''Trick Baby'' is a 1972

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 Larry Yust and starring

Kiel Martin Kiel Urban Mueller (July 26, 1944 – December 28, 1990), known professionally as Kiel Martin, was an American actor best known for his role as Detective John "J. D." LaRue on the 1980s television police drama '' Hill Street Blues.'' Early years ...

and

Mel Stewart Milton "Mel" Stewart (September 19, 1929 – February 24, 2002) was an American character actor, television director and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is perhaps best known for play ...

. This crime-drama is based and named after a novel by

Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 28, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was an American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's 1967 memoir, ''Pimp: The Story of My Life'' sold very well, ...

written in 1967. The film was produced by Marshal Backlar and James Levitt. The film first premiered at the DeMille Theater, Seventh Avenue and 47th Street theatre, Juliet 2 Theater, and Third Avenue and 83 Street theatre in New York. This film is distributed by Universal Studios.

Plot

"Blue" Howard (

) and "White Folks" (

) are two con men in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Blue is an older black hustler who raised "White Folks” and taught him "the con". White Folks is the son of a black mother who is a prostitute and a white father. White Folks has a complexion light enough for him to pass as a white man which gives him an advantage in the con. The duo exploit the dynamics between whites and blacks to achieve their cons. Blue usually plays a vulnerable black man being exploited by White Folks which allows Folks to gain the credibility needed to pull off the con.

Cast

as "White Folks" *

as "Blue" Howard *

Vernee Watson-Johnson Vernee Christell Johnson (née Watson; born September 28, 1949) is an American actress, author, and acting coach. Watson-Johnson is known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979), as Viola "Vy" Smi ...

as Cleo Howard * Beverly Ballard as Susan * Clebert Ford as Josephus * David Thomas as Frascatti * Jim King as "Duke" *

Ted Lange Theodore William Lange III (; born January 5, 1948) is an American actor, director and screenwriter best known for his roles as bartender Isaac Washington in the TV series ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986) and Junior in ''That's My Mama'' (1974–7 ...

as Melvin, The Pimp * Jan Leighton as Carlson * Dallas Edwards Hayes as Dot Murray * Tony Mazzadra as Nino Parelli * Don Symington as Morrison *

Don Fellows Don Fellows (December 2, 1922 – October 21, 2007) was an American actor known for his roles in British theater and television. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Fellows served in the United States Merchant Marine ...

as Phillips * Tom Anderson as Felix "The Fixer" *

Charles Weldon Charles Weldon (June 1, 1940 – December 7, 2018) was an American actor, director, educator, singer, and songwriter. He was the artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company for thirteen years. He was the co-founder of the Alumni of this ...

as Tough

Background and production

Trick Baby is adapted from a book by Iceberg Slim. Slim, born Robert Lee Maupin, was a pimp in his early life before becoming a popular author for African American audiences. His novels reflect his personal experiences and provides an insider look into the world of black pimps. Trick Baby, his second novel published by Holloway House in 1967, was not a direct look into the life of pimps but was still heavily influenced by pimping (remember a trick baby is the product of pimping). Slim became one of the best-selling authors of his time selling over six million books. This is the first one of Slim's novels to be turned into a film. The script was adapted from the book by A. Neuberg, T. Raewyn, and Larry Yust. The film was also directed by Yust. The movie was produced with a $600,000 budget and was produced independently. Universal Pictures bought the film for 1,000,000 dollars and the movie grossed $11,000,000 at the US box office. The cast was not well known before the movie's release. An adaptation of ''Pimp'', his first novel, has been in the works for some time, since the early 1990s, but have never come to fruition. Another one of his novels, ''Mama Black Widow'', is in development with the screenplay being adapted by Marshall Tyler who is also set to direct the piece.

Reception

Critic Rossi Jackson of the ''New Pittsburgh Courier'' calls this adaption a "bastardized version of Iceberg Slim's novel…they have watered down, misadapted and ultimately messed up Iceberg Slim's original work".Rossi, JacksonNew Pittsburgh Courier (1966-1981)
City Edition ittsburgh, Pa03 Mar 1973: 17 While Jackson claims that the film is well acted, he believes that the film lacks the ferociousness and passion with which Slim writes about the "places and the pains of the black ghetto experience". The black ghetto life is largely absent from the movie and many of the exciting characters, such as Cleo, are lost. Jackson praises the performance of Dallas Edward Hayes (the corrupt cop) and Mel Stewart (Blue Howard), but states that Kiel Martin's performance falls short. Left to our own imaginations in the book, Folks' black identity is not questioned. However, in the movie, Martin plays the white man well, but lacks the soul needed to play a black man. Jackson states "since the credibility of the whole film rests on the actor's performance in the title role, this film falls flat on its face. Even if the leading actor were really black, one would still question his ability as an actor to credibly project black masculinity on the screen". In a 1973 review in the New York Times, Roger Greenspun wrote "''Trick Baby'' seems most interesting in its understanding of race relations…relations between Folks and Blue are absolutely normal, not very competitive, resilient, and rich in a kind of mutual professional appreciation."

References

External links