''Black Eye'' is a 1974 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

blaxploitation film 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, a ...

produced by Pat Rooney, directed by Jack Arnold and starring

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former American football player, a defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a ...

. The film was based on the 1971 novel ''Murder on the Wild Side'' by Jeff Jacks.

Plot

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

, Stone, is enlisted to investigate multiple murders that are connected to a cane that was stolen from a deceased

silent movie ''Silent Movie'' is a 1976 American satirical silent comedy film co-written, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox in summer 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and S ...

star. Stone is drawn into intrigues involving a young woman who has run away from home to join a religious cult, and ultimately uncovers a heroin ring.

Cast

as Shepherd "Shep" Stone *

Rosemary Forsyth Rosemary Forsyth (born July 6, 1943) is a Canadian-born American actress. She made her big screen debut in the 1965 Western film ''Shenandoah (film), Shenandoah'', for which she received Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award nomination for Go ...

as Miss Francis *

Teresa Graves Terresa Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the ABC crime-drama television series '' Get Chri ...

as Cynthia *

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. One of his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in ...

as Dole *

Richard X. Slattery Richard Xavier Slattery (June 26, 1925 – January 27, 1997) was an American character actor in film, theater and television. Slattery appeared in films such as ''A Distant Trumpet'', ''The Boston Strangler'', '' Walking Tall'', ''The No Mercy M ...

as Bowen *

Larry Mann Larry Mann (born Lawrence Harold Zuckerman; April 3, 1924 – September 14, 1952) was an American stock car driver born in Yonkers, New York. Mann was the first driver to be killed in a NASCAR Grand National race; he died from a pulmonary he ...

as Avery * Brett Morrison as Majors * Susan Arnold as Amy *

Frank Ashmore Frank Ashmore is an American actor. Career He is perhaps best known for his role as "Martin" in the 1983 NBC miniseries ''V (1983 miniseries), V'' and its 1984 sequel ''V (The Final Battle), V: The Final Battle''. He reprised his role in the pil ...

as Chess *

Theodore Wilson Theodore Rosevelt Wilson (December 10, 1943 – July 21, 1991) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Earl the Postman on the ABC sitcom ''That's My Mama'', and Sweet Daddy Williams on t ...

as Lindy *

Belinda Balaski Belinda Balaski (born December 8, 1947) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Terri Fisher in Joe Dante's '' The Howling'' (1981), and has appeared in most of Dante's other films, including ''Piranha'', ''Gremlins'', '' Gremlins ...

as Mary *

Nick Ramus Nickolas George Ramus, also known and credited as Nick Ramus, (September 9, 1929 – May 30, 2007) was a Blackfoot Native American actor, best known for his appearances on television. Early life Ramus was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew u ...

Production

''Black Eye'', originally entitled simply ''Stone'' (the protagonist’s name), was conceived as “a

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

-style detective story," and is set in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, California. Director Jack Arnold shot the entire movie on location, none which was filmed in a studio. Arnold’s “speed and efficiency” in executing the picture earned him high praise from producer Pat Rooney, who thanked Arnold publicly in a promotional advertisement in

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

Release

''Black Eye'' was released in April 1974, and targeted exclusively toward black audiences in order to capitalize on the recent slew of “black exploitation films” such as ''

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

'' (1971) and '' Super Fly'' (1972).

Reception and appraisal

In a contemporary review for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', critic Kevin Thomas called the film a "modest, entertaining private detective caper" and wrote: "If 'Black Eye' ... lacks both originality and individuality it is nonetheless serviceable, mainly credible and not unduly violent." Thomas also praised Williamson, who "continues to impress in one of his best opportunities to date." Biographer and film critic Dana M. Reemes registered this assessment of ''Black Eye'': Reemes adds: “The irony is that ''Black Eye'' would have probably made more money for Warner Bros. if it had not been targeted solely at a black audience.”Reemes, 1988 p. 160: “...Black Eye has little in common with the run of

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, ...

pictures.”

References

Sources

*Reemes, Dana M. 1988. ''Directed by Jack Arnold.''

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tert ...

Jefferson, North Carolina Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,622. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat fo ...

1988.

External links

*
Black Eye . ''Monthly Film Bulletin''. FLAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database. Retrieved 2019-04-13
* https://nostalgiacentral.com/movies/movies-by-decade/movies-1970s/black-eye-1974/ {{Jack Arnold 1974 films Warner Bros. films 1970s crime action films American crime action films African-American films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language crime action films