Research Catalog

Title

What it is, what it was! : the Black film explosion of the '70s in words and pictures / Gerald Martinez, Diana Martínez & Andres Chavez.

Author

Martinez, Gerald

Publication

New York : Hyperion, 1998.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Martínez, Diana
• Chavez, Andres
• Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection wid

Description

208 p. : chiefly ill. (some col.), ports.; 28 cm.

Summary

"From Shaft to Superfly, Foxy Brown to Cleopatra Jones, What It Is...What It Was! presents a vivid pictorial and oral history of the best movies to emerge from a singularly American film movement. The book explores this film explosion. Between 1970 and 1980 over 200 films with Black themes including family dramas, mysteries, horror films, comedies, and action films, were released by both major and independent studios. The book preserves cinema history with the first book to highlight the movie poster artwork while presenting the people who created this history on screen. With the increased use of photography, this period would be the last time that top artists would draw and paint the vibrant bold movie poster images that in themselves were classics. Groundbreaking producer-director-writer Melvin Van Peebles, actors Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and William Marshall, composer Isaac Hayes, along with many other artists, talk about this body of cinema that has withstood the test of time and influenced American culture. The films are described as powerful, funky, sexy, exuberant, violent, hip, and just plain fun. They also became a target of debate as some coined the sweeping term "blaxploitation." Samuel L. Jackson, John Singleton, Reginald Hudlin, Ice-T, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Quentin Tarantino, and others offer insightful commentary into the history and impact of the films in their work."--back cover.

Subject

• Geschichte 1970-1980
• Geschichte 1970-1980
• African Americans in motion pictures
• African American motion picture producers and directors > Interviews
• African American actors > Interviews
• African American actresses > Interviews
• Film posters, American
• African American motion picture actors and actresses > Interviews

Genre/Form

Interviews

Note

• A duplicate copy of this title was part of the Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection, but was not retained.

Bibliography (note)

• Filmography: p.204-207.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction -- The art of the poster -- Ron Finley -- John Solie -- Walt Reed -- The film explosion -- Melvin Van Peebles -- William Marshall -- Pam Grier -- David Walker -- Roscoe Orman -- Roger Corman -- John Singleton -- Keenen Ivory Wayans -- Fred Williamson -- Arthur Marks -- Kevin Hooks -- Gloria Hendry -- Reginald Hudlin -- Robert Townsend -- Rudy Ray moore -- Jack Hill -- Cheryl Dunye -- Isaac Hayes -- Robert Louis Stevenson -- Carol Speed -- Ice-T -- Samuel L. Jackson -- Glynn Turman -- Quentin Tarantino.

ISBN

0786883774

LCCN

^^^98020517^

OCLC

• 39147792
• SCSB-11795151

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library