''Velvet Smooth'' is a 1976 American

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

film directed by Michael L. Fink and starring Johnnie Hill. The screenplay concerns a crime lord who hires a female private detective to find out who is stealing his business.Detecting Women: Gender and the Detective Film - Google Books (pg.347)
/ref> This was the only film role for Hill and co-star Emerson Boozer who had played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

(1966–1975). It is also notable for being one of the last blaxplotation films to have a central female detective.

Plot

Somebody's running a takeover on crime lord King Lathrop's (Owen Watson) operation using goons in undistinguished full-face masks. Clueless, King Lathrop calls private detective Velvet Smooth (Johnnie Hill) for help. With the help of her friends Ria (Elsie Roman), a lawyer, and Frankie (René Van Clief), she infiltrates the criminal underworld to investigate. Velvet finds this may be an inside job led by King Lathrop's man Calvin (James Durrah). When Velvet reports this to Lathrop, he denies it at first, but the problems come closer to Calvin. Hurt by it all, Lathrop fires Calvin. Although Lathrop thinks Calvin masterminded the takeover on his own, Velvet remains unconvinced and seeks further to find out who was the man behind the man.

Cast

* Johnnie Hill as "Velvet Smooth" * Owen Watson (credited as Owen Wat-son) as "King" Lathrop * Emerson Boozer as Mat * Rene Van Clief as Frankie * Elsie Roman as Ria * Moses Lyllia (credited as Moses Illiya) as Sergeant Barnes * Frank Ruiz as Lieutenant Ramos * James Durrah as Calvin Christopher * Thomas Agero as "Snake" * Wilfredo Roldan (credited as Wildredo Roldan) as Rodriquez * Michael Scorpio as Martinez * Allen Ayers Jr as Johnson * Hector Quinones as Player * Sydney Filson (credited as Sidney Filson) as Dealer * Sam Schwartz as Captain O'Reilly * Gary Catus as "Digger" * Tanka Ramos as Thug With Snake * Teddy Wilson as Masked Man #1 * Butch Oglesby as Masked Man #2 * Chino Diaz as Masked Man #3/Barnes' Gang * James Martin as Masked Man #4 / Barnes' Gang * Jack Levy as Dry Cleaning Store Owner * Russell Brown as Eddie "Newspaper Eddie"

Home media

The films was released on Blu-ray by Dark Force Entertainment on November 12, 2023. Former ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

'' cast members Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett released a RiffTrax audio commentary of the movie on February 28, 2020.RiffTrax
/ref>

References

External links

* *{{rotten-tomatoes, id=velvet_smooth, title=Velvet Smooth
Girls With Guns reviewGrindhouse Cinema Database review
1976 films Blaxploitation films 1976 crime films American detective films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language crime films

Plot

Cast

Home media

References

See also

External links