Michael J. Bowen Collection of Black Exploitation Film Posters and Director
Photographs
Sean Stanley
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library
800 North Dartmouth Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu
URL: https://library.claremont.edu/scl/
© 2024
The Claremont Colleges Library. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Michael J. Bowen Collection of Black Exploitation Film Posters and
Director Photographs
Dates: 1968-2000 and
undated
Collection number: H.Mss.1141
Extent:
6.2 Linear Feet
(2 oversize map folder boxes, 1 slim legal document
box)
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont
Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
Abstract: This collection
consists of 52 Black film posters and 25 press photographs of noteworthy Black filmmakers,
from 1968-2000. While the primary focus is "Blaxploitation" films, the collection also
represents other Black-oriented concert films, comedies, and dramas.
Physical Location: Please consult
repository.
Language of Material: Languages represented in the
collection: English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to
Special Collections.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Michael J. Bowen Collection of Black Exploitation Film Posters
and Director Photographs (H.Mss.1141). Special Collections and Archives, The Claremont
Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Library purchase from Michael J. Bowen, 2023.
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Processing Information
Posters were housed in acid-free print folders and stored flat in large archival boxes.
Photographs were sleeved in mylar, housed in acid-free folders, and stored in an archival
document box.
Biography / Administrative History
Materials in the collection were acquired by Michael J. Bowen, a film historian and
instructor of American film history in New York City.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Michael J. Bowen Collection of Black Exploitation Film Posters and Director Photographs
consists of 52 Black film posters and 25 press photographs of noteworthy Black filmmakers,
from 1968-2000. While the collection primarily focuses on "Blaxploitation" films, an ethnic
subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the early 1970s, the collection also
represents other Black-oriented concert films, comedies, and dramas. Notable films
represented in the collection include:
Uptight (1968),
The Great White
Hope
(1970),
Watermelon Man (1970),
Blacula (1972),
Shaft's Big Score! (1972),
Super Fly T.N.T. (1973), and
Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975). Press photos include notable
directors and filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Sidney Poitier, and Melvin Van Peebles.
Organization and Arrangement
This collection has been organized into the following series and subseries:
- Series 1: Film posters, 1968-1986
- Series 2: Director photographs, 1971-2000 and undated
File folders are arranged alphabetically by title.
Related Materials
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Subject Terms
African Americans
African Americans in motion pictures
African Americans in the motion picture industry
Black Americans
Black motion picture producers and directors
Blaxploitation films
Genre and Form of Materials
Black-and-white photographs – 20th century
Posters
Series 1:
Film posters
1968-1986
Scope and Contents
52 "Blaxploitation" and Black film posters from 1968-1986. All cast, crew, and synopsis
information for the films was taken from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
Box 1, Folder 1
A-B titled posters
1971-1975
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 1
Amazing Grace
1974
Note
Director: Stan Lathan; Writer: Matt Robinson; Staring: Moms Mabley, Slappy White,
Rosalind Cash.
Synopsis: An elderly woman in a Baltimore neighborhood finds out that a somewhat
slow-witted neighbor is being put up for local office by some shady politicians who
have no interest in their neighborhood but are interested in getting their hands on
the money that comes into it. She gets some neighborhood people together and
together they plan to thwart the politicians' schemes.
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 2
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
1974
Note
Director: Bill Brame; Writers: Howard Ransom, Elizabeth Ransom, Fredricka DeCosta;
Staring: Frank DeKova, Paul Harris, Frances E. Williams.
Synopsis: A numbers king pin tries to stay in business as the mafia and police
close in around him.
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 3
Black Jack
1972
Note
Director: William T. Naud; Writers: Dick Gautier, Peter Marshall, William T. Naud;
Staring: Georg Stanford Brown, Brandon De Wilde, Keenan Wynn.
Synopsis: Three anti-war activists hijack a B-52 bomber.
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 4
The Black Moses of Soul
1973
Note
Director: Chuck Johnson; Staring: Isaac Hayes.
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 5
Black Samson
1974
Note
Director: Charles Bail; Writers: Warren Hamilton Jr., Daniel Cady; Staring: Rockne
Tarkington, William Smith, Connie Strickland.
