Blaxplotiation Week : Black Caesar

Welcome back to Blaxploitation Week gentle readers.  My apologies for the delay I had some sort of Vertigo from a video game or I had been on the computer too long.  Take your pick.   I am now writing on my new computer which runs awesome!!!   One of the fans is a bit loud but I am working on it.  Today's flick brings a boy of the streets to a man of power.  As a young man, Tommy Gibbs was beaten profusely by a racist cop that makes him crave power anyway he can get it and thus embarks into a career in crime.   Hey, it was the system for a change!   This is Black Caesar.

Tommy's smooth pimpin'.

Tommy Gibbs: I gave spoiler everything she wanted, Rufus, but she still wasn't ever happy.
Reverend Rufus: You know, I almost feel like I could pray for her.




Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson of Three the Hard Way, The Inglorious Bastards, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Warrior of the Wasteland and Vamped) was a tolerated errand boy for the Italian Syndicate when he chose to rise to power creating his own black crime family deep in Harlem.  He soon gets the reputation of a man in charge and goes to war with his old employers the mafia in New York City.   With his ledger book of all the dealings and goings on include his former boss McKinney (Art Lund of The Molly Maguires, The Last American Hero, Bucktown and The Oklahoma City Dolls) he wages bloody retribution and demands to be recognized as the man.

Boomstick, sucka!

No sooner has he commited his forces to this gang war Tommy meets a gorgeous singer Helen (Gloria Hendry of Live and Let Die, Hell Up in Harlem, Black Belt Jones and Man in the Mirror) and they fall in love and in no time are married enjoying the high life.   Gloria soon discovers Tommy is no gentleman, calls him out on it and he violates her.
Hell bent on revenge, Gloria contacts McKinney to do Tommy in which leads to a substantial gun fight. Enemies start outweighing friends as Tommy takes care of business.

I had just a few points of the film at this time.  Shot in Spherical 35 mm, this film brings us a coming of age story that leads a young boy down a dark path and when he feels he has everything ever wanted he finds himself worse off than he was.  Sammy Davis Jr. was offered the role initially but he declined saying he didn't feel the film had merit or offered a positive story.   It is dark, violent and action packed.   Almost a retelling of "Little Caesar" with Edward G Robinson and it works well.

Swear the guy on his left is Issac Hayes.