{{short description|1975 film by D'Urville Martin}} {{distinguish|Dolomite (disambiguation){{!}}Dolomite}} {{for|the 2019 film about Dolemite actor Rudy Ray Moore|Dolemite Is My Name}} {{More citations needed|date=October 2019}} {{Use American English|date = November 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date = November 2019}} {{Infobox film | name = Dolemite | image = Dolemite.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster | director = D'Urville Martin | screenplay = Jerry Jones | story = Rudy Ray Moore | producer = Rudy Ray Moore | starring = Rudy Ray Moore<br>D'Urville Martin<br>Jerry Jones<br>Lady Reed<br>Hy Pyke<br>West Gale<br>John Kerry<br>Vainus Rackstraw | cinematography = Nicholas Josef von Sternberg | editing = Rex Lipton | music = Arthur G. Wright | distributor = Dimension Pictures | released = {{Film date|1975|04|26}} | runtime = 90 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $100,000 (estimated) | gross = $12 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4UIDAAAAMBAJ&q=dolomite+movie+gross+12+million&pg=PA64|title=Jet|date=11 December 1975|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}</ref> or $1.1 million<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilmdist0000dona/page/298/mode/1up|title= American film distribution : the changing marketplace|last=Donahue|first= Suzanne Mary|year=1987 |publisher=UMI Research Press |page=298|isbn= 978-0-8357-1776-2}} Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada</ref> }}
'''''Dolemite''''' is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by Rudy Ray Moore, who co-wrote the film and its soundtrack. Moore, who started his career as a stand-up comedian in the late 1960s, heard a rhymed toast about an urban hero named Dolemite from a regular at the record store where he worked, and decided to adopt the persona as an alter ego in his act.<ref>{{cite web|last=Reid |first=Shaheem |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453163/dolemite-dirty-old-man.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005030207/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453163/dolemite-dirty-old-man.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 5, 2011 |title=Dolemite Tells Dirty Jokes, Warns Snoop Of His Mic Supremacy - Music, Celebrity, Artist News |publisher=MTV.com |date=2002-04-01 |access-date=2012-08-17}}</ref>
The film focuses on a professional comedian, pimp, and nightclub owner. He serves a prison sentence after being framed by dirty cops, but he is released by the governor and tasked with dealing with his hometown's illegal drug trade. He uses his prostitutes as a private army, since they are kung fu-trained martial artists.
==Plot== Dolemite is a pimp, comedian, and nightclub owner who is serving twenty years in prison after being set up by a rival, Willie Green (D'Urville Martin), and framed by police detectives Mitchell and White, at the direction of the mayor (Hy Pyke).
Released by the governor thanks to lobbying by fellow pimp "Queen Bee" (Lady Reed), Dolemite is freed in order to discover the source of the out of control drug problem in the "Fourth Ward" of the city, and take revenge on the corruption that put him in prison.
He rekindles his reputation on the streets while trying to get back his "Total Experience" club from the hands of Willie Green. He enlists the help of Queen Bee, a Black nationalist preacher hoarding guns for a revolution, and his own stable of kung fu-trained prostitutes to settle the various scores, while an undercover FBI agent (Jerry Jones) lurks in the shadows, following the proceedings and supporting Dolemite's quest.
==Cast== * Rudy Ray Moore as Dolemite * Lady Reed as "Queen Bee" * D'Urville Martin as Willie Green * West Gale as Reverend Gibbs * John Kerry as Detective Mitchell * Jerry Jones as Blakely * Hy Pyke as Mayor Daley * Vainus Rackstraw as "Creeper"
==Production== Moore first developed the character of Dolemite in his stand-up comedy routines, and the character later appeared on Moore's 1970 debut album, ''Eat Out More Often'',<ref>{{Cite web|first=Jen|last=Yamoto|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-10-20/rudy-ray-moore-dolemite-is-my-name|title=Rudy Ray Moore was his name, and 'Dolemite' is just one part of his legacy|date=2019-10-20|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-11}}</ref> which reached the top 25 on the ''Billboard'' 200. He released several more comedy albums using this persona. In 1973, Moore decided to create a film about Dolemite, paying for most of the production out of his own pocket, and using many of his friends, student filmmakers, and fellow comedians as cast and crew. The film was directed by D'Urville Martin, who appears as the villain Willie Green.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arktimes.com/entertainment/ae-feature/2019/11/04/straight-outta-westark-rudy-ray-moore|title=Straight outta Westark: Rudy Ray Moore|last=Koch|first=Stephen|date=November 4, 2019|website=Arkansas Times|language=en-US|access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>
Production started in January, 1974, and continued for over a year - starting and stopping - as funding would allow. Filming of interiors was primarily done at the then-closed Dunbar Hotel in Los Angeles, with additional exterior scenes being filmed in the Baldwin Hills area and University Park.
