And then when you get closer, obviously its them. Some violence, including one of the characters getting struck and killed by a car. Youngblood Priest, an African-American drug dealer who specializes in selling cocaine, enjoys a luxurious lifestyle in Harlem. Youngblood Priest: Man, you white around the nose as a Georgia mule. (Click here to read about the 2018 remake .) .st0{fill:#FFFFFF;} Outcry against the film prompted several groups in Los Angeles, notably the Coalition Against Blaxploitation (CAB) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), to assert that a separate ratings and review board for black films should be set up and overseen by CORE, according to the Jan 1973 LAT article. Now we're through talkin'. Fat Freddie is pulled over by corrupt cops Franklin and Mason. Essential drama about violent chapter in U.S. history. Outside, Priest is held by two patrolmen, although he smiles to himself as Georgia makes good her escape. It features 13 new and previously released songs, as well as guest appearances from Miguel, Lil Wayne, Khalid, Ty Dolla Sign, Young Thug, PartyNextDoor, H.E.R., Gunna, Sleepy Brown, and Yung Bans, among others. [6], At the time of its release, there were many African-Americans that were displeased with the images of themselves portrayed in films such as Super Fly, Sweet Sweetbacks Baadassssss Song, and Shaft. Nate Adams coordinated the fashion and wardrobe for the film. But getting out isn't as easy as Priest hopes when it's revealed that the actual supplier from the police is higher up the chain of command, and this supplier wants Priest dead if he quits. The film is best known for its soundtrack, written and produced by soul musician Curtis Mayfield. And he was there a week ahead of time doing the work and getting the choreography down. The more Priest tries to wriggle out of the life, the more it wraps its tentacles around him. Super Fly is a 1972 American blaxploitation neo-noir crime drama film directed by Gordon Parks Jr. and starring Ron O'Neal as Youngblood Priest, an African American cocaine dealer who is trying to quit the underworld drug business. Priest has anticipated Eddies duplicity, however, and gives the briefcase carrying the money to a disguised Georgia in exchange for one full of rags. He still owns many of the suits, shoes and fedora hats. Youngblood Priest: Don't argue with me, man, I'm trying to give you a chance. When Eddie states that they have $300,000, Priest reveals his plan to buy thirty kilos of high-quality cocaine, which they can sell for $1,000,000 within four months. In the DVD release, Warner Bros. decided to fade out the track midway right as "The End" is shown, and again brings up the AOL/Warner logo. The hero of Superfly certainly has the right to be a stud, but the difference between the two movies is that the new version, directed by the Canadian-born hip-hop video veteran Julian Christian Lutz (who bills himself as Director X, a moniker that seems caught between black nationalism and Whats My Line?), has no resonance, no real atmosphere, and almost no social context. Gordon's War (1973) Carl Lee was born on 22 November 1926 in New York City, New York, USA. After the announcement, Warner Bros. issued an apology for its erroneous submission of the song for consideration. As Priest, Ron ONeal had a charisma and enigmatic elegance that stood out in the Harlem back rooms and alleys where he did his business. Priest explains that as a child, he thought he wanted all the trappings of success and wealth, including a lover like her, but now wants a simpler life and will be ending their relationship. The site compared the situation to Proud Mary, a film released in January 2018 that Sony reported cost $14 million to make but other sources listed at as high as $30 million. A remake of the 1972 blaxploitation classic trades in its drug-dealer-as-outlaw-capitalist mythology for a glossy, slammed-together genre flick. In the movie, that underworld comes to the surface of society mainly in the form of media representations (such as television-news accounts)which are themselves part of the story, and part of the sleek glow with which Director X endows his film. Harlem Costume Designer Deirdra Elizabeth Govan on Season Twos Evolving Looks. Yet this conflict is actually secondary to the main story: Priest arrives at an estimate of the vast fortune that he needs to accumulate in order to quit the drug racket; he wants to do so in just a few months, by getting and selling a large stock of cocaine. As the lead character Youngblood Priest, the late Ron O'Neal brought a fresh take on the "man of few words" cinema archetype. On June 26, 2018, The Warner Archive Collection released "Super Fly" on Blu-ray and has received mostly praise for its video & audio restoration. Theres a learning process. Cynthia: [after refusing a snort of coke because Priest is going to leave rather than stay for sex] Some things go better with coke. Can you dig it? Mason threatens to expose Priest's dealing if he does not work with her. Parks, Jr. added that he and other black directors wanted to become a Fellini or a Bergman. The gaudy fashions might be as obsolete as the old crumbling '70s New York City that serves as the background to the scenes, but the substance of the movie has ensured that Super Fly remains something more than a relic. Writing Credits Alex Tse . He has two live-in girlfriends, the quietly sophisticated Georgia (Lex Scott Davis) and the younger, flintier Cynthia (Andrea Londo). The National Catholic Office gave the film a C, or condemned, rating, stating: This kind of black liberation serves only to deceive the brothers and play upon the fears of black audiences. Many African-American groups and critics targeted the film, asserting that it glorified drug usage, violence, obtaining wealth through crime and sexual stereotypes about black men. