Technically, the great
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson was the star of 1974's
Black Eye, directed by
Jack Arnold (
Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space.) But it was a very familiar Dark Shadows prop that stole the spotlight on the movie poster, which included taglines such as "Whenever the cane turns up, someone turns up dead," and "The name of the game is the cane of pain." In fairness, the famous Barnabas Collins cane was not a creation of the ABC prop department (
Jonathan Frid said the cane came from "Sam the Umbrella Man on 57th St.") But it's unlikely the creators of Black Eye were unaware of the cane's significance.
Black Eye also features Richard Anderson, who appeared in the
Dan Curtis-directed Kolchak film,
The Night Strangler.
Has anyone out there seen this film? I'm a fan of
Fred Williamson but, like Humphrey Bogart, the guy has made so many movies that it's almost impossible to keep up with them all. Yes, I just compared Fred Williamson to Humphrey Bogart.
I've never even heard of this.
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with the cane? Is the design in the public domain or something? Every time I see it show up it's slightly altered in some way, like in the Seinfeld episode "The Wig Master." The handle is gold and the stick part is light brown.
Every heard of pro wrestling "manager" James Mitchell? He's the only other entity I've seen carry an exact replica. Besides Quentin Tarantino and people at the flea market anyway.
I don't know what's more humorous, Barnabas' most prized possession appearing in a blaxploitation film or comparing Fred Williamson to Humphrey Bogart!
ReplyDelete