Dolemite

"Dolemite is my name and fucking up mutha fuckers is my game!"

Classic 1975 blaxploitation film starring Rudy Ray Moore as a pimp out to take care of his bitches.

Legend has it that the story of Dolemite originated in the form of a toast. A toast is a type of story telling traditionally found in African cultures, and generally it’s never very believable and the wilder and crazier the better. Apparently Rudy Ray Moore worked in a record store in LA while he was trying to launch a performance career, and a bum would always come in asking for soup money. Moore would have him recite the Dolemite toast, and the audience that invariably formed loved every minute of it. Moore would then take this story, embellish it, and began using it as material for his rudimentary comedy acts. The story of Dolemite cannot be told without foul language, so Rudy Ray Moore became one of the first X-rated comics due to this career move.

Moore recorded the Dolemite toast along with some of his other rhyme, and in 1970 the album Eat Out More Often was released. This was quickly bought up by the public, although the record stores were hesitant to sell it due to its explicit nature. This income, along with the sale of a large number of other albums he has released over the years, funded the logical next step in any tale of a black pimp and kung fu fighting women: a motion picture. Moore stars as Dolemite in this epic, along with D'Urville Martin as Willie Green, Jerry Jones as Blakeley and Lady Reed as Queen Bee.

"When I see a ghost, I cut the mutha fucka!"

Plot Summary (Spoilers!!!)
No movie of this nature can be told in normal English grammar, so I will revert to ghetto-speak for the plot summary.

LA: 1970s
The women are loose and the men are pimpin’.

Dolemite, a legend in the world of pimping, busted on some bunk charge, has been framed and is chillin’ his sweet ass in hoosegow. Eventually the mayor comes to bust his ass out of that joint ‘cause lo and behold, Willie Green is all up on Dolemite's club! The mayor says Willie Green is a bad mutha fucka, and that he’ll let Dolemite go if he fades his ass. Dolemite wants his club back, so he finds his hoes and it turns out his sidekick Queen Bee has been training them in kung fu! Oh snap!

(insert various rhymes / fighting / memorable quotes / hot women / ridiculous clothes here)

Dolemite plans to get back at Willie Green by putting on a show in the club that Willie stole, with himself as the star. Naturally a fight breaks out, and while Dolemite’s kung fu ladies take out all of Willie Green’s goons, Dolemite makes short work of Willie. Taking a gunshot, he goes to the hospital where he deals with some more shit before the Mayor finally gets capped.

Why you should care

One of the reasons I think Dolemite is a classic tale is because of its removal from reality. Once you get to the point Dolemite is at, suddenly you require nothing of the classical forms of filmmaking, such as continuity, choreography, etc. One scene in particular comes to mind, where for an extended period the boom microphone bobs in and out of the frame. This is on tape. Not cut out. An instant classic in its regards to filmmaking. The majority of the money invested in Dolemite most likely went to the fashion involved. Pimps must wear nice clothing, or ridiculous clothing, or . . . I guess it depends on your personal point of view. Randomness seems to be a pervasive element in the movie. At one point he shows up and just sort of bangs this chick, then leaves. Whatever, I guess.

All in all, this is a classic bad movie, and by bad I mean totally sweet. The fight scenes are some of the funniest ever made, and the dialogue can leave you gasping for air.

"That rat soup eatin', insecure, honky mutha fucka!"

Dolemite is just the first of several films, which include:

• The Return of the Dolemite (2002) (V)
• Shaolin Dolemite (1999) (V)
• The Legend of Dolemite (1994)
• The Human Tornado (1976) commonly called Dolemite 2
• Dolemite (1975)