, he has been involved in both music and sport. He also ran various record labels with his brother Wally Roker in the 1970s. As an actor his career which really started in the 1960s has carried on ...

. * ''

Space Is the Place ''Space Is the Place'' is an 85-minute Afrofuturist science fiction film made in 1972 and released in 1974.Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

& His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra. * '' Sugar Hill'' is set in Houston and features a female fashion photographer (played by

Marki Bey Marki Bey (born March 1, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Diana "Sugar" Hill in the 1974 horror blaxploitation zombie film '' Sugar Hill''. Early life Bey was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Bey ...

) who wreaks revenge on the local crime Mafia that murdered her fiancé with the use of

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

magic. * '' Three the Hard Way'' features three black men (

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

,

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

, and Jim Brown) who must stop a white supremacist plot to eliminate all blacks with a serum in the water supply. Directed by

Gordon Parks Jr. Gordon Roger Parks Jr. (December 7, 1934April 3, 1979) was an American film director, best known for the 1972 film '' Super Fly''. Life and career Parks was born to Sally Alvis and photographer and director Gordon Parks in Minneapolis in 1934 ...

* ''

Three Tough Guys ''Three Tough Guys'' (also known as ''Tough Guys'') is a 1974 crime-action film directed by Duccio Tessari. It may be regarded as an example of the Blaxploitation genre. It stars Lino Ventura, Fred Williamson and Isaac Hayes, who also compo ...

'' stars Isaac Hayes and music by Isaac Hayes. * '' TNT Jackson'' stars

Jean Bell Jean Bell (born Annie Lee Morgan on November 23, 1944) is a former ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month, and one of the first African American women to feature in this role. She later had a career as an actress in movies, most prominently in ''TNT J ...

(one of the first black

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

playmates) and is partly set in Hong Kong. It is notable for blending blaxploitation with the then-popular "chop-socky" martial arts genre. * ''

Together Brothers ''Together Brothers'' is a 1974 American film directed by William A. Graham and starring Ahmad Nurradin and Anthony Wilson. The film is about a gang of street youths who try to expose a cop killer before he gets to a child who witnessed the murder ...

'' is set in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

, where a street gang solves the murder of a Galveston, TX police officer (played by

Ed Bernard Ed Bernard (born July 4, 1939) is an American actor best known for his roles as Detective Joe Styles on '' Police Woman'', Principal Jim Willis on '' The White Shadow'', and as Lieutenant Bill Giles on ''Hardcastle and McCormick''. Career Be ...

who has been a mentor to the gang leader). This was the first blaxploitation film to feature a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

character as the villain. Galveston, TX native

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

composed the score. The soundtrack features music by the

Love Unlimited Orchestra The Love Unlimited Orchestra was a 40-piece string-laden orchestra formed by American singer Barry White, and serving as a backing unit for White and for female vocal trio Love Unlimited. From the early 1970s on, they also recorded several sing ...

. * ''

Truck Turner ''Truck Turner'', also known as ''Black Bullet'', is a 1974 blaxploitation film, starring Isaac Hayes and Yaphet Kotto, and directed by Jonathan Kaplan. The screenplay was written by Michael Allin, Leigh Chapman (under a pseudonym, Jerry Wilke ...

'' (dir.

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International ...

) stars Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto and

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols (, born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was g ...

. A former football player turned bounty hunter is pitted against a powerful prostitution crime syndicate in Los Angeles. Music by Isaac Hayes. * ''

Willie Dynamite ''Willie Dynamite'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Gilbert Moses and starring Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, and was released by Universal Pictures. The eponymous Willie Dynamite is a pimp in New Yo ...

'', Roscoe Orman (Gordon from ''Sesame Street'' fame) plays a pimp. As in many blaxploitation films, the lead character drives a customized Cadillac Eldorado Coupe (the same car was used in ''

Magnum Force ''Magnum Force'' is a 1973 American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film and the second to feature Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan after the 1971 film ''Dirty Harry''. Ted Post, who had previously worked with Eastwood on '' Ra ...

