Richard Lawson Movies
Black supporting actor, onscreen from the '70s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1975
When Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) is seriously injured in a fight with a mobster, his partner Mike Stone (Karl Malden) is boiling mad. He gets madder still when it seems that the police investigation of the fight has been put on the back burner. Accordingly, Stone takes it upon himself to bring Keller's assailant to justice--and bends so many rules in the process that he loses his detective's badge and ends up pounding a beat! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- PG
In this blaxploitation horror movie, a young woman enlists the aide of a voodoo priest to help her get revenge upon the gangsters who killed her lover. With a few incantations and magical spells, the priest raises an army of zombies. Later the film was cut and shown on TV as The Zombies of Sugar Hill. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marki Bey, Robert Quarry, (more)
- 1973
After a "hit" on mob boss Mike Tomasso (Art Metrano) fails, Kojak (Telly Savalas) begins receiving anonymous tips that Tomasso's chief rival Serafin (Anthony Charnota) ordered the killing. But as the case progresses, Kojak can't help suspecting that those tips are leading him down the proverbial garden path. Roger Robinson makes his first series appearance as versatile undercover cop Gil Weaver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this horror sequel from the director of Count Yorga, Vampire, a member of an American voodoo cult revives the fanged Prince Manuwalde (William Marshall), only to become his slave. Manuwalde then puts the bite on various victims, but finds himself fixating on pretty Lisa (Pam Grier), a voodoo princess whom he believes can finally put his soul to rest. Lynne Moody, Nicholas Worth, and Bernie Hamilton are among the familiar cast, but the various occult trappings seem somewhat out of place in the modern Los Angeles setting and the production values are pretty shabby. Blaxploitation and camp fans should still find it mildly amusing, however, and Shakespearean actor Marshall is a lot of fun as the obsessive vampire. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Marshall, Pam Grier, (more)
Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman) is a Manhattan pimp whose life and career are documented in this blaxploitation flick. Willie makes it to the top of his precarious profession, only to hit rock bottom again in record time. In her last movie role, Diana Sands plays an ex-hooker who becomes a social worker. She tries to get Willie to clean up his act before it's too late. Willie Dynamite was produced by Richard Zanuck and David Brown, who shortly afterward collaborated on a more upbeat project, The Sting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" Dirty Harry provoked a critical uproar in 1971 for its "fascist" message about the power of one, as it also elevated Clint Eastwood to superstar status through his most enduring screen persona. Harry Callahan (Eastwood, in a role meant for Frank Sinatra) is a sardonic, hard-working San Francisco cop who can't finish his lunch without having to foil a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world." When hippie-esque psycho Scorpio (Andy Robinson) goes on a killing spree, Harry and new partner Chico (Reni Santoni) are assigned to hunt him down, but not before the Mayor (John Vernon) and Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) admonish Callahan about his heavy-handed tactics. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again. Directed in violent and efficient fashion by Don Siegel, with a propulsive score by Lalo Schifrin, Dirty Harry was the fourth Siegel-Eastwood collaboration after Coogan's Bluff (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), and The Beguiled (1970). Critics at the time strongly objected to the heroic image of a cop's violations of a suspect's Miranda rights, forcing Siegel and Eastwood to deny that they were right-wing reactionaries. All the same, Dirty Harry proved to be highly popular and spawned four sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, (more)
