This is one of the better blaxploitation films. It simultaneously works as a parody of the genre, action movie, and social commentary.
In the first half of the movie, Roscoe Corman does a magnificent performance as an over the top pimp Willie Dynamite, who talks the talk and walks the walk. Willie is a "business oriented" Alfa Male who, in satisfying the demand for prostitutes, mercilessly dominates his women, dresses extravagantly, drives a most tastelessly customized Cadillac Eldorado, and talks or fights his way out of competition, the police, and the courts.
The second part of the movie finds Willie's stature and freedom challenged by social worker Cora (Diana Sands), who tries to talk the women out of their lifestyle while her DA husband concentrates on putting Willie behind the bars. Cora particularly embraces Pearl (Marcia McBroom of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls fame), dreaming of a modeling career until she is sent to jail, where she is assaulted and disfigured by other female prisoners.
Pearl's experience forces Cora to question her own feminist male-female antagonism, while Willie's rough fate at the hands of the police and other pimps prompts him to give up his career in managing prostitution, and abandon its false material trappings and glory.
Strangely, Willie Dynamite can be looked upon as an educational movie in the same way some of the B-class motorcycle films of the era are. There will always be a heavy price to be paid when assuming a career in crime.
Strong performances, especially by Diana Sands, who tragically passed away before the movie's premiere, and high-quality restoration of the film, add to Willie Dynamite's lure.
In the first half of the movie, Roscoe Corman does a magnificent performance as an over the top pimp Willie Dynamite, who talks the talk and walks the walk. Willie is a "business oriented" Alfa Male who, in satisfying the demand for prostitutes, mercilessly dominates his women, dresses extravagantly, drives a most tastelessly customized Cadillac Eldorado, and talks or fights his way out of competition, the police, and the courts.
The second part of the movie finds Willie's stature and freedom challenged by social worker Cora (Diana Sands), who tries to talk the women out of their lifestyle while her DA husband concentrates on putting Willie behind the bars. Cora particularly embraces Pearl (Marcia McBroom of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls fame), dreaming of a modeling career until she is sent to jail, where she is assaulted and disfigured by other female prisoners.
Pearl's experience forces Cora to question her own feminist male-female antagonism, while Willie's rough fate at the hands of the police and other pimps prompts him to give up his career in managing prostitution, and abandon its false material trappings and glory.
Strangely, Willie Dynamite can be looked upon as an educational movie in the same way some of the B-class motorcycle films of the era are. There will always be a heavy price to be paid when assuming a career in crime.
Strong performances, especially by Diana Sands, who tragically passed away before the movie's premiere, and high-quality restoration of the film, add to Willie Dynamite's lure.