Customer Reviews

Willie Dynamite [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Willie's Pimp gear and fashions in this film are so outrageous, and the way he deals with sort of being the modern day Job of the hustler world with everyone from the man, the system, rival pimps, the parking authority (who seem to be towing his car in every scene), a social worker, the neighborhood youth and even his you-know-watches comin' down on him makes this film very watchable... even though in many ways its sort of the Plan 9 from Outter Space of the black action genre (by that I mean RIDICULOUS.) - - At one point I actually thought Willie was going to find Jesus at the end and it was going to turn out to be some church financed films... things really got ridiculous... but yes, it does have a positive ending and a message too ! ! !

There are some other things too that set it apart from other films of the era, including the injections at times of Dolemite style humor, including Willie's revenge on a rival gangster by stripping him of his threads down to his shoelaces and leaving him in his birthday suit down by the waterfront, and in general the behaviour of the white lodge members at the hotel, who during a knife fight between two rival groups of prostitutes seem to be able to say little than, "Yes, please !" and "Thank you, Ma'am" in the backround for no reason whatsoever. And I agree, the the film is definitely almost cartoonish at times... very interestingly cut... really has the feel of those early '70s America International films.

Overall, whether you'd award this one best of the genre (in many ways it does rival the Mack) or feel it deserves a Golden Turkey Award, I'd have to say, it is an entertaining watch by any standard... Somebody tell me where that guy got his threads.. especially the green suit on the cover ! ! !

(P.S. Funky, though sparse soundtrack by the late great J.J. Johnson ! ! ! )

The best Blaxploitation and fictional pimp narrative I've ever seen. Of course, that's all terribly relative to the genre and time period. A "good" Blaxploitation film means it has a solid ENOUGH storyline and that the producers spent a little money on it to make it seem like an actual film. This one scores high on both counts, and you find yourself trying to figure out what could possibly happen next. And for a film made in 1973, it's surprisingly fresh.

The story starts off with our anti-hero, Willie Dynamite (who was the bald Black guy on Sesame Street. You'll never look at Oscar the Grouch the same again) under seige from all sides, as he is set upon by an old flame-turned-social worker, the cops, and a wickedly funny pimp named "Bell" (played by Roger Robinson) who wants to take Willie's dynamite hoes because he won't join the newly formed pimp organized front.

And my God, the outfits.
Willie sports some of the most outlandish stuff you've ever seen, and when he walks down a set of courthouse stairs, prepare to be rewinding the tape a few times.

To top it all off, it has a moralty play woven throughout that you both admire and despise: you dig it because it's cool to have a movie from that time with a moral, but without being preachy; you despise it because it can only mean the end of Willie, who, despite his lifestyle, you come to like. Or maybe it's the white fez with triple tassles. I'm not sure.

But while Willie is great, the character to watch for is Bell, who steals every scene he's in. He's the cat that does the speech that's clipped into "American Pimp" about vision, and it's even funnier when you have it in context.

A well-done farce that pushes all the right buttons, and a perfect movie to watch with a bunch of your wacky friends or REALLY cool family.

As any fan of the genre knows, Blaxploitation flicks were all about Black empowerment and stickin' it to The Man; however, this often lead to movies about protagonists that were less than savory. Superfly brings us the noble drug pusher; The Mack and Dolemite try to sell the notion of heroic pimp--certainly, the phrase "mixed messages" comes to mind. Willie Dynamite goes the atypical route of showing our flesh-peddling protagonist as a rather dispicable sort, and illustrates the horrible effects of the pimp game on his family, his stable of prostitutes, and his own fortunes. Just as surprising are the film's "villains," as instead of the usual crooked cops, the antagonists are actually in the right. One is a lady social worker (and former streetwalker) who truly wants what's best for Willie's girls, and the other is indeed a police officer, but instead of being a fat, corrupt white guy, he's an angry young Black man who's brimming with righteous indignation at how Willie enslaves womenfolk of his own ethnicity.

Powerful stuff, and completely unheard of in the Blaxploitation ouvre. Add in plenty of over-the-top camp, such as outlandish dialogue and Willie's even more outlandish pimp vines (that means "clothing" for all you Honkies), and you have a unique film that's a must-see for those Down with the Brown.