'').

1975

* ''

Sheba, Baby ''Sheba, Baby'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation action film directed by William Girdler and starring Pam Grier and Austin Stoker. Plot Private investigator Sheba Shayne (Grier) returns from Chicago, Illinois to her hometown of Louisville, K ...

'', a female private eye (Pam Grier) tries to help her father save his loan business from a gang of thugs. * ''

The Black Gestapo ''The Black Gestapo'' (also released as ''Ghetto Warriors'') is a 1975 American crime film about a vigilante named General Ahmed, who starts an inner-city "People's Army" to protect the black citizens of Watts. However, when the Army succeeds in c ...

'', Rod Perry plays General Ahmed, who has started an inner-city People's Army to try to relieve the misery of the citizens of Watts, Los Angeles. When the Mafia moves in, they establish a military-style squad. * ''

Boss Nigger ''Boss Nigger'' (also known as simply ''Boss'' and ''The Black Bounty Killer'') is a 1975 blaxploitation Western film directed by Jack Arnold, and stars former football player Fred Williamson, who both wrote and co-produced. ''Boss Nigger'' i ...

'', along with his friend Amos (

D'Urville Martin D'Urville Martin (February 11, 1939 – May 28, 1984) was an American actor in both film and television. He appeared in numerous 1970s movies in the blaxploitation genre. He also appeared in two unaired pilots of what would become ''All in the ...

), Boss Nigger (

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

) takes over the vacated position of Sheriff in a small western town in this

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

blaxploitation film. Because of its controversial title, it was released in some markets as ''The Boss'', ''The Black Bounty Killer'' or ''The Black Bounty Hunter''. * '' Coonskin'' (dir.

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...

) is a controversial animated/live-action film about Br'er Fox, Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Bear in a blaxploitation parody of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's '' Song of the South''. It features the voice of

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

as Br'er Bear. * ''

Darktown Strutters ''Darktown Strutters'' is a 1975 blaxploitation musical comedy film from New World Pictures. Despite having mixed reviews at the time it has gained cult status over the years with praise from film director Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino called it ...

'' (dir. William Witney) is a farce produced by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

's brother,

Gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

. A

Colonel Sanders Colonel Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 December 16, 1980) was an American businessman, best known for founding fast food chicken restaurant chain KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC) and later acting as the company's brand ...

-type figure with a chain of urban fried chicken restaurants is trying to wipe out the black race by making them impotent through his drugged fried chicken. * ''

Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde ''Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde'' is a 1976 blaxploitation horror film loosely inspired by the 1886 novella '' Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film stars Bernie Casey and Rosalind Cash, and was directed by Willi ...

'' is the retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde tale, starring

Bernie Casey Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American actor, poet and professional American football player. Early life Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia, the son of Flossie (Coleman) and Frank Leslie Casey. He graduated ...

. * ''

Dolemite ''Dolemite'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack. Moore, who started his career as a stand-up comedian in ...

'' is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the script. Moore had developed the alter-ego as a stand-up comedian and released several comedy albums using this persona. The film was directed by

D'Urville Martin D'Urville Martin (February 11, 1939 – May 28, 1984) was an American actor in both film and television. He appeared in numerous 1970s movies in the blaxploitation genre. He also appeared in two unaired pilots of what would become ''All in the ...

, who appears as the villain Willie Green. The film has attained cult status, earning it a following and making it more well-known than many of its counterparts. A sequel, ''

The Human Tornado ''The Human Tornado'' is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Cliff Roquemore. The film is a sequel to ''Dolemite''. Plot After coming off a successful comedy tour, Dolemite throws a get-together at his mansion. The party is crashe ...

'', was released in 1976. * '' Mandingo'' is based on a series of lurid Civil War novels and focuses on the abuses of slavery and the sexual relations between slaves and slave owners. It features Richard Ward and Ken Norton. It was followed by a sequel, ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' (1976) starring

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

. * ''

The Candy Tangerine Man ''The Candy Tangerine Man'' is a 1975 American action-adventure blaxploitation film starring John Daniels, Eli Haines and Tom Hankason. Distributed by Moonstone Entertainment, it follows the story of the powerful "Black Baron" (Daniels), both a ...

