In the midst of the blaxploitation wave in American cinema football players such as Jim Brown and Fred Williamson had carved out solid movie careers. So from a studio executive’s perspective, why not capitalize on name recognition by getting together some of the best football players of the time and folding them into an action movie? Gene Washington, Lem Barney, Mean Joe Greene, Mercury Morris, Carl Eller, and Willie Lanier starred in The Black Six, playing freewheeling Vietnam vet bikers traveling the open roads, enjoying fraternal hijinks, and avoiding the troubles of the times. But when Washington’s brother is killed down South by a racist motorcycle gang, he mobilizes his buddies and they ride into the old Confederacy to see his family and ask around about the killing. In seeking answers, then revenge, he also finds that he needs to deal with ghosts from his past.
The movie is interesting for its sometimes elegiac tone and reflections about the nature of life, freedom, and country, but as usual with efforts from this niche, more budget was needed to extract better acting performances, achieve better cinematography, and possibly even hire a better screenwriter—which really would have helped. In the end the movie wasn’t a career booster for anyone involved. Washington would go on to appear onscreen several other times, including in 1975’s Lady Cocoa. Rosalind Miles would make about a dozen movies. Only director Matt Cimber had what you’d call a good run in Hollywood, though it’s probably him to whom most of the blame for The Black Six should have been assigned. Even so, we have a feeling the producers made their money back thanks to the cast. But we think you can pass on this movie. The Black Six premiered in the U.S. today in 1973.
