cult film freak: ken norton

Written by James M. Tate / 9/09/2016 / No comments / blaxploitation , exploitation , ken norton , seventies , slave , warren oates , yaphet kotto

KEN NORTON BEATS 'MANDINGO' WITH HIS OWN 'DRUM'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxzWO92WkVIkUqN__we0NlJPkEa6yQScZRkLQUxk44VG1h4W7l5ujOy72pE4vbYBoIFfXyFyweHqrYsIhJjD1i1GH92HUwBCUpBlTjQXqm6h4NhPGGXm7gVz_BSHmHShYKOqAxAsFBi8/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxzWO92WkVIkUqN__we0NlJPkEa6yQScZRkLQUxk44VG1h4W7l5ujOy72pE4vbYBoIFfXyFyweHqrYsIhJjD1i1GH92HUwBCUpBlTjQXqm6h4NhPGGXm7gVz_BSHmHShYKOqAxAsFBi8/s400/2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of a nifty Asian poster for Steve Carver's DRUM Year: 1976</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It would take a miracle to erase the glorious cinematic exploitation of MANDINGO, wherein real life boxing champ Ken Norton plays a "Mandingo Fighting Slave" that his new master trains to death-wrestle other slaves, or perhaps just a more contained followup would do the trick...<br>
<br>
Not a sequel but, directed by action-auteur Steve Carver, DRUM is an effectively lean, mean, sparse and vastly underrated vehicle that would have worked with or without making up for the catastrophic predecessor that <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/12/django-unchained.html">Quentin Tarantino</a> deemed "The SHOWGIRLS of the 1970's," which would make this exceptional entry, with Norton in the title role, a comeback... Although, being a boxer, where the retirement age is usually young and, after enough punches, brain damage can occur, even a bad movie is a good move, especially when surrounded by great actors such as Warren Oates and Isela Vega, together again two-years after Sam Peckinpah's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, a bizarre labor-of-love almost as <i>Critically-Ashamed</i> as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/09/mandingo.html">MANDINGO</a> (for completely different reasons), and unfairly so...<br>
<br>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheC-lR7PfEyq5q1CfAm_bjWMOiBlomuYsgL9TqMBE3l9bwRMwp_4NFRrp7-VMO0reBV1ox7P5O_FZFRKQbwAgKdWXXAEJhHyXPA8Z9EGYORxzeXxdkc2i_8wSvhoEUbBQ9G_nKJ2HB_o0/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheC-lR7PfEyq5q1CfAm_bjWMOiBlomuYsgL9TqMBE3l9bwRMwp_4NFRrp7-VMO0reBV1ox7P5O_FZFRKQbwAgKdWXXAEJhHyXPA8Z9EGYORxzeXxdkc2i_8wSvhoEUbBQ9G_nKJ2HB_o0/s200/9.jpg" width="191"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bring Me the Head of DRUM</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
They're only in a few scenes together, primarily the setup taking place in her mansion (following a quick Cuban-set montage/backstory) where Oates – as a Slave Trading plantation owner – buys Drum to be a (half black) "Breeder" for what were also referred in MANDINGO as "Suckers" i.e. Babies, sold for a generous profit and wanting to give his immense yet unkempt manor more class, particularly when gold-digging Fiona Lewis moves in with an ulterior (marital) motive beyond spreading proper etiquette...<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, stealing scenes with more open sexuality and sly manipulation, is the estate's promiscuous daughter... LASERBLAST blonde starlet Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith... who will do anything to grab hold of Drum's stick (sorry, just had to). After he rejects her numerous advances, she sets her determined, lusty sites on his best friend, Blaze, played by the black acting-ringer herein...<br>

blaxploitation, exploitation, ken norton, seventies, slave, warren oates, yaphet kotto

KEN NORTON BEATS 'MANDINGO' WITH HIS OWN 'DRUM'

Part of a nifty Asian poster for Steve Carver's DRUM Year: 1976 It would take a miracle to erase the glorious cinematic exploitation...

