Mandingo (film)

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Mandingo

promotional poster for Mandingo
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Written by based on the book Mandingo by Kyle Onstott
screenplay by Norman Wexler
Starring James Mason
Susan George
Perry King
Lillian Hayman
Richard Ward
Brenda Sykes
Ken Norton
Music by Maurice Jarre
Cinematography Richard H. Kline
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) 1975
IMDb profile

Mandingo is a 1975 film, based on the book Mandingo by Kyle Onstott, about an African slave in the 1840s United States who is trained as a prize fighter by his owner. The owner is unaware that his neglected wife is having an affair with his best fighter, which leads to the film's tragic conclusion. The film is controversial for its depictions of racism, nudity, incest, sadism, and infanticide.

The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and featured James Mason, Susan George, Perry King, Lillian Hayman, boxer-turned-actor Ken Norton and bodybuilder and pro wrestler-turned-actor Earl Maynard. Perry King's frontal nude scene earned him considerable attention, but did not appear to help or hurt his career.

The sequel to this film is Drum.

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[edit] Legacy

Quentin Tarantino has cited Mandingo as one of only two instances "in the last twenty years [that] a major studio made a full-on, gigantic, big-budget exploitation movie", comparing it to Showgirls.[1]

[edit] DVD Release

Paramount Pictures licensed the film to Legend Films for its first official DVD release. The DVD was released on June 3, 2008, in 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen with the only extra being the movie trailer.

Many prominent critics hailed the release of the DVD, including New York Times columnist Dave Kehr.

[edit] References

  1. ^ (1998) in Peary, Gerald: Quentin Tarantino: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi, pages 172—173. ISBN 1578060516. 

[edit] External links