Truck Turner (1974)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

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)

Trivia:

Originally developed as a film for actor Robert Mitchum. After Mitchum, 'James Coburn' was attached to star as Truck Turner, but that fell through as well. Having already invested in the script, American International Pictures decided to turn it into an "urban picture" and cast a black actor. Dick Anthony Williams, best know for his work in The Mack (1973) and Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) was initially cast, but was quickly replaced by Isaac Hayes, who wanted to get into acting. It was also felt that Hayes had a bigger name draw than Williams.

Quotes:

Truck Turner: Anybody ask you what happened, tell 'em you been hit by a truck: Mac 'Truck' Turner!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Rod Stewart (#7.1)" (1981)

Mac vs the mack pack.

Truck Turner is an ex-football star, built like a Mack truck. Fortunately his name IS Mac (though why they released it as BLACK BULLET in Australia is beyond me) which makes for a sensible nickname. There is practically nothing else remotely sensible thereon in, when Mac goes head-to-head with a bunch of no-good…well, macks (pimps).

It is a typically paradoxical blaxpolitation film. It serves as both a reminder why the genre were so enjoyable - brazen heroes and villains, loads of sexy chicks for each, a top soul soundtrack - and why it had to die eventually - the burden of uninspired cashing in, here there and everywhere.

BLACK BULLET is as b-grade as they come, and it's surprisingly nasty in places. With a similar cast and crew to the far-superior BLACK BELT JONES (a blaxploitation gem), you expect tongue in cheek, but by the time you've heard the world `bitch' a thousand times, it starts to lose its comic gleam.

But at the end of the day it's all in good fun. It's just a shame the modern gangstas didn't get the joke.