Written by James M. Tate / 9/19/2013 / No comments / blaxploitation , exploitation , james mason , ken norton , perry king , seventies , susan george

MANDINGO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdoJD8NNRIcHVzMOmZI_Ivqkt2uGTd40WWiwPc00UspfG5gQopbCwfvRT6NBllnF6c1oCmsDzeJxIrv9s7upFn-yjrAe7LY9vq8hsTIME7SvjSTdclcd2ENUVZ0V3y0rx0Gy7zkaF8AU/s1600/mandingo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdoJD8NNRIcHVzMOmZI_Ivqkt2uGTd40WWiwPc00UspfG5gQopbCwfvRT6NBllnF6c1oCmsDzeJxIrv9s7upFn-yjrAe7LY9vq8hsTIME7SvjSTdclcd2ENUVZ0V3y0rx0Gy7zkaF8AU/s1600/mandingo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">year: 1975 cast: Perry King, Susan George, Ken Norton, James Mason, Richard Ward rating: ***</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What makes this an infamously guilty pleasure, and an extremely politically incorrect movie, might not have been intentional. Perhaps the writers wanted to show slave owners in the deep South exactly how they were, or how they hadn’t been betrayed in other films or TV shows – as completely unapologetic and comfortable with their lifestyle.<br />
<br />
For example, James Mason’s plantation owner Warren Maxwell laying his feet on a slave kid’s chest to get rid of his rheumatism. This is but one example of how MANDINGO takes racism to a completely new level: since owning slaves was legal, it’s shown in a workaday fashion.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke7VkJDfJfcijFHFIQtSwaHLsqb2naDu_A00brKyFRnUp040MQ9A4jTG7RvWfgrCCVwTjH8YA7hI7yEgjgAu_OTg_RnGZ8t1rvIeTxx7TpKsqb-jhOcAVFrcCkly9TCv5zStm76K1hChO/s1600/Mandingo5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke7VkJDfJfcijFHFIQtSwaHLsqb2naDu_A00brKyFRnUp040MQ9A4jTG7RvWfgrCCVwTjH8YA7hI7yEgjgAu_OTg_RnGZ8t1rvIeTxx7TpKsqb-jhOcAVFrcCkly9TCv5zStm76K1hChO/s1600/Mandingo5.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The recently departed Ken Norton as Mede the Mandingo fighting slave</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But after the first fifteen minutes of blunt dialogue there’s a pretty decent story involving Warren's son Hammond, played by Perry King, who reluctantly marries his cousin Blanche, brought to life with vicious melancholy by STRAW DOGS ingénue Susan George. Blanche is jealous of her husband’s slave “wench” and, basking in rueful isolation within the dilapidated mansion, she throws a violent tantrum that is quite chilling.<br />
<br />
The real stuff occurs when Hammond purchases a Mandingo Fighting slave, Mede. Real life boxer Ken Norton proves his worth as an actor and is especially good in the intense fight-to-the-death scenes that make you forget about all the other stuff, unfairly categorized by film historians as camp cinema… Perhaps they were just too stunned to take this seriously, and too ashamed to really enjoy it. Either way, this is a film that could have only come out of the 1970's. That alone makes it truly worthwhile. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0N6OJJ98qcJLC_yAHaUhYHv8-Q4ZRuuWHTjPg1rRee2YgZQ_5DeDFvHK2dF7TtiemaplRESPoxo1DJLYdbUMkYixX-uEhlyz6FTEAf402coIWS1-1zmhawPZ8Fo3aYNTdJgnKGTMqis3/s1600/mandingo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0N6OJJ98qcJLC_yAHaUhYHv8-Q4ZRuuWHTjPg1rRee2YgZQ_5DeDFvHK2dF7TtiemaplRESPoxo1DJLYdbUMkYixX-uEhlyz6FTEAf402coIWS1-1zmhawPZ8Fo3aYNTdJgnKGTMqis3/s1600/mandingo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As Ridiculously Exploitation as can be... James Mason uses a very weird way to get rid of rheumatism </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>

blaxploitation, exploitation, james mason, ken norton, perry king, seventies, susan george

MANDINGO

year: 1975 cast: Perry King, Susan George, Ken Norton, James Mason, Richard Ward rating: *** What makes this an infamously guilty pleasu...

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)ROBBERY 3)HELL IS A CITY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)HOT CARS 7)VIOLENT SATURDAY 8)THE BREAK 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)JUNGLE STREET 17)WHITE HEAT 18)FALLEN ANGEL 19)A PRIZE OF ARMS 20)THE BIG HEAT 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE MARKED ONES 23)THE DRIVER 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)JOURNEY INTO FEAR 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6)CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER