Mandingo (film)
| Mandingo | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis |
| Screenplay by | Norman Wexler |
| Based on | Mandingo by Kyle Onstott |
| Starring | James Mason Susan George Perry King Lillian Hayman Richard Ward Brenda Sykes Ken Norton |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre Hi Tide Harris Muddy Waters |
| Cinematography | Richard H. Kline |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mandingo is a 1975 film, based on the novel Mandingo by Kyle Onstott and upon the play based thereon by Jack Kirkland.[1] The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and featured James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, Lillian Hayman, boxer-turned-actor Ken Norton, and bodybuilder and pro wrestler-turned-actor Earl Maynard.
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Synopsis [edit]
On Falconhurst, a run-down plantation owned by the widower Warren Maxwell (James Mason) and his son Hammond (Perry King), a Mandingo slave Ganymede, or Mede (Ken Norton), is trained to fight other slaves. Hammond neglects his wife Blanche (Susan George), whom he rejects on their wedding night after discovering she was not a virgin. Hammond instead rapes his slave Ellen (Brenda Sykes), while Blanche forces Mede to lay with her. These various, conflicting infidelities all eventually come together causing the film to end tragically.
Reception [edit]
Upon its release in 1975, critical response was mixed although box office was strong.[2] Roger Ebert despised the film and gave it a "zero star" rating.[3] Richard Schickel of TIME found the film boring and cliché-ridden.[4] Movie critic Robin Wood was enthusiastic about the film, calling it “the greatest film about race ever made in Hollywood”.[5] In Leonard Maltin's annual publication Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide the film is ranked as a "BOMB" and dismissed with the word "Stinko!"
Some prominent critics hail the film, including the New York Times columnist Dave Kehr, who called it "a thinly veiled Holocaust film that spares none of its protagonists," further describing it as "Fleischer’s last great crime film, in which the role of the faceless killer is played by an entire social system."[6]
Director Quentin Tarantino has cited Mandingo as one of only two instances "in the last twenty years [that] a major studio made a full-on, gigantic, big-budget exploitation movie", comparing it to Showgirls.[7]
DVD release [edit]
Paramount Pictures licensed the film to Legend Films for its first official DVD release. The DVD was released on June 3, 2008, in 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen version without any extras.[citation needed]
References [edit]
- ^ Mandingo movie poster, trailer, and opening credits.
- ^ "Mandingo Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
- ^ "Mandingo :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
- ^ Schickel, Richard."Cinema: Cold, Cold Ground", TIME, May 12, 1975.
- ^ Wood, Robin (1998). Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and Beyond. Columbia University Press. p. 256. ISBN 0-231-07605-3.
- ^ Kehr, Dave (February 17, 2008). "In a Corrupt World Where the Violent Bear It Away". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-10.
- ^ Udovitch, Mim (1998). "Mim Udovitch/1996". In Peary, Gerald. Quentin Tarantino: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 172–173. ISBN 1-57806-051-6.
