Black Samson

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source: Black Samson

Black Samson

I watched this thing more out of pure nostalgia having reached maturity during the so-called "Blaxploitation" movie era. "Black Samson" did te usual thing, i.e., strong, independent, successful black man looking out for his hood and bro's while sticking it to the evil man with monotonous 3 beat music always playing in the background. Poor acting. Ridiculous dialogue. Elementary and totally predictable plotting. Poor staging. Cheap sets, etc. As one of the Blaxploitation chain of movies of the times, most of which were poorly made, Black Samson is at the bottom of the list.

Only a true Blaxploitation fan would appreciate the hilarious 70's gem that is.....BLACK SAMSON. I remembered seeing the movie a few years ago, but never paid much attention to it. I soon forgot about the movie but I recently ran across a VHS copy for 6 bucks on Ebay, a real deal on account of the movie being out of print/hard to find. Nevertheless, I sat back watched the soft spoken Rockne Tarkington (believed to be the first Black man ever to appear on The Andy Griffith Show) battle mobsters over control of his block,and ultimately save his girl from the evil Johnny Napa. Being that I am a hardcore Blaxploitation fan I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It wasn't my favorite but still a classic and a real must see for fans of this genre....If you can find it......grab this one up for your collection.

"Samson" (Rockne Tarkington) is the owner of a nightclub in a black part of Los Angeles who does his best to keep crime down and things under control. However, this doesn't please two rival criminal organizations-one white and the other black-from wanting to move in and take over. This is especially true for one particularly psychotic mobster named "Johnny Nappa" (William Smith) who refuses to heed Samson's warnings and simply won't take "no" for an answer--and things become quite tense after that. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good "blaxploitation" film in large part due to the performances of the aforementioned William Smith and Rockne Tarkington. Likewise, having a beautiful actress like Connie Strickland (as Johnny's girlfriend "Tina") certainly didn't hurt either. In any case, I thought this was a pretty good film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Okay,we have Samson, the owner of a topless go-go dancing bar in the heart of the ghetto and his huge pet lion resides next to the beer nuts. I mean, I would not want to change that kitty litter. William Smith is stellar as the cheese-suckin', mother----in' Mafia racist known as Nappa. Connie Jennings is hot as Nappa's submissive girlfriend. But when she go-go dances topless, everything wiggles except her fake *. Samson is very Afro-centric, wearing an African caftan and carrying his tribal stick, which features what appears to be a plastic lion's head on the knob. He puts the stick to good use, denting the bigoted Mafia hit men until they're al dente.

There's not much to separate this from most blaxploitation era movies apart from the lion and the club. The soundtrack is average, the plot is rote, and the action poorly done. It's got a message that it wears on its sleeve and there's never any sense of doubt or moment of not knowing what's gonna happen. An average movie at best. Also, the lion really needed to do something at some point other than just be set dressing. If there ever was a movie that called for a mauling it was this one.

The groovy threads, jive talk and funky music are all present but Tarkington just doesn't have the presence of a Jim Brown or Fred Williamson. Dependable bad-guy William Smith performs with his usual gusto though. The supporting cast of 70s exploitation actresses like Carol Speed and Connie Strickland will add enjoyment for fans of 70s drive-in/grindhouse cinema.

Strip club owner Samson and his pet lion try to keep the neighborhood safe. White mobster Johnny Nappa tries to move in but Samson is not giving in. It's a second tier blaxploitation. Samson is setup like a noble tribal African king and he does a lion. It's an old lion and he doesn't do much. Nothing is really that great. It's a simple story. I don't really recognize lead actor Rockne Tarkington although I've seen a couple of his things. There are some fun stunts and some dangerous car people interactions although they need a better fight coordinator. They do get to wreck a few cars. The final battle is a little silly. It's more unrealistic than the rest of the movie. This is for blaxploitation fans.