'' opens with pageantry pimp Baron (John Daniels) driving his customized two-tone red and yellow Rolls-Royce around downtown L.A at night. His ladies have been coming up short lately and he wants to know why. It turns out that two L.A.P.D. cops - Dempsey and Gordon, who have been after Baron for some time now, have resorted to rousting his girls every chance they get. Indeed, in the next scene they have set Baron up with a cop in drag to entrap him with procurement of prostitutes. * ''

Lady Cocoa ''Lady Cocoa'' (also known as ''Pop Goes the Weasel'') is a 1975 low-budget American blaxploitation crime drama that was directed by Matt Cimber. With Lola Falana in the title role, the film also featured Millie Perkins, Alex Dreier, Gene Washing ...

'' (dir.

Matt Cimber Matt Cimber (born Thomas Vitale Ottaviano; 1936) is an American producer, director, writer, and occasional actor in films, television, and theatre. He is known for directing genre films including '' The Candy Tangerine Man, The Witch Who Ca ...

) stars

Lola Falana Loletha Elayne Falana or Loletha Elaine Falana (born September 11, 1942), better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Early life Lola Falana was born in Camden, New Jersey. She was the third of si ...

. * '' Let's Do It Again'', Music: Composed by Curtis Mayfield. * ''

Welcome Home Brother Charles ''Welcome Home Brother Charles'' (also known as ''Soul Vengeance'') is a 1975 American blaxploitation film written and directed by Jamaa Fanaka. The film stars Marlo Monte as a wrongfully imprisoned man who seeks vengeance upon his transgressors u ...

''. After being released from prison, a wrongfully imprisoned black man takes vengeance on those who previously crossed him by strangling them with his penis.

1976

* ''

Black Shampoo ''Black Shampoo'' is an American exploitation film directed by Greydon Clark. Released in 1976, the comedy film is considered an example of the blaxploitation and sexploitation subgenres of exploitation film. Produced on a budget of $50,000, the ...

'' is a take-off of the

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

hit ''

Shampoo Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a Viscosity, viscous liquid, that is used for cleaning hair. Less commonly, shampoo is available in solid bar format. Shampoo is used by applying it to wet hair, massaging the product ...

''. * '' Ebony, Ivory & Jade'' (dir. Cirio Santiago) (also known as ''She Devils in Chains'', ''American Beauty Hostages'', ''Foxfire'', ''Foxforce''), features three female athletes who are kidnapped during an international track meet in Hong Kong and fight their way to freedom. This is another cross-genre blend of blaxploitation and martial arts action films. * '' The Muthers'' is another Cirio Santiago combination of Filipino martial arts action and women-in-prison elements. Jeanne Bell and Jayne Kennedy rescue prisoners held at an evil coffee plantation. * ''Passion Plantation'' (a.k.a. ''Black Emmanuel, White Emmanuel'') is a blend of the ''Mandingo'' and ''

Emmanuelle Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the main character in the novel '' Emmanuelle'' (1959), created by Emmanuelle Arsan. Character history Emmanuelle appeared as the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andri ...

,'' erotic films with interracial sex and savagery. * ''

Velvet Smooth ''Velvet Smooth'' is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Michael L. Fink and starring Johnnie Hill. The screenplay concerns a crime lord who hires a female private detective to find out who's stealing his business. This was the only f ...

'', Johnnie Hill is a female private detective hired to infiltrate the criminal underworld. * ''

The Human Tornado ''The Human Tornado'' is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Cliff Roquemore. The film is a sequel to ''Dolemite''. Plot After coming off a successful comedy tour, Dolemite throws a get-together at his mansion. The party is crashe ...

'' a.k.a. ''Dolemite II'', Rudy Ray Moore reprises his role as Dolemite in the sequel to the 1975 film ''

Dolemite ''Dolemite'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack. Moore, who started his career as a stand-up comedian in ...

