Black Gunn
directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
This 1972 film was a foreign made entry in the American Blaxploitation boom of the late sixties and early seventies. It's not a great movie. In fact it's not even a good movie, given that its story and themes had been done many times before, even as far back as 1972. It did have a somewhat well known cast.
directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
This 1972 film was a foreign made entry in the American Blaxploitation boom of the late sixties and early seventies. It's not a great movie. In fact it's not even a good movie, given that its story and themes had been done many times before, even as far back as 1972. It did have a somewhat well known cast.
But as I've written before these movies were some of the few times on the big screen when Black men were portrayed as heroic, Black women were portrayed as desirable, and Black people in general could inhabit the entire spectrum of human morality and skill. Black people weren't only comic relief or sexless sidekicks who either die first or spend the entire film trying to ensure that the white lead finds happiness with someone else.
That was unusual then and is still uncommon now. I've seen this film described as neo-noir but I disagree with that. This is an action film. The lead character, played by football superstar turned actor, Jim Brown, doesn't talk much. He's not morally compromised. He's not suffering from existential dread about the meaningless of life or unhappy with his career.
And he's not depressed nor does he think that all of his choices are bad. No, what Gunn (Brown with no apparent first name) does is glower, speak softly with understated menace, and run his nightclub.
This last becomes a little difficult when Gunn's younger brother Scott Gunn (Herbert Jefferson Jr. -probably best known to people of my age as Lieutenant Boomer on Battlestar Galatica) the leader of a Black nationalist revolutionary organization rather unimaginatively named B.A.G. (Black Action Group) decides to liberate some funds for the revolution by robbing some Mob bookies.
Scott gets some cash and some notebooks that list Mob payoffs/amounts. Without asking his brother, Scott crashes at Gunn's nightclub and hides the notebooks there. The two brothers argue.
Gunn doesn't want to get involved and insists that it's not revolution time yet. Scott questions his brother's courage and commitment which offends Gunn. Anyhow blood is blood so for now Gunn lets little brother stay.
Slimy Mob capo Capelli (Martin Landau) has just received a promotion to operating boss. His supervisor pointedly notes that Capelli can be demoted as swiftly as he was promoted. Demotions are painful and permanent.
Capelli will be judged on how quickly he can find and punish the thieves and retrieve the documents. The Mob big shots can't believe that Blacks had the audacity to rob them. They don't intend to let people they see as inferior get away with that s***.
Over Capelli's objections the bosses assign the loony enforcer Ray Kriley (Bruce Glover) and his people to assist Capelli. Although Kriley reports to Capelli and has to follow orders, Capelli knows that Kriley will be the one to "demote" him if things go bad.
When the Mob kills Scott and threatens Gunn's girlfriend Judith (Brenda Sykes), Gunn starts his own investigation, which consists of beating up or shooting people. Gunn's actions put him on the radar of a strange Congressman Adams (Gary Conway), the new B.A.G. Leader Seth (Bernie Casey, fellow former football star), the niece of the real Mafia boss (or perhaps the boss herself), Toni (former Bond Girl Luciana Paluzzi) and a Black LAPD detective who hates everyone.
These people all want something from Gunn. Some are more obvious than others.
There are too many chases, car and foot. Obviously there is violence but the gunplay looks fake. The white characters gratuitously use racial slurs just so you know they're the bad guys. Toplessness abounds; unfortunately it's mostly Brown's.