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Scatter wont give him a bigger cut of drugs to sell, so Priest, accompanied by his scampish partner, Eddie (played by the scene-stealing Jason Mitchell, whos like Tracy Morgans amoral little brother), goes right over his head by driving down to Mexico and connecting with the cartel thats the source of their product. Both enraged and scared, Priest conducts a meeting with two white men, then confronts Eddie. Hugh Hart has covered movies, television and design for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wired and Fast Company. All Rights Reserved. Later on in the story hes dressed in a bejeweled jacket and splashy watch where hes like Ive now got the dough and Im going to put it on my back. Filming & Production An additional way to control how far light scatters though the surface, only this time with separate values for the red, green and blue channels. That night, after picking up the kilo from Scatter, Priest and Eddie are apprehended by several policemen. Priest is then picked up by the lieutenant and taken to the waterfront, where he is confronted by Reardon. The first name of actress and former model Sheila Frazier, who made her debut in Super Fly, is spelled Sheila in the opening cast credits and Shiela in the ending credits. Trevor Jackson Re-invents the Sleek Priest, The original Priest, played by Ron ONeal, famously sported leisure suits and floor-length overcoats, but Trevor Jacksons version of the drug dealer favors a less flamboyant style drawn from AllSaints, Burberry and German designer Phillip Plein. Scatter surprises Priest at Freddie's funeral, ordering him to meet with his supplier Adalberto, after finding out Priest cut a secret deal for more product. Superfly - Necessary Violence: Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales) kills Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams) after he realizes that he's been stealing from him. Although Joseph Sistrom is listed as producer in various contemporary sources, the SAB at >>. Producer Sig Shore directed a second sequel, The Return of Superfly, released in 1990, with Nathan Purdee as Priest. .st1{display:none;fill:#FFFFFF;} Priest spends the rest of the film dancing among a trio of forces who are out to put the screws on him: the cartel, led by the always lively actor Esai Morales; the thugs of Snow Patrol; and a pair of corrupt white officers, played by Brian F. Durkin and Jennifer Morrison, who shake him down for a million dollars. During a verbal altercation with militant African Americans in his community, the lead character talks of getting involved in their cause if it involves "killing whitey" and "organizing an army to do that.". I wanted Georgia to have a maturity about her. In commenting on the success of Super Fly at the box office, a Jan 1973 DV article reported that investors Allen and Jenkins had sold their 22 percent interest in the film profitably, and that the principals involved in the production were getting handsome payoffs. According to a 12 Mar 1973 NYT article, the picture had grossed $20 million in seven months, and modern sources added that despite the films controversial nature, it went on to gross more than $30 million by 2007. "Superfly", a song on The O.C. He lives with his two girlfriends, Georgia and Cynthia. The brightly littered Manhattan streets, the cozy squalor of the bars and drug dens, even the cruddiness of the apartments: All fuse into a bombed-out yet strangely liberated mood that lets you know why the hero would choose the life of a cocaine kingpin, because its the only way he has to leave behind the racist prison of a jive job with chump change, day after day. The atmosphere told the story, and so did Curtis Mayfields music (Im a pusher man), and so did Ron ONeals suavely furious performance. It is a useful complement to Pandas, and like Pandas, is a very feature-rich library which can produce a large variety of plots, charts, maps, and other visualisations. This film, directed by Director X from a script by Alex Tse, is a remake of the 1972 picture directed by Gordon Parks Jr. (whose father had made Shaft a year before). In the middle of the film, a sequence of still photographs, taken by director Gordon Parks, Jr., illustrates how the thirty kilos of cocaine purchased by Youngblood Priest and Eddie is prepared, distributed and used. Once Priest decides to pursue his "last score," he seeks help from his mentor in crime, Scatter, played by an avuncular but cautiously sinister Michael Kenneth Williams. But the new movie puts Priest, Georgia, and Cynthia together in a threesome set in a shower, a trivially smarmy titillation that stands in contrast to a sex scene involving Georgia and Priest in Super Fly, where Parks creates something thats both erotic and non-pornographic. Although the timid Freddie abhors violence, he agrees and accompanies another member of Priest's "family" of lower-level dealers to commit the robbery. It holds your attention yet leaves you with nothing. Priest plays good guy by handing the victims friends a wad of cash and giving them the name of the best local