''. * '' J. D.'s Revenge'', a club driver is possessed by a dead gangster who seeks revenge for his murder over 30 years ago.

1977

* ''Black Fist'' features a street fighter who goes to work for a white gangster and a corrupt cop. The film is in the public domain. Cast members include Richard Lawson and

Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...

* ''

Black Samurai ''Black Samurai'' is a 1977 American blaxploitation martial arts spy action adventure film directed by Al Adamson Albert Victor Adamson Jr. (July 25, 1929 – June 21, 1995) was an American filmmaker and actor known as a prolific director of ...

'' (dir. Al Adamson) is based on a novel of the same name by Marc Olden, and stars

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

. The script is credited to B. Readick, with additional story ideas from Marco Joachim. * ''

Bare Knuckles ''Bare Knuckles'' is a 1977 blaxploitation film, starring Robert Viharo, Sherry Jackson and Gloria Hendry. The film was written and directed by Don Edmonds. Plot L.A. bounty hunter, Zachary Kane, is on the hunt for a masked serial killer on the ...

'' stars

Robert Viharo Robert Viharo (born August 14, 1942) is an American actor. He made an early appearance in 1966 as Harry in ''Dark Shadows''. He is known for his role in '' Valley of the Dolls'' (1967) in the part of a Broadway director. He had the starring role ...

,

Sherry Jackson Sherry D. Jackson (born February 15, 1942) is an American retired actress and former child star. Early life Jackson was born in Wendell, Idaho, to Maurita (or Maurite) Kathleen Gilbert and Curtis Loys Jackson, Sr. on February 15, 1942, accordin ...

and Gloria Hendry. The film is written and directed by Don Edmonds and follows L.A. bounty hunter Zachary Kane (Viharo) on the hunt for a masked serial killer. * '' Petey Wheatstraw'' (a.k.a. ''Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son-In-Law'') is written by Cliff Roquemore and stars popular blaxploitation genre comedian Rudy Ray Moore along with Jimmy Lynch, Leroy Daniels, Ernest Mayhand and Ebony Wright. It is typical of Moore's other films of the era, ''

Dolemite ''Dolemite'' is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack. Moore, who started his career as a stand-up comedian in ...

'' and ''

The Human Tornado ''The Human Tornado'' is a 1976 American blaxploitation film directed by Cliff Roquemore. The film is a sequel to ''Dolemite''. Plot After coming off a successful comedy tour, Dolemite throws a get-together at his mansion. The party is crashe ...

'', in that it features Moore's rhyming dialogue.

1978

* ''

Death Dimension ''Death Dimension'' (also known as ''Death Dimensions'', ''Freeze Bomb'', ''Icy Death'', ''The Kill Factor'', and ''Black Eliminator'') is a 1978 United States, American B-movie, B-list action thriller and martial arts film by Al Adamson starring ...

'' is a martial arts film directed by Al Adamson and starring

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

, Harold Sakata, George Lazenby, Terry Moore, and Aldo Ray. The film also goes by the names ''Death Dimensions'', ''Freeze Bomb'', ''Icy Death'', ''The Kill Factor'' and ''Black Eliminator''. A scientist, Professor Mason, invents a powerful freezing bomb for a gangster leader nicknamed "The Pig" (''Sakata''). * ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' (dir.

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), ...

) is a musical adventure fantasy film starring

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

,

Nipsey Russell Julius "Nipsey" Russell (September 15, 1918 – October 2, 2005)Nipsey J. Russell, born September 15, 1918, died October 2, 2005. Social Security Administration. ''Social Security Death Index'' ( Death Master File).U.S. Census, January 1, 1920, ...

,

Ted Ross Theodore Ross Roberts (June 30, 1934 – September 3, 2002) was an American actor who was probably best known for his role as the Lion in ''The Wiz'', an all-African American reinterpretation of ''The Wizard of Oz''. He won a Tony Award for t ...

