http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074437/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073349/
Hollywood has a practice of taking a celebrity from another genre and
then building a film around them and without a doubt one of the worst
ever was the 1985 Gymkata where Gymist Gold Medal winner Kurt Thomas
is inducted into the US Spyworld to compete is some ridiculous sport
built around his skill set, (never seen a guy fight so many bad guys
on so many items that all looked like a pommel horse). So given that
Gymkata is the worse certainly Blaxpoloitation has something equally
horrid ot offer?
The answer is yes and it comes in the form of Ken Norton in two films;
Mandingo and Drum. Norton was somewhat unique in that his early films
were concurent with his boxing career and his early films all had him
in the role of boxer/fightger. Both films were harshly criticized for
their exploitation of the issue of the US Slave Trade but also
received some praise for not sugar coating the practice unlike films
like Gone With The Wind. Considering that Roots would be released in
the near future they were probably lucky to get the films out in
advance.
Of some note Ken Norton was almost brought to tears during a press
junket when one of the reporters asked him what were his feelings
about his part in a XXX movie being as Drum had far more nudity than
Mandingo, (I think you might see his ass... gasp).
T.
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