DARKTOWN STRUTTERS (1975)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Blaxploitation pictures were crude, humorous, abrupt and violent. "Darktown Strutters" may not be the best parody of such pictures but it does capture the zing, the crudeness and the abruptness so well that it gets a pass as one rollickingly good time at the movies.
Describing this movie may give away some genuine surprises but I'll do my best not to spoil anything. Trina Sparks (whom some may recognize as Thumper from "Diamonds are Forever") is Syreena, the leader of a black Queen motorcycle gang, and she is looking for her mother, Cinderella! Her kung-fu practicing brother has no idea where she is. The pimps don't know either, but maybe a certain Col. Sanders-lookalike chicken tycoon (Norman Bartold) might have some idea. This leads to an underground cave with prisoners, including the Dramatics band performing one of their own show-stopping tunes no less! Added to this farcical hodgepodge of blaxploitation pictures cliches, perhaps a dig at specifically Pam Grier's own films, are racist Keystone Cops that drive police cars with oversized flashing sirens; walls that come toppling down in houses and apartments; a blackface minstrel show in the tycoon's mansion that may leave some offended (oh, well, such scenes were commonplace at one time); drag queens; three kids who harass an ice-cream man by finishing each other's sentences; lots of giant-sized ribs; hilariously speeded-up and anarchic bike chases and car chases that are probably as exciting as the real thing; and a finale involving cloning and a contraption that makes babies that may just leave you in stitches.
"Darktown Strutters" (also known as "Get Down and Boogie") is not for all tastes but its histrionic level of cartoonish tomfoolery coupled with some digs at the genre and, undoubtedly, white L.A. cops left me in good spirits. Almost fifteen years later, we got the similar "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka," aimed at parodying the same genre. I'd say a double-bill would be fitting.
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