The Guy from Harlem is a 1977 blaxploitation film directed by Rene Martinez Jr. RiffTrax released their riff in October 2012.
Synopsis and Preview[]
The Guy From Harlem (RiffTrax Trailer)
[Spoilers Begin]
Al Connors is a private detective operating in Miami, Florida. Upon arrival at his office he's told my his secretary an old CIA contact and friend had been trying to get a hold of him in Al's absence from the office.
The CIA contact, David McLeod, arrives shortly afterwards in order to enlist Al's services to protect the wife of a South African head of state in town for diplomatic business. The CIA has been experiencing a leak in their roles and McLeod feels the wife is under better protection out of CIA hands. Connors accepts the job on the condition he meet with the wife in a place of his choosing and his him and her set-up as a newlywed couple in a local hotel.
Connors meets the wife, Mrs. Ashanti, at the hotel and informs her of the ruse of which she's initially reluctant to participate in until Connors assures her it's for appearances only and doesn't have any intentions towards her. Ashanti complains of a sore back, prompting Connors to call for a masseuse to come to their room.
Later, Connors observes the masseuse speaking with a man on the sidewalk before entering the hotel, raising his suspicions of her and prompting him to watch her perform her work even at the protest of Wanda and the masseuse. (He turns out to be correct in his suspicions, as in a moment when he is out of the room the masseuse prepares a syringe.) The masseuse leaves without incident and Connors orders him and Ashanti some room service and sits down in order to get to know her better.
Room service arrives and without provocation Connors knocks out the room service deliverer, claiming he can "smell a New York Strip from a mile away" and then reveals a gun hidden under the cover of one of the room service trays. Connors holds the gun to the deliverer's (a man dressed as a woman) head and makes him confess who sent him. Soon two more men enter the room, too more thugs working for a local crime kingpin "Big Daddy", who Connor quickly dispatches using his fighting and martial arts skills. Connors deems the hotel to be unsafe and leaves with Ashanti to a safer location.
The safer location turns out to be the apartment of Connor's current girlfriend, who while is initially reluctant to leave does so without objection. Ashanti continues to complain about her sore back and Connors offers to help her with his own massage knowledge eventually leading to him and Ashanti consummating their relationship on the bed of apartment's tenant. Presumably the next day Connors safely delivers Ashanti back into the hands of the CIA and her husband.
On return to his office Connors expresses his intentions to have a "goof-off day" to his secretary but the intentions are soon dashed with the entrance of another potential client, this one being Harry De Bauld and small entourage of body guards/thugs. De Bauld is the leader of a local criminal organization and recently his daughter, Wanda, has been kidnapped by a rival gang, ran by a man known only as "Big Daddy." A money/hostage exchange is set to occur and De Bauld wishes Connors to exploit that exchange in order to recover his daughter, to carry it out Connors is given a large sum of cash for his services as well as a large amount of Coke, his end of the hostage exchange.
Connors meets with one of Big Daddy's men in a local gym to set up the details of the exchange, but Connors uses that as a ruse to follow the man to the hide-out where they are holding Wanda. After taking out several of the men guarding the location as well as the man running the compound Connors is able to recover Wanda and he takes her with him to a safe hiding place.
The hiding place turns out to, again, be his girlfriend's home whom he has to eject again; this time at her great annoyance. Wanda and Connors talk some, Wanda revealing she's not happy with her father whose criminal activities had recently grown more intense with the involvement of drug trafficking. Wanda and Connors consummate their relationship on the bed of the apartment's tenant.
The following day Connors delivers Wanda back into the hands of her father in his office but refuses to return the drugs trying to convince Du Bauld to drop that aspect of his organization in order to repair the relationship with his daughter. Connors also wishes to meet with Big Daddy in order to put a stop to his activities once and for all.
Connors and Big Daddy meet later to discuss there differences, Big Daddy tries to enlist Connors into his organization but Connors refuse and two fight. Connors is able to quickly defeat and kill Big Daddy, then leaves in the arms of Wanda (who had arrived with his brothers to observe the fight and potentially aid Connors.)
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Cathy Davis as Wanda De Bauld
- Patricia Fulton as Mrs. Ashanti
- Wanda Starr as Sue
- Steve Gallon as Harry De Bauld
- Laster Wilson as Larry De Bauld
- Vaughn Harris as David McLeod
- Richie Vallon as Jim
- Michael Murrell as Paul Benson
- Angela Schon as Jo Ann
- Colleen Martinez as Masseuse
- Hyatt Hodgdon as Mac
Quotes[]
Notes[]
Gallery[]
