''The Guy from Harlem'' (also known as ''The Good Guy from Harlem'') 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 ...

film directed by Rene Martinez Jr.

Plot

Al Connors is a groovy, streetwise

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

transplanted from

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), ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, where he is highly acclaimed and sought out. Agents of the

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

approach Al regarding a mission of international importance: an African head of state is in town for a conference, and the potentate's wife, Mrs. Ashanti, will need constant and reliable security. The CIA has concluded that Mrs. Ashanti is best entrusted to independent security rather than their own agents and has arranged for her to check in to a local hotel posing as Al's wife. Al takes the case and quickly develops a romantic attraction to Mrs. Ashanti. However, he immediately finds himself fending off spies who pose as hotel staff. After fighting with Ashanti's enemies, Al determines that they are working for a crime lord called Big Daddy, and he abandons the hotel room to relocate Mrs. Ashanti to the apartment of a female friend. Dismissing his friend, and confident they will not be found, Al has sex with Mrs. Ashanti. After the CIA case is concluded, Al returns to his office and is presented with a new case. Crime boss Harry De Bauld's daughter Wanda has been

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

by the very same Big Daddy who threatened Mrs. Ashanti, and Harry is willing to pay Al handsomely for Wanda's safe return. Provided with cash and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

for a potential hostage exchange, Al delves deep into this case, investigating gyms, health clubs, and Miami's underworld for leads on where to find Big Daddy. Various

leisure suit A leisure suit is a casual suit consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers (pants)"Leisur ...

-wearing thugs direct Al to a shack on the city's outskirts, where he beats up and kills Big Daddy's men, rescues Wanda, and once again takes her to his female friend's apartment to have sex. Wanda is reunited with her father, but Al is not satisfied; he wants to locate and defeat Big Daddy once and for all. Al arranges a meeting with Big Daddy, who challenges him to a fight to the death, on the condition that the loser's allies will not retaliate against the winner. Wanda shows up to cheer Al on, and after several minutes of grappling, Al kills Big Daddy. Al departs with Wanda as his men triumphantly

high five High five is a friendly gesture in which one individual slaps another's hand. High five (and variants such as Hi5, Hi-5, and Hi-Five) may also refer to: Music * Hi-5 (Australian group), an Australian children's musical group * Hi-5 (Greek band), ...

Cast

* Loye Hawkins as Al Connors * Cathy Davis as Wanda De Bauld * Patricia Fulton as Mrs. Ashanti * Wanda Starr as Sue * Steve Gallon as Harry De Bauld * Laster Wilson as Larry De Bauld *

Wayne Crawford Wayne David Crawford (February 11, 1947 – April 30, 2016) was an American film and television actor, and film producer, director and screenwriter. Crawford appeared in nearly thirty films, produced fifteen, wrote nine, and directed seven. Cra ...

as "Big Daddy" (as Scott Lawrence) * Vaughn Harris as CIA Agent David McLeod (as Vaughan Harris) * Richie Vallon as Jim * Michael Murrell as Paul Benson * Angela Schon as Jo Ann * Douglas Ferraro as Man #1 * Fernando Yi as Man #2 * Colleen Martinez as The Masseuse * Hyatt Hodgdon as Mac * Mickeal Taylor as Special Man * Raff Prieto as The Waitress * Lafon Hockaday as Health Spa Owner * Patrick Hackett as Health Spa Extra * Jesus Correa as Health Spa Extra * Douglas Brinson as Bellboy

Legacy

''The Guy from Harlem'' was the subject of a 2012 episode of

RiffTrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

. They described the film thus: "It trades most of the sleaze, grime, and, well, exploitation that you expect from the genre for dopiness, sexual situations that fail to lead to actual sex, a clumsy confused sweetness, and more botched lines per minute than anything we’ve ever seen." Kevin Murphy described it as one of his five favorite "riffs." ''

Connect Savannah Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and late ...

'''s Jim Reed described the film as "the most enjoyable so-bad-it’s-good example of that genre I have ever come across. ..it’s jaw-droppingly inept yet still holds your attention. It’s filled with clumsy fistfights, shoddy camerawork, D-grade

funk music 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

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...

bell-bottomed

leisure suits A leisure suit is a casual suit consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers (pants)"Leisure ...

References

External links

* *
The entire film on Rifftrax's official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy From Harlem 1977 films Films set in Miami American action drama films 1970s action drama films Blaxploitation films 1977 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films