Super Fly

Gordon Parks Jr.'s "Superfly" is interesting enough with its cliches of drug pushers, users, pimps, hos, and the dismal life that is the ghetto. Good performances are given by Ron O'Neal as Priest, the drug pusher who wants to do the unthinkable -- get out of the business, and Julius Harris as Scatter, Priest's former connection to "The Man". After a little "help" from his friends Priest discovers he can only trust his woman, Georgia (Shelia Frazier). But, Priest has masterminded a way to take him and Georgia away from this life to another.

Throughout the film, Curtis Mayfield's superb soundtrack has a way of elevating what might be just another b film to a cult classic. From "Little Child Runnin' Wild" in the opening sequence to Curtis Mayfield's live performance of "Pusherman" in Scatter's club to the end credits with the title track, this is simply one of the finest pieces of music ever written specifically for a film. The soundtrack album, which produced hit singles with "Freddie's Dead" and "Superfly", stands with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" as perhaps the two greatest soul albums of the 1970's.

Life is rough. Drug dealer Priest (Ron O'Neal) decides to get out of the game after one final big score. He's looking to do a million dollar deal with his partner Eddie.

What a car! What a song! This is a relatively simple blaxploitation movie. Ron O'Neal is a functional lead. The production is what's expected. Most of all, the title is cool, the song is cool, and that's half the battle.

One of the grittiest of the so-called blaxploitation films of the 1970s, Gordon Parks Jr's Superfly can really catch audiences off guard and sober them up. Ron O'Neal's brooding performance as retiring drug dealer Youngblood Priest is excellent, as is the consistently evident tension between the races (expertly captured by Parks). I recently had the opportunity to see Superfly at a film festival, and Curtis Mayfield's on-screen appearance in a nightclub received a warm round of applause from the packed theater. Mayfield really did deliver one of the greatest soundtracks in film history for Superfly. "Pusherman," "Freddie's Dead," the title song and many others are just incredible.

Youngblood Priest (Ron O'Neal) is a cocaine dealer who begins to realize that his life will soon end with either prison or his death. He decides to build an escape from the life by making his biggest deal yet, converting the coke to cash and running off to start a new life.

You have to love the musical score from Curtis Mayfield; "Super Fly" is one of the few films ever to have been outgrossed by its soundtrack. And there are lots of interesting facts about this film: The film was shot by director of photography, James Signorelli, who would go on to become the film director at Saturday Night Live. The director's father, Gordon Parks, was the director of "Shaft", another blaxploitation classic, and financed this movie with the help of two dentists.

Does the film glorify drug use (particularly cocaine use)? I suppose that depends on your interpretation. Many say it does, the creators say it was intended to show the negative aspects of drug culture. I can see it both ways. I mean, gee, your hero is a drug pusher. But his life is hard... and yet, this hard life is presented as glamorous. Who knows?

'Superfly' is the best movie of the short-lived 1970s blaxploitation boom which gave the world the better known, but less substantial 'Shaft'. The 'Shaft' series are incredibly entertaining movies, no argument there, but most of the films from this period starring Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson, Jim Kelly,et al are essentially action movies which feature "a black Dirty Harry", "a black Bruce Lee", "a black Philip Marlowe" or even "a black James Bond". In other words they are genre action thrillers with black protagonists. 'Superfly' is very different from most of those movies because Ron O'Neal plays Priest, who isn't a private eye or a "righteous dude" but a DRUG DEALER. And while Priest is tired of "the life" and wants to retire the movie doesn't feature any knee-jerk anti-drug stance or moralizing. This meant that many in the black community at the time detested it and what they perceived as being the glamorization of drugs and drug dealing. All these years later, in an era that is in many ways even more conservative (or at least more hypocritical!), this is what gives the movie a genuine edge, especially when what is on the screen is given a musical debate by Curtis Mayfield's superb score, one of the greatest of all time. O'Neal is charismatic and super cool and displays some genuine acting talent. Which makes it such a shame that his career quickly went down the toilet with little more than small supporting roles in 80s garbage like 'Red Dawn' and 'Hero and the Terror'. O'Neal is supported by an excellent cast of mainly obscure actors such as the late Carl Lee and Charles MacGregor ('Blazing Saddles') as Fat Freddy. The best known face is veteran Julius Harris ('Live And Let Die') who has a pivotal role as Priest's former mentor Scatter. Director Gordon Parks Jr. went on to make 'Three The Hard Way' starring Fred Williamson and Jims Brown and Kelly, but never fulfilled the his potential before being cut down in a plane crash in the late 70s. What a pity. At least he left us with 'Superfly', which is not just a great blaxploitation movie, but a great movie period. Highly recommended to all fans of gritty 70s crime movies.