Black Samson (1974)

Noble nightclub owner Samson does his best to keep his neighborhood clean of crime and drugs. When vicious mobster Johnny Nappa tries to muscle in on Samson's territory, Samson takes a brave stand against Nappa and his flunkies.

Director:

Charles Bail

Writers:

Daniel Cady (story) (as Daniel B. Cady), Warren Hamilton Jr. (screenplay) (as Alfred Salimar)

Stars:

Rockne Tarkington, William Smith, Connie Strickland

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rockne Tarkington	...	Samson
William Smith	...	Johnny Nappa
Connie Strickland	...	Tina
Carol Speed	...	Leslie
Michael Payne	...	Arthur
Joe Tornatore	...	Harry
Titos Vandis	...	Joseph Nappa
Napoleon Whiting	...	Old Henry
John Alderman	...	Michael Briggs
Fred Scheiwiller	...	Charlie Frisco
Ernest Robinson	...	Ragamuffin
Nick Dimitri	...	Milo
Ken Bell	...	C.T
Junero Jennings	...	Shine (as Jennero Jennings)
Marvin Walters	...	Junkie

Storyline

Noble nightclub owner Samson does his best to keep his neighborhood clean of crime and drugs. When vicious mobster Johnny Nappa tries to muscle in on Samson's territory, Samson takes a brave stand against Nappa and his flunkies.

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Plot Keywords:

beer | scotch whiskey | cocaine | red wine | bourbon whiskey | 

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Taglines:

One brother's war against the Man.

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of inner-city backgrounds contain graffiti. It's fun to press pause and read it. It's not very authentic and appears to be painted by stage hands to poke fun at each other. Graffiti like "Paul Eats S---" and other messages are amusing.

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Quotes

[In Samson's Bar. Nappa's man are making trouble. Samson gets angry]
Samson: Just keep your people out of here!
Johnny Nappa: But you have a bar. You have a license. You have to serve anybody who comes in here, don't you?
Samson: [smiles] Yeah, but this is a lousy bar with lousy service!

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Connections

Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 2: The Deuce (2006)

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Soundtracks

Black Samson
Words and Music by Allen Toussaint

User Reviews

Solid blaxsploitation

Rockne Tarkington is Samson, a supercool clubowner and guardian of the ghetto. Samson runs his topless bar with his ladyfreind as his main dancer. He also keeps the streets clean and keeps the bad element out. The bad element, the Italian/American mobsters led by musclebound madman William Smith have different ideas on what to do with Samsons territory. Rockne plays Samson smart, tough and cool. He carries a giant pimpstick(and uses it occasionally to deliver a beatdown), owns a lion and pulls off some seriously funky, African attire. Nappa(William Smith) and his goons force Samson into a showdown at the end of the film. Super tough and super cool Samson is a man of integrity and will never sell out his people in the hood. He also treats his woman like a queen and unlike other blaxsploitation characters like Shaft and Superfly, don't have women on the side. Character actor William Smith is totally in his element as the villain in this piece and is completely psychotic. Black Samson is very good and recommended to anyone who enjoys blaxsploitation and action movies from the 1970's.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Samson

Company Credits

Production Co:

Omni Pictures, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1