Dolemite (1975) Dimension/Action-Comedy RT: 90 minutes Rated R (pervasive language, violence, nudity, sexual content, drug use) Director: D’Urville Martin Screenplay: Jerry Jones and R.R. Moore Music: Don Cornelius Cinematography: Nicholas Josef von Sternberg Release date: April 26, 1975 (US) Cast: Rudy Ray Moore, Lady Reed, D’Urville Martin, West Gale, John Kerry, Jerry Jones, Vainus Rackstraw, Monte “Hy” Pike. Box Office: $12M (US)
Rating: ***
“Dolemite is my name and f***in’ up mother f***ers is my game!”
Although unprintable in any respectable medium and unrepeatable in polite company, that line first uttered by Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite is on my Top 10 list of favorite movie quotes. With the biopic starring Eddie Murphy due to hit theaters and Netflix soon, I thought now would be a good time to check out the blaxploitation cult favorite featuring Moore as the ass-kicking, karate-chopping, potty-mouthed, sex machine pimp equally adept at busting both rhymes and wrongdoers’ skulls.
Based on tall tales told to Moore as a child by the neighborhood wino, Dolemite is one of those movies that must be taken on its own terms and ONLY its own terms. If you try to measure it against other movies of its ilk (and other movies in general), it’s going to fall short. The cinema purist would call out Dolemite on its many, MANY shortcomings like the amateurish production values, bad acting, silly dialogue and terrible fight choreography. While all of this and more is true, I can defend it on the grounds that, like the movies of Edward D. Wood Jr., it comes from someplace genuine and pure. Wood may have had zero filmmaking ability and his movies are definitely grade-Z level trash but they’re imbued with sincerity. The same is true of Moore, a stand-up comedian who just wanted to make movies that black audiences would enjoy. He didn’t care that he knew nothing about filmmaking. Hell, he didn’t even know karate; he just faked it…. badly, I might add. He made Dolemite for love of entertainment and on that level, it kind of works.
After being framed for robbery and drug dealing by rival pimp Willie Green (Martin, Black Caesar), Dolemite is offered a chance to clear his name and get out of prison. All he has to do is work with the FBI to find out who’s been flooding his old neighborhood with drugs and guns. There’s a personal aspect to the case; Dolemite’s young nephew was recently gunned down on the street. Working with his friend, the madam Queen Bee (Lady Reed), Dolemite sets out to take down some bad guys and rid his neighborhood of drugs. The bad guys include dirty cops and a corrupt politician, all of them white. The only other person who knows the real reason he got released from jail early is an undercover FBI agent who will reveal his identity when the time is right.
When it comes to profanity, Moore is a true artist. His first line in Dolemite is a gem. When told the warden wants to see him, he says “Oh s***! What the hell does the rat soup-eatin’ mother f***er want with me?” How can you not admire his way with words? It more than makes up for his obvious lack of martial arts skills. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such poorly staged fight scenes in a movie. Under normal circumstances, this would be a defect. Here it’s part of the movie’s overall appeal. But I digress. I’m talking about Dolemite’s verbal skills not his physical ones.
On his comedy albums (e.g. Eat Out More Often, The Dirty Dozens), Moore recited raunchy and sexually explicit rhymes about pimps, prostitutes, players, hustlers and, of course, Dolemite. He brings this particular skill to Dolemite in two scenes. In the first, people on the street run up to him and ask him to do his thing. At this point, the movie stops and lets Dolemite spin his tale while everybody listens raptly. In the other, he recites his most famous poem “The Signifying Monkey” to a crowd of pimps and players at his club, Total Experience. It recalls a famous scene from The Mack.
Here’s the thing about Moore. He can’t act but he has swagger that he comes by naturally. How do you think he gets so much booty? He also has style. Get a load of his funky 1970s wardrobe especially that powder blue leisure suit. HOT DAMN! When you have those qualities, you have it all and to hell with Method acting and Stanislavski. That he also produced and co-wrote Dolemite makes him all that much cooler.
I’m not going to sit here and write about how Dolemite pertains to the black experience or anything like that. I’ll leave that to grad students writing some kind of dissertation. Instead, I’m going to talk about the real pleasures of Dolemite. It may not be “fine cinema” but it’s a good movie. It’s entertaining and fun. Where else are you going to find an army of kung fu prostitutes? Yes, you read that right. In Dolemite’s absence, Queen Bee has their girls take karate lessons so they can take care of themselves. Unlike Moore, they appear to have had at least minimal training. There’s also a separatist preacher, Reverend Gibbs (Gale, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song), with a stash of guns in his church. And let’s not forget “Hamburger Pimp” (Rackstraw), an addict in a dirty undershirt constantly bumming spare change and free food. There’s quite an array of unique characters here.
Yes, Dolemite is very poorly made. The editing, cinematography and everything else is strictly amateur night. The final scene ends rather abruptly. Many times, it’s simply laughable. At the same time, it is its own kind of art. Let me put it this way. I’d rather watch a low budget “bad movie” like Dolemite than most of today’s blockbuster movies that cost hundreds of millions to make, market and distribute. It only cost $100,000 to make and shows in every single frame. As unpolished as it is, it goes down a lot easier than anything Michael Bay inflicts on audiences. Moore, who died in 2008, is a unique talent that not everybody understands. Honestly, I didn’t get it until now. He is a true cult hero. If you want to get to know Moore, I highly recommend starting with Dolemite.