Synopsis: Noble nightclub owner Samson does his best to keep his neighborhood clean
of crime and drugs. When vicious mobster Johnny Nappa tries to muscle in on Samson's
territory, Samson takes a brave stand against Nappa and his flunkies.
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 6
Blacula
1972
Note
Director: William Crain; Writers: Joan Torres, Raymond Koenig; Staring: William
Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nichola.
Synopsis: An 18th-century African prince, turned into a vampire by Dracula, finds
himself in modern-day Los Angeles.
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 7
Bucktown
1975
Note
Director: Arthur Marks; Writer: Robert T. Ellison; Staring: Fred Williamson, Pam
Grier, Thalmus Rasulala.
Synopsis: After being hassled by The Man in a southern town, a cool operator asks
some violent friends for help. After all, if you can't trust another brother, who
can you trust?
Box 1, Folder 1, Item 8
The Bus is Coming
1971
Note
Director: Wendell Franklin; Writers: Horace Jackson, Robert H. Raff, Mike Rhodes;
Staring: Mike B. Sims, Lonnie Bradford, Stephanie Faulkner.
Synopsis: A young black soldier returns home to Los Angeles from combat in Vietnam
to find out that his brother had been killed by a gang of racist cops. Angered, he
joins a black nationalist group to take his revenge.
Box 1, Folder 2
C-E titled posters
1972-1976
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 1
Claudine
1974
Note
Director: John Berry; Writers: Tina Pine, Lester Pine; Staring: Diahann Carroll,
James Earl Jones, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs.
Synopsis: In the 1970s Harlem, garbage collector Roop feels intimidated by the idea
of dating Claudine who is a single mother of six on welfare.
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 2
Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold
1975
Note
Director: Charles Bail; Writers: Max Julien, Bill Tennant; Staring: Tamara Dobson,
Stella Stevens, Ni Tien.
Synopsis: When fellow operatives (and childhood friends) Matthew Johnson and Melvin
Johnson disappear during an undercover mission in Hong Kong, Cleopatra Jones (Tamara
Dobson) travels there to find them. With the help of local detective Mi Ling,
Cleopatra discovers that her friends' disappearance has to do with The Dragon Lady,
a much-feared blonde "lipstick lesbian" who runs a Macao casino and controls a major
chunk of the local drug trade.
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 3
Cool Breeze
1972
Note
Director: Barry Pollack; Writers: W.R. Burnett, Barry Pollack; Staring: Thalmus
Rasulala, Judy Pace, Julian Christopher.
Synopsis: Thalmus is the leader for a group of criminals who gather in L.A. to rob
a bank. Their goal is to find a new bank.
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 4
Cooley High
1975
Note
Director: Michael Schultz; Writer: Eric Monte; Staring: Glynn Turman, Lawrence
Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris.
Synopsis: In 1964 on Chicago's Near-North Side, the lives of four carefree high
school seniors and best friends, including an aspiring playwright and an all-city
basketball champion, takes a tragic turn.
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 5
Countdown at Kusini
1976
Note
Also known as
Cool Red.
Director: Ossie Davis; Writers: Ossie Davis, Ladi Ladebo, Al Freeman Jr.; Staring:
Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Greg Morris.
Synopsis: Story of the transition of an African country from colonialism to
independence.
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 6
Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde
1976
Note
Director: William Crain; Writers: Larry LeBron, Lawrence Woolner; Staring: Bernie
Casey, Rosalind Cash, Marie O'Henry.
Synopsis: When a black scientist develops a formula to regenerate dying liver cells
and tests it on himself, it accidentally turns him into an albino monster with a
lust for murdering prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers.
Box 1, Folder 2, Item 7
The Education of Sonny Carson
1974
Note
Director: Michael Campus; Writers: Sonny Carson, Fred Hudson; Staring: Rony
Clanton, Don Gordon, Joyce Walker.
Synopsis: A gifted young man is caught up in gang life.
Box 1, Folder 3
F-G titled posters
1970-1986
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 1
Five on the Black Hand Side
1973
Note
Director: Oscar Williams; Writer: Charlie L. Russell; Staring: Godfrey Cambridge,
Clarice Taylor, Leonard Jackson.
