RIP Bernie Casey!
I hate having to share these stories: a great NFL player turned action star has passed away at the age of 78…
Here is a look at one of his best movies!
Hit Man!
The plot is a homage to the classic british thriller “Get Carter.” In “Hit Man”, a lawyer takes the law into his own hands as he goes after the men who killed his brother. During the course of his quest for revenge, he must slither through the grimy, underground pornography scene.
“Hit Man” featured two very distinctive elements of “blaxploitation” movies of the time: a HUGE afro, and a fancy hat!
Check out the trailer:
An Unlikely Action Star!
“Hit Man” stars the NFL pro wide receiver Bernie Casey – who played for the San Francisco 49’ers as well as the LA Rams! That’s right, this “Hit Man” was a pro football player, so I guess he knew all about kicking ass! In fact, Casey had an extensive acting career after he finished playing pro ball…
As I said, “Hit Man” is an Americanized version of the British crime thriller “Get Carter” starring Michael Caine. Casey plays a very tough character here – bending the rules and breaking the law to get answers – and nothing will stop him from finding out what happened to his brother…
“Hit Man” features many of the elements of a great blaxploitation film – and also includes many iconic locations around an early 70’s Los Angeles…
Oh, and one other thing to note: “Hit Man” is also well known for featuring the “very nude” Pam Grier!
Hello Pam!
This was early in Pam Grier’s career – she would, of course, go on to star in many blaxploitation films of her own – and I will have a report on that soon – and of course, Quentin Tarantino made a movie just for her – “Jackie Brown.”
But Pam Grier is showing off a lot of her self in “Hit Man.” She has a couple of extended nude scenes in the film, and then is involved in one of the strangest action sequences EVER – which I won’t give away here, but it is certainly unique!
RIP to Bernie Casey!
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Never heard of Hit Man but recognise Bernie Casey from the photo of him in Never Say Never Again. Will have to check out a Blaxploitation Get Carter. Big fan of Shaft and Shaft in Africa. Will have to check out Dolemite, love the quotes. Have you seen Black Dynamite?
Yes, “Black Dynamite” was a clever homage to the 70’s blaxploitation era – “The Mack” is also great with a young Richard Pryor….
So many movies to see, so small a range of titles on Netflix Australia. 🙂
Reblogged this on johnrieber and commented:
Some Tuesday Blaxploitation fun –