One of the wildest exploitation films of all time, courtesy of the veteran producer/distributor Gene Corman (1927-2020), whose younger brother Roger served as the uncredited executive producer. DARKTOWN STRUTTERS (1975) appears to have been conceived as a Mel Brooksian spoof of blaxploitation cinema, of which Gene Corman and screenwriter George Armitage were veterans (being jointly responsible for the 1972 Bernie Casey vehicle HIT MAN), yet what emerged was an anarchic exercise in Dadaesque absurdity.
The set-up involves four trike motorcycle riding black women: Syreena (Trina Parks), Carmen (Lejeune Richardson), Miranda (Bettye Sweet) and Theda (Shirley Washington). They begin their odyssey at a food shack in Malibu, CA, where they order lemon Marang pies that prove quite efficacious in fighting off some overzealous Marines.
Syreena’s mother Cinderella (Frances Nealy) has been kidnapped (with an opening disclaimer helpfully informing us that “Any Similarity Between This True Life Adventure And The Story CINDERELLA…is BULLSHIT”). In her search for Cinderella, Syreena and her cohorts tangle with goofball cops (whose ranks include the great Dick Miller) in a police car bearing a giant red light. These cops handcuff dogs, regularly get their fat asses stuck in the back seat of their vehicle and have a “Ghetto Alert Map” posted on the wall of their headquarters.
Syreena’s odyssey, interspaced with funkadelic music numbers, further brings her into contact with several hyper-macho black men, including the ironically monikered Mellow (Roger E. Mosley), the martial arts enthusiast Flash (Gene Simms) and a coonskin cap wearing nut named V.D. (Otis Day). There’s also the Colonel Sanders-esque Commander Cross (Norman Bartold), who owns the “Bone-suckin’ good” rib joint Hog Heaven.
When he’s not promoting his business the Commander runs a political thinktank dedicated, purportedly, to improving the lot of black folks in America, located in an LA mansion that closely resembles a southern plantation. Other colorful settings include a fairground invaded by Ku Kluxers who are easily fought off, a snowbound marijuana growing warehouse identified as “Pot Sicle” and a whorehouse outfitted like an eastern harem.
Syreena eventually gets abducted by the Commander’s hooded minions and taken to his plantation house. Inside this place white guys in blackface perform and “some of the finest examples of the black community,” including Cinderella, are locked up in a dungeon that houses a machine designed to create cloned black men, with which the Commander plans to manipulate minority voters. Bordering the outside of the house is a gate with a sign reading “Oh Shit!”
The direction, by the pioneering action helmer William Witney (1915-2002), features car chases and fight scenes that are about average in the 70s-sploitation lexicon. The film is notable primarily for its tonal confidence, with a mood of overt comedy that’s well established and maintained. Witney also deserves credit for assembling a superlative crew that included production designer Jack Fisk (who worked on equally wild 1970s releases like ERASERHEAD and DEATH GAME).
Armitage’s script, said to have been written in three days (under the influence of illegal substances, no doubt), is quite something else. Its ultimate aim was similar to that of Ralph Bakshi’s notorious COONSKIN (1974), which like DARKTOWN STRUTTERS offered up a bevy of cultural stereotypes mixed into a surreal stew. You can be sure that every archaic racial caricature, and not a few politically incorrect slurs, are touched upon in the course of the film. Also included is the type of political content (some of it quite heavy-handed) that Armitage was known to shoehorn into his self-directed films, resulting in a concoction that’s funny, illuminating and often downright ugly.
Vital Statistics
DARKTOWN STRUTTERS
Penelope Productions
Director: William Witney
Producer: Gene Corman
Screenplay: George Armitage
Cinematography: Joao Fernandes
Editing: Morton Tubor
Cast: Trina Parks, “Edna Richardson” (Lejeune Richardson), Bettye Sweet, Shirley Washington, Roger E. Mosley, Christopher Joy, Stan Shaw, “DeWayne Jesse” (Otis Day), Norman Bartold, Charles Knapp, Edward Marshall, Dick Miller, Mit Kogan, Gene Simms, Sam Laws, Frankie Crocker, Della Thomas, Ed Bakey, Fuddie Bagley, Frances Nealy