Synopsis: Leonard Jackson plays a barber who is also the domineering head of a
middle-class African American family. Jackson is forced to rethink his values when
his previously docile wife joins their three children in rebelling against her
husband's retrogressive behavior.
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 2
Fox Style
1973
Note
Director: Clyde Houston; Writers: Michael Fox, Clyde Houston; Staring: Chuck
Daniel, Juanita Moore, Denise Denise.
Synopsis: A wealthy nightclub owner struggles to reconcile his country upbringing
with his city environs.
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 3
Foxtrap
1986
Note
Directors: Fred Williamson, Jean-Marie Pallardy; Writer: Aubrey K. Rattan; Staring:
Fred Williamson, Christopher Connelly, Arlene Golonka.
Synopsis: Private detective is hired by rich man to find his niece, who has
disappeared while traveling in Europe.
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 4
Friday Foster
1975
Note
Director: Arthur Marks; Writers: Orville H. Hampton, Arthur Marks; Staring: Pam
Grier, Yaphet Kotto, Godfrey Cambridge.
Synopsis: At Los Angeles airport, magazine photographer Friday Foster witnesses an
assassination attempt against billionaire Blake Tarr and is drawn into a murky
political conspiracy.
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 5
Georgia, Georgia
1972
Note
Director: Stig Björkman; Writer: Maya Angelou; Staring: Diana Sands, Dirk Benedict,
Minnie Gentry.
Synopsis: Georgia, an African-American singer, travels to the Swedish city of
Stockholm for a performance. There, she meets an American deserter and soon they
have fallen in love. But Georgia's friend and assistant, Alberta, warns her to stick
to her own kind.
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 6
Gordon's War
1973
Note
Director: Ossie Davis; Writers: Howard Friedlander, Ed Spielman; Staring: Paul
Winfield, Carl Lee, David Downing.
Synopsis: Four Vietnam Vets go to war against the drug dealers and pimps of
Harlem.
Box 1, Folder 3, Item 7
The Great White Hope
1970
Note
Director: Martin Ritt; Writer: Howard Sackler; Staring: James Earl Jones, Jane
Alexander, Lou Gilbert.
Synopsis: A Black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive
while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
Box 1, Folder 4
H-L titled posters
1968-1977
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 1
A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich
1977
Note
Director: Ralph Nelson; Writer: Alice Childress; Staring: Cicely Tyson, Paul
Winfield, Larry B. Scott.
Synopsis: A troubled boy (Larry B. Scott) becomes addicted to heroin, and his
mother (Cicely Tyson) and foster father (Paul Winfield) help him fight it.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 2
Hit Man
1972
Note
Director: George Armitage; Writers: Ted Lewis, George Armitage; Staring: Bernie
Casey, Pam Grier, Lisa Moore.
Synopsis: An ex-cop discovers that his brother's recent death is intertwined with
both the Los Angeles underworld and the city's porno movie scene.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 3
If He Hollers, Let Him Go
1968
Note
Director: Charles Martin; Writers: Charles Martin, Chester Himes; Staring: Dana
Wynter, Raymond St. Jacques, Kevin McCarthy.
Synopsis: An escaped convict goes to a small town to clear his name; to pull off
his plan, he becomes part of a murder plot.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 4
J. D.'s Revenge
1976
Note
Director: Arthur Marks; Writer: Jaison Starkes; Staring: Glynn Turman, Louis
Gossett Jr., Joan Pringle.
Synopsis: Murdered on Bourbon Street in 1942 New Orleans, a gangster returns from
the dead 34 years later possessing the body of a young, black law student in his
quest for revenge.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 5
Leadbelly
1976
Note
Director: Gordon Parks; Writer: Ernest Kinoy; Staring: Roger E. Mosley, Paul
Benjamin, Madge Sinclair.
Synopsis: Biography of the legendary folksinger, Huddie Ledbetter, master of the
12-string guitar and long-time convict on Texas and Louisiana chain gangs.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 6
The Learning Tree
1969
Note
Director: Gordon Parks; Writers: Gordon Parks, Genevieve Young; Staring: Kyle
Johnson, Alex Clarke, Estelle Evans.
