Thursday. March 16, 1989 - THE CHARUITTE POST - Page 9A
Turning Blaxploitation Upside Down
BYHnjJELITALIE
Associated Pres# Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — In 1980. 50
stand-up comics tried their luck
on "Audition Night" at New
York's Improv. Two were Robert
Townsend and Keenan Ivory
Wayans. They quickly became
friends and ended up co-wrltlng
"Hollywood Shuffle," a film
largefy financed by Townsend's
credit cards that turned into one
of last season's surprise movie
hits.
Now Wayans Is showcasing his
own talents by writing, directing
and starring in "I'm Goima to Git
You Sucka." a takeoff on the
"blaxploitation" films of the
1970s.
"A few years ago, me and some
friends were sitting around and
talking about the movies we
1 used to go see," Wayans said In a
■ recent Interview. "The conversa-
■ tlon went from, 'remember this
! movie' to 'remember this scene.'
; We started laughing and that
• was when 'Airplane' was coming
; out and that was kind of a blue-
; print for me."
Starting with the death of
! Junebug Spade from an overdose
■ of gold chains ("He was ready to
■ die!" the preacher boomed), "I'm
; Gonna to Git You Sucka" takes
' on such movies as "Superfly"
i and "Shaft" and turns them up-
; side down.
Wayans, who also co-wrote and
: co-produced the Eddie Murphy
; concert film, "Raw," plays Jack
Spade, who helps capture those
responsible for his brother
Junebug's death. Assisting
Spade are an aging band of tough
guys played by ex-football stars
Jim Brown and Bemle Casey
and musician Isaac Hayes, who
wrote the theme to "Sh^t."
"That was the coolest thing,"
Wayans said. To be able to work
with those guys and then to
watch them get up there and be
totally uninhibited. That's be
cause they got It. They didn't
take themselves seriously. They
were having a good time. In ret
rospect, they could see where the
humor was."
Fans of "National Lampoon's
Animal House" will recognize
John Vernon, the dreaded Dean
Wermer of Faber College. Ver
non Is the villain again In "I'm
Going to Git You Sucka." He
plays Mr. Big, the man behind
the proliferation of gold chains.
"My first choice was Shelly
Winters," Wayans said.
"Initially, it was still going to be
'Mr.' Big but you wouldn't have
ever seen her face."
Wayans' project took a long
time to get to the screen. When
the film was conceived in the
early 1980s, he was a relatively
unknown stand-up comic and
actor. It was a time when Holly
wood studios were not Interested
In financing an all black film.
They were, however, willing to
reconsider If Wynans would
agree to make a few "minor"
changes.
"I went to Vestron and they
kept coming up with the most bi
zarre ways to integrate the cast
they could think of. How about
if I get Anthony Michael Hall
(The Breakfast Club,' 'Sixteen
Candles') to be my younger
brother — a kid that was left on
the doorstep of my house and act
black for the entire film?' "'And
how about If we make one of the
guys like Charles Bronson.'
They wanted so desperately to
Integrate it they didn't care If
they undermined the picture."
But the success of "Hollywood
Shuffle" and Spike Lee's "She's
Gotta Have It" made the studios
more receptive to Wayans' pro
ject and he ended up getting
United Artists to distribute the
film.
"It was a lot easier to go In and
sit down and really talk. Before
we did 'Hollywood Shuffle,' If it
was an all black act, no one
wanted to touch it."
Wayans grew up In the Wash
ington Heights section of Man
hattan, one of 10 children. He
was trying to make people laugh
as far back as he could remem
ber and had plenty of time to
display his talents at the family
dinner table.
"There was always an audience
and we were cdways competing,"
he said. "Dinner time was sitting
at a long table with my parents
at each end. The objective was
making the person across from
you spit food."
His early heros were Richard
Pryor and the late Freddie
Prlnze, who also grew up In
Washington Heights. But while
those comedians had traumatic
and tragic lives (Prlnze commit
ted suicide just as he became a
star), Wayans has no Interest In
l)elng a "tortured artist,"
"It wasn't a psychological thing
where I had a horrible family
life and I wanted the audience to
love me," he said. 'There are
those who just find humor in al
most anything, who have
warped senses of humor, which
I'm a victim of. I just find every
thing funny and I like being fun
ny."
Although Mr. Big mutters omi
nously at the end of the movie
that "there will be no sequel,"
Wayans Is anxious to continue
making films and also to help
other blacks break into the busi
ness.
"The recognized pool of talent
Is so small that the opportunity
is tremendous," said Wayans,
who found roles for Antonio
Fargas, Steve James and his
brother Damon among others.
"There's a building pool of talent
right now."
But Wayans couldn't help ad
ding, "1 used them all In the mo
vie."
’’Tap”: A Drawing Card To The Dance
BY MARION LaNET
Special To The Poet
The answer to whether tap
dancing Is growing In populari
ty can be found, at least partial
ly, In the message of the movie
"Tap."
Starring Gregory Hines, Sam
my Davis Jr. and Suzanne Doug
las, this film with its simple but
dramatic story line dazzles
viewers with Its fancy footwork.
'Tap" centers on Max Washing
ton (Hines). The film opens with
Max's release from prison. The
son of a famous tap dancer, he
had lost his direction.
Upon returning to his New
York City home. Max is faced
with choosing between continu
ing along the wrong path with
Nicky (Joe Morton) or reconcil
ing with a lost love (Douglass). It
is the ageless tale of good versus
evil.
Davis plays the pivotal role of
Little Moe, a godfather-llke pa
tron of tap dancing. He has some
Idea of a tap dancing comeback
but he needs a younger man
"with legs" to do a routine. The
trick Is to convince his daughter
Amy (Douglas), Max's former
love, who guards against the
dreams of her father and the
nightmares of Max's mistakes.
In their respective roles, the
stars of 'Tap" all give solid per
formances. But the movie's
choreographer, Henry Le Tang,
should also receive star billing
since the main point of 'Tap" Is
Its dancing antics.
With this film as his vehicle,
Tang exemplifies the resurgence
of tap dancing with eloquent ar
tistry. The energy of "Tap"
comes from the tadents of the
stars/dancers: Hines, Douglas,
Davis, Sandman Sims, the Ni
cholas Brothers and the young
Savlon Glover, who shows Im
pressive skill at 15 years of age.
One of the film's finest scenes
Is when Hines and Douglas take
to the rooftop. Their personal
and debonair treatment makes
the dancing look deceptively
easy. In another scene, the
streets of New York are trans
formed Into a tap dance extrava
ganza. Hines demonstrates how
to find the city's beat as a host of
dancers Involve themselves
with the street sounds of jack
hammers and night noises.
Critically, the plot of 'Tap"
Hines
skirts some questions about so
cial values. However, the overt
sensationalism that typifies
Hollywood products Is consplcu-
ousty absent here. Considering
Its setting in a grimy environ
ment of New York, there is hcU"d-
ly any violence In this movie.
Moreover, the tender scenes be
tween Hines and Douglas should
please those who've noticed that
not many Hollywood movies
present opportunities for this
type of relationship.
Overall 'Tap" re-klndles an in
terest In tap dancing. Hubert
Jefferson Is a local tap dancer
and a fan of the movie. Jeffer
son, who teaches tap classes,
says the film shows the real tap
masters doing some of the
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toughest routines around. He Is
optimistic the movie will help
bring tap dancing back In style
among young black j>eople.
The combination of good dra
matic performances and the joy
of tap dancing ultimately makes
"Tap" a very good movie.
Marion LaNey is a freelance
entertainment writer living in
Charlotte.
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