Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - B 2 Mins Read

    Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes (1974)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes is ostensibly about Pasha (Paul Harris), a crime lord who runs a numbers racket. Yet like many other crime-themed stories that are executed without narrative discipline, the picture wanders away from its principal subject matter, introducing such outré elements as a transvestite mob enforcer called Serene (Don Edmondson, pictured below) who enjoys slitting his/her victims’ throats.

    An Italian mobster named “Big Tony” (Frank DeKova) also deals heroin in the same location which doesn’t bother Pasha because their interests don’t conflict. But Big Tony gets greedy and decides to take over Pasha’s operation.

    A turf war ensues, with Big Tony using his influence with the local politicians to stake his claim while Pasha is forced to utilise his connections within the black community.

    Leading man Paul Harris has a solid physical presence but very little charisma, and it says a lot about the picture’s quality that the actor with the best billing is DeKova, whose biggest claim to fame was co-starring in the ’60s sitcom F Troop.

    Among the least impressive examples of the blaxploitation genre, this cheaply made and confusing crime thriller is allegedly set in 1956, but cultural anachronisms appear regularly, ranging from such props as a banana bicycle, Afros and an LA Dodgers cap (the Dodgers played in Brooklyn until 1958) to various iterations of ’70s slang.

    There are worse blaxploitation films than Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, but not many.

    Released in some markets as Jive Turkey. 

    Big Tony
    Frank DeKova
    Pasha
    Paul Harris
    Mama Lottie
    Frances E. Williams
    Sweetman
    Reginald Farmer
    Serene
    Don Edmondson (as Tawny Tan)
    Jimmie Rush
    Larry Greene
    DuDirty
    Ernie Lee Banks
    Romaine
    Karmello Brooks
    Sam Kingston
    Henry G. Sanders
    Pearl
    Pat Edwards
    Little Billy Jones
    Terry Ransom
    Nathan Jones
    Curtis Price
    Reverend Axle
    Onezene ‘Ben’ Geyen
    Willie Olen
    Don Thompson
    Raphael
    James T. Jackson
    Billy Jones
    Ernest Williams
    Mattie Green
    Bunny Gee
    Chief Dearlove
    Larry French
    Mr McDonald
    Les Mathews
    Conchita
    Teri Hayden
    Mr Conwell
    Harold C. Jones
    Conwell’s Daughter
    Risa Portor
    Joan
    Joan Turner

    Director
    Bill Brame

    Related Posts

    • Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, The (1971)
      Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, The (1971)
      Academy Award winner Robert De Niro stars as the Italian bicycle racer who falls in love with a mafioso's younger…
    • Skateboard (1978)
      Skateboard (1978)
      For enthusiasts only, Skateboard was an exploitation quickie that cashed in on the current skateboard craze and told the story of…
    • Assault (1970)
      Assault (1970)
      Suzy Kendall and Lesley Anne-Down star in a brutal British crime thriller about a vicious rapist-murderer on the prowl near…
    • Border, The (1982)
      Border, The (1982)
      Jack Nicholson brings much richness to his stiff characterisation of Charlie Smith - a border patrol officer in El Paso…
    • Dirty Harry (1971)
      Dirty Harry (1971)
      "I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in…
    • Hard Ride, The (1971)
      Hard Ride, The (1971)
      While fighting in Vietnam, Phil (Robert Fuller) promises his dying Marine buddy, Lenny (Alfonso Williams) that he'll collect his custom…
    • Johnny Firecloud (1975)
      Johnny Firecloud (1975)
      Borrowing elements from Billy Jack (1971) and Death Wish (1974), this Native American-themed revenge flick is equal parts goofy and…
    • Live and Let Die (1973)
      Live and Let Die (1973)
      Three British Secret Service agents are killed within the space of a few hours – one in New York, one…

    Blaxploitation
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleLos Straitjackets
    Next Article Bank Shot (1974)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • In Like Flint (1967)
      In his second outing as the debonair super-agent, James Coburn […]
    • Dynamints
      “They look so little but they refresh so big” Made […]
    • Villains
      1 9 7 2 (UK) 13 x 60 minute episodes This crime drama series […]
    • Batman Forever (1995)
      Unlike the Tim Burton pictures, the Batman concept is treated […]
    • Two Up Two Down
      1 9 7 9 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes Stan (Norman Tipton) and […]
    • Georgie Fame
      Clive Powell was born in 1943 in the small Lancashire town of […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.