''Penitentiary III'' is a 1987 American

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

written and directed by

Jamaa Fanaka Jamaa Fanaka (born Walter Gordon; September 6, 1942 – April 1, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He is best known for his 1979 film, ''Penitentiary'', and was one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement. Early life and ...

. It is the sequel to the 1982 film ''

Penitentiary II ''Penitentiary II'' is a 1982 American Blaxploitation drama film directed by Jamaa Fanaka. Released on April 2, 1982, the film is the sequel to 1979's ''Penitentiary''. It was followed by another sequel, ''Penitentiary III'', which was released i ...

''. The film stars

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 ...

Anthony Geary Anthony Geary (born May 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Luke Spencer on the ABC daytime drama ''General Hospital''. He originated the role of Luke in 1978 and received a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for O ...

, Steve Antin, Ric Mancini, Marie Burrell Fanaka and

Raymond Kessler Raymond Kessler is a Haitian retired professional wrestler, who has dwarfism, and wrestled under the name Haiti Kid in the World Wrestling Federation. Professional wrestling career He started his career in the WWWF as a babyface in 1971, teaming ...

. The film was released on September 4, 1987, by

Cannon Film Distributors The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested ...

. A man is framed for murder and sent to prison. He is beaten and tortured, then forced to fight the prison's worst killer, a martial-arts fighting midget called Thud.

Cast

as Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone *

as Serenghetti * Steve Antin as Roscoe *

Ric Mancini Enrico P. Mancini (April 16, 1933 – May 26, 2006) was an American film and television actor. He played Mayor Cobb in the 1985 film '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning''. He also played Sal in the 1974 film '' The Gambler'' and Steve in the 19 ...

as The Warden * Marie Burrell Fanaka as Chelsea Remington *

as "Midnight Thud" Jessup *

Rick Zumwalt Richard Lee Zumwalt Jr. (September 24, 1951 – March 19, 2003) was an American professional arm-wrestler and actor. He is known for playing the character of Bob "Bull" Hurley in the 1987 Sylvester Stallone movie ''Over the Top''. Career In add ...

as Joshua * Magic Schwarz as Hugo * Jim Bailey as Cleopatra * "Big Bull" Bates as "Simp" * "Big Yank" as "Rock" * Bert Williams as Tim Shoah * Mark Kemble as Rufus * Jack Rader as Fred * Madison Campudoni as "El Cid" * George Payne as Jess / Inmate #1 *

Drew Bundini Brown Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...

as "Sugg" / Inmate #2 * Mindi Miller as "Sugar" *

J. J. Johnston J.J. Johnston (born James William Johnston, October 24, 1933 – November 4, 2022) was an American theatre and film actor, boxing historian and writer. Johnston served eighteen months in prison for drug-related offenses before turning to acting ...

as Announcer #1 * Earl Garnes as Announcer #2 * James Phillips as Suited Gentleman *

Faith Minton Faith Minton is an American television and film actress and stuntwoman. Life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Minton has a stunt and wrestling background and is probably best known for her role as "Hurricane" Rosy Spelman in the 1979 action comedy ...

as Female Boxer * Marcella Ross as Female Boxer *

Raye Hollitt Raye Hollitt (born April 17, 1964) is an American actress and bodybuilder, also known by her stage name Zap, one of the original cast members of '' American Gladiators''. Biography Hollitt graduated from Lake-Lehman High School in 1982, then w ...

as Female Boxer *

Danny Trejo Danny Trejo ( ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. He has appeared in films including ''Desperado'', ''Heat'', and the ''From Dusk Till Dawn'' film series. With frequent collaborator and his second cousin Robert Rodriguez, he portrayed ...

as "See Veer" * Mary O'Connor as Female Guard * Gardella Demilo as Female Guard * Ron Demps as Referee

References

External links

* 1987 films 1980s English-language films American comedy films 1987 comedy films American sequel films Golan-Globus films Films directed by Jamaa Fanaka 1980s American films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub