''That Man Bolt'' is a 1973 American

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

David Lowell Rich David Lowell Rich (August 31, 1920 – October 21, 2001) was an American film director and producer. He directed nearly 100 films and TV episodes between 1950 and 1987. He was born in New York City. He began directing on a regular basis in 1 ...

and Henry Levin. It stars

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former American football player, a defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a ...

in the title role of a

courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

and Byron Webster. The film combined several

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

, the

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...

, and

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

superspy films (with some posters featuring the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

"He's Bonded"). It was filmed in Hong Kong, Macau and the United States and featured several martial arts experts in action: Mike Stone, World Professional Light Heavyweight Karate Champion, Kenji Kazama Japan Kickboxing Champion, Emil Farkas, European Black Belt Karate Champion, and David Chow, Former California State Judo Champion. It was titled ''Operation Hong Kong'' outside the United States. Peter Crowcroft wrote the

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

of the screenplay.

Plot

Courier Jefferson Bolt is asked to take a briefcase from Hong Kong to Mexico City, but he is not told what is in it or the identity of the man who asks him, a man named Griffiths. Convinced he will get good pay and see a few good places, Bolt takes on the job, while looking out for anything suspicious. Soon he does find exotic places, beautiful women, and ruthless gunmen interested in the briefcase.

Production

Fred Williamson recalled that

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

signed him for three films featuring the Bolt character as a black

, but avoiding the urban locations of

films. One director was replaced to make the film look more like a globetrotting secret agent film rather than a made for television movie. Williamson felt that Universal was not prepared to launch a

film series A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. It is a type of series fiction. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples ...

featuring a black star. Though no other Bolt films were made, Williamson was paid for two films.

Cast

as Jefferson Bolt * Byron Webster as Griffiths * Miko Mayama as Dominique Kuan *

Teresa Graves Terresa Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series '' Get Chri ...

as Samantha Nightingale * Masatoshi Nakamura as Kumada * John Orchard as Carter * Jack Ging as Connie Mellis * Ken Kazama as "Spider" * Vassili Lambrinos as Raoul De Vargas * Paul Mantee as Mickey

Filming locations

*Hong Kong, UK (today China) *Las Vegas, Nevada, USA *Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, USA *Los Angeles, California, USA *Macau, Portugal (today China)

References

External links