==Release== ===Critical reception=== The film received middling reviews from film critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 14 reviews, with an average score of 5/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dolemite|title= ''Dolemite'' (1975)|work=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=November 23, 2019}}</ref> On Metacritic, the film received a score of 67 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dolemite | title= ''Dolemite'' (1975) | website= Metacritic | access-date= 22 July 2022 }}</ref>
===Home media=== ''Dolemite'' was released on VHS in 1987 by Xenon Home Video (#X-006), 91 minutes
''Dolemite'' was released to DVD on September 13, 2005, by Xenon Pictures and also as part of a boxed set (''The Dolemite Collection'') on the same date. A widescreen, high definition remastered version, from an original print of the film, was released on Blu-ray disc on April 26, 2016, by Vinegar Syndrome. The prior VHS and DVD releases from the early-1990s were incorrectly transferred with an open matte, which revealed the boom mic at the top of the frame frequently (with the correct matte in a theatrical presentation, this area would have been covered). Over the years, the appearance of the boom mic due to the oversight during the VHS and DVD transfer was the source of amusement by viewers, and in acknowledgement of this, the Blu-ray also features an open matte version as an alternate "boom mic" presentation.
==Legacy== A sequel, ''The Human Tornado'', was released in 1976. A second sequel, ''The Return of Dolemite'', was released in 2002 and was later re-titled ''The Dolemite Explosion'' for DVD release. A quasi-sequel, ''Shaolin Dolemite'', starring Rudy Ray Moore as ''Monk Ru-Dee'', was released in 1999.
The action comedy movie ''Black Dynamite'' (2009) parodies ''Dolemite'' and other blaxploitation films.
A biographical film about Moore and the making of ''Dolemite'', titled ''Dolemite Is My Name'' and starring Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, was released theatrically and on Netflix in October 2019.<ref>{{cite web|last=Galuppo|first=Mia|title=Eddie Murphy to Star as Rudy Ray Moore for Netflix|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/eddie-murphy-star-as-rudy-ray-moore-netflix-movie-1118159|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=June 7, 2018|access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Dave|last=McNary |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/eddie-murphy-dolemite-is-my-name-netflix-1202837013/ |title=Film News Roundup: Eddie Murphy to Star in Biopic 'Dolemite Is My Name' for Netflix |website=Variety |date=June 7, 2018 |access-date=October 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Pamela|last=McClintock|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-dates-marriage-story-laundromat-fall-films-1234853|title=Netflix Dates 'Marriage Story,' 'Laundromat' and Other Fall Award Films|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 27, 2019|access-date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>
==See also== * List of blaxploitation films
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0072895}} *{{rotten-tomatoes|dolemite}} * {{TCMDb title|73349}} *[http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Rudy+Ray+Moore 2006 SuicideGirls interview with Rudy Ray Moore by Daniel Robert Epstein]
{{Dolemite}}
Category:1975 films Category:1975 action comedy films Category:1970s crime comedy films Category:1970s martial arts comedy films Category:Blaxploitation films Category:American action comedy films Category:African-American films Category:1975 directorial debut films Category:Dimension Pictures films Category:1975 English-language films Category:1975 American films Category:Films about comedians Category:Films about prostitution Category:Films about the illegal drug trade Category:Karate films Category:English-language crime comedy films Category:English-language action comedy films