Willie Dynamite

Starring:Roscoe Orman, Diana Sands, Thalmus Rasulala, Joyce Walker, Roger Robinson, George Murdock, Albert Hall, Norma Donaldson, Juanita Brown, Royce Wallace, Judith M. Brown, Marilyn Coleman, Mary Charlotte Wilcox, Marcia McBroom, Jack Bernardi, Ted Gehring, Ron Henriquez, Wynn Irwin, Richard Lawson, Ken Lynch
Director: Gilbert Moses
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

I Love This Movie....
"I'm gonna make you number one minus one, which equals zero."
Willie
Waste of Time Video
Classic

Willie Dynamite
Starring: Roscoe Orman , Diana Sands , Thalmus Rasulala , Joyce Walker , and Roger Robinson
Director: Gilbert Moses
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006FYOX8
Release Date: 2005-01-11

Customer Reviews:

I Love This Movie...........2007-04-10

I saw this a long time ago and then someone stole my copy! I don't really remembver it but I do remember loving it. All I really wanted to say after reading some of the other reviews is this was a great movie but can't be compared to The Mack at all. If this movie is 5 stars then The Mack is 15! Because its waaay better. I still loved this though.

"I'm gonna make you number one minus one, which equals zero.".......2006-12-15

From Universal Studios' Soul Showcase come Willie Dynamite (1974), a film about the rise and fall (mostly the latter), and eventual rebirth, of a, flashy, ambitious New York City street hustler. Directed by Gilbert Moses (The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh), the film stars Roscoe Orman, probably best known for his character of Gordon on the children's television series "Sesame Street", Diana Sands (A Raisin in the Sun), and Joyce Walker (The Education of Sonny Carson). Also appearing is Thalmus Rasulala (Friday Foster), Roger Robinson ("Kojak"), George Murdock (The Mack), and Albert Hall (Apocalypse Now).

Roscoe Orman plays Willie Dynamite, an ambitious, arrogant, demanding, no nonsense street hustler who commands a respectable stable of women and always has his eye on the prize, the prize being to be the number one hustler in New York City (seems he's currently number two, although I'm not entirely sure the criteria the rankings are based upon). Things are going well for Willie (except for his newest girl Pashen, played by Joyce Walker, who's got one of the largest afros I've ever seen, isn't `producing' as well as she should), that is until he hooks up with some of his pimpy peers in a meeting of sorts, the discussion, headed up by a player named Bell (Robinson) leading to talk of organizing, if only to deal with the excessive amount of heat coming down and to keep themselves from stepping on each others toes. All acquiesce to the proposal, except for Willie, who's a firm believer in the capitalistic and competitive nature of the business. After the meeting things turn sour for Willie as the pressures from not only his peers and the authorities starts coming down hard, but there's a former streetwalker, who's now a social worker named Cora (Sands), trying to educate his women, particularly Pashen, on the pitfalls of being `in the life'. Seems Cora has taken a particular interest in Willie, so much so she goes out of her way to see him jammed up. Willie's girls begin to get busted on a regular basis, his sweet ride towed about sixteen times, his business horned in on by his peers, and Willie himself is rousted by the authorities every chance they get...oh yeah, he's also being investigated by the IRS...I guess when it rains, it pours. Eventually Willie bottoms out under the various pressures applied, with Cora, of all people, the only one he can turn to given the fact that she actually pities him in some, small manner as she can see he was just as much a victim of the system as the women he abusively kept under his thumb.

I was expecting some average, blaxploitation fare here, but what I got was considerable more. The story seemed more or less to me a cautionary type tale, one that focused on the redemptive. Orman's character is certainly a loathsome figure throughout much of the feature, given his treatment of `his' women and his perverted, capitalistic views, but, as Cora eventually did, I actually felt for him a little by the end of the film...not as much as Cora, but then again I didn't have as much a hand in his downfall as she. Orman plays his role exceedingly well, to which I account that which I felt for his character by the end. A lot of credit should also go to Diana Sands in the role of Cora, as one could almost feel the pains she suffered in her often wasted efforts to pass along her knowledge, stemming from her own experiences, to those women just starting out in the trade. I did learn quite a bit from this film, including the following...

1. The price of meat has gone up everywhere.
2. Being the `bottom lady' of a hustler is a pretty thankless gig, one that involves a lot of responsibility and few rewards, along with the distinct possibility of getting your throat slit by a skaggy streetwalker.
3. Hustlers tend to refer to themselves in the third person.
4. When the heat gets heavy the action gets scarce and the turf gets hard.
5. When it comes down on you, you either collectivize or you run.
6. You can pay the homeless to watch your fancy, tricked out automobile while it's parked on a city street but don't expect much in terms of their reliability.
7. They love them young and pretty in the New York Women's House of Detention (as do I).
8. A ginormous, late model purple Cadillac with gaudy, gold trim and shaggy, animal print seat covers seems to be a real tow truck magnet.
9. Nobody cuts out on Willie Dynamite.
10. Even among street hustlers one can dress to the point of being overly ostentatious.

I thought the story engaging and the pacing well timed, as the film never really slowed down to the point where I was bored...I suppose it helps if you have interesting characters to keep your attention. One interesting aspect here, something different than the other films of the genre, is that there was no nudity. There was, however, some violence, along with a lot of profanity (if you ever wanted to hear Gordon from Sesame Street cuss it out, here's your chance). The funniest part of the film, besides Willie's ridiculously over the top fur-lined fashions, was when Willie, after he and his pad had been busted up by some rivals, gets arrested and is being put into the back of a squad car. In the process he sees a bunch of kids stripping his own ride, which seemed to upset him more than all the other misfortunes he suffered up to that point. All in all I thought this a well made feature, with some excellent performances, and certainly a cut above many of the films within the genre. One thing's for sure, I'll never look at Gordon from Sesame Street the same...

The picture quality on this DVD, presented in widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1), looks sharp and clean, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio, available in both English and Spanish, comes through very well. There aren't any extras on the DVD, but there are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French. There are some unrelated previews tacked on up front, ones that start playing when the DVD is inserted into a player, but you can advance past these if desired.

Cookieman108

Willie.......2006-11-03

Who knew that Gordon from Sesame Street was a pimp. I first saw this movie on television a couple of months ago and had to have it. The music and clothes will take you back.

Waste of Time Video.......2006-07-10

I did not like this movie. I enjoyed the Mack much better. The price on this video should of been cheaper.

Classic.......2006-06-30

It was an interesting amount of Player Hatin' in that film. Some of it was good but it was more of a "Before Gordon Came To Sesame Street" kinda tale.

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