,

Mabel King Mabel Elizabeth King (née Washington; December 25, 1932 – November 9, 1999) was an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Mabel "Mama" Thomas on the ABC sitcom ''What's Happening!!'' from its premiere in 1976 until the end o ...

,

Theresa Merritt Theresa Merritt Hines (September 24, 1922 June 12, 1998), known professionally as Theresa Merritt, was an American actress and singer. She's known for her role in '' That's My Mama'' (1974-1975) and for her film roles in ''The Wiz'' (1978) and ''B ...

,

Thelma Carpenter Thelma Carpenter (January 15, 1922 – May 14, 1997) was an American jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie ''The Wiz''. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Fred and Mary C ...

,

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

and

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

. A reimagining of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's classic 1900 children's novel ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'' featuring an all-black cast, and a film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name.

1979

* ''

Disco Godfather ''Disco Godfather'' (also known as ''The Avenging Disco Godfather'') is a 1979 American action film starring Rudy Ray Moore and Carol Speed, directed by J. Robert Wagoner and released by Transvue Pictures. J. Robert Wagoner wrote and directed ''Di ...

,'' also known as ''The Avenging Disco Godfather'', is an action film starring Rudy Ray Moore and Carol Speed. Moore's character, a retired cop, owns and operates a disco and tries to shut down the local angel dust dealer after his nephew becomes hooked on the drug. * ''

Penitentiary A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

'' (dir. Jamaa Franklin) follows the travails of Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone (

Leon Isaac Kennedy Leon Isaac Kennedy (born June 1, 1948 or January 1, 1949) (sources differ) is an American actor, disc jockey, film producer and playwright. Kennedy's acting roles include Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone in Jamaa Fanaka's ''Penitentiary'' (1979), ''Peni ...

) after his wrongful imprisonment. Set in a prison, the film exploits all of the tropes of the genre, including violence, sexuality and the eventual triumph of the lead character.

Post-1970s Blaxploitation films

*''

The Last Dragon ''The Last Dragon'' (sometimes listed as Berry Gordy's ''The Last Dragon'') is a 1985 American martial arts comedy film produced by Rupert Hitzig for Berry Gordy and directed by Michael Schultz. The film stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, C ...

'' (1985) is a martial arts action film with blaxploitation elements. *''

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' is a 1988 American blaxploitation parody film written, directed by, and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy African-American actors who were part of the ...

'' (1988) is a comedic spoof of classic 1970s blaxploitation and features many of its stars: Jim Brown,

Bernie Casey Bernard Terry Casey (June 8, 1939 – September 19, 2017) was an American actor, poet and professional American football player. Early life Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia, the son of Flossie (Coleman) and Frank Leslie Casey. He graduated ...

,

Antonio Fargas Antonio Juan Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series '' Starsky & Hutch''. Early life Fargas was born in New ...

and

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

. *'' Action Jackson'' (1988) is a film where the protagonist Jericho Jackson (

Carl Weathers Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–85), George Dillon in '' Predator'' (1987), Action Ja ...

), uses catchphrases to taunt his opponents.

Craig T. Nelson Craig Theodore Nelson (born April 4, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Hayden Fox in the sitcom ''Coach'' (for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series), Deputy Ward Wilson in the 19 ...

,

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

and

Vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic ...

also star. * ''

Original Gangstas ''Original Gangstas'' is a 1996 action-gangster film filmed and set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree. It is the final film directed by Larry Cohen ...

'' (1996) brings together 1970s blaxploitation stars Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson and Jim Brown. * ''

Jackie Brown ''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel '' Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Jac ...

'' (1997, dir.

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

) stars

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

and

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

in an homage to the blaxploitation genre. Based on the Elmore Leonard novel ''Rum Punch'', Tarantino's title change, casting of Grier and 1970s-style poster art, are all references to Grier's 1974 film ''Foxy Brown''. * ''

Pootie Tang ''Pootie Tang'' is a 2001 American comedy film written and directed by Louis C.K. Adapted from a comedy sketch that first appeared on ''The Chris Rock Show'', the character Pootie Tang is a satire of the stereotyped action heroes who appeared in ...

