Dolemite, 1975.
Directed by D’Urville Martin.
Starring Rudy Ray Moore, D’Urville Martin, Jerry Jones, Lady Reed and Hy Pyke.
SYNOPSIS:
After being released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, pimp Dolemite sets out to find and kill the man who set him up, the villainous Willie Green.
As some of you might have noticed I’ve been watching a lot of Blaxploitation films of late and quite honestly I’ve not had the best time of it. I didn’t enjoy the groundbreaking Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, although I did appreciate what it was aiming for, and the less said about Blackenstein the better, mainly because I’ve already forgotten about it. I had almost given up hope that I would get any kind of joy from my trip into the world of Blaxploitation and thankfully my prayers had been answered by today’s film the 70s cult classic Dolemite.
Full of colourful rhymes, high kicking karate moves and a take no shit attitude, Dolemite, as played by late comedian Rudy Ray Moore, is a fun, quick-witted and outlandish hero. Played with unbridled charisma by Moore, the character is the quintessential 70s pimp complete with one of the loudest senses of fashion I’ve ever seen, strolling across the screen in some of the most glorious fur coats to ever grace the silver screen. While some of his actions might raise a few eyebrows, such as rather ruthlessly killing an unarmed man or his heavy use of “bitch” (it was a different era after all) Moore’s captivating charisma and overpowering screen presence ensure that you’re always rooting for Dolemite in the end.
The film’s dialogue while hardly likely to rival Harold Pinter is laced with some wonderful lyrical qualities that render much of it funny and rather memorable in its sheer silliness. My personal favourite has to be the wonderfully foul-mouthed yet beautiful declaration from our hero that “Dolemite is my name and f**king up motherf**kers is my game!”. Truly these are words worthy of The Bard.
The film, for the most part, moves along at a brisk pace, full of action, suspense, humour, sex and more than a few rhymes in between. The film might sag a bit in the middle as the plot becomes somewhat convoluted and I did find myself getting just a tad bored. However, the film’s grand finale more than makes up for the slow middle, gifting us a small variety show of music and dance, a glorious karate fuelled riot, a high speed (yet somewhat leisurely) car chase and a gunfight to top things off. All in all, it’s a damn good bit of fun.
As per the best Blaxploitation films, Dolemite also boasts a soundtrack that blends all the best qualities of 70s Blaxploitation music into one funky mix, with the film’s main theme being the perfect adrenaline-pumping blast of funk to get you into the mood. I also like how the opening theme helpfully informs that Willy Green is indeed “the baddest motherf**ker you’ve ever seen”, just for those who were unsure about it.
Dolemite is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s silly, obnoxious, dated and simply daft from start to finish, but that’s what makes it so much damn fun.
While it drags in the middle at times and the characters are rather stock and about as complex as a paper plate, the film’s daft tone, wonderfully silly dialogue and high kicking action scenes ensure that you’ll have a good time watching. Check it out if you’re curious.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