SOLID!

Everybody gives the Mack and Dolemite Props but personaly I think the Mack was weak and Dolemite outright sucks. Willie actually has a real story. It doesn't over glamourize being a pimp...in fact it shows why you shouldn't be in that lifestyle. Another thing that sets this movie apart is that the characters are not as stereotypical as people seem to think. Willie is not portrayed as a ghetto superhero he is just a pimp that is getting over. The cops aren't the typical racist you find in most "blaxploitation" movies. They don't hate Willie because he is a black man making money...they hate him because once he uses up his women he discards them like you would do anything thats used up and disposible. In the end Willie doesn't get back at the man or get one last score but his selfish ways actually take an emotional and physical toll on him. Worth checkin' out. Not as cartoonish as other people have said. I'll admit that some of Willie's cloths seem over the top but pimps in the 70's actually wore that stuff look at American Pimp (Don Magic Juan) if you don't believe me. That aside...this is really one of the better movies from the so called blaxploitation era and if you give this movie an honest chance and if you can forget that Willie is played by Gordon from Seaseme street then you'll find that there is a real movie here. Not to mention that the soundtrack is banging!

Willie Dynamite is one of the best movies about Pimpin I have ever seen. I don't know if it is meant to be funny, but it is hilarious. The outfits, the hats, the car, and the walk all make Willie D one of the funniest characters I have ever seen. Two scenes in particular stick out. When he gets all seven of his girls out of jail and is leaving the court to his theme song, with the girls walking behind him. His strutt, and suit make it classic. Second when he "Pimp Jogs" down the stairs of the court house in his green suit with big fur, and fur hat to match. This movie is one of the best, when can I get it on dvd?

Story line was kind of jagged and as is typical of the genre the acting was not Oscar caliber but still an entertaining film. Outrageous costumes! Some funny scenes. Good addition to your Blaxplotation films collection.

This movie would be a lot better if it were a little shorter. Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman) is a top pimp going through hard times. The cops are bearing down and the other pimps want to partition the city in order to conduct business in an orderly fashion. Willie tells everyone to go to hell, thereby isolating himself and turning everyone against him.

There's a lot to enjoy in this film. First of all, it delivers the pure campy fun that I was looking for. Watching a roomful of flamboyant pimps negotiate the economics of their situation with all of its parallels to the mainstream business world is certainly entertaining, even if the message is a bit heavy-handed. The way this film doesn't sugar-coat Willie's business either by turning him into some kind of street saint or law enforcement into a band of corrupt racist buffoons is surprising and adds to the film's interest; we see Willie slapping and ripping off his women, and the forces arrayed against him include a courageous former streetwalker turned social worker (Diana Sands) and a driven young black police officer (Thalmus Rasulala). Nevertheless, it just goes on too long and the very end is unconvincing./

From Universal Studios' Soul Showcase come Willie Dynamite (1974), a film about the rise and fall (mostly the latter), and eventual rebirth, of a, flashy, ambitious New York City street hustler. Directed by Gilbert Moses (The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh), the film stars Roscoe Orman, probably best known for his character of Gordon on the children's television series "Sesame Street", Diana Sands (A Raisin in the Sun), and Joyce Walker (The Education of Sonny Carson). Also appearing is Thalmus Rasulala (Friday Foster), Roger Robinson ("Kojak"), George Murdock (The Mack), and Albert Hall (Apocalypse Now).

Roscoe Orman plays Willie Dynamite, an ambitious, arrogant, demanding, no nonsense street hustler who commands a respectable stable of women and always has his eye on the prize, the prize being to be the number one hustler in New York City (seems he's currently number two, although I'm not entirely sure the criteria the rankings are based upon). Things are going well for Willie (except for his newest girl Pashen, played by Joyce Walker, who's got one of the largest afros I've ever seen, isn't `producing' as well as she should), that is until he hooks up with some of his pimpy peers in a meeting of sorts, the discussion, headed up by a player named Bell (Robinson) leading to talk of organizing, if only to deal with the excessive amount of heat coming down and to keep themselves from stepping on each others toes. All acquiesce to the proposal, except for Willie, who's a firm believer in the capitalistic and competitive nature of the business. After the meeting things turn sour for Willie as the pressures from not only his peers and the authorities starts coming down hard, but there's a former streetwalker, who's now a social worker named Cora (Sands), trying to educate his women, particularly Pashen, on the pitfalls of being `in the life'. Seems Cora has taken a particular interest in Willie, so much so she goes out of her way to see him jammed up. Willie's girls begin to get busted on a regular basis, his sweet ride towed about sixteen times, his business horned in on by his peers, and Willie himself is rousted by the authorities every chance they get...oh yeah, he's also being investigated by the IRS...I guess when it rains, it pours. Eventually Willie bottoms out under the various pressures applied, with Cora, of all people, the only one he can turn to given the fact that she actually pities him in some, small manner as she can see he was just as much a victim of the system as the women he abusively kept under his thumb.

