''The Slams'' is a

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Jonathan Kaplan Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. His film ''The Accused'' (1988) earned actress Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International ...

and starring

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

Plot

Curtis Hook (

) is caught by the police after a heist. In jail, Curtis has to deal with people who want to know where he stashed the loot while also trying to get out of jail in time to get the money before its hiding place is demolished.

Cast

as Curtis X. Hook *

Judy Pace Judy Lenteen Pace (born June 15, 1942) is an American actress known for her roles in films and television shows, particularly blaxploitation films. Pace portrayed Vickie Fletcher on the TV series '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969) and Pat Walters on ...

as Iris Daniels * Roland Bob Harris as Captain Stambell (as Roland 'Bob' Harris) * Paul Harris as Jackson Barney (as Paul E. Harris) *

Frank DeKova Frank de Kova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an American character actor in films, stage, and TV. Biography De Kova was born in New York City. He was a teacher at a school in New York before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He ...

as Capiello *

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...

as Glover * Frenchia Guizon as Macey * John Dennis as Sergeant Morella / Flood * Jac Emel as Zack * Quinn K. Redeker as The Warden (as Quinn Redeker)

Tagline

JIM BROWN goes over the wall to flash with a million $ stash.

Production

The film was produced by Gene Corman, brother of famous

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

producer

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. Gene hired Kaplan on the basis of the director's handling of the black subplot in Roger Corman's ''

The Student Teachers ''The Student Teachers'' is a 1973 film directed by Jonathan Kaplan. It was inspired by the "nurse" cycle of pictures starting with ''The Student Nurses'' (1970). Roger Corman says it was one of the best of the cycle. Plot Three new high school t ...

''. The only requirement was that Kaplan meet with Jim Brown. "I found him to be quite sweet, quite charming," says Kaplan.Jonathan Kaplan on ''The Slams''
at

Trailers From Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and expl ...

Kaplan found Gene Corman a far more hands on producer than his brother, casting the movie and using his own editor. The film was shot on location mostly at Lincoln Heights Prison in Los Angeles. Brown wanted to fight someone bigger than him in a fight scene so Ted Cassidy was cast. Kaplan said he found the way to keep Brown engaged in the movie was to get him involved in some sort of competition, so he organised people to play chess with him in between takes. "We got along because I treated him like an actor, not like an ex-football player," said Kaplan.

Reception

Dennis Schwartz gave it a C+ and said the film "Aims to prove that blacks like whites can also play amoral criminal hero roles with a straight face and a smirk." Critic Mike McGranaghan gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: "It's everything you could ever want from a Jim Brown prison movie."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slams 1973 films Films directed by Jonathan Kaplan 1973 action films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films produced by Gene Corman 1970s English-language films American action films 1970s American films