The Big Thug

 

 (imdb)

AL CAPONE-1959-Al Capone (Rod Steiger) rises from small time bodyguard thug to the most powerful man in the crime ridden town of Chicago. He eliminates an older boss (Joe DeSantis) to help his friend Johnny (Nehemiah Persoff) become the new boss but he has trouble with fellow thug Bugs Moran (Murvyn Vye). He marries the widow (Fay Spain) of a man he killed. He's helped by a corrupt news reporter (Martin Balsam) and hounded by the only seemingly honest cop (James Gregory, who also narrates) in the city. Steiger, who occasionally talks while eating an apple, is OK in the role eventually killing anyone who stands in his way, being convicted of tax evasion and getting beaten up in jail. Sandy Kenyon and Raymond Bailey also have roles. 

Director Richard Wilson went on to make THREE IN AN ATTIC and SKULLDUGGERY but for many years was Orson Welles' chief assistant, working on many of his film projects including IT'S ALL TRUE.

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Mean Johnny

 

MEAN JOHNNY BARROWS-1975-Johnny Barrows (Fred Williamson) is dishonorably discharged from the army for hitting an officer. He arrives in LA and is mugged and beaten. Some racist cops arrest him thinking he's a drunk. A Sargent recognizes him as a college football player and war hero. After turning down a job offer from obvious gangster Mario Racconi (Stuart Whitman), he combs the city for a job but to no avail and sleeps in a doorway. Then he meets the Professor (Elliot Gould) and gets a job cleaning up in a gas station for the racist owner Richard (RG Armstrong). At a pow-wow mob boss Da Vince (Anthony Caruso) has his sons (Roddy McDowell and Mike Henry) kill Mario and his dad (Luther Adler) but Mario survives. When Richard cheats Johnny out of his pay Johnny tries to get it by force and is beaten up by white cops again and arrested. He gets out and Mario hires him to kill the Da Vince family. He kills both sons then has a terrible fight with an assassin who looks like Tiny Tim. Unfortunately Tony Da Vince and Mario's girlfriend Nancy (Jenny Sherman) were conspiring against both families so when Johnny tries to put the moves on her she shoots him but Johnny rigged a mine that she steps on and is blown up. 

This drawn out low budget crime drama is terrible with director/star Williamson  sleepwalking through most of the film and hardly involved in the mob family war till the last half hour.

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Dyn-o-mIte

THE DYNAMITE BROTHERS-1974-Larry Chin (Alan Tang) leaves Hong Kong to find his brother in LA. He's immediately attacked by 3 thugs ("Go back to China") hired by a corrupt police Captain Burke (Aldo Ray). Larry winds up handcuffed to a black criminal Stud Brown (Timothy Brown). They escape and run around like a low budget version of THE DEFIANT ONES. They beat up some hicks in a moving truck and finally get free and head to LA. Larry has flashbacks of his wife's death. The duo get saved by local gangster The Smiling Man (Don Oliver) from an attack by Razor J (Al Richardson), the henchman of big time time drug pusher Wei Chin (James Hong). Hmmm...Larry and Wei have the same last name...coincidence? 

 While Stud romances a mute prostitute Sarah (Carol Speed from THE BIG BIRD CAGE) Larry gets help from Betty Fong (Clare Nono) in tracking down his brother who he finds out is dead. However Larry is betrayed by Kung Fat (Richard Lee-Sung) and dropped in a pit with a rattlesnake. Meanwhile a gang war ensues with corrupt police, outrageously dressed guys with machine guns, explosions and a guy who yells really loud when he's shot and falls off a roof. While Stud has sex, Larry fights some guys in an alley. After Razor kills Burke and his wife Laura (Susan McIver) he goes after Sarah (he's too stupid to realize she can't talk). Stud and Larry arrive too late to save her but Stud gets revenge. Larry infiltrates Wei's lair and of course finds out the truth: Wei is Larry's brother and responsible for the death of Larry's wife. While The Smiling Man's minions beat up the gang Larry goes after his bro and makes his car go off a cliff. It ends with a freeze frame of the pair running away (to where I wonder?).

THE DYNAMITE BROTHERS was directed by Al Adamson in his usual hasty, episodic way. It's not very exciting but it has a lot of familiar faces to hold your interest a little while. Since this is an Independent International release it played in re-release for many years under numerous titles including STUD BROWN, DYNAMITE BROWN, BLACK BELT BROTHERS, etc. At the time this was made star Tang was a very popular star in Hong Kong. Co-star Brown was a former football player who earlier had a reoccurring role in the first season of TV's MASH. A few years later he had a role in Robert Altman's NASHVILLE. He'd work again with Adamson in 1976's BLACK HEAT.

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Forgotten Cosmo

COSMO JONES THE CRIME SMASHER-1943-In this low budget Monogram crime drama with comic overtones, amateur criminologist Cosmo Jones (Frank Graham, mainly a voice actor and announcer), a nerdy umbrella toting guy teams up with an African-American janitor (Mantan Moreland) to help vindicate a cop named Flanagan (Richard Cromwell) accused of killing a bystander. Flanagan's captain is played by Edgar Kennedy and his girlfriend is Gale Storm. Jones can impersonate many voices and there's a gang war and the kidnapping of a rich woman but the story isn't very good and Moreland is wasted (though he helps catch the thugs). 

