Truly one of the most ridiculous and forgettable movies of the 70s' Blaxploitation film genre, and an utterly embarrassing effort on the part of Motown music mogul Berry Gordy to branch out into Hollywood movie directing. A love story so corny that when watching this today on TV, you can't help but to envision three small black silhouette figures at the bottom of your TV screen making wisecracks after each line of the dialogue has been spoken. In "Mahogany," a young woman has aspirations of becoming a successful fashion designer only to learn a life lesson from her wannbe politician boyfriend that success is meaningless without true romantic love (yeah, right).
Motown singing legend (and Gordy's onetime lover) Diana Ross stars in the title role as Tracy Chambers, a black woman from the slums of Chicago who's starving for success in the fashion design industry. After suffering repeated rejections of her fashion sketches in her hometown of Chicago, she finally gets her big break when a white fashion photographer extends an invitation to her to work with him as a model in Italy. Torn between her relationship with her boyfriend, along with his political ideals, and the golden opportunity of making a significant step in achieving her dream of becoming a successful fashion designer, she opts for the latter and abruptly departs for Rome.
Although a pop singing icon, as the movie's hit theme song ("Do You Know Where You're Going To?") will attest, Ross' acting abilities in this movie however leave a great deal to be desired. Although few would argue that the ostentation of the European fashion industry, the setting for most of this movie, is fitting for her real-life persona as that of the narcissistic Motown diva.
Anthony Perkins appears as a prominent but emotionally imbalanced fashion photographer named Sean who under the guise of being Tracy's mentor, and similar to another Italian benefactor that she encounters later in the movie, has lecherous ulterior motives up his sleeve. Obviously typecast in this role, stemming from his legendary performance as the deranged Norman Bates from Hitchcock's classic horror movie "Psycho" a decade-and-a-half before, he plays the movie's psychotic villain. His unrequited attraction for Tracy results in some very unpleasant and devastating consequences, making her start to realize that success in the European fashion industry ain't exactly all that it's cracked up to be.
Billy Dee Williams plays Brian, Tracy's altruistic boyfriend, who, with his own aspirations, has ambitions of becoming the alderman of the Chicago ward where Tracy herself resides. As the consummate movie matinée idol, and in somewhat of a reprise from the previous movie in which he co-starred with Ross, "Lady Sings the Blues," he does suffice in "Mahogany" as the handsome leading man. However, in scenes where he's embroiled in altercations with construction workers while conducting political campaigns in the streets of Chicago--and besting the roughnecks in street fights--are a tad "Hollywoodish" to say the least and far more humorously cheesy than action-packed.
But above all else, what makes the movie such an unadulterated piece of camp (or crap) is the ludicrous, naive theme it perpetuates—"Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with." In what was presumably meant to be the climax of this movie, and to the background of heavy sentimental orchestral music, Brain emphatically delivers this line to Tracy amid a heated lovers' quarrel. In the original version of the movie, and in Gordy's infinite wisdom as the movie's director, the asinine line was even captioned on the screen at the very end of the film, and also used as a tag line to promote it when it was first released back in the mid-70s. (However, modern-day TV editors have wisely omitted it from the screen at the film's end, presumably because of its inanity.)
Recently, this movie has been re-aired regularly on the newly established "Bounce" channel, a TV network that exclusively showcases black programs. (Unfortunately, many of the movies, like "Mahogany," are of B-grade.) However, time has done this movie a great deal of harm. Actually, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" would be a more fittingly venue for "Mahogany," as you could bet the house that the three fellas over there would have undoubtedly had a field day with such absurd cornball.
Motown singing legend (and Gordy's onetime lover) Diana Ross stars in the title role as Tracy Chambers, a black woman from the slums of Chicago who's starving for success in the fashion design industry. After suffering repeated rejections of her fashion sketches in her hometown of Chicago, she finally gets her big break when a white fashion photographer extends an invitation to her to work with him as a model in Italy. Torn between her relationship with her boyfriend, along with his political ideals, and the golden opportunity of making a significant step in achieving her dream of becoming a successful fashion designer, she opts for the latter and abruptly departs for Rome.
Although a pop singing icon, as the movie's hit theme song ("Do You Know Where You're Going To?") will attest, Ross' acting abilities in this movie however leave a great deal to be desired. Although few would argue that the ostentation of the European fashion industry, the setting for most of this movie, is fitting for her real-life persona as that of the narcissistic Motown diva.
Anthony Perkins appears as a prominent but emotionally imbalanced fashion photographer named Sean who under the guise of being Tracy's mentor, and similar to another Italian benefactor that she encounters later in the movie, has lecherous ulterior motives up his sleeve. Obviously typecast in this role, stemming from his legendary performance as the deranged Norman Bates from Hitchcock's classic horror movie "Psycho" a decade-and-a-half before, he plays the movie's psychotic villain. His unrequited attraction for Tracy results in some very unpleasant and devastating consequences, making her start to realize that success in the European fashion industry ain't exactly all that it's cracked up to be.
Billy Dee Williams plays Brian, Tracy's altruistic boyfriend, who, with his own aspirations, has ambitions of becoming the alderman of the Chicago ward where Tracy herself resides. As the consummate movie matinée idol, and in somewhat of a reprise from the previous movie in which he co-starred with Ross, "Lady Sings the Blues," he does suffice in "Mahogany" as the handsome leading man. However, in scenes where he's embroiled in altercations with construction workers while conducting political campaigns in the streets of Chicago--and besting the roughnecks in street fights--are a tad "Hollywoodish" to say the least and far more humorously cheesy than action-packed.
But above all else, what makes the movie such an unadulterated piece of camp (or crap) is the ludicrous, naive theme it perpetuates—"Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with." In what was presumably meant to be the climax of this movie, and to the background of heavy sentimental orchestral music, Brain emphatically delivers this line to Tracy amid a heated lovers' quarrel. In the original version of the movie, and in Gordy's infinite wisdom as the movie's director, the asinine line was even captioned on the screen at the very end of the film, and also used as a tag line to promote it when it was first released back in the mid-70s. (However, modern-day TV editors have wisely omitted it from the screen at the film's end, presumably because of its inanity.)
Recently, this movie has been re-aired regularly on the newly established "Bounce" channel, a TV network that exclusively showcases black programs. (Unfortunately, many of the movies, like "Mahogany," are of B-grade.) However, time has done this movie a great deal of harm. Actually, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" would be a more fittingly venue for "Mahogany," as you could bet the house that the three fellas over there would have undoubtedly had a field day with such absurd cornball.