The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973)

Starring:

• Fred Williamson
• D'Urville Martin
• Denise Nicholas

IMDb.com
This sequel to "Legend of N. Charley" is a step in the right direction for whoever decided to make a franchise out of character with such a tasteless name. Charley finds his legend has spread and he is now a well-known folk hero that children worship and fawn over. Film is tonally imbalanced in a 1970's way that seems to straddle grim nihilism and do-gooder adventure simultaneously. Film seems firmly set in "PG" territory until a downer montage showing lots of characters' bloody deaths pops up in the third act. Fred Williamson tries to express emotions such as laughter and sadness as opposed to just 'looking bad and looking cool' and the results are debatable at best.


Link to soundtrack review
Don Costa - The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973)

The Legend of Nigger Charley (1972)

Starring:

• Fred Williamson
• D'Urville Martin
• Don Pedro Colley
• Thomas Anderson
• Jerry Gatlin
• Alan Gifford
• Will Hussung
• Gertrude Jeannette
• Fred Lerner
• Marcia McBroom
• Tom Pemberton
• Tricia O'Neil
• Joe Santos

Storyline
Three escaped slaves (Fred Williamson, D'Urville Martin, Don Pedro Colley) fall in with drifters while fleeing a bounty hunter.

Various Artists - (Berry Gordy's) The Last Dragon (1985)

1 The Last Dragon Dwight David 7:26
2 7th Heaven Vanity 3:51
3 Star Alfie 4:42
4 Fire Charlene 3:58
5 The Glow Willie Hutch 5:07
6 Rhythm of the Night DeBarge 3:50
7 Upset Stomach Stevie Wonder 6:23
8 First Time on a Ferris Wheel " [Love Theme from Berry Gordy's "The ...] Smokey
Robinson, Syreeta 4:18
9 Peeping Tom Rockwell 4:33
10 Inside You Willie Hutch, Temptations 7:17

AMG.com
East met West for 1985's action-packed The Last Dragon (or Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon, depending on how you want to look at it), a vehicle for Gordy's Motown label that employed Vanity in a lead role as popular veejay Laura Charles, the object of affection for Taimak's talented martial arts hero character Leroy (or "Bruce Leroy," as he was respectfully referred to). By no means is the movie a classic, and neither is the Motown-heavy soundtrack. You'd be missing the point if you thought of them in those terms. The movie was marketed at kids, and it provides good-natured fun and action. And as far as the soundtrack is considered, it was, after all, released in 1985 -- hardly the best year for chart-aimed R&B. More than anything, the soundtrack is known for having delivered DeBarge's "Rhythm of the Night," the feel-good, Carribbean-inflected, Diane Warren-penned summer hit. Motown vets Willie Hutch, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, and Smokey Robinson (with Syreeta) each provide songs, none of which are entirely notable when compared to the remainder of their discographies. Relative new kid on the block Rockwell punches in with "Peeping Tom" (Were all of his songs about voyeurism, or what?), and Vanity's rockin' "7th Heaven" continues her fixations on the number seven and sexual innuendos "hidden" deep inside metaphors. One minor gripe with the 2001 reissue (released in conjunction with the DVD) is that Motown blew it by not emptying the vaults to include Angela's composition, the charming and willfully irritating post-Cyndi Lauper/pre-Jill Sobule chestnut that her boyfriend/supreme creepo Eddie Arkadian was so hell-bent on having Laura Charles play on her program. But if you really have a problem with that, Sho'nuff has a pair of Converse you can plant your lips upon.
by Andy Kellman