UK Blaxploitation Films & TV...???

[Miss Guided]

Hello you overly informed people..
can you assist me.

Is there or was there a UK Blaxploitation genre, say in the 70's?

I guess I would put sit-coms such as Love They Neighbour, The Fosters etc as a similar response to the interest in the Black British expereinece and audience??

Were there any collaborations and links with the Black US film & TV industry at the time of Blaxploitation?

Were there any references to it in African cinema???

Your thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

Yve

[DB7]

Naked Evil, a voodoo thriller about West Indian immigrants is a possible candidate.

[Third Man]

Blaxploitation doesn’t really throw up allot of UK examples to me, I think this one counts as one maybe? How about Amicus' 'The Beast Must Die' with Calvin Lockhart as the black werewolf hunter it's allot of fun as well.


Simon

[Third Man]

There's also the segment in Dr Terror's House of Horrors about voodoo as well.

Simon

[Amethyst_Isle]

Black Joy (1977 ) Starring Norman Beaton.

I remember the film soundtrack available on Ronco records and Tapes. OH!! they were the days eh!!

[GRAEME]

Mixed Blessings was another TV sitcom example from that era.

I guess we never had a large enough Black population to support Blaxploitation as it was in the states. You could nowadays look at the TV Films aimed at the new younmg Asian community.

[shaun brown]

BLACK SILK was a decent drama series about a black barrister. more 80 s though.

Empire rd was ok. Good theme

[Hugo]

The July 2005 issue of Sight & Sound contained a separate supplement 'Black World' a survey of black fim-makers in the UK and round the world. Copies are still available from the BFI.
In the days when the BFI had money to spend on film production they supported the work of a number of black film-makers e.g. Isaac Julian Looking for Langston (1989), Menelik Shabazz, Burning an Illusion (1981), Horace Ove Pressure (1975), but I am not sure if these would come under category of blaxploitation.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Hugo The July 2005 issue of Sight & Sound contained a separate supplement 'Black World' a survey of black fim-makers in the UK and round the world. Copies are still available from the BFI. In the days when the BFI had money to spend on film production they supported the work of a number of black film-makers e.g. Isaac Julian Looking for Langston (1989), Menelik Shabazz, Burning an Illusion (1981), Horace Ove Pressure (1975), but I am not sure if these would come under category of blaxploitation.

I don't think any British films really come under the category of Blaxploitation, it's an American thing and relies on the different black experience in the States.

As for black or asian people involved in British films & TV, check out Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience In British Film And Television by Stephen Bourne who also wrote the very good Brief Encounters: Lesbians and Gays in British Cinema, 1930-71

Steve

[duffy moon]

´The Beast Must Die´ most certainly nudges its´ snout towards blaxploitation by making use of one of the genres leading faces to bring the film down up the side his head on the scene, as it were, and so appeal to the diverse segments of the 70´s film going market, and pump the sinking Amicus dingy a little more closer to the bank shores of fortuity in doing so.
Or did the title really allude to the financial and creative wranglings behind the scenes of the Messrs Milton - Lobotsky production co?

[JamesM]

I have finally come up with a British exponent of the genre, Robert Hertford-Davis's Black Gunn produced by Norman Priggen (who produced for Joseph Losey) starring Jim Brown and Brenda Sykes with music composed by Tony Osborne.

[batman]

Originally Posted by JamesM I have finally come up with a British exponent of the genre, Robert Hertford-Davis's Black Gunn produced by Norman Priggen (who produced for Joseph Losey) starring Jim Brown and Brenda Sykes with music composed by Tony Osborne.

I just looked it up ..... what a great cast! Has anyone seen it? This is a good link ...

BLACK GUNN

[dylan]

Originally Posted by duffy moon ´The Beast Must Die´ most certainly nudges its´ snout towards blaxploitation by making use of one of the genres leading faces to bring the film down up the side his head on the scene, as it were, and so appeal to the diverse segments of the 70´s film going market, and pump the sinking Amicus dingy a little more closer to the bank shores of fortuity in doing so. Or did the title really allude to the financial and creative wranglings behind the scenes of the Messrs Milton - Lobotsky production co?

The film makes no reference to the fact that the hero is black although I assume Amicus were aiming for a black US audience. Incidently, it was based on James Blish's classic story There Shall Be No Darkness.

There Shall Be No Darkness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

D.

[Lord Brett]

Originally Posted by dylan The film makes no reference to the fact that the hero is black although I assume Amicus were aiming for a black US audience. Incidently, it was based on James Blish's classic story There Shall Be No Darkness. There Shall Be No Darkness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia D.

I should be interested to find out how much it actually took from Blish's story, as it always struck me as being simply a werewolf version of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. Specifically, it seems to reference George Pollock's 1965 film version, with the gimmick at the end where you have an opportunity to work out for yuorself whodunnit.

[Third Man]

Originally Posted by dylan The film makes no reference to the fact that the hero is black although I assume Amicus were aiming for a black US audience. Incidently, it was based on James Blish's classic story There Shall Be No Darkness. There Shall Be No Darkness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia D.

Does anyone know what book this short story is part of?

Simon