''Petey Wheatstraw'' (also known as ''Petey Wheatstraw, the Devil's Son-in-Law'') is a 1977 American

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

comedy horror film Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

written and directed by Cliff Roquemore, and starring comedian Rudy Ray Moore alongside Jimmy Lynch, Leroy Daniels, Ernest Mayhand, Ebony Wright, and Wildman Steve Gallon. It is typical of Moore's other films from the same era, such as ''

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 t ...

'' 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 Moore rhymes nearly every sentence in the movie with the next one.

Plot

Petey Wheatstraw ( Rudy Ray Moore) is born during a great Miami hurricane, and after a difficult labor by his mother, emerges as a talking, diaper-wearing, six-year-old boy who promptly attacks the doctor and then his father for "disturbing me in my sleep every night." His mother stops him, puts him in his place, and names him "Petey Wheatstraw". While a young teenager, after being beaten up by a gang, Petey meets a mentor named "Bantu" who teaches him the philosophy of "

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

" and "self-respect", taking a vow not to bow before any man, living or dead. Petey grows up to become a successful nightclub

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

, who books a series of shows at a club in

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' ...

called "Steve's Den" - much to the dismay of comedy rivals Leroy and Skillet, who have just borrowed a large sum of money from the Mob to finance their own opening at another club the following day. Realizing that their show is likely to fail with Petey in town (and therefore default on the loan, and putting their lives at risk), they beg Petey to delay his act. When Petey refuses to do so, Leroy and Skillet's henchmen gun down Petey's business partner Ted's little brother Larry, and then attempt to wipe out Petey himself at the boy's funeral by machine gunning the entire party. Mortally wounded, Petey is visited by "Lou Cipher" - the Devil himself - who tells him that his death was a mistake. He is willing to undo Petey's death on one condition: that Petey marry the Devil's daughter and provide him with a grandson. Petey nearly quashes the deal when he sees the picture of the Devil's ugly daughter, but hears the words of Bantu and decides to make a deal. Petey and his friends are brought back to life, and Petey tells them of the Devil's deal and his plans to gain revenge on Leroy and Skillet, as well as trick the Devil by not marrying his daughter. Armed with the Devil's own magic "Pimp Cane", Petey sets out to exact his revenge. He uses the cane's magic to do good in his community while also humiliating his rivals. However, demons begin appearing in Petey and his friends's lives as a reminder of the deal he made. Petey is able to outsmart them, going as far as to have sex with a room full of demon women with such stamina that they all fall unconscious. After finally getting even with Leroy and Skillet by having them killed by the mob, Petey confronts the Devil with his own cane and sets him on fire, casting him off a roof to his apparent death. He breaks the cane in half and gets into a car with his friends, sure that their ordeal is over. However, an undead Leroy and Skillet - as well as the Devil - appear in the car to taunt Petey, and the film ends as Petey screams in terror.

Cast

* Rudy Ray Moore as Petey Wheatstraw ** Danny Poinson as Young Petey Wheatstraw ** Clifford Roquemore II as Baby Petey Wheatstraw * Jimmy Lynch as Jimmy * Leroy Daniels as Leroy * Ernest Mayhand as "Skillet" * Ebony Wright as Nell, Petey's Girlfriend / Pet, The Devil's Daughter *

Wildman Steve Steve Gallon, Jr. (September 10, 1925 – September 1, 2004), known as Wildman Steve (or Wild Man Steve), was an American comic entertainer, radio personality, promoter, MC and recording artist. Biography He was born in Monticello, Florida, b ...

as Steve * G. Tito Shaw as Lucifer / The Devil * Ted Clemmons as Ted * Marvin Jones as Willie "Scarface Willie" * George Mireless as Mr. White * Bryan L. Roquemore as Larry * Brian Breye as Bantu * Rose Jewel Williams as Petey's Mother *

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 (1993 film), ''Posse''. Early life and education He was born in Cincinnati and grew up in Chicago. He at ...

as Petey's Father

Home media

''Petey Wheatstraw'' was released on

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 ...

in 2002 as part of the ''Dolemite Collection'' box set. In July 2016, the film was restored in 2K and released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

Vinegar Syndrome Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...

. As of November 2020, the film is available for

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

's FreeDive video channel.

References

External links

*
''Petey Wheatstraw''
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petey Wheatstraw (film) 1977 films 1970s fantasy comedy films Blaxploitation films African-American films The Devil in film 1977 comedy films 1970s English-language films American exploitation films American fantasy comedy films American comedy horror films 1970s American films