Friday Foster (1975)

At Los Angeles airport, magazine photographer Friday Foster witnesses an assassination attempt against billionaire Blake Tarr and is drawn into a murky political conspiracy.

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writers:

Orville H. Hampton (screenplay) (as Orville Hampton), Arthur Marks (story)

Stars:

Pam Grier, Yaphet Kotto, Godfrey Cambridge

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pam Grier	...	Friday Foster
Yaphet Kotto	...	Colt Hawkins
Godfrey Cambridge	...	Ford Malotte
Thalmus Rasulala	...	Blake Tarr
Eartha Kitt	...	Madame Rena
Jim Backus	...	Enos Griffith
Scatman Crothers	...	Noble Franklin
Ted Lange	...	Fancy Dexter
Tierre Turner	...	Cleve
Paul Benjamin	...	Sen. David Lee Hart
Jason Bernard	...	Charles Foley
Ed Cambridge	...	Lt. Jake Wayne (as Edmund Cambridge)
Julius Harris	...	Monk Riley
Rosalind Miles	...	Clorils Boston
Carl Weathers	...	Yarbro

Storyline

Friday Foster, an ex-model magazine photographer, goes to Los Angeles International airport to photograph the arrival of Blake Tarr, the richest black man in America. Three men attempt to assassinate Tarr. Foster photographs the melee and is plunged into a web of conspiracy involving the murder of her childhood friend, a US senator, and a shadowy plan called "Black Widow".

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Plot Keywords:

big breasts | breasts | cigar smoking | character name as title | two word title | 

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Taglines:

COLT HAWKINS - Friday's main man and personal private eye.

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Genres:

Action

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julius Harris and Yaphet Kotto starred together in Nothing But a Man (1964) and Live and Let Die (1973)

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Goofs

Pam Grier's underwear is visible in the shower scene.

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Quotes

Fancy Dexter: Hey, young blood, where is your sista?
Cleve: She'll be right down in a minute. What chu got this time?
Fancy Dexter: Chanel No. 5.
Cleve: Damn, man, why can't you you get something from Tiffany's or Gucci?
Fancy Dexter: Gucci? Nigga, man, I don't mess with them I-talians.

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Connections

Referenced in Baadasssss Cinema (2002)

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Soundtracks

Friday
Written by Bodie Chandler

User Reviews

It's no wonder Pam Grier's career quickly went down the toilet after lame movies like this and 'Sheba, Baby'!

Jack Hill's brilliant 'Coffy' is one of the 1970s best exploitation movies and remains the definitive Pam Grier role. It's such a pity that within two years Grier was forced into making something as mediocre as 'Friday Foster'. It's no wonder he career quickly went down the toilet after lame movies like this and 'Sheba, Baby'! 'Coffy' is a classic revenge movie and actually had some element of realism. Hill's next collaboration with Grier 'Foxy Brown' stepped away from that, and I didn't enjoy it as much, but compared to this it's a masterpiece. In 'Friday Foster' Grier is getting even closer to 'Cleopatra Jones' territory, but without the fun and style of that movie or its sequel. This movie actually has one of the best supporting casts of any blaxploitation film, but even that fails to satisfy. Yaphet Kotto plays Grier's detective buddy, and Julius Harris is her boss. Plus there's Scatman Crothers ('Black Belt Jones'), Thalmus Rasulala ('Blacula'), Godfrey Cambridge ('Cotton Comes To Harlem'), Paul Benjamin ('Across 110th Street') and Carl Weathers ('Rocky'), as well as Eartha Kitt, Isaac the bartender from 'The Love Boat' (Ted Lange) and even inexplicably 'Gilligan's Island's Thurston Howell III (Jim Backus)! As much as I love Grier and Kotto, 'Friday Foster's paper thin plot didn't hold my interest for very long and I was bored way before the climactic shootout. I regard this and 'Truck Turner' (which funnily enough also co-stars Yaphet Kotto) as the two most disappointing blaxploitation movies I've seen. If you want to see Pam Grier at her best watch 'Coffy', then follow it up with 'Foxy Brown' and 'Jackie Brown'. All three movies wipe the floor with this limp effort.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1977 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Friday Foster

Filming Locations:

Richelieu Apartments - 751 South Normandie Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1