Customer Reviews

Trick Baby (Soul Showcase)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you thought Philadelphia, The 12 Monkeys and Tradin' Places were the only films other than The Philadelphia Experiment set in Philly, you're dead wrong.

When it comes to grittyness, this early '70s film, which appears to be shot mostly in West Philly puts NYC to shame.... in terms of charactor and story development its also definitely *not* your typical blaxploitation film - - and this becomes clear the moment you realize that its actually an adaptation of a novel by Iceberg Slim, a writer who along with Donald Goines wrote about urban street life and told tales of hustlers and pimps long long before Shaft and Superfly. In fact, it was probably the realism of their books most likely that fueled the fantasy of that film genre....

The story is about the final days of a relationship between an aging hustler named Blue and his young counterpart/protege known as "White Folks" so named because he can pass for white, a bend which made their game all the more strong. While hated by most black folks because he looks like a white man, he is understood and protected by Blue - - and together their hustle and schemes seem almost righteous, because through Folks, Blue is able to engage in confidence games praying on greedy white people who believe they are about to get rich by exploiting black folk. Far from being jive talking hustlers, both are articulate and intelligent and have learned well from one another, making their game even stronger, til one day they hustle the wrong person putting a dirty cop and the mob on their tale, in the middle of the biggest hustle of their lifetime. Suddenly, its a race against time and the questions whether its time to get out of town or get out of the game.

Great film, great locations, well acted, and a nice bluesy soundtrack. If you like this film, check out the novel by Slim, as well "Across 110th Street" another interesting movie about the relationship between an idealistic young black cop and corrupt old guard white cop, and missing mob money in Harlem.

Trick Baby is a film about a man named Blue who has raised a white man that they call "Folks," which is short for White Folks. Folks is supposedly mixed but appears to be portrayed by an all white actor. Blue is a hustler. He raises Folks to be a hustler. The two scam and pull fast ones for a living. On one particular occasion they get in over there head. Folks wants to leave the business behind and head to Chicago, but Blue is dedicated to see things through so that they can get some real hard cash. The chase scenes in this film are classic, I especially enjoyed seeing "Folks" run through the streets of Philadelphia. If you are fan of 70's cinema, you will notice a lot of regular character actors from the 70's in this film.

This movie is based on a book by Iceberg Slim. The promoters of the recent DVD release need to uplay the films literary connections, but Iceberg Slim is real big now and this film is based on one of his most popular works. Although over 30 years old, this film is still very enjoyable. It has a strong plot and a lot of action.

I was surprised to see that other user reviews were so different in their reactions to this film than me. They compared the movie to The Sting and Blacksploition films. Trick Baby is not The Sting or Cotton Comes to Harlem. There are no Robin Hoods stealing from bad people to the benefit of good people. It is not entertainment. It is horror. The movie is like the book by Iceberg Slim. The book was horrifying because the author told the story without any moral comment, just laying it out matter-of-factly as though this world of crime and vice and universal dishonestly was not a pathological mutation of everything that is decent and honorable. Trick Baby is like exploratory surgery on a patient that is still alive but already decaying from within. Everybody in the story parasitises everybody else. And they are Black. Is this grifter world the natural result of racist oppression so that the only path to prosperity is to cheat and steal and whore? Or did other victimized people take strength from self-help and being morally superior to their oppressors? Here we see Black-on-Black exploitation at its worst. And in the end the moral of the amoral story is the same as in Public Enemy where Cagney's corpse is delivered to his mother in the last scene. Crime doesn't pay.

I am a lover of old flicks... anything that is mentioned in other movies, shown on other films, CD-interludes, Samples, etc..

IE.. watching TRICK BABY.. i've heard a sample that was used in a Wu-Tang song.

good movie

if you dig Iceburg slim and Donald Goines then you are gonna be feeling this film. a Brother who can Pass for White and a Older soul Brother who has Schooled the Younger Cat on the Street Hustle in Philly. there are so many twists and turns in this film and the Big Heist near the end makes you wonder can they make it back to the Bank in time? if this Film was Up-dated it would be outta control on the Real. the soundtrack was tight as well. the Preacher had me rolling as well. i was feeling that Hog in the Film. right on that film will take you back and make you think and this is the kind of film that had so much cleaverness going on it wasn't even funny. that toliet paper roll that passed for dollar bills would make Sheryl Crow even squeeze the charmin.

Imagine THE STING set in a contemporary slum, taken very seriously, with a no name cast, and with a downbeat ending---cause that's what this movie amounts to.

For whatever reason, it's filmed in Philadelphia, though there's nothing special about the location shooting. The direction comes off as lacklaster, even amaturish. The plot does move fast, though.

Somehow, Universal released this; AIP was better with such material. A very 1970s movie, also kinda akin to ACROSSS 11OTH STREET, with a similar mafia/cops chasing anti-heros angle.

This movie and the book it adapted from came out before THE STING----so, THE STING ripped off the opening scene of two hustlers accidently ripping off the mafia!!!!

All I can say is great movie. One of my top 5 best blax. movies

I wanted to read the book, but it's always checked out so I decided I might as well watch the movie. It was pretty good, despite the unhappy ending. But that's real life though. The characters were sophisticated and knew how to carry out their hustles, even though in the end Blue was too obsessed with the money and lost focus. Other than that, there was none of that sloppy, ill-mannered, dumb thug stuff that seems to be popular these days.I really love movies from the 1970s and this one will definetly be added to my collection.

I was sadden by the fact that the movie seemed to be incomplete. I recently compared the movie to the book and everything in the movie seems to be in the first two chapters.

The story is that of two con-men: White Folks (Kiel Martin), who had a black mother and a white father and whose skin is white; and Blue Howard ( Mel Stewart), a grizzled black veteran who has taught his young protégé everything he knows about the art of dishonest tricks...

Together they cheat the Mafia and the police; they make $10,000 and have to give some of it away to the local black protection retailer; they set up a confidence property deal to get by fraud some over-greedy white businessmen out of $150,000, but cannot quite shield the stolen loot...

The distinguished trait of the film is that not all the blacks are all good, and not all the whites are all bad... What is more, it makes a point of showing that black men can play on their color to win their own ends...