The Monkey Hu$tle

One has to remember, that with the introduction of Shaft and Superfly, Hollywood churned out one blaxploitation film after the other, whether the script and acting succeeded or not. During the 70's, at the height of the blaxploitation film era, the genre was completely plot-driven rather than character-driven. Ask yourself how many times a neighborhood could be saved from some type of demolition? How many times could someone come up with just the right lottery numbers? Take this film for what it is, something lighthearted that introduced actor/director Thomas Carter, II, Debbi Morgan of All My Children, Charmed, The Hurricane, Rosalind Cash of The Omega Man, General Hospital, and Tales from the Hood, Randy Brooks of Another World and Generations. And, of course, Rudy Ray Moore. These actors had to eat, support families, and it was training ground for some later great work.

I think that Monkey Hustle is a very misunderstood film, mostly because of a misleading ad campaign that tried (and still tries, via the VHS and DVD packaging) to sell it as a plot-driven scam flick, a black version of The Sting. That's not what this is. Daddy Fox, the con man character is only a character in an ensemble. This film is much more like Car Wash--a group of disparate characters in a common place interacting. Except in this case the common place is a neighborhood instead of a place of business. Although "Monkey Hustle" is a term coined by Daddy Fox in an early scene,it doesn't only refer to con games--it also refers to the way all the characters are hustling for love, for success, or for respect. The direction is loose and the performances are almost universally winning. Yaphett Kotto is amusingly verbose as Fox and Rudy Ray Moore is hilariously--and purposefully-- over the top as numbers runner Goldie.

Now, I'm not saying that this was a great film, but it is a lot better than its rep, and certainly not the total artistic failure it is often represented as. One thing that holds the film back is that it does seem to be lacking a few necessary scenes near the end that would explain how Goldie and the Fox stopped the Freeway expansion. There are scenes that obviously lead up to that missing climax (with lots of knowing winks and secret smiles), and scenes after it is announced that the freeway project has been canceled (characters giving each other the "high sign")--but nothing about how the heroes made it happen!

However, plot is not a big part of this kind of movie. No, the most important element "Car Wash" had that "Monkey Hustle" lacked was a really great soundtrack of classic tunes to tie things together. "Monkey Hustle" is noticeably music-lite for its genre. There is one decent tune--the title track--and it gets played a lot. But lots of scenes cry out for music, and the ones that get it have to make due with endless variations of this same theme. I predict that if AIP had sprung for a funky soundtrack like the producers of Car Wash did, and the filmmakers had come up with even five or seven more minutes of action to explain the ending, "Monkey Hustle" would be seen as a minor classic of the 70's black film era. It never would have been a "Cooley High," but it could have at least been a little brother to "Car Wash" (and it is a HELL of a lot better than "Thank God It's Friday").

This film has an untraditional style and format. The closest I could compare it to is CAR WASH, as both are not about a particular person but about a group of people living in a ghetto neighborhood. However, unlike CAR WASH, this isn't a comedy though there are a few mildly funny moments. Plus, while CAR WASH is not for everyone's taste, I liked the film and found many of the characters likable.

This non-traditional narrative might bother many, as the film does seem rather disjoint. Plus, given that most of the people aren't all that likable (and several are very unlikable), the film isn't one I'd recommend you watch. It's really a shame because this style COULD have worked very well....with likable and more interesting people. The folks in this film are mostly hustlers--out of work young adults who will lie, cheat and steal to make a few bucks. Their idol is Yaphet Kotto--in an odd role as a master film-flam man.

The bottom line is that this just isn't a very good film--with an inferior script, lousy characters and a lackluster musical score. There are many, many Black-American films from the 70s that are so much better and more interesting than this dull mess.

Rudy Ray Moore was splashed all over the poster art for this movie, so I was expecting another embarrassingly unintentionally hilarious film along the lines of DOLOMITE or DISCO GODFATHER, but this was actually a pretty good movie outside of Rudy, in his few scenes as a supporting character, try to act alongside legitimate actors like Yaphet Kotto. THE MONKEY HU$TLE reminded me of an urban AMERICAN GRAFFITI that was aspiring to be COOLIE HIGH. It's not quite that good, but it does a good job of making this neighborhood feel like a real place populated by a bunch of characters you'd like to spend time with. There's the neighborhood con man, the local cop, the mischievous group of teens, another group of younger kids, and the local player "Goldie," played badly in the most unintentionally hilarious manner by Rudy Ray Moore. Yaphet steals the movie anytime he's on-screen as the neighborhood con man. There's not a really strong narrative throughline. The closest thing to a plot is there's a new highway planned to go through their Chicago neighborhood, so various community members band together to stop it, culminating in a neighborhood block party. However, for the most part, we're simply following around a bunch of different characters doing their thing in a series of vignettes, kind of like DAZED AND CONFUSED, but nowhere as well as that film. Directed by Arthur Marks, who also directed BUCKTOWN, DETROIT 9000, and FRIDAY FOSTER, it's a competently crafted film and was always entertaining, even if the story meandered and lacked a strong narrative.

Story takes place in Chicago involving a hustler (Yaphet Kotto), who recruits four teenagers to perform rip-offs for him in exchange for pocket money. The other central point is a soul food restaurant owned and operated by Kotto's lady friend, played by Rosalind Cash, and Rudy Ray Moore as an underworld type who owes Kotto some big undisclosed favor. Good cast also includes Randy Brooks, Frank Rice, Fuddle Bagley, Donn Carl Harper, future producer/director Thomas Carter (pre-White Shadow), Kirk Calloway, Steven Williams, a small uncredited role by Robert Townsend and a young Debbi Morgan. Townsend and Williams also appeared in Cooley High.