I was expecting some average, blaxploitation fare here, but what I got was considerable more. The story seemed more or less to me a cautionary type tale, one that focused on the redemptive. Orman's character is certainly a loathsome figure throughout much of the feature, given his treatment of `his' women and his perverted, capitalistic views, but, as Cora eventually did, I actually felt for him a little by the end of the film...not as much as Cora, but then again I didn't have as much a hand in his downfall as she. Orman plays his role exceedingly well, to which I account that which I felt for his character by the end. A lot of credit should also go to Diana Sands in the role of Cora, as one could almost feel the pains she suffered in her often wasted efforts to pass along her knowledge, stemming from her own experiences, to those women just starting out in the trade. I did learn quite a bit from this film, including the following...

1. The price of meat has gone up everywhere.
2. Being the `bottom lady' of a hustler is a pretty thankless gig, one that involves a lot of responsibility and few rewards, along with the distinct possibility of getting your throat slit by a skaggy streetwalker.
3. Hustlers tend to refer to themselves in the third person.
4. When the heat gets heavy the action gets scarce and the turf gets hard.
5. When it comes down on you, you either collectivize or you run.
6. You can pay the homeless to watch your fancy, tricked out automobile while it's parked on a city street but don't expect much in terms of their reliability.
7. They love them young and pretty in the New York Women's House of Detention (as do I).
8. A ginormous, late model purple Cadillac with gaudy, gold trim and shaggy, animal print seat covers seems to be a real tow truck magnet.
9. Nobody cuts out on Willie Dynamite.
10. Even among street hustlers one can dress to the point of being overly ostentatious.

I thought the story engaging and the pacing well timed, as the film never really slowed down to the point where I was bored...I suppose it helps if you have interesting characters to keep your attention. One interesting aspect here, something different than the other films of the genre, is that there was no nudity. There was, however, some violence, along with a lot of profanity (if you ever wanted to hear Gordon from Sesame Street cuss it out, here's your chance). The funniest part of the film, besides Willie's ridiculously over the top fur-lined fashions, was when Willie, after he and his pad had been busted up by some rivals, gets arrested and is being put into the back of a squad car. In the process he sees a bunch of kids stripping his own ride, which seemed to upset him more than all the other misfortunes he suffered up to that point. All in all I thought this a well made feature, with some excellent performances, and certainly a cut above many of the films within the genre. One thing's for sure, I'll never look at Gordon from Sesame Street the same...

The picture quality on this DVD, presented in widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1), looks sharp and clean, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio, available in both English and Spanish, comes through very well. There aren't any extras on the DVD, but there are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French. There are some unrelated previews tacked on up front, ones that start playing when the DVD is inserted into a player, but you can advance past these if desired.

Cookieman108

great film. terrific acting by the late diana sands and rosoce orman of sesame street. there is a pimp philosophy made much clearer than in the mack. snappy dialogue and the action moves. somewhat overly dramatic plot but it works.

I saw this movie years ago on the station USA when they had weird movies on all night..it was called "USA...Up All Night" and this movie happened to be on. My friends and I got such a kick out of it so I was taping it while we were watching it. Well...something must of gotten taped over it...it was gone! There was no computer's back then to search for these types of movies. So when I found it on here...I just had to get it. What a change from NYC in the mid-70's to now!! And Roscoe Orman? Who would have thought that he would be the Sesame Street man!! Anyone who is "into" these type of films...this is a must!!!!