Penitentiary (1979)

Director:

Jamaa Fanaka

Writer:

Jamaa Fanaka (written by)

Release Date:

December 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

All that stands between him and freedom is the ring.

Plot:

A hitchhiker named Martel Gordone gets in a fight with two bikers over a prostitute, and one of the bikers is killed...

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | Drifter | Convict | Homosexuality | False Accusation

Cast

Wilbur 'Hi-Fi' White	...	Sweet Pea
Leon Isaac Kennedy	...	Martel 'Too Sweet' Gordone
Thommy Pollard	...	Eugene T. Lawson
Hazel Spears	...	Linda (as Hazel Spear)
Donovan Womack	...	Jesse Amos
Floyd 'Wildcat' Chatman	...	Hezzikia 'Seldom Seen' Jackson (as Floyd Chatman)
Gloria Delaney	...	Peaches
Badja Djola	...	'Half Dead' Johnson
Chuck Mitchell	...	Lieutenant Arnsworth
Cepheus Jaxon	...	Poindexter
Dwaine Fobbs	...	Lying Latney Winborn
Ernest Wilson	...	Cheese
Will Richardson	...	Magilla Gorilla
Elijah Mitchell	...	Nut #1
Tony Andrea	...	Mook
Darrell Harris	...	Nut #2
Lonnie Kirtz	...	Nut #3
Ray Wolfe	...	'A' Block Night Guard
Charles Young	...	Tough Tony
Ellsworth Harrell	...	Referee
Cornelius Desha	...	'Tough Tony' Manager / Referee
Michael Melvin	...	Biker #1
Steve Eddy	...	Biker #2
Irene Stokes	...	Female Guard in Male Prison
Bill Phillips Murry	...	'Rappin' Larry (as Bill Murry)
Teri Hayden	...	Counter Lady (as Terri Hayden)
Herman Cole	...	Cook
Carl Irwin	...	Sam Cunningham (as Carl Erwin)
Irving Parham	...	'A' Block Day Guard
Warren Bryant	...	Gay Boxing Spectator
Lorrie Marlow	...	2nd Girl in Restroom (as Lorri Gay)
Thomas Earl Stiratt	...	Wolf
Jamaa Fanaka	...	2nd Male in Restroom (as Walter Gordon)
Joaquin Leal	...	Rubin
David Carter	...	Male Guard #1
Hassan Abdul-Ali	...	Male Guard #2
Marcus Gutierrez	...	Male Guard #3 (as Marcus Guttierrez)
Zee Howard	...	Female Lieutenant
Gwynn Pineda	...	Female Guard #1
Ann Hutcherson	...	Female Guard #2
Cardella Di Milo	...	Female Guard #3 (as Cardella Demilo)
Beverly Wallace	...	Female Guard #4
Onia Fenee	...	Female Guard #5
Deloris Figueroa	...	Female Guard #6
Zeola Gaye	...	Female Inmate #1
Jackie Shaw	...	Female Inmate #2
Brenda Joy Griffin	...	Female Inmate #3
Reneé Armanlin	...	Female Inmate #4
Sarah Jaxon	...	Female Inmate #5
Barbara Torres	...	Female Inmate #6
Irene Terrell	...	Female Inmate #7
Lisa Visco	...	Female Inmate #8
Shelli Hughes	...	Female Inmate #9
Tony Rapisarda	...	Male Inmate #1
Tony Rapisarda	...	Male Inmate
Casey J. Littlejohn	...	Male Inmate #2
Edgardo Williams	...	Male Inmate #3
Tyrone S.B. Thompson	...	Male Inmate #4
Sam Olden	...	Male Inmate #5
Roderic Williams	...	Male Inmate #6
Dominic Giusto	...	Male Inmate #7
William Bey	...	Male Inmate #8
Shawn Davis	...	Male Inmate #9
Johnny Jones	...	Male Inmate #10
Robert Wayne Cornelius	...	Male Inmate #11
Quitman Gates	...	Male Inmate #12
Ian Foxx	...	Pretty Red

