Willie Dynamite (1974)

Touches You

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Probably what might make most people give this particular Blaxploitation movie a look is the promise of "Gordon" from the children's television show "Sesame Street" playing a flamboyant pimp. There definitely is some novelty to get from that, and the movie boasts other attributes such as good production values (including a lot of outrageous clothing choices).However, the end results overall are to some degree a bit unsatisfying. One reason for that is the portrayal of the title character. I was unsure throughout whether we are supposed to be on the side of Willie Dynamite or not. I suspect not... but I'm not sure, one reason maybe being that the character is kind of thin. It's hard to get into the head of this character a lot of the time and get his perspective of things. The script also suffers from the fact that the narrative is more or less a collection of vignettes loosely connected together, rather than one strong story thread.If you like Blaxploitation movies from the 1970s, you'll probably find enough to enjoy here. However, you'll probably still see a fairly large bit of potential that wasn't quite realized.

As all fans of exploitation cinema will know, there were many, many blaxploitation movies released during the 1970s after Melvin van Peebles left an incredibly impression on black audiences with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song in 1971. While many are rather enjoyable in a comical way, few works of blaxploitation were actually any good. Tony Award-nominated Broadway director Gilbert Moses' Willie Dynamite is incredibly under-seen, but is one of the genre's most impressive works, shunning the usual hyper-stylised, lightly comic beats in favour of something more serious and dramatic, while also touching on themes such as black identity, racism and police corruption.New York pimp Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman) has built himself a mini-empire, training his girls to work like a production line to maximise profits and keep his many customers happy. While his clothes are utterly outlandish (there are some of most ridiculous outfits ever seen in the genre here), Willie ain't no lovable scamp like Super Fly (1972), but a real piece of s**t; he regularly threatens his girls with violence, underpays them, and fails to offer any help when they get themselves arrested. When he's late to turn up to court for his most recent arrival Pashen (Joyce Walker), prostitute-turned-social worker Cora (Diana Sands) takes a particular interest, and becomes intent on rescuing Willie's girls and ending his reign of terror.For a genre normally so rich in exploitative traits, Willie Dynamite contains no nudity and little violence, earning its adult rating instead for language and drug use. The lack of sex and action scenes leaves plenty of room for drama and character building, and Willie's journey to discovering his place in society and ultimately redeeming himself is all the more engrossing for it. Anyone familiar with Sesame Street will be left shocked at the sight of Orman wearing some of the most garish costumes ever committed to celluloid and trying to keep his bitches in check, and it's a very convincing performance. But it is in fact Diana Sands, who sadly died shortly after filming, who steals the film as the force of nature with a gentle side. Ripe for re- discovery, there's much more to Willie Dynamite than I would have ever expected. Now, bring me some scratch.

What is uncanny about Willie Dynamite is that the film is able to take this despicable, self-absorbed, sadistic pimp and humanize him. How director Gilbert Moses and actor Roscoe Orman(as Dynamite)pull this off is worthy of applause. The destruction left by his devious activities are of focus in this blaxploitation effort. Cora(Diana Sands, in a solid performance), a social worker, attempts to pry a lovely young prostitute, Pashen(Joyce Walker)from the clutches of Dynamite's powerful influence. Willie Dynamite decides to take his pimping solo, splitting from his colleagues, securing wealthy clientèle for his girls. Dynamite lives it up lavishly, while his girls are treated to second hand "glamor" wardrobe they believe is high-class. Meanwhile, Dynamite's fellow pimps are seeking after him, not appreciative of his decision to separate from their network which brought forth quite an enterprise. The police are after Willie, hoping to pin the right crime on him that'll stick, forcing him off the streets. Dynamite has a reputation for getting his girls hooked on narcotics, when their worth is depleted and value diminished sending them away to fall into destitution. Cora, understanding his dangerous nature, wishes to see Willie taken down, soon recognizing that despite his corrupt ways, he's still a human being in need of guidance.The film starts out as almost a comedy where these pimps, with their pomp and attitude, driving their colorful cars and wearing their vibrant custom suits, fur coats, and flashy hats, are almost caricatures, over-the-top creations broadly performed by the African-American cast. But, as the film progresses, it gets dead serious and we see how the life style of a pimp can, in fact, lead to tragedies of severe magnitude. Preshen almost succeeds in getting away from the whoring business, but through Willi's commanding dominating personality, he's able to convince her to stay, with the consequences of her brief imprisonment leading to a devastating abuse threatening a potential modeling career. Dynamite's mother(..and their family)have always been told that he was an important music producer, explaining the gifts and other extravagances he could give her..the truth revealed and the possible incarceration of her son yields a terrible reaction. And, as competition arises, one of Willie's top girls is killed by a throat slash during an altercation over rich clients. It's a domino effect that leads to Willie's downward spiral, everything that happens contributed to his bad behavior, repercussions deriving from his mistakes and avarice. It's a hoot seeing Orman, a fixture on Sesame Street, in the role of a lecherous pimp! Shooting on the streets in many cases adds a grit and grime providing an authenticity that gives the material presented extra punch. Orman, at times, can be pretty electrifying, and his character, for most of the running time, is easy to root against for he's not very likable at all. Great chase scene as Willie attempts to break free from two detectives on his tail, while hoping to recover hidden drugs stashed away for safe keeping.

The ad and plotline for this movie may give you the impression that Willie Dynamite is a typical blaxploitation actioner with heavy doses of violence and sex but that is not the case. Willie Dynamite deals with a NYC pimp (Orman) who must deal not only with the police and a dedicated social worker (Sands), but also his fellow pimps who resent his increasing level of power within the city. There is not much in the way of nudity or blood or even profanity. During the last third of the movie, the story switches gears as both Orman and Sands go through some major changes which cause them to alter their outlook and approach to their lives. In doing this, Willie Dynamite goes in a different (and less sensational) direction than many films of this period chose to go. The film also takes on a higher level of believability which helps to bring the two main characters to life. Both Orman and Sands are impressive in their roles. It is sad to note that Sands died shortly after making this as she was a very talented woman. Orman, believe it or not, went on to become a staple on TV's Sesame Street as Gordon! Now that's a change of pace. His fur coats and fur hat add some unintentional laughs to the story, though at the time this was made, they were probably in vogue. In fact, Willie Dynamite has a great early 70s ambiance that many of the bigger movies of the time did not contain. Willie Dynamite may not be the best known of the blaxploitation genre but it deserves more attention than it got.