Director James Tinling made CHARLIE CHAN IN SHANGHAI and MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE plus a whole bunch of forgotten low budget features and later went into TV. Despite having a very successful career star Frank Graham committed suicide in 1950.

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Mixed Up...

MIXED BLOOD-1984-This movie is a hoot! It's about Brazilian street gangs fighting over the drug trade on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Most of the gang members are underage kids. If it sounds similar to the Brazilian drama PIXOTE (made in 1981) the female lead in that film Marilia Pera plays Rita La Punta, the leader of one of the gangs ("They cannot go to jail. Too young").

The story involves violence,drugs,prostitution,shootouts, racism and police corruption. All the characters talk in exaggerated accents and the dialogue is very dramatic and over the top. With lines like "I'm the one who tells you how to piss". Cheesy salsa music plays in the background.

It was filmed on location in Alphabet City by Paul Morrissey (ANDY WARHOL'S DRACULA). There are some good scenes but most of the shootouts are inept and there are some awkward reaction shots.

Some reviews cite the realism of the whole thing but to me it seems to take place on another planet! Also with Geraldine Smith who had been in BAD and FLESH  by Morrissey, Linda Kerridge (SURF ll) and John Leguizamo in his film debut.

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Dragon

DRAGON EYES-2012-In the urban hell of a place called St. Jude, African-American and Hispanic gangs fight each other over drugs. Enter Hong (MMA fighter Cung Le also one of the producers), mysterious master martial artist haunted by his past. When he was in jail he was mentored by Tiano (Jean Claude Van Damme). After he starts trouble with the gangs he comes to the attention of MIster V. (Peter Weller, kind of stealing the show) the corrupt, cigar smoking dandy of a chief of police. Hong tries to clean up the neighborhood and give hope to its residents. He impresses Mr. V. and for a while works as his thug. But Hong has other plans. Including bringing down V. despite nearly being beaten to death (by another MMA fighter Dan Henderson).  Tiano appears in flashbacks relating his philosophy and in a flashback inside a flashback kills his own son.

The violent story is ok and Le isn't bad (but if he's to be judged by Van Damme's acting talents that's not saying much...) but the real drawbacks are John Hyams' pretentious direction, CGI enhanced fighting and a bring down ending. Van Damme's real son Kristopher Van Varenberg also appears as a corrupt police sergeant. A couple of other real fighters also appear. The director made two "Universal Soldier" entries both with Van Damme. Filmed in Louisana.

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Pre-Frank Boris

THE GUILTY GENERATION-1931-Architect John Smith (Robert Young) is really the son of mob leader Tony Ricca (pre-FRANKENSTEIN Boris Karloff!). Smith just wants a respectful life free of his father's underworld ties. Ricca's rival is mobster Mike Palmero (Leo Carrillo). His right hand man is his other son. After a lot of threats and gangland violence (mostly shown through newspaper headlines) Palmero goes to Florida to give a big party for his daughter Maria (Constance Cummings). Of course she and Smith accidentally meet and fall in love. Each gang then take turns killing each others family members. Palmero learns Smith's real identity just as he and Maria are ready to elope. Rowland V. Lee directed this very early sound (politically incorrect) film based on Romero & Juliet with neither gangster given much sympathy. It has a kind of surprise ending. Glenn Strange has a small un-billed role.

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Ultra Crap

ULTRA-COP 2000-1995-This crazy comedy/fantasy/action film from the Philippines is very hard to follow! A special police team tries to infiltrate a gang called the Black Dragons. Meanwhile 2 Martians (?) have a couple of sword fights. Two cops one male (Ricky Davao) one female (Yukari Oshima aka  Cynthia Luster) search for a drug dealer named Wong. In a very weird comical scene a suicidal gay guy comes on to one of the Martians. He later explains his story to the duo but the male cop says "Maybe he was just the same like you, a queer!". The Martians seem to be sucking the life force from helpless Earthlings. There's several gun battles and a car chase (with explosions) but the movie really descents into stupidity with jokes about the gay character they are trying to protect. The two Martians later fight it out in an airline hangar while the police shoot it out with the drug dealers.

Fortunately it all seems to be a dream. Some movies are based/inspired/ripped off from other movies ULTRA-COP 2000's only inspiration is stupidity. The direction, dubbing and fights are terrible. Director Phillip Ho may have once been married to lead actress Oshima.

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Wong!

PLASTIC CITY-2008-I'd watch anything with Anthony Wong in it but this Brazil/Hong Kong/Japan co-production was a disappointment.

Yuda (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) is a  Chinese mobster working as a smuggler in Sao Paulo. His adopted son Kirin (Jo Odagiri), who he found in the jungle runs their street operation. After years of building up their bloody empire Yuda grows weary of it when it starts to crumble. Nelson Yu Lik Wai 's direction is excellent but the story is confused and not that interesting. The best scene is a CGI laden dreamlike street fight.

Wong was in THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR the same year.

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