Willie Dynamite (1974)

Willie Dynamite (Roscoe Orman – yes, Gordon from Sesame Street!) is a flamboyant but down-on-his-luck New York pimp. His pimpmobile – a tricked-out metallic purple and gold 1971 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado with chrome pipes on the side and a leopard skin interior (customised for the film at a cost of $10,000 by Winfield Car Special Projects) – is constantly getting towed, his seven girls are all getting busted, he’s been arrested on suspicion of armed robbery – *and* he’s being audited.

But Willie D is determined to be the number one pimp in the city. Meanwhile, ex-hooker social worker Cora (Diana Sands) – “consider me a consumer protection agency” – is trying to bring him down and change his ways for the better.

Aiding Cora in her endeavours is her boyfriend, Robert Daniels (Thalmus Rasulala), who happens to be the assistant District Attorney.

Meanwhile, the top man,  Bell (Roger Robinson), is determined to remain number one, which clashes violently with Wilie’s determination to make it to the top.

Closing in from other corners are policemen Pointer (Albert Hall) and Celli (George Murdock) with a steady barrage of harassment.

Rather than a linear story, Willie Dynamite is really a loosely connected collection of vignettes. There’s no nudity and little violence, but it’s a fast-paced, camp and very entertaining Blaxploitation romp.

The outfits are also a treat and definitely some of the most ridiculous ever seen in the genre.

This was Diana Sands’s final film before she succumbed to Leiomyosarcoma, aged just 39.

Willie Dynamite
Roscoe Orman
Cora Williams
Diana Sands
Robert Daniels
Thalmus Rasulala
Pashen
Joyce Walker
Bell
Roger Robinson
Celli
George Murdock
Pointer
Albert Hall
Honey
Norma Donaldson
Sola
Juanita Brown
Willie’s Mother
Royce Wallace
Gorgia
Judith Brown
Connie
Marilyn Coleman
Scatback
Mary Charlotte Wilcox
Pearl
Marcia McBroom
Willie’s Lawyer
Jack Bernardi

Director
Gilbert Moses