trauma center. Both enraged and scared, Priest gives the information on Reardon and an envelope of cash to two mafia men and takes out a $100,000 contract on "the Man's" life. Militant: Dig it, dope peddler. Priest confides in his second-in-command Eddie that he wants out of drug-dealing, and has a plan. | But one of those minions, Juju (Kaalan KR Walker), seethes with resentmenthe wants to do away with Priest and take over his business, and, without Qs permission, takes a shot at Priest outside the club, but instead hits a bystander. The picture marked the first feature film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. (19341979), the son of Gordon Parks, Sr., who directed the 1971 picture Shaft (see above), one of the first major blaxploitation films. [3] Principal photography started in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2018. in every room, and can snort a half a piece of dope everyday? According to modern sources, K. C., who played a pimp in the film, was a pimp in real life and owned the car driven by Priest. Hes got a beautiful house and a beautiful car, commands respect, and presides over an uneasy peace with Snow Patrol, a competing drug gang that wears all white. He needs one big score to do it. Priest diffuses the Youngblood Priest, an African-American drug dealer who specializes in selling cocaine, enjoys a luxurious lifestyle in Harlem. AFI champions progress in visual storytelling to empower storytellers, inspire story lovers and further the limitless power of the moving image. The film's soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield was well enough received that he was sought for other soundtracks. In this regard, Superfly mirrors the original, in which Priest also had two girlfriends by those names. At one point I do give him a jacket that has color in it, to show his confidence. After the men leave, Priest finds his partner, Eddie, and asks him how much cash they currently have. Some contemporary and modern sources list the films title as Superfly, although the opening title card and copyright records list it as two words. He has a now-iconic charisma, "cool" in the classic sense of the word. Priests white mistress, Cynthia, also sells to her friends, although she is dismayed to learn that Priest does not return her love and is planning on quitting the business. On a couple levels, you know Scatter is Priests mentor in the drug game and also his teacher in martial arts and jujitsu. "[12] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Priest thanks Eddie for his help and prepares to leave the country with Georgia. But its also less true than it once was. When a scene takes place in the budget furniture store he uses as a legit front, its news to us, because the setting drops in out of nowhere. The Man so trenchantly invoked by Mayfield was incarnated in the earlier film by a white police superintendent who wants Priest as his puppet. Priest has anticipated Eddie's duplicity, however, and gives the briefcase carrying the money to a disguised Georgia in exchange for one full of rags. Superfly - Necessary Violence: Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales) kills Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams) after he realizes that he's been stealing from him. Manthiahas Diawara suggested that the film's glorification of drug dealers served to subtly critique the civil rights movement's failure to provide better economic opportunities for black America and that the portrayal of a black community controlled by drug dealers serves to highlight that the initiatives of the civil rights movement were far from fully accomplished. The earlier film takes place mainly in daylight, on the streets of New York, which its director, Gordon Parks, Jr., approaches with a vitally textured, documentary-like range and avidity. Although a Sep 1971 HR article listed Shores company Plaza Productions as the films intended production company, Superfly, Ltd. is listed onscreen and by copyright materials. Super Fly is a 1972 American blaxploitation crime drama film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. and starring Ron O'Neal as Youngblood Priest, an African American cocaine dealer who is trying to quit the underworld drug business. The wide shots are really stunt people. Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, Trailers from Hell Presents: The Movies That Made Me: Alex Tse, hair stylist: second unit (as Steven A. Battaglia), key hair stylist (as Talya R. Melvey) / key hair stylist, production supervisor: second unit / second unit, second second assistant director: second unit, assistant property master / property master: 2nd unit, assistant property master: 2nd unit (as Suzu Tran) / props buyer (as Suzu Tran), second boom operator / sound mixer: splinter unit, re-recording mixer / supervising sound editor, visual effects executive producer: Southbay, assistant visual effects editor: Outpost VFX / roto/prep artist: Outpost VFX, visual effects executive producer: VFX Legion, compositing lead: Southbay (as Aaron Gerard Chiesa), visual effects executive producer: Crafty Apes, visual effects production manager: Southbay, 3d artist: Crafty Apes (as Patrick Sullivan), visual effects production manager: VFX Legion, visual effects artist: Southbay (uncredited), visual effects editor: Outpost VFX (uncredited), digital compositor: VFX Legion (uncredited), executive vfx supervisor: southbay CCO (uncredited), stunt double: Brian F. Durkin (uncredited) / stunt