''One Down, Two to Go'' is a 1982 American blaxploitation action drama 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 ...

and starring Williamson, Jim Brown,

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 ...

and

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 ...

. This is the third film to star Williamson, Brown, and Kelly, following '' Three the Hard Way'' and ''

Take a Hard Ride ''Take a Hard Ride'' is a 1975 Italian-American Spaghetti Western film directed by Anthony Dawson and starring Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly. This was the second of three films Brown, Williamson, and Kelly would star i ...

''. Williamson, Brown, and Roundtree would reunite nearly fifteen years later in ''

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 ...

''.

Synopsis

Chuck Wells (

) and his partner Ralph Dart (

) are the owners of the International Martial Arts dojo which is located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. A martial arts tournament is taking place with a prize of $400,000. Chuck and Ralph have their best student enter the event. The organizer of the event Frank Rossi. Rossi is in alliance with mobster Gabe Mario who has put up half of the prize money. Rossi tries to fix the tournament so that the outcome will be the way he wants it. Chuck becomes aware of this and Rossi learns that he is in the know. He sends his henchmen out who shoot Chuck in the chest. However the shooting isn't lethal. The efforts of the organizers to rig the tournament aren't successful and the student from the International Martial Arts dojo wins the tournament. The prize money is promised to Ralph the next morning but Mario goes back on his word. In amongst this, Chuck manages to get to an alley behind a tavern where his girlfriend Teri works. He tells her and her co-worker to let Ralph know about the shooting and to contact his two associates in California, Cal and J.American Film Institute
One Down, Two to Go (1983), CAST
/ref> Cal (

) and J ( Jim Brown) are a couple of tough cops who go after the mob that jinxed the martial arts tournament Peter Dane plays Rossi and Victoria Hale plays his wife Maria. Mario is played by Tom Signorelli.

Production

In order to make the fights look more authentic during the fictitious martial arts tournament in the opening of the film they are in fact real and not staged, the winner of each fight got paid $500 and the loser $100.

Cast

as Cal * Jim Brown as "J" *

as Chuck *

as Ralph * Paula Sills as Teri * Laura Loftus as Sally *

Joe Spinell Joe Spinell (born Joseph Spagnuolo; October 28, 1936 – January 13, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in films in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as various stage productions on and off Broadway. He played supporting roles in ''The ...

as Joe Spangler * Tom Signorelli as Mario * John Gruitz as Bob * Richard Noyce as Hank * Peter Dane as Ross * Victoria Hale as Mrs. Rossi * Warrington Winters as Sheriff Lucas * Louis Neglia as Armando * Aaron Banks as The Announcer Imdb
One Down, Two to go (1982), Cast
/ref>

Reception

The film opened November 11, 1982 at the

Woods Theatre The Woods Theatre was a movie palace located at the corner of Randolph and Dearborn Streets in the Chicago Loop. It opened in 1918 and was a popular entertainment destination for decades. Originally a venue for live theater, it later converted to s ...

in Chicago. It had grossed over $1 million in its first month.

References

External links

* * * {{Fred Williamson 1982 films Blaxploitation films 1982 action films Films directed by Fred Williamson American action films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films