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Pryor and Grier can actbyFrederick I Donglasi .Greased Lightning, starring Richard Pryor and Pam Grier, is one of the best movies ever made with blacks playing all of the. major roles.Sure, there have been bcaucoup flicks like Su-pcrfly” and Shaft. but these were fiction and far removed from reality.Greased Lightning isfor real because it iswascd on the true story of thg first black man tobreak into the big time of •professional race car driving. Tt Is a hellified flick.Richard Pryor stars asWendell Scott, a man who was wasting his exceptional driving abilities on running moonshine until he gets his first opportunity to get on the race track.The story takes place in the deep South and Scott is greeted by hostility and scorn from the other drivers. He is even made a target with a prize being offered to the man that could run him off the track. Corey’s first race was supposed to be a moneymaking joke to attract people to the race course to see the black man get slaughtered by hites. But Scott knew what he was doing, managed to stay on the track and finished fourth in the race. And it wasn’t his last race.The racing fever had gotten a hold on Scott and it became his life long profession. The rest of the story deals with Scott’s triumphs and failures as he strives to get to the top of the heap In his profession. ScotL in fact, madeYOU CAN RENT A PIANO FORM5YOU CAN RENT A BRAND NEW PtANOOFYOUR CHOICE FOR SI5 PER MONTH (Plus Handling) WITH APPROVEDCREDIT 1 YEAR RENTAL ALSO AVAILABLE CALL FOR DETAILS 675-2795YEAGER'S MUSICServing Baltimore For 44 Years -3300-08 EASTERN AVENUE(Across The Street From Hausner's)CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED ALL PAYMENT PLANS AVAILABLE675-2795PHONES:675-2796675-2797Open Mon., Thurs. Frl. 'til 8:30 Tues., Wed. 'tit 5 Sat. 'til 6”■TV.RAOIO TUBEScounFre HNS orPHCMOQRAftfWEEDLES$2.00UP(TUMft CHECKED FREE)WE REPAIR PORTABLETV’S ••RELAY ELECTRONICS311 S. BROADWAY * PHONE 675-0588 Open I P.m. to 6 p.mlt;-Sat. ttl 7 CLOSED THURSDAYI#WHENRY'S NIGHT b INhistory by winning several of the nation’s major races.The story line of Greased Lightning is simple enough that it can be understood by anyone from eight ti eighty. While the kind of movie that you there is some swearing, its can take your children to because the quality of the movie outweighs the impact of them hearing a few curse words.The most fascinating aspect of the movie is that it shows that Richard Pryor and Pam Grier have considerable abilities in their profession, something thathas not always come out in their previous movies.Pryor has had better roles than Grier and has had an opportunity to do a bit of character exploration in flicks like Lady Sings the Blues’’ and Silver Streak as well as Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars.But, he has always played the comic character, the buffoon who was there to be the pawn or whipping boy of the ither characters, or he played a role with so little time on the screen that it made no difference what his role was supposed to be in terms of the theme and plot of the movie.In Greased Lightning Pryor dominates the screen from the beginning to the end if the movie. And he does it well, shaping he character of en-dell Scott into a life size role that slvuld land Pryor some bigger and better parts In the movies.The real surprise of the flick is Pam Grieer who plays Scott’s wife. Grier’s roles in the past have been very shallow in that they required her to display no acting ability whatsoever.While her performance in Grease Lightning” is not of Academy Award caliber, she does get an opportunity to show that she is capable of more than pistol-whipping and karate chopping people while displaying her lovely physique and gorgeous face. It seems that the taste of black moviegoers Ls shifting and movie makers need to produce more flicks like Sounder and Learning Tree if they are going to satisfy the desire of blacks for movies if better quality.
Newspaper Details
Baltimore Afro American
Baltimore, Maryland, US
Sat, Jul 23, 1977
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 23 Sep 2020
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