driver (uncredited), precision driver/precision car coordinator (uncredited), covering stunt coordinator (uncredited) / stunts (uncredited), stunt performer/stunt driving double: Trevor Jackson (uncredited), stunt double: Lex Scott Davis (uncredited), stunt driver: camera bike rider (uncredited), stunt double: Jason Mitchell/Jacob Latimore (uncredited), stunt driver (uncredited) / stunt driving double: Trevor Jackson (uncredited), stunt double: Dominique Madison (uncredited), first assistant camera "a" camera: second unit, camera operator: "a" camera (as Kirk Gardner) / steadicam operator (as Kirk Gardner), assistant chief lighting technician / best boy electric, first assistant camera: "b" camera, second unit, additional set lighting technician (as Mark Sunderland), assistant colorist: Company 3 (uncredited), key assistant location manager: second unit, production assistant / promotional services, key set production assistant: second unit, stand in: Jared Losano / stand in: Kevin Young / stand in: Kurt Yue, production coordinator: title sequence design, production assistant / set production assistant: 2nd unit. Scatter Stephens was murdered gangland style on September 10, 1967, gunned down in front of flabbergasted patrons inside his iconic Scatter's Barbeque joint in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood on E. 125th Street, after running afoul of the local Italian mafia. Orson Welles's onscreen credit >>, The working titles of this film were The Difference and The Persuader. Priest lives with two women, Georgia (Lex Scott Davis), a black woman, who also plays a significant role in his operation, as the head of an art gallery thats one of his fronts, and Cynthia (Andrea Londo), whos Hispanic, and who doesnt play a major role in his business. Super Fly (1972 film) Quotes Charles McGregor as Fat Freddie (Charles McGregor) "Listen, give me one of them joints . We won't share this comment without your permission. She upends the stereotype by digging into the role with relish. All rights reserved. With Mason's gun at Freddie's head, Freddie's girlfriend reveals his criminal history and Priest's identity. Nothing, nothing better happen to one hair on my gorgeous head. Another controversy surrounding Mayfields score for Super Fly arose from the role of arranger Johnny Pate, who receives onscreen credit as music conducted by. As reported by a Sep 1972 LAT article, Pate, with whom Mayfield had worked several times before the films soundtrack, claimed that Mayfield had merely dictated ideas, while it was Pate who did the actual arranging, scoring, voicing, or orchestrating. Mayfield disputed Pates statements that he was unacknowledged, noting that Pate did receive adequate credit for his contributions on the Super Fly soundtrack liner notes. "Scatter" Stephens Was A Cleveland Street Legend & The Real Superfly 2 years ago Scott Burnstein You are unauthorized to view this page. Priest, whose real power is information (hes got it on everyone), is surrounded by player-predators who are less cunning but more crudely violent than he is. The man behind one of the more inventive Marvel franchises has a mercurial and fascinating track record. The article noted that Mayfield was not qualified for a nomination for Best Dramatic Score because five songs needed to be submitted, and Warners only submitted three. Although the article stated that Mayfields manager was contemplating filing suit against the Academy, the action was not taken. Deputy Commissioner: You're working for me until I tell you to quit. Its very much an Atlanta look. Now man I ain't puttin you down. I took a $100,000 contract out on your life, your wife, EVERYBODY. If Priests stratagems in the original seem like the moves of a chess master, his new ones resemble the work of a grandmaster of simultaneous blindfold-chess, for whom, through information technology, distant nodes of power are instantaneously connected (the last image of the film is even a kinga white kingbeing tipped over on a chess board). [5] The film made $1.2 million on its first day,[9] $938,583 on its second and $1.8 million on its third. He lacks Parkss canny compositional wit, his sense of the dramatic power of practical attention to time and space. Priest's white mistress, Cynthia, is dismayed to learn that Priest does not return her love and is planning on quitting the business. Just think about it, don't throw it out, just, just think about it. Meanwhile, Priest and Georgia are walking in a park, and Priest confesses that he has made a deal that will enable them to escape their current life. Georgia pleads with Priest to quit immediately, as she does not care if they are poor, but Priest maintains he must get the money, because his criminal record will make it difficult for him to find a job. He confides to a lieutenant, Eddie (Jason Mitchell), that he wants out. The film was shot by director of photography James Signorelli, who would go on to become the film segment director for Saturday Night Live. Eddie: You're gunna give all this up? There's brief female nudity (breasts and buttocks) and one extended sex scene in a bath tub; characters moan with pleasure as the camera moves in slow motion up and down their bodies. His position was opposed by numerous physicians and medical groups, who also spoke out against the film, according to Filmfacts. (screenplay by) Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification Produced by Music by Curtis Mayfield Cinematography by James Signorelli . With