Black Samson
D: Chuck Bail (1974); with Rockne Tarkington, William Smith, Carol Speed, Connie Strickland. He’s big, bad, speaks softly, and carries a big stick. No, this isn’t the Teddy Roosevelt Story. It’s Black Samson, one of the lesser-known blaxploitation flicks of the Seventies. Samson (Tarkington) is a dashiki-clad owner of a topless night club who keeps his ‘hood drug-free with the help of an African fighting staff and a pet lion named Ubu. Unfortunately for him, brutish mafioso John Nappa (played all-too-convincingly by musclebound B-great William Smith) sees this turf as a new frontier for his crime operations. Samson’s no pushover, so when he’s not throwing funky parties at his club, he’s busting heads and saving his girlfriend from the torturous clutches of his nemesis’ henchmen. Meanwhile, Nappa manages to be a brilliantly psychotic screen villain, beating up his own men and his girlfriend, and eventually taking his frustrations out on our hero in a climactic brawl. Directed by Chuck Bail (Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold) and backed by a choice soundtrack from Allen Toussaint, the film rolls along fairly smoothly. Most notable is the engaging rivalry between the two big men, Tarkington and Smith. Of course, much of the flick is laughable, but it’s surprisingly cohesive, which is more than can be said for many of its contemporaries.This article appears in October 8 • 1999.