''No Way Back'' is a 1976 blaxploitation film written and directed by

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 ...

, who also stars as Jesse Crowder, a private detective who once used to belong to a police force, but that now finds himself taking odd jobs for a little extra money.

Synopsis

Jesse Crowder is hired by the wife and brother of a fugitive named Woolf, who is on the run because he had just robbed a bank. Woolf uses this money to embezzle it, where from Crowder decides to take the case and follows the fugitive from Los Angeles to San Francisco, California. Woolf is on the run with his girlfriend Candy. Crowder pursues his targets by following small clues, while causing a whole mess of trouble with a gangster named Bernie. Bernie is Candy's pimp and also the leader of a gang. When Bernie learns that Crowder is looking for one of his employees, he makes sure that Crowder is taken care of. He sends numerous thugs in Crowder's direction, but Crowder manages to successfully capture Mrs. Pickens’ husband after fighting off a couple of Bernie's thugs, but has yet to capture the girlfriend. Crowder's previous cop experience provided a helpful basis from which he was able to eventually pick up on her trail after having gotten himself into more trouble with Candy's pimp and his gang. A final showdown takes place in the desert in a hail of gunfire.

Cast

as Jesse Crowder * Charles Woolf as Mr. Pickens * Tracy Reed as Candy *

Virginia Gregg Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

as Mildred Pickens * Stack Pierce as Bernie * Argy Allen as Pickens' Brother * Paula Sills as Crowder's Secretary *

Don Cornelius Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...

as Don Cornelius * Nick Dimitri as Goon #1 *

Gene LeBell Ivan “Judo” Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting ci ...

as Goon #2 * Mike Henry as Goon #3 *

William Kerwin William Kerwin (April 17, 1927 – October 27, 1989) was an American actor and filmmaker. He was most well known for his character roles in the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Career Kerwin enjoyed some success on the stage and screen befo ...

as Goon #4

Crew

- director, producer, screenwriter *Jeff Williamson - producer *James E. Nownes - editor *Oliver Moss - sound/sound designer *Robert Caramico - cinematographer

Analysis

Jesse Crowder plays by his own rules and will do anything he can within his power to complete his mission; all that he needs to ensure that he does this is some cold, hard cash. Besides a thirst for money, Crowder also has a thirst for women. He is a ladies’ man as some would say, and is also a stereotypically strong African-American man, a strong black man, and makes sure that everyone around him knows this. This aspect of the movie may represent a sort of ironic situation in that Crowder boasts about his strength and physical prowess with the women, which are animal-like characteristics, yet also demands to be seen as more than just what the white man has made him out to be. Crowder often encounters many women with whom he has sexual relations shortly after meeting them. His slick lines and tough-guy attitude sweep the ladies right off their feet so that at the end of all of these sexual encounters, the women are often seen begging for more sex. This stereotype was a common blaxploitation characteristic to use in African-American films.

Distribution

Atlas Films distributed the film; it was primarily targeted at African Americans in suburban areas across the United States, primarily in western and eastern suburban areas.

Historical significance

This film is part of a larger genre known as blaxploitation, which emerged in the early 1970s in the time when many black exploitation films were being made specifically to target black audiences. ''No Way Back'' emerged as one of these in 1976 and was set on the West Coast, which typically as many other blaxploitation films like it took place in the ghetto. This was a common characteristic of blaxploitation films, which accentuated crime, drug deals, and pimps. Another important aspect of this particular movie is the pun with the name Jesse Crowder which plays on

Jim Crow Laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

, an important and controversial aspect of earlier African-American life. Only a little over a decade before the film was made, segregating black and whites in public institutions and other places in society had been legal.

Soundtrack

This film consisted of three soundtracks from the album of the same name by

The Dells The Dells were an American R&B vocal group. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Michael and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first r ...

:
West Virginia Symphony
When Does the Lovin' Start
I'll Make You My Girl
Life Is the Time
Ain't No Black and White in Music
No Way Back (from No Way Back)
Too Late for Love (from No Way Back)
You Are the Greatest
Adventure (from No Way Back)
I'll Try Again
Slow Motion
The album is not as popular as other blaxploitation scores, but it does have a “nice, hard funk theme with a heavy bass line and persistent riff starting the second side, then a straightforward soulful love theme, and finally a great funky instrumental to finish the selection.”Blaxploitation.com
Soundtrack LPs, No Way Back Dells, The Mercury SRM-1-1084, 1976
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{Fred Williamson 1976 films 1970s action films 1976 crime drama films American action films American crime drama films Blaxploitation films American detective films Films set in Los Angeles Films set in San Francisco Films directed by Fred Williamson 1970s English-language films 1970s American films