Penitentiary II

Last updated
Penitentiary II
Penitentiary II poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jamaa Fanaka
Written byJamaa Fanaka
Produced byJamaa Fanaka
StarringLeon Isaac Kennedy
CinematographyStephen L. Posey
Edited byJames E. Nownes
Music byJack Wheaton
Production
company
Distributed by MGM/United Artists Distribution and Marketing
Release date
  • April 2, 1982 (1982-04-02)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$365,000
Box office$3 million [1]

Penitentiary II is a 1982 American blaxploitation drama film directed by Jamaa Fanaka. Released on April 2, 1982, the film is the sequel to 1979's Penitentiary . It was followed by another sequel, Penitentiary III , which was released in August 1987.

Contents

Plot

Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone earned his parole from jail by winning a prison boxing tournament. All Too Sweet wants to do is start a peaceful life, but a condition of his release is that he work for a boxing promoter. Too Sweet has no interest in boxing and wants to live with his sister and her husband who support his desire to start over. However, when an old enemy from prison, Half Dead, escapes and kills his girlfriend, Too Sweet changes his plans and returns to the ring.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

The decade of the 1980s in Western cinema saw the return of studio-driven pictures, coming from the filmmaker-driven New Hollywood era of the 1970s. The period was when "high concept" films gained popularity, where films were expected to be easily marketable and understandable. Therefore, they had short cinematic plots that could be summarized in one or two sentences. The modern Hollywood blockbuster then became the most popular form of cinema from the 1980s onwards. Producer Don Simpson is usually credited with the creation of the high-concept picture.

<i>Rocky II</i> 1979 American boxing film directed by Sylvester Stallone

Rocky II is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film is the sequel to Rocky (1976) and the second installment in the Rocky film series. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), struggling to adjust to his newfound fame and family life, finds himself in a rematch fiercely demanded by Apollo Creed (Weathers).

<i>Rocky III</i> 1982 boxing film directed by Sylvester Stallone

Rocky III is a 1982 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film is the sequel to Rocky II (1979) and the third installment in the Rocky film series. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone) faces stiff competition from Clubber Lang, a powerful new contender, and turns to his old adversary Apollo Creed (Weathers) to help him train.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archie Moore</span> American professional boxer (1913–1998)

Archie Moore was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time. He had one of the longest professional careers in the history of the sport, competing from 1935 to 1963. Nicknamed "The Mongoose", and then "The Old Mongoose" in the latter half of his career, Moore was a highly strategic and defensive boxer. As of December 2020, BoxRec ranks Moore as the third greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time. He also ranks fourth on The Ring's list of "100 greatest punchers of all time". Moore was also a trainer for a short time after retirement, training Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Bob Foster, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Earnie Shavers and James Tillis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Lyle</span> American boxer (1941–2011)

Ronald David Lyle was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Known for his punching power, crowd-pleasing fighting style, and his courage and determination in the ring, Lyle defeated Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena, Jimmy Ellis, Vicente Rondón, Earnie Shavers, Joe Bugner, and Scott LeDoux, but is best known for his fight against George Foreman in 1976, which was voted Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine.

<i>Coonskin</i> (film) 1975 live action/animated satirical crime film for adults by Ralph Bakshi

Coonskin is a 1975 American live-action/animated satirical crime film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film references the Uncle Remus folk tales, and satirizes the blaxploitation film genre as well as Disney's racially controversial film Song of the South, also adapted from the Uncle Remus folk tales. The film's narrative concerns three anthropomorphic Uncle Remus characters, Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear. They rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists, and the Mafia, in a satire of both racism within the Hollywood film system, and America itself. The film stars Philip Thomas, Charles Gordone, Barry White, and Scatman Crothers, all of whom appear in both live-action and animated sequences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilhelm von Homburg</span> German boxer, actor (1940–2004)

Norbert Grupe, better known outside Germany by his stage name Wilhelm von Homburg, was a German boxer, actor, and professional wrestler known for his villainous supporting roles in various high-profile films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II, the henchman James in Die Hard, and Souteneur in Werner Herzog's Stroszek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State Penitentiary</span> Prison in Salem, Oregon, U.S.

Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), also known as Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwest United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland 172 years ago in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2,242-capacity prison is the oldest in the state; the all-male facility is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). OSP contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Gordone</span> American dramatist and playwright (1925–1995)

Charles Edward Gordone was an American playwright, actor, director, and educator. He was the first African American to win the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama and he devoted much of his professional life to the pursuit of multi-racial American theater and racial unity.

Preston Alexander Whitmore II is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his 2007 comedy-drama This Christmas, garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in 2008.

Rocky is an American sports drama multimedia franchise created by Sylvester Stallone, based on the life of Chuck Wepner, which began with the eponymous 1976 film and has since become a cultural phenomenon, centered on the boxing careers of Rocky Balboa and his protégé Adonis Creed.

<i>Undisputed II: Last Man Standing</i> 2006 American direct-to-video martial arts film directed by Isaac Florentine

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing is a 2006 American direct-to-video martial arts film directed by Isaac Florentine and starring Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Eli Danker and Ben Cross. It is the sequel to the 2002 boxing film Undisputed. White portrays ex-boxer George "Iceman" Chambers, a role originally played by Ving Rhames in the first film. It was followed by two sequels: Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017), which continue the story of Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka, played by Adkins.

Paul Sykes was a British heavyweight boxer, weightlifter, writer, prisoner, and debt collector.

<i>The Sting II</i> 1983 film by Jeremy Kagan

The Sting II is a 1983 American comedy film and a sequel to The Sting, again written by David S. Ward. It was directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan and stars an entirely original cast including Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden and Oliver Reed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaxploitation</span> Film genre

Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president of the Beverly Hills–Hollywood NAACP branch. He claimed the genre was "proliferating offenses" to the black community in its perpetuation of stereotypes often involved in crime. The genre does rank among the first after the race films in the 1940s and 1960s in which black characters and communities are the protagonists and subjects of film and television, rather than sidekicks supportive characters, antagonists or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of race relations in the 1970s.

<i>Penitentiary</i> (1979 film) 1979 film by Jamaa Fanaka

Penitentiary is a 1979 American blaxploitation drama film written, produced and directed by Jamaa Fanaka, and starring Leon Isaac Kennedy as Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone, a man who deals with his wrongful imprisonment as a black youth. The film was released on November 21, 1979.

Keane of Kalgoorlie, or a Story of the Sydney Cup is a 1911 Australian silent film set in the racing and gambling circles of Sydney, based on a popular play by Edward William O'Sullivan and Arthur Wright, adapted from the novel by Wright.

<i>Penitentiary III</i> 1987 American film

Penitentiary III is a 1987 American crime drama film written and directed by Jamaa Fanaka. It is the sequel to the 1982 film Penitentiary II. The film stars Leon Isaac Kennedy, Anthony Geary, Steve Antin, Ric Mancini, Marie Burrell Fanaka and Raymond Kessler. The film was released on September 4, 1987, by Cannon Film Distributors.

<i>Lazer Team 2</i> 2017 film

Lazer Team 2 is a 2017 American science fiction action comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Matt Hullum and Daniel Fabelo. The film is a sequel to 2015's Lazer Team, and follows the team traveling through a wormhole to find their missing friend Woody. It was released on YouTube Red in November 2017. It received positive reviews, critics stating it as an improvement from its predecessor. Financially it grossed less than $20,000, way less than the prequel.

Leon Isaac Kennedy is a retired American actor, disc jockey, film producer and playwright. Kennedy's acting roles include Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone in Jamaa Fanaka's Penitentiary (1979), Penitentiary II (1982), Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) and Penitentiary III (1987), and Leon "The Lover" Johnson in the 1981 film Body and Soul alongside his then-wife Jayne Kennedy.

References

  1. "Box Office Mojo" . Retrieved May 15, 2012.