such a big score, they can retire comfortably. Formerly a Chicago musician, he now lives in Los Angeles with his dog-rescuing wife Marla and their Afghan Hound. The look for the Snow Patrol was scripted, says Messam, describing the rival gang that prides itself on dressing in all-white. Gritty, mature cop story with violence and nudity. Chasing Priest, Juju is injured and Q is killed in a car crash. Youngblood Priest: I'm talking to you, you redneck f*ggot. Charles McGregor, who plays Fat Freddie, was released from prison before the film's production. That mythology helped to fuel the rise of hip-hop, and now, of course, it is everywhere. Ya know, you've got this fantasy in your head about gettin outta the life and setting that other world on its ear. Additionally, according to the Jan 1973 DV report, Curtis Mayfield, the composer of the films score and hit songs, was estimated to be receiving about $5,000,000 from performance and royalties from the more than 2,000,000 albums and singles sold to that point. If you are a California resident, California law may consider certain disclosures of data a sale of your personal information (such as cookies that help Motion Picture Association later serve you ads, like we discuss in our. But the remake nonetheless gains an outsized resonance, one that reaches far beyond their blandly glossy audiovisual identity, by way of its echo of current political crises and scandals. O'Neal reprised his role as Youngblood Priest in the 1973 film Super Fly T.N.T., which he also directed. While controversial among civil rights groups for its portrayal of African Americans as negative and antiheroes, this film has stood the test of time as a classic of the "blaxploitation" genre. The Atlanta locale of Superfly seems like the perfect high-low setting, but though Director X exploits a number of colorful locations (a hair salon that turns into a drive-by slaughter, a mansion that looks as big as Versailles), the film has very little visual texture or sense of place. . After "The End" is displayed, the film fades to black, but Mayfield's "Superfly" continues to play for a few minutes until the track ends. Adalberto threatens Priest, telling him that he can never get out of the game. Release Dates The rival gang is Snow Patrol, always decked out in pure white: white fur, white guns, white jeans, white Lamborghinis and white Range Rovers . He yearns to go straight, despite the fortune he makes. See our. thecredits-expanded-wt. Having settled his business obligations, and with his enemies either dead or in custody, Priest and Georgia relax on a cruise in Montenegro. You'll all be hit if I die. Reardon threatens Priest that he must continue selling drugs as long as he is ordered to, but when Priest refuses, the policemen begin to beat him. The lieutenant reveals that he is Scatter's supplier and that they can have as much "weight," as they want, and will be extended both credit and protection. Super Fly (1972 film) Quotes. Curtis Mayfield as Curtis Mayfield, Julius Harris as Scatter, and Al Kiggins as Policeman. The hot-tempered Eddie threatens Scatter, demanding that he reveal his source if he will not supply them, but Scatter disarms Eddie and holds him at gunpoint. But his supplier and mentor, Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams), refuses to increase Priests supply, so Priest takes matters into his own hands and attempts to deal directly with Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales), the head of a Mexican drug carteland, in so doing, he enters a labyrinth of menace. In general, I wanted to use module torch_geometric - this I have installed. We're out here building a new nation for black people. The new group charged that Super Fly was super-genocide and that it was the latest Hollywood game being run on black people. A 28 Jan 1973 LAT article, which called the group BANG (Blacks Against Narcotics and Genocide), reported that it had picketed the movie and ONeal, when he made personal appearances in Washington, D.C. to support the movie, but its efforts had little apparent impact. According to a 17 Sep 1972 NYT article, the project was initially brought to Shore by first-time screenplay writer Philip Fenty after Fenty and actor Ron ONeal, a longtime friend, had worked together to develop the story. I'm just trying to make it real, baby like it is. That character was a stand-in for white oppression, someone Priest finally contrives to walk away from, clean. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. The original red and black Warner logo is replaced by the updated AOL/Warner logo used at the time of DVD release. Parks, Jr. would make only three more films before his death in 1979 in an airplane crash. .st2{display:none;fill:none;stroke:#979797;stroke-linecap:square;} After Super Flys release, Filmfacts reported that the picture turned out to be the most commercially successful black film to dateas well as the most controversial. Reviews of the picture were mixed, with some critics praising its authenticity and others decrying it as exploitive and poorly made. . Pulling into his driveway, he confides to the audience, in voice-over, that he believes no car ever outran fate.. The remake, by Director X, is set in Atlanta, and the night life and its artificial light (as well as an emphasis on indoor locations rather than street life), suggests that Priest and the other drug dealers in his realm occupy a hermetic underworld.
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