A BOLT FROM THE BLACK

You can't predict when it'll happen. You can only hope not to be there when it does.

We’re back to blaxploitation today. We screened the Fred Williamson actioner That Man Bolt last night, and you see its poster above with Fred in dual mode—in a tuxedo, and in a martial arts gi. Range, baby. Our range runs from t-shirts and shorts to t-shirts and jeans, but with good accessories. Williamson plays Jefferson Bolt, an ex-Special Forces captain-turned-industry best international courier, who’s strongarmed into carrying a million dollars from Hong Kong to Mexico City via Los Angeles.

Naturally, the moment he sets off people are trying to relieve him of the money, which he carries in a briefcase chained to his wrist. These aren’t ordinary thieves. It doesn’t take Williamson long to figure out that he’s being double-crossed. At first he thinks the million dollars is counterfeit, but he won’t know for sure what’s happening until after using fists, feet, and whatever happens to be handy to defeat the villains and get to the center of the plot.

There are several attractions to That Man Bolt. The most important is its ample budget. Location shooting took place not only in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, but Las Vegas, where Bolt is forced to make a detour. Another notable aspect is the film’s wide canvas and spy movie feel. Even more value is added by co-stars Teresa Graves and Miko Mayama, playing Bolt’s serial love interests. And lastly, there’s fair to decent action on land and water, including an extensive car chase that’s better than the usual fare.

You get the feeling Bolt was to be a recurring character, though it never happened. Even so, as blaxploitation movies go, That Man Bolt is a cut above. It has scope, good direction, humor that works, decent acting in parts, and a main character you can appreciate, mostly due to Williamson being a good screen presence. While many blaxploitation movies come bearing social commentary—which we consider indispensable to the form—Bolt mostly avoids it. That works out fine in this case, but let’s not make a habit of it. That Man Bolt premiered in the U.S. today in 1973.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1954—First Church of Scientology Established

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanide—not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juice—resulting in his death in late 1937.

1933—Franklin Roosevelt Survives Assassination Attempt

In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to shoot President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but is restrained by a crowd and, in the course of firing five wild shots, hits five people, including Chicago, Illinois Mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds three weeks later. Zangara is quickly tried and sentenced to eighty years in jail for attempted murder, but is later convicted of murder when Cermak dies. Zangara is sentenced to death and executed in Florida’s electric chair.

Unknown artist produces lurid cover for Indian true crime magazine Nutan Kahaniyan.
Cover art by Roswell Keller for the 1948 Pocket Books edition of Ramona Stewart's Desert Town.

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