Dolemite

Release Date:  1975
Genre:   Drama
Rating:  R
Director:  D’Urville Martin
Studio(s):  Comedian International, Dimension Pictures, Vinegar Syndrome, Xenon Entertainment Group.
Running Time:  91 mins.

Cast:   Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), D’Urville Martin (Willie Green), Jerry Jones (Blakeley), Lady Reed (Queen Bee) and the Dolemite girls: Brenda DeLong, Terri Mosley, Marilyn Shaw, Lynell Smith, Vera Howard, Joy Martin.

Story:   Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore), the baddest pimp in town, has just been released from prison, ready to take revenge on notorious gangster Willie Green (D’Urville Martin), who set him up on a phony drug charge and stole his club, The Total Experience. With the help of his friend Queen Bee (Lady Reed) and their band of Kung Fu fighting vixens, Dolemite takes on every “rat soup eatin’ motherf#%*er” in South Central.  Source:  TCM.

Full Synopsis:  After serving a portion of his twenty-year prison sentence for possession of stolen furs and narcotics, Dolemite, an African American pimp, is offered the chance to exonerate himself if he cooperates with the prison warden in an undercover investigation. Dolemite is adamant that he was framed and deserves to be released from prison, so he agrees to help the warden, who says the crime rate in Dolemite’s neighborhood has spiked in his absence, and Dolemite’s nephew, Little Jimmy, was recently killed by gang members. The next day, three of Dolemite’s prostitutes pick him up from prison. When one of the women notices a group of thugs tailing their car, Dolemite orders the car to be pulled over and retrieves his gun. As the men pull up beside their car, Dolemite emerges from the roadside and shoots the pursuers dead.

At his brothel, Dolemite learns from the madame, Queen Bee, that Willie Green took possession of Dolemite’s nightclub, The Total Experience, as collateral for money he lent to Queen Bee for police fines. Still owing Green $50,000, Queen Bee says the prostitutes have been forced to learn karate to protect themselves. After Dolemite has sex with one of the women, he drives into town, where he is approached by Mitchell, a plainclothes policeman, and his partner.  Dolemite recognizes the pair as the officers who framed and arrested him. The officers frisk Dolemite and produce a bag of white powder, claiming it was under his passenger seat. Dolemite accuses the men of framing him once again and kicks them to the ground as they warn him to leave town.

Later, Dolemite runs into Creeper, a drug addict, whom he addresses as the “Hamburger Pimp.” Creeper complains that Green has raised the price of street drugs, so Dolemite offers to pay Creeper in exchange for information. They go to the flophouse where Creeper has a room. Creeper admits that he witnessed Little Jimmy’s murder, but when Dolemite demands to know who killed his nephew, two thugs burst in. One of the men shoots Creeper dead, but Dolemite steals the killer’s gun and beats the intruders just before Mitchell and his partner arrive. Seeing Dolemite in the middle of the crime scene, they arrest him for murder. Dolemite is bailed out of jail and picked up by a woman named Pinky, who takes him to her house where they engage in sex.  Dolemite retrieves $50,000 in cash that he hid before going to prison, which he hands to Green’s henchmen, telling them to pass it along to Green with instructions to leave town in the next twenty-four hours.

Green alerts Mayor Daley, that Dolemite is causing trouble, and Daley promises to have him killed. At the re-opening of the Total Experience, Green says Dolemite still owes him $100,000 in interest, but offers to waive the interest in exchange for a partnership. When Dolemite refuses, Green instructs his thugs to tear up the club and goes after Dolemite.  Using their karate skills, Dolemite’s prostitutes fight Green’s men as Blakely, an FBI officer, arrives and joins the fray. Green shoots Dolemite in his dressing room, and Dolemite punches him in retaliation, then rips out his entrails. Blakely finds Dolemite injured, then shoots Green in order to take the blame for his death. Dolemite is taken to the hospital, where Mayor Daley sends a hired killer to murder him.

Traveling to an airplane hangar, Blakely shoots Daley as he attempts to climb into a small airplane. Arriving at the hospital, Blakely tells Dolemite that assassins are on their way, but he has a plan to protect him. When the assassins arrive, the receptionist provides the wrong room number, and Dolemite and Blakely ambush the men as they shoot at an empty hospital bed. Believing Dolemite is alone, Mitchell and his partner arrive and begin to arrest him, but Blakely appears and accuses them of corruption. More police arrive, but, at Blakely’s behest, they arrest Mitchell and his partner instead of Dolemite.  Source:  American Film Institute.  Photo Source:  DAARAC.org.  Gif:  Giphy.com.

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