Black Gunn

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Black Gunn
Black Gunn FilmPoster.jpeg
US film poster
Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
Screenplay byFranklin Coen
Robert Shearer
Story byRobert Hartford-Davis
Produced by John Heyman
Norman Priggen
Starring Jim Brown
Martin Landau
Brenda Sykes
Luciana Paluzzi
Vida Blue
Cinematography Richard H. Kline
Edited byPat Somerset
Music byTony Osborne
Production
companies
Champion Production Company
World Film Services
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • December 20, 1972 (1972-12-20)(New York City)
Running time
96 minutes
CountriesUnited States [1]
United Kingdom [1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,015,000 (US/ Canada rentals) [2]

Black Gunn is a 1972 neo-noir blaxploitation [1] [3] crime film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Jim Brown as the title character, a nightclub owner who gets caught up in a conflict between a Black power organization and the American Mafia. The film co-stars Martin Landau, Brenda Sykes, Luciana Paluzzi, and baseball pitcher-turned-actor Vida Blue in his sole film role.

Contents

The film differs from many blaxploitation films in that it was an international co-production (between Columbia Pictures and British producer John Heyman), and was made by a non-American director. [4] It premiered in the United States on December 20, 1972.

Plot

In Los Angeles, a nighttime robbery of an illegal mafia bookmaking operation is carried out by the militant African-American organization BAG (Black Action Group). Though successful, several of the bookmakers and one of the burglars are killed. The mastermind behind the robbery, a Vietnam veteran named Scott, is the brother of a prominent nightclub owner, Gunn. Seeking safe haven, Scott hides out at his brother's mansion after a brief reunion.

Meanwhile, mafia capo Russ Capelli meets with a female West Coast boss, Toni Lombardo, to report the theft of daily payoff records and monies. Though Capelli receives an unrelated promotion for years of loyal service, he nonetheless fears the consequences of a loss of face and status as well as incriminating mob financial information. He therefore orders his men, led by psychotic assassin Ray Kriley, to shake down anyone who might have a connection to the robbery and to recover the lost goods using any means necessary.

Cast

Casting notes:

Jim Brown, Vida Blue, and Bernie Casey were all former professional athletes. Brown was a star running back in the NFL, Blue was a six-time MLB All-Star pitcher, and Casey was an NFL wide-receiver.

Production

Veteran British B-movie director Robert Hartford-Davis originally conceived of the film as set in the London underworld and Black power scene. Producer John Heyman retooled it to an American setting, so the film could better fit the blaxploitation trend. [1]

Filming took place in Los Angeles. [1] Jim Brown had an affair with Brenda Sykes during production.

Hartford-Davis and Heyman made another blaxploitation film, The Take, in 1974.

Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures in December 1972.

Home media

The film was given a VHS release by GoodTimes Entertainment in the United States. It was later released on DVD in 2004 via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. [5] A Blu-Ray, on a double bill with The Take, was released by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2019. [6]

Reception

Contemporaneously, A. H. Weiler for The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, writing "despite the occasional rationalizations of Jim Brown, its tough titular star and others, Black Gunn ultimately is no more constructive sociologically than its frequent fireworks and bloodletting." [7]

In a retrospective review, Steve Aldous wrote "it is a fast-paced, but unevenly handled, action vehicle for Brown.... Brown is a physically effective lead but otherwise, his performance lacks charisma. Sykes brings some charm to her role as Brown’s loyal girlfriend. Landau and Paluzzi (as key mob members) are underused in a strong supporting cast. Glover, however, enjoys himself as the mob’s chief henchman." [8]

The film was enough of a commercial success that producer John Heyman considered a sequel, though one was never produced. [1]

Quentin Tarantino has said the experience of watching Black Gunn (on a double-bill with The Bus Is Coming) in a grindhouse theatre as a child is what inspired by him to become a filmmaker. [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Black Gunn (1972)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  2. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, 9 January 1974 p 60
  3. ↑ "Black Gunn (Columbia, 1972)". blaxploitation.com. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  4. ↑ "Black Gunn". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  5. ↑ "Black Gunn (1972)". Amazon. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
  6. ↑ The Take / Black Gunn Blu-ray (Double Feature) . Retrieved 2025-10-06– via www.blu-ray.com.
  7. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/21/archives/black-gunn-with-jim-brown-arrives.html
  8. ↑ "Film Review – BLACK GUNN (1972) – STEVE ALDOUS, Writer". 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  9. ↑ Brody, Richard (2022-11-04). "Quentin Tarantino's "Cinema Speculation" Is an Obsessive Insider's View of Hollywood". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2025-10-06.
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