The Black Godfather

• Written and Directed by John Evans
• September 3, 1974

A rising star in the black crime scene in the process of consolidating his power over the neighborhood must contend with the white heroin cartel reluctant to let go of a lucrative market.

The Black Godfather is your basic gang war story. It follows a two-bit criminal named J.J. (Rod Perry) who lucks into the good graces of a local numbers guy named Nate Williams (Jimmy Witherspoon) and because of that dumb luck is very powerful from doing…stuff. Having watched the movie I have no idea exactly what he does but I do know it is criminal. They make that clear while simultaneously avoiding discussing his criminal endeavors. Kudos to making him a criminal without incriminating him.

As blaxploitation films go the enemy is always The Man. The Man here being personified by a local drug pusher named Tony (Don Chastain) who J.J., being a good criminal (whatever that is), is trying to push out of the neighborhood and keep out so Tony doesn’t distribute any more drugs. I guess Tony’s implied protection racket and everything else he does is okay but drugs are bad!

This came out in the wake of films such as Shaft and others and used such elements as a strong black male as the main and heroic character with white people being the primary villains. There is the potential for plenty of action in this, but what we see more often is J.J. negotiating and plotting to keep drugs out of the local neighborhood. That’s fine but it borders on padding rather than storytelling. Then again it could be a sign that The Black Godfather was a lower budgeted film. With a little bit more cash and maybe 20 minutes worth of action footage alone such instances would feel less extraneous.

From the opening introduction of the film to the main story J.J. goes from a minor crook who robs the wrong place to a major player in the local neighborhood with absolutely no indication of how he got from Point A to Point B other than the connection to Nate Williams who saw talent in him. That might be enough if we saw him do something shady. All we get though is him fanboying over Nate who is a minor character in this when all is said and done.

I really liked the base of the story, but that clashes with some questionable performances by individuals in here and the cheapness of the overall movie. Tight shots aside, there was almost no nighttime lighting. Writer/producer/director John Evans had a good vision that clearly showed but was hampered by things that kept The Black Godfather from meeting adequacy.

Liking the base of the story does not mean I think something can be great. Good or adequate with a good base should be easy-even under the cheapest of circumstances I have seen adequate achieved. This just does not get there. It is missing that certain bit of something.

Certainly it needed more effort put into the performances. Rod Perry is the best actor here, but his performance is not nearly as forceful as it needed to be. And he outclassed most of those around him who could be a touch flat. Which is a shame since the dialogue is not bad and touches on things we even discuss today.

Those elements of social awareness should have had a greater presence than simply being spoken about. If you mention them then use them. That is especially true if you have little money.

The Black Godfather could’ve been better. It’s barely worth a watch. This is an if you want.