Dolemite (1975)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

D'Urville Martin

Writers:

Jerry Jones (writer)
Rudy Ray Moore (story)

Release Date:

July 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

With his All-Girl Army of Kung Fu Killers.

Plot:

Dolemite is a pimp who was set up by Willie Greene and the cops, who have planted drugs, stolen furs...

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Racial Slur | African American | Surrealism | One Word Title

Cast

Rudy Ray Moore	...	Dolemite
D'Urville Martin	...	Willie Green
Jerry Jones	...	Blakeley
Lady Reed	...	Queen Bee
Brenda DeLong	...	Dolemite Girl
Terri Mosley	...	Dolemite Girl
Marilyn Shaw	...	Dolemite Girl
Lynell Smith	...	Dolemite Girl
Vera Howard	...	Dolemite Girl
Joy Martin	...	Dolemite Girl
Jana Bisbing	...	Dolemite Girl
Brenda Banks	...	Dolemite Girl
Pat Haywood	...	Dolemite Girl
René Van Clief	...	Dolemite Girl
Pat Jones	...	Dolemite Girl

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Dunbar Hotel - 4225 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Comedian Intl Enterprise Productions (C.I.E.)

Goofs:

Continuity: Dolemite karate kicks the two detectives as they walk away from him. The first detective that gets kicked gets knocked out and falls on his back with both of his legs flat to the ground. In the next shot, Dolemite walks over to them and pours the cocaine on them, and the guy that was knocked out now has his right knee bent up.

Quotes:

Dolemite: Meet me at the Total Experience in one halfa-hour.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Martin: All the Players Came (#3.18)" (1995)

No Disco Godfather, but still a winner

"Dolemite" is the touching story of Dolemite (Gotta love blaxploitation film titles), an ex-con who probably should still be in jail. He gets in trouble with cops, friends, drug dealers, women, prostitutes, and society in general. He's just not that likable a guy. Neither is the movie, though it's still hilarious and worth watching.

The flimsy premise is that Dolemite (played with as much enthusiasm as star Rudy Ray Moore can muster) is in jail for a crime he claims he didn't commit. When a drug hit or a drug bust or drug something is about to go down, the warden releases him to stop it, or help it, or just watch it. Not very clear. All I know is that I was unaware that the justice system frees convicts in order to allow them to prove their own innocence. My ignorance, I guess.

The plot is convoluted and unimportant, basically Dolemite goes around killing people (Usually with very poorly choreographed karate), having sex, and cursing out people, sometimes even rhyming too. The joys of the movie are its total incompetence, and its total indifference in the matter.

I stopped counting the number of times I saw the boom mike after it was in one scene for the entire duration (about two minutes of film). I stopped questioning why the warden was looking down at where Dolemite was sitting, even after he stood up and walked around, when they cut back to the establishing shot and Dolemite was inexplicably sitting down again. I stopped wondering why Dolemite dressed like that when he got naked on the street to change, because he didn't want to get in his car with the ugly (read: normal) clothes the jail gave him. And I stopped wondering where he learned karate when he jiggles his hand on a guy's stomach and somehow cuts him open. The only time I was ever remotely nervous and tense was when the disgusting, flabby white mayor is walking around totally naked with nothing but a towel hanging around his neck which just barely covers him up. You keep saying "Cut away...cut away...cut away" but by the time they do, you are already emotionally scarred.

The movie is ridiculous in every way imaginable. Moore as Dolemite, is either funny, cool, or both. If you're on the lookout for a bad movie, you have found it with "Dolemite."