Truck Turner (1974)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jonathan Kaplan

Writers:

Michael Allin (writer)
Leigh Chapman (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

19 April 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Black, bold and bloody mean!

Plot:

Truck is a bounty hunter who gets a job to track down a guy named Gator. When he and his partner find him...

Plot Keywords:

Bounty Hunter | Vengeance | Hospital | Organized Crime | Convertible

Cast

Isaac Hayes	...	Mac 'Truck' Turner
Yaphet Kotto	...	Harvard Blue
Alan Weeks	...	Jerry
Annazette Chase	...	Annie
Nichelle Nichols	...	Dorinda
Sam Laws	...	Nate Dinwiddie
Paul Harris	...	Richard Leroy 'Gator' Johnson
Charles Cyphers	...	Drunk
John Kramer	...	Desmond
Scatman Crothers	...	Duke
Dick Miller	...	Fogarty
Bob Harris	...	Snow
Jac Emil	...	Reno
Stan Shaw	...	Fontana
Wendell Tucker	...	Wendell
Clarence Barnes	...	Toro
Don Watters	...	Val
Eddie Smith	...	Druggist
Esther Sutherland	...	Black Momma
Earl Maynard	...	Panama
Henry Kingi	...	Candy Man
Larry Gabriel	...	Travis
James Millhollin	...	Judge Advocate
Jon Jacobs	...	Dave
Douglas Anderson	...	Charlie
Don Megowan	...	Garrity
Richard Selzer	...	Wino
Ruth Warshawsky	...	Saleslady
Cheryl Sampson	...	Taffy
Edna Richardson	...	Frenchie
Dernadette Gladden	...	Raquel
Tara Strohmeier	...	Turnpike
Lisa Farringer	...	Annette
Sharon Madigan	...	Nurse
Mel Novak	...	Doctor
Donnie Williams	...	Highway Dept. Man
Randy Gray	...	Kid In Hospital
Annik Borel	...	Stalingrad
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard	...	Desk Officer / Clerk
Rhavan Briggs	...	Felice
Johnny Ray McGhee	...	Hired Killer
Clarence Lockett	...	Preacher
John Evans	...	Police Lieutenant
Johnny Dennis	...	Desmond's Guard (as John Dennis)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Earl Jolly Brown	...	Overweight Bar Patron (uncredited)
Jonathan Kaplan	...	Cook (uncredited)

Directed by
Jonathan Kaplan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Allin		writer
Leigh Chapman		writer
Jerry Wilkes		story
Oscar Williams		writer

Produced by
Paul M. Heller	....	producer (as Paul Heller)
Marty Hornstein	....	associate producer
Fred Weintraub	....	producer

Original Music by
Isaac Hayes

Cinematography by
Charles F. Wheeler

Film Editing by
Michael Kahn

Casting by
John Kramer

Production Management
Marty Hornstein	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Anthony Brand	....	second assistant director (as Tony Brand)
Marty Hornstein	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Marvin Kerner	....	sound effects
C. Darin Knight	....	sound

Special Effects by
Gene Grigg	....	special effects

Stunts
Eddie Smith	....	stunt coordinator
Nate Long	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Chuck Record	....	key grip
Don Stott	....	gaffer
Ron Vargas	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Edward Knize	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Other crew
Nate Long	....	dialogue supervisor
Nicole Scott	....	location manager
David Sheldon	....	production executive

Production Companies

• American International Pictures (AIP)
• Sequoia Productions

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1974) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Astral Films (1974) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Orion Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Roadshow Home Video (1984) (Australia) (VHS) (as "Black Bullet")

Other Companies

• Panavision  photographic equipment
• Technicolor  color by

Also Known As:

Black Bullet

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-16 | West Germany:18 | Australia:R | Netherlands:16 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:18 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Quotes:

Dorinda: You don't look like cops, but you smell like trouble.
Truck Turner: Trouble, me? If I was, I wouldn't stand a chance with you, Mama.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

The Baddest & Baldest Bounty Hunter in Town!

Isaac Hayes provides whole new dimensions to the term "Coolness" in his own and first Blaxploitation highlight "Truck Turner" (not counting the Italian Blaxploitation-Crime thriller crossover "Three Tough Guys"). Prior to this movie Hayes was only known as the performer of the legendary Shaft theme, but God bless the person who came up with the idea of giving him his very own movie-franchise! Hayes is brilliant and much cooler & tougher than all the other Blaxploitation heroes together, in my humble opinion. If I were to be stuck in a dark alley late at night, I would rather run into a combination of Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson and Jim Brown than facing the gigantically postured and naturally petrifying Hayes. The plot of "Truck Turner" is rudimentary but nevertheless engaging and literally stuffed with awesome characters, witty comical undertones and phenomenal action sequences. I truly adore how each and every character that walks through the screen, even including Truck and his lovely wife, is a bit of a "badass" and living on the edge of the law him/herself. Mack 'Truck' Turner is a former football player who now works as a feared bounty hunter since an injury ruined his career. Truck loves his wife, even though she's a recidivist shoplifter and all the women in the neighborhood crave him, and there isn't a single thug on the streets who doesn't fear and respects him. Together with his partner Jerry he's tailing the fugitive big shot pimp Gator, but when the latter gets killed during a spontaneous bust, all hell breaks loose. Gator's main bi-atch Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols, acting like the black version of Ilsa Harem keeper of the Oil Sheiks) gathers all the city's most prominent pimps and promises the ownership of all her top-class prostitutes to whoever succeeds in killing Truck. Seeing the main story lines are so thin, "Truck Turner" mostly benefices from its 'shoot first ask questions later' action sequences, the splendid soundtrack and multiple stellar performances. Hayes receives great support from Yaphet Kotto (as a really creepy super-pimp), Alan Weeks (as the sidekick) and Sam Laws (as their employer). There are also excellent cameos for prominent B-actors like Scatman Crothers and Dick Miller. The violent climax in the hospital is simply awesome and has an original and tense anti-climax. Another downright brilliant and unforgettable scene takes place during the pimp's funeral. Pure 70's goodness!