'' (2001) incorporates many blaxploitation elements comedically. * ''The Return of Dolemite'' (2002), the third chapter to the ''Dolemite'' series, later retitled as ''The Dolemite Explosion'' for the DVD release. * ''

Undercover Brother ''Undercover Brother'' is a 2002 American satirical spy action comedy blaxploitation film directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Eddie Griffin. The screenplay by John Ridley and Michael McCullers is based on the Internet animated series c ...

'' (2002) stars

Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tiberius Jef ...

as a blaxploitation-style secret agent. * ''

Full Clip ''Full Clip'' is a 2004 action film starring Busta Rhymes, Xzibit, Bubba Smith, Tiny Lister and Mark Boone Junior. It is directed by mink and written by Kantz. ''Full Clip'' is a 1970s-style blaxploitation action movie that is a loose remake of ...

'' (2004) is made in the

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

style. * ''Hookers In Revolt'' (2008, dir. Sean Weathers). With its prevalence of pimps and prostitutes, it is an inventive throwback to early 1970s blaxploitation. * '' Black Dynamite'' (2009) stars

Michael Jai White Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, director and martial artist. He was the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1 ...

and spoofs blaxploitation films. * ''

Proud Mary "Proud Mary" is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band's second studio album, '' Bayou Country'', which was issued by the same ...

'' (2018) is an action thriller starring Taraji P. Henson and

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...

. * ''

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Gr ...

'' (2018), a made-for-TV remake of the 1974 film starring

Kylie Bunbury Kylie Bunbury (born January 30, 1989) is a Canadian-American actress. Life Bunbury was born in Montreal, Canada, to Kristi Novak and Alex Bunbury, a soccer player. Her father is Guyanese-Canadian. She spent her childhood in England (for two yea ...

which, unlike the original, was never picked up for a TV series. * '' Superfly'' (2018) is a remake of the 1972 film, starring Trevor Jackson and

Jason Mitchell Jason Mitchell (born January 5, 1987) is an American actor. Mitchell started his career acting in minor roles in films such as the action-thriller '' Contraband'' (2012), and the neo-noir ''Broken City'' (2013). He is best known for portraying ...

. * ''

Undercover Brother 2 ''Undercover Brother 2'' is a 2019 American action comedy blaxploitation film directed by Leslie Small and starring Michael Jai White. It is a sequel to the 2002 film '' Undercover Brother''. Plot Undercover Brother tracks The Man to his lair i ...

'' (2019), a sequel to the 2002 film starring

Michael Jai White Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, director and martial artist. He was the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1 ...

. * ''

The Harder They Fall The Harder They Fall may refer to: * ''The Harder They Fall'' (1956 film), an American boxing film noir directed by Mark Robson. * ''The Harder They Fall'' (2021 film), an American Western film directed by Jeymes Samuel. * "The Harder They Fall", ...

'' (2021) is a

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring

Jonathan Majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...

and

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

.

Other

* ''

Baadasssss! ''Baadasssss!'' is a 2003 American biographical drama film, written, produced, directed by, and starring Mario Van Peebles. The film is based on the struggles of Van Peebles' father Melvin Van Peebles (played by Mario himself), as he attempts to f ...

'' (2003), a biopic about the making of ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'', starring

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

. * ''

Dolemite Is My Name ''Dolemite Is My Name'' is a 2019 American biographical comedy film directed by Craig Brewer and written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The film stars Eddie Murphy as filmmaker Rudy Ray Moore, who is best known for having portrayed t ...

'' (2019), a biopic about the making of ''Dolemite'', starring

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

as Rudy Ray Moore.

References

External links

Harvard Magazine: The Blaxploitation Era
{{Authority control 1971 introductions African-American films Film genres 1970s neologisms Film genres particular to the United States Film and video terminology

Description

General themes

Black Power

Stereotypes

Slavesploitation

Legacy

Influence

Cultural references

Notable blaxploitation films

1968

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

Post-1970s Blaxploitation films

Other

See also

References

Further reading

External links