It seems clear from reading reviews here that a number of people went into "The Black Godfather" expecting the typical tropes of the Blaxploitation genre, and were disappointed to find that they are few and far between in the film. Aside from the title and mostly-black cast, the movie is a far better example of a crime drama, and a particularly well-made one at that. The acting is convincing and forceful, particularly from Rod Perry's J.J. and Don Chastain's rival mob boss Tony. The plot is coherent and skillfully juggles multiple character threads and conflicts. The picture quality on the version I watched was poor, but I didn't expect much better from an obscure film from the early 70's. Stay away if you're just looking for loud-mouthed stereotypes blasting each other to bloody corpses, the title has led you astray. But check it out if you want a crime movie with a lot of heart poured into it.

The Black Godfather (1974) * 1/2 (out of 4) The title to this Blaxploitation flick pretty much tells you all you need to know. Rising gangster J.J. (Rod Perry) wants to get his black brothers buying dope from their own kind and in order to do this he must battle the evil white gangster (Don Chastain) who keeps pushing into his neighborhood. THE BLACK GODFATHER is a pretty lame entry in the genre for a number of reasons but the biggest is that it's simply got a cash-in title and very little else. A lot of these Blaxploitation films were nothing more than cash-ins but every once in a while you'll come across one that's actually good. Sadly, this here isn't that type of film as this here is pretty boring from start to finish and there are only a couple campy scenes that keep it from being a real disaster. I think the biggest problem is the rather lackluster direction, which just never pumps any energy or excitement onto the screen. The film just seems to be going through the motions and there's nothing that happens that you won't see coming from a mile away. Even the lead character isn't all that interesting and not for a single second do you care about his cause, care about his friends or even care if he's killed or not. As with most of these films, all the blacks are hard-working people just trying to make some cash for themselves while all the whites are evil racists. This simple set up can be fun when it's done correctly but here it just seems tired and old. I actually thought Perry was good in the lead role but it's really too bad that the screenplay didn't give him something better to do. I also liked Chastain as the bad guy. The highlight of the film is when a group of blacks break in on a couple and the white woman is needing a fix and offers herself for one. This entire sequence is pretty hilarious and it's too bad we didn't get more moments like this.

On the one hand, it's pretty good to focus on a man whose aim is to keep drugs out of his community, but this is silly. The fight scenes aren't as neat as those seen in "Shaft" or "Superfly". An interesting factoid is that Tony Burton, who plays Sonny, has also starred in two of the most famous movies: he played Apollo Creed's trainer in "Rocky" and the garage owner in "The Shining" (on whose set he played chess with Stanley Kubrick).So, there's nothing special about "The Black Godfather". Like any blaxploitation flick, it's purpose is to show African-Americans being cool. This one succeeds at least partly.

Wise old numbers king Nate Williams (affably portrayed by legendary blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon) reigns supreme over a gritty ghetto urban jungle. Nate makes shrewd pimp J.J. (well played with fiery aplomb by Rod Perry) his righthand man. J.J. in turn declares war on evil white heroin drug lord Tony Burton (a smoothly hateful Don Chastain). J.J. enlists the aid of passionate black militant leader Diablo (essayed with fierce gusto by Damu King) to rid the neighborhood of smack. Writer/director John Evans delivers plenty of snappy, profane dialogue, a decent smidgen of gratuitous nudity, and occasional outbursts of exciting action (a wild karate fight between two women rates as the definite stirring highlight). Nice supporting performances by Diane Sommerfield as J.J.'s sweet girlfriend Yvonne, Duncan McLeod as corrupt, on the take cop Lt. Joe Sterling, Tony Burton as Nate's loyal, volatile body guard Sonny Spyder Brown, John Alderman as wormy, stuttering dope pusher Cockroach, and Anny Green as Tony's sassy blonde moll Honey. Jack Steely's rough, grainy cinematography, the well-drawn main characters, and the soulful groovin' score by Phil Moore and Martin Yarbrough further enhance the funky fun of this enjoyable blaxploitation item.