Three the Hard Way (1974)

Blaxploitation film about three martial-arts specialists who prevent white supremacists from tainting the U.S. water supply with a toxin that's only harmful to black people.

Director:

Gordon Parks Jr.

Writers:

Eric Bercovici, Jerrold L. Ludwig (as Jerry Ludwig)

Stars:

Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Jim Kelly

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Brown	...	Jimmy Lait
Fred Williamson	...	Jagger Daniels
Jim Kelly	...	Mister Keyes
Sheila Frazier	...	Wendy Kane
Jay Robinson	...	Monroe Feather
Charles McGregor	...	Charley
Howard Platt	...	Keep
Richard Angarola	...	Dr. Fortrero
David Chow	...	Link
Marian Collier	...	Eva
Junero Jennings	...	House
Alex Rocco	...	Lt. Di Nisco
Corbin Bernsen	...	Boy
Renie Radich	...	Girl
Janice Carroll	...	Nurse

Storyline

The story involves a white supremist plot to taint the United States water supply with a toxin that is harmless to whites but lethal to blacks. The only obstacles that stand in the way of this dastardly plan are Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly, who shoot, kick and karate chop their way to final victory.

---

Plot Keywords:

cigar | beer | chess | red wine | pool table | 

---

Taglines:

Action explodes all over the place when the big three join forces to save their race!

---

Genres:

Action | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 June 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les démolisseurs

Filming Locations:

315 West 70th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,275,072, 15 July 1974

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Artists Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 105 min (television)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eight years after this film's release, Fred Williamson produced, directed and wrote One Down, Two to go (1982), which reunited him with his co-stars on this film,Jim Brown, and Jim Kelly along with Richard Roundtree as the major addition to that film. Williamson conceived the idea of doing another sequel after there was a break in his schedule between the filming of The Big Score (1983), and Vigilante (1982). The funding for the film, the film crew, scouting locations and actors all came together quickly and would film for about a month. Years after the film was made, Williamson considers One Down, Two to go (1982) as a true sequel to Three the Hard Way (1974)

---

Goofs

When Mister Keyes fights the corrupt police officers, his shoes go from brown boots to brown basketball shoes and back between shots.

---

Alternate Versions

Additional scenes were added to the TV version to pad out the running time and for content.

---

Connections

Referenced in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

---

Soundtracks

Make a Resolution
Music by Richard Tufo
Lyrics by Lowrell Simon
Performed by The Impressions (as Impressions)
Courtesy of Buddah and Curtom Records

User Reviews

Tighten Up the Edit or Fatten Up the Plot

"Three the Hard Way" earned its reputation on the presence of (and chemistry between) its three roundly diverse Black action stars - Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and Jim Kelly. They were perfectly cast for a film with an engaging premise about "The Man" poisoning the water supply in three major urban/inner cities. It featured some sweet eye-candy along the way (including the always divine Sheila Frazier as imperiled "Wendy" - fresh off of "Superfly" - a more devilish interracial trio of masochistic beauties, and Fred in the bed with yet another babe), an underrated soundtrack by a quartet edition of The Impressions (post-Curtis Mayfield but featured on-screen in a recording session as record producer Brown's rising stars) and all the tricked-out blaxploitation trimmings.

The problem is that because the script was anemic of healthy plot twists, padding is embarrassingly in full effect...including an overly long speedboat sequence that plays like a vanity piece for Williamson to pose and look pretty (with a second classy lady by his side less than 5 minutes after leaving the first one - "playa-playa," we get the point), and an equally long stretch of the aforementioned leather-clad "hench-bitches" rumbling into town on their choppers. That's too much celluloid cellulite wasted on characters styling and profiling, and not enough story intricacies to keep the tension tightly mounted.

When things do heat up, it's great to see the three stars interact. Ironically, MVP honors go not to former football giants Brown or Williamson but to Jim Kelly, whoopin' on a crooked cracker cop that makes the mistake of planting some illicit substances in his gold-plated ride. "Wanna set me up," Kelly asks with most righteous indignation, then proceeds to kick the pig's ass all over both sides of a Windy City side street! Director Gordon Parks, Jr. should have also let the soul brothers have more hang time without making them jump straight into their mission to save all brotherhood - maybe even a flashback to when they were youngbloods, foreshadowing their personalities as grown men. While the stars' talents weren't totally wasted, "Three the Hard Way" should have been much more epic.

Someday an ambitious director and a cast of wanna-be's (likely a rapper or two) will try to remake this flick. Their biggest challenge - beyond fleshing out the story - will be finding three stars as compelling as Brown, Williamson and Kelly. Let's raise a snifter of Harvey's Bristol Creme that somebody at least has the fortitude to release the original on DVD, unedited, with commentary and maybe a featurette including the participation of all three baad-asss action heroes.