Directed by
Jamaa Fanaka

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jamaa Fanaka		written by

Produced by
Alicia Dhanifu	....	co-producer (as Alicia J. Dhanifu)
Robert Edelen	....	executive producer
Jamaa Fanaka	....	producer
Robert L. Gordon Sr.	....	executive producer
Beatrice Gordon	....	executive producer (as Beatrice Gordon Sr.)
Leon Isaac Kennedy	....	associate producer
Irving Parham	....	associate producer
Albert Shepard	....	co-producer
Lynette Stansell	....	associate producer

Original Music by
William Anderson
Andre Douglas
Frankie Gaye

Cinematography by
Marty Ollstein		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Betsy Blankett Milicevic		(as Betsy Blankett)

Art Direction by
Adel A. Mazen		(as Adel Mazen)

Makeup Department
Gregory Lewis	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jovon Gillohm	....	assistant director
Yance Hamlett	....	second assistant director
Sergio Mimms	....	second assistant director
John Sherrod	....	second unit director

Art Department
Beverly Green Etheredge	....	set designer

Sound Department
William Jacobs	....	assistant sound editor
Jim Nownes	....	sound editor
Larry Porche	....	boom operator (as Larry Porsche)
Hal Watkins	....	sound re-recordist
Ed White	....	sound mixer

Stunts
John Sherrod	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
James Babij	....	first assistant camera
Anthony Billings	....	electrician
Anthony Billings	....	grip
Imelda Richard Billings	....	second assistant camera
Dennis Brown	....	electrician (as Dennis 'Beamer' Brown)
Dennis Brown	....	grip (as Dennis 'Beamer' Brown)
Ben Caldwell	....	still photographer
Steve Figueroa	....	electrician
Steve Figueroa	....	grip
Tom Fraser	....	loader (as Tom Fraser 'Frisbee')
Virgil E. Hammond III	....	loader (as Virgil Hammond III)
Bob Harris	....	electrician
Bob Harris	....	grip
Titus Irwin	....	electrician
Titus Irwin	....	grip
Joseph Jordan	....	gaffer
Michael Lewis	....	electrician
Michael Lewis	....	grip
Stephen L. Posey	....	additional cinematography (as Stephen Posey)
Joe Scroggs	....	electrician
Joe Scroggs	....	grip
Chuck Wells	....	electrician
Chuck Wells	....	grip
Ernest Williams II	....	electrician
Ernest Williams II	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Debra Bradford	....	wardrobe (as Debra 'Ebony' Bradford)
Deirdre Naughton	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Debra Chiate	....	assistant editor (as Debbie Chiate)

Other crew
Wilma Arnold	....	script supervisor
Herman Cole	....	talent coordinator
Celine Marie Gordon	....	location coordinator
Joseph A. Gordon	....	location coordinator
Carmen Sanford	....	location coordinator
Paula Smith	....	craft service
Wilbur 'Hi-Fi' White	....	caterer
Charles Young	....	boxing expert advisor

Thanks
Katina Antoinette	....	dedicatee
Michael Daryl	....	dedicatee
Tracey Lynette	....	dedicatee
Roger Mayer	....	special thanks
Twyla Monique	....	dedicatee
The People of Cinemobile	....	special thanks

Distributors

• Jerry Gross Organization, The (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Wizard Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movietime (1981) (Canada) (all media)
• Xenon Pictures (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• DV1 (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cinemobile System  production services by (as Cinemobile Systems Inc.)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  re-recorded at (as MGM)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles and opticals by (as MGM)

Also Known As:

"Jamaa Fanaka's Penitentiary" - USA (long title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA (2007) | UK:18 | UK:15 (DVD re-rating) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2009)

Filming Locations:

Lincoln Heights Jail - 401 N. Avenue 19, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Justine: A Matter of Innocence (1980)

Soundtrack:

Kissy Face

Rowdy prison film offers more strange attitude than drama.

Xenon deserves a big nod for releasing these long lost 70s blaxploitation movies on home video. PENITENTIARY does have some enjoyable moments, including the wild boxing matches. This one obviously takes the sleaze-o route than being a fulfilling and motivating drama about prison life, something this really should've been meant for. A good story, but it drags miserably in acting performances and a sense of weirdness. If you want to see how cheap production values do exist, then don't blink when a close-up view of an inmate actually isn't holding the knife to thrust the guy's chest in. Good fun for "blaxplo" fans, but the majority of us would pass this up and stick to the ROCKY movies.