Black Belt Jones (1974)

A Mafia buy out of Papa Byrd's karate school downtown ends in his death. Byrd's daughter, Sydney, refuses to sell, and wants revenge. Byrd's students call the Black Belt Jones for help. Jones reluctantly teams with Sydney in many battles.

Director:

Robert Clouse

Writers:

Oscar Williams (screenplay), Fred Weintraub (story)

Stars:

Jim Kelly, Gloria Hendry, Scatman Crothers

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Kelly	...	Black Belt Jones
Gloria Hendry	...	Sydney
Scatman Crothers	...	Pop Byrd
Eric Laneuville	...	Quincy
Alan Weeks	...	Toppy
Andre Philippe	...	Don Steffano
Vincent Barbi	...	Big Tuna
Mel Novak	...	Blue Eyes
Malik Carter	...	Pinky
Eddie Smith	...	Oscar
Alex Brown	...	Plummer
Sonny Barnes	...	Tango (as Clarence Barnes)
Earl Jolly Brown	...	Jelly (as Earl Brown)
Jac Emel	...	Marv the Butcher (as Jac Emil)
Wayne Musgrove	...	Brother Blake

Storyline

The Mafia's Don learns that the City is planning a new civic center, and is buying the land where it will be, to make easy money when the city council will buy it. The one piece the Don doesn't have yet, is the old African-American karate school owned by Papa Byrd. Big Tuna, the Mafia Don's right hand man, goes to Pinky, their representative in that area and they tell him that he owes them $250,000 but instead of paying, they want him to get Papa Byrd's school. Pinky tries to muscle the karate master into handing out the property title, but he throws him out. A teacher calls Black Belt Jones, a friend of Papa Byrd, to talk to him about this, but before he does Pinky and his thugs accidentally kills Papa Byrd in a second visit. Before dying in friends' arms, Byrd says that the school belongs to Sydney - whom nobody knows. Black Belt Jones knows that Sydney is Byrd's daughter, whom he hasn't seen since she was a child. Black Belt asks a friend of his who works for the Government, to ...

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | three word title | black belt jones character | black belt | mafia | 

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Taglines:

He clobbers the mob

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 1974 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Freie Fahrt ins Jenseits

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sequoia Productions (II), Sequoin Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During the infiltration of Don Steffano's winery, the picture taken to fool the security camera was taken with a Polaroid instant camera, which has a big white border at the bottom of the picture. The picture was taken with the camera right side up, which means that the border at the bottom would mean that the picture would be right side up. But on the rig they put on the security camera, it is shown that it is holding the instant picture with the white border at top, meaning the picture is upside down, but is shown as right side up through the security camera.

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Quotes

Pinky: Choose money over honey? Shiiiiit. Man, you can pull out my groin, just gimme that coin! Man, I'd rather be dead than not have any bread! Pinky's mama didn't raise no fool!

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Alternate Versions

UK cinema and video versions were cut by 1 min 27 secs by the BBFC with cuts to nearly every fight scene including heavy edits to groin kicks and neck chops.

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Connections

Featured in Baadasssss Cinema (2002)

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Soundtracks

Theme from Black Belt Jones
Performed and Composed by Dennis Coffey (as Dennis Coffy) & Luchi De Jesus
Arranged by Dennis Coffey (as Dennis Coffy) & Mike Theodore
Courtesy of Sussex Records

User Reviews

I'm gonna make you sweat one way... and then the other.

Pop (Scatman Crothers) is a womanizing, gambling caricature, but he has a piece of property the Mob wants. He and his friends, win the first battle, but the Mob and their henchmen are persistent.

Jim Kelly Enter the Dragon, Three the Hard Way) is Black Belt Jones, and the action sequences certainly make up for the lack of acting ability.

Ah, but it is Florida Seminole Gloria Hendry (Across 110th Street, Black Caesar, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off) that attracts me to the film, and she doesn't disappoint.

Malik Carter (Cobra, Pervert!) as Pinky, the tool for the Mob was hilarious. he is the quintessential caricature of blaxploitation.