jewels and put the make on spicy movie star Maria Manina (Haji). When Seymour is hired to schlep hors d’oeuvres at Maria’s toga party/orgy, he gets stoned and manages to scare Marco into a fatal coronary. In order to save the life of Maria’s father, the 98 pound weakling will have to im- personate the dead don and somehow live up to the legend of his voracious sexual prowess. The main attention getter here is the plentiful nudity (Haji even takes a topless motorcycle ride down Hollywood Boulevard!) but producer/director Art Lieberman keeps things moving along and the measly 70m running time ensures that the end credits are rolling before the sub-vaudevil- lian hijinks become too painful. Giant John Bloom (DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN) appears briefly as Maria’s squeaky-voiced bodyguard.
The 35mm source material (which bears the 1978 reissue title THE MELON AFFAIR) is very good for the most part, but the standard presentation’s color correction is uneven and con- trasts tend to be weak, with light blacks. The sound is crisp and a half hour of sexploitation related extras follow the picture, includ- ing the original 1970 BANG! BANG! THE MAFIA GANG trailer. Our review copy featured three instances where the picture briefly froze and broke up.
HAMMER
1972, MGM Home Entertainment, DD-2.0/ST/CC/+, $14.95, 90m 48s, DVD-1 By John Charles
Al Adamson earned his sole
major studio credit as producer of this United Artists release, an early vehicle for Fred William- son that carries the star’s nick- name from his pro football glory days. After being reduced to
Boxer Fred Williamson clobbers mobsters trying to fix the outcomes of fights in HAMMER.
warehouse grunt work, former Golden Gloves champ B.J. Ham- mer (Williamson) gets another shot at the title, thanks to local “Robin Hood” Big Sid (Charles Lampkin). However, as rumpled cop Davis (Bernie Hamilton) warns him, the gangster’s ex- fighters have a habit of experi- encing fatal “accidents” (like being run over repeatedly in a dead end alley) at the hands of Sid’s associate (William Smith). Tired of turning a blind eye to the obvious corruption surround- ing him and ordered to take a dive in the big fight, Hammer turns the tables. This outline was old hat back in the 1930s, but screenwriter Charles Johnson (SLAUGHTER’S BIG RIP-OFF, THE MONKEY HUSTLE) caters to
the target audience’s sympathies by revealing the Mafia as the true power behind Sid’s empire and making Smith’s character a rac- ist who takes sadistic pleasure in roughing up the black cast mem- bers. Williamson displays his usual charisma in an underwrit- ten role, and fast pacing and competent direction from Bruce Clark (GALAXY OF TERROR) keep the clichéd situations more enjoyable than they should be. Another major plus is a terrific supporting cast, including Vonetta McGee, D’Urville Mar- tin, Mel Stewart, Stack Pierce, Marilyn Joi (billed as Tracy King), Al Richardson and John Quade. The vast majority of MGM’s “Soul Cinema” titles are 16:9, but HAMMER is available only in a
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