The Black Godfather (1974)

Excellent but underrated film

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

After a burglary in Harlem goes bad and his best friend is killed a wounded "J.J." (Rod Perry) is rescued by a man named "Nate Williams" (Jimmy Witherspoon) who is also known as "the Black Godfather" due to the fact that he owns the numbers racket there. After treating his wounds Nate decides to mentor J.J. because he recognizes something special in him. Sometime later J.J. becomes quite influential in both gambling and prostitution--but not in drugs which is controlled by an Italian mobster named "Tony Burton" (Don Chastain). Having seen the devastation within the black community caused by heroin J.J. decides to team up with some black militants led by a man named "Diablo" (Damu King) to make it more difficult for Tony to do business in this part of the city. Unfortunately, Tony has no intention of abandoning such a lucrative market and war soon breaks out. At any rate, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a fairly decent "blaxploitation" picture. Admittedly, some of the scenes were rather slow and it could have used a bit more action here and there but otherwise it turned out okay. Accordingly, I rate it as about average.

It seems clear from reading reviews here that a number of people went into "The Black Godfather" expecting the typical tropes of the Blaxploitation genre, and were disappointed to find that they are few and far between in the film. Aside from the title and mostly-black cast, the movie is a far better example of a crime drama, and a particularly well-made one at that. The acting is convincing and forceful, particularly from Rod Perry's J.J. and Don Chastain's rival mob boss Tony. The plot is coherent and skillfully juggles multiple character threads and conflicts. The picture quality on the version I watched was poor, but I didn't expect much better from an obscure film from the early 70's. Stay away if you're just looking for loud-mouthed stereotypes blasting each other to bloody corpses, the title has led you astray. But check it out if you want a crime movie with a lot of heart poured into it.

"The Black Godfather" begins with a young guy, J.J. (Rod Perry), nearly getting himself killed but being ultimately rescued and taken under the wing of a guy who is in charge of the numbers rackets in the inner city. Despite nearly getting killed, J.J. is insistent that he has plans---plans on taking down the established white mob that has set up shop in the ghetto. However, and this is odd, it's never really certain what his plans are once he's destroyed this mob. Does he want peace for his community or does he want to be the next mob boss.This is an unusual blaxsploitation film in that I have seen similar types of movies but never one that is so muted and low-key. The normal bouncy 70s R&B music is gone and so are the loud stereotypical sorts of characters. Some, I am sure, will dislike this--they WANT the crazy over-the-top characters you see in many blaxsploitation films. Some might appreciate that the folks AREN'T so stereotypical. The problem I had is that although I appreciated these sorts of characters, the script itself just lacked energy and life--definitely making this a lesser film of the genre.By the way, look for the rather visible mic at 20:00 at the top of the screen--much like you'll see deliberately included in the recent blaxsploitation parody "Black Dynamite" (a definite must-see).

Wise old numbers king Nate Williams (affably portrayed by legendary blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon) reigns supreme over a gritty ghetto urban jungle. Nate makes shrewd pimp J.J. (well played with fiery aplomb by Rod Perry) his righthand man. J.J. in turn declares war on evil white heroin drug lord Tony Burton (a smoothly hateful Don Chastain). J.J. enlists the aid of passionate black militant leader Diablo (essayed with fierce gusto by Damu King) to rid the neighborhood of smack. Writer/director John Evans delivers plenty of snappy, profane dialogue, a decent smidgen of gratuitous nudity, and occasional outbursts of exciting action (a wild karate fight between two women rates as the definite stirring highlight). Nice supporting performances by Diane Sommerfield as J.J.'s sweet girlfriend Yvonne, Duncan McLeod as corrupt, on the take cop Lt. Joe Sterling, Tony Burton as Nate's loyal, volatile body guard Sonny Spyder Brown, John Alderman as wormy, stuttering dope pusher Cockroach, and Anny Green as Tony's sassy blonde moll Honey. Jack Steely's rough, grainy cinematography, the well-drawn main characters, and the soulful groovin' score by Phil Moore and Martin Yarbrough further enhance the funky fun of this enjoyable blaxploitation item.