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Penitentiary (1979)A hitchhiker named Martel Gordone gets in a fight with two bikers over a prostitute, and one of the bikers is killed. Gordone is arrested and sent to prison, where he joins the prison's ... See full summary » Director:Jamaa FanakaWriter:Jamaa Fanaka |
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Title: Penitentiary (1979)
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Cast
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Wilbur 'Hi-Fi' White | ... |
Sweet Pea
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| Leon Isaac Kennedy | ... |
Martel 'Too Sweet' Gordone
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Thommy Pollard | ... |
Eugene T. Lawson
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Hazel Spears | ... |
Linda
(as Hazel Spear)
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Donovan Womack | ... |
Jesse Amos
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Floyd 'Wildcat' Chatman | ... |
Hezzikia 'Seldom Seen' Jackson
(as Floyd Chatman)
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Gloria Delaney | ... |
Peaches
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Badja Djola | ... |
'Half Dead' Johnson
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Chuck Mitchell | ... |
Lieutenant Arnsworth
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Cepheus Jaxon | ... |
Poindexter
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Dwaine Fobbs | ... |
Lying Latney Winborn
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Ernest Wilson | ... |
Cheese
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Will Richardson | ... |
Magilla Gorilla
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Elijah Mitchell | ... |
Nut #1
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Tony Andrea | ... |
Mook
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
A hitchhiker named Martel Gordone gets in a fight with two bikers over a prostitute, and one of the bikers is killed. Gordone is arrested and sent to prison, where he joins the prison's boxing team in an effort to secure an early parole and to establish his dominance over the prison's toughest gang. Written by page8701
Taglines:
All that stands between him and freedom is the ring. See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
December 1979 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Jamaa Fanaka's Penitentiary See more »Filming Locations:
Lincoln Heights Jail - 401 N. Avenue 19, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA See more »Box Office
Budget:
$100,000 (estimated)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Written, Produced and Performed by Mark Gaillard and the Slim and Trim Band
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Writer/director Jamaa Fanaka was still a student at UCLA when he made this film. Moreover, the quadrangle at the UCLA cinema department was used as the location for the prison yard. See more »Soundtracks
"Kissy Face"Written, Produced and Performed by Mark Gaillard and the Slim and Trim Band
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A man is wrongly imprisoned for murder. While in the penitentiary he gets involved in a boxing competition that the prison hosts.
Penitentiary is a somewhat odd blaxploitation movie. It seems to be a curious mix of realism and ridiculousness. While on the one hand, the idea of a prison boxing competition where the male and female inmates can get together is a very silly idea. But on the other hand, the movie also deals with issues of institutionalisation and the tone overall is often quite sombre. So it's a strange combination. It has to be said though that the best moment is the excellent fight scene between the hero and his psychotic cell mate. It's a pretty ferocious and exciting affair and I suppose just emphasises that Penitentiary is definitely a fight film over and above anything else.
This is definitely a good example of its type. It's certainly not a typical prison drama though that's for sure. It even spawned a couple of sequels that recycled the same idea to ever more ridiculous extents. It's certainly one of the least likely franchises you could imagine.