Synopsis: A bittersweet, idyllic story about a year in the life of 14-year-old Newt
Winger, born into a poor Black family in Kansas, who learns about love, fear, racial
injustice, and immorality.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 7
[Title transcribed from item]
The Legend of Nigger
Charley
1972
Note
Director: Martin Goldman; Writers: James Bellah, Martin Goldman, Larry G. Spangler;
Staring: Fred Williamson, D'Urville Martin, Don Pedro Colley.
Synopsis: A slave kills a white man in self-defense and heads West towards freedom,
pursued by a professional slave hunter.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 8
The Long Night
1976
Note
Director: Woodie King Jr.; Writers: Woodie King Jr., Julian Mayfield; Staring:
Woodie King Jr., Dick Anthony Williams, Peggy Kirkpatrick.
Synopsis: Steely Brown, a young boy living in Harlem, wanders the streets of the
city one night, reflecting on what led to the disappearance of his father. Meeting
the denizens of his neighborhood, he engages in conversations that begin to sketch
the outlines of the enigma, invoking Vietnam, marital discord, paternal
relationships, substance abuse, schooling and unemployment-in short, the life of an
American family.
Box 1, Folder 4, Item 9
Lord Shango
1975
Note
Director: Ray Marsh; Writer: Paul Carter Harrison; Staring: Marlene Clark, Lawrence
Cook, Wally Taylor.
Synopsis: A tribal priest returns from the dead to take his revenge on
non-believers.
Box 2, Folder 1
M-P titled posters
1973-1982
Box 2, Folder 1, Item 1
Mean Johnny Barrows
1975
Note
Director: Fred Williamson; Writers: Jolivett Cato, Charles Walker, Jeff Williamson;
Staring: Fred Williamson, Roddy McDowall, Stuart Whitman.
Synopsis: Discharged from the army, an ex-GI is hired as a hit-man by a crime
syndicate that is at war with another Mafia family.
Box 2, Folder 1, Item 2
Miss Melody Jones
1973
Note
Director: Bill Brame; Writer: Bill Brame; Staring: Philomena Nowlin, Peter Jacob,
Ronald Warden.
Synopsis: Dreams of Hollywood stardom fade quickly for a young black woman
(Philomena Nowlin) when she finds her path to film stardom littered with sleazy deal
makers and broken promises. Miss Melody Jones begins to question her sense of
purpose.
Box 2, Folder 1, Item 3
The Monkey Hustle
1976
Note
Title stylized as "The Monkey Hu$tle."
Director: Arthur Marks; Writers: Charles Eric Johnson, Odie Hawkins; Staring:
Yaphet Kotto, Kirk Calloway, Thomas Carter.
Synopsis: A new highway threatens a Chicago neighborhood, so to protest the
residents throw a block party.
Box 2, Folder 1, Item 4
One Down, Two to Go
1982
Note
Director: Fred Williamson; Writer: Fred Williamson; Staring: Fred Williamson, Jim
Brown, Jim Kelly.
Synopsis: A pair of tough cops go after the mob who rigged the martial arts
tournament and injured their buddy.
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 5
Pipe Dreams
1976
Note
Director: Stephen Verona; Writer: Stephen Verona; Staring: Gladys Knight, Wayne
Tippit, Sherry Bain.
Synopsis: Pipe Dreams is a 1976 film starring soul singer Gladys Knight in her
acting debut as a woman who attempts to regain the love of her husband played by
real-life spouse Barry Hankerson. In this drama, her husband must choose between
reuniting with her or giving in to pressure of the local boss.
Box 2, Folder 2
Sa-So titled posters
1971-1973
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 1
Savage!
1973
Note
Director: Cirio H. Santiago; Writer: Ed Medard; Staring: James Iglehart, Lada
Edmund Jr., Carol Speed.
Synopsis: Action packed story of how Jim Haygood (James Glehart) young, black and
brilliant becomes the legendary leader of a rebel army.
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 2
Shaft's Big Score!
1972
Note
Director: Gordon Parks; Writer: Ernest Tidyman; Staring: Richard Roundtree, Moses
Gunn, Drew Bundini Brown.
Synopsis: Shaft is back to find the murderer of an old friend on the cold hard city
streets with a little help from his new friends.
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 3
The Slams
1973
Note
Director: Jonathan Kaplan; Writer: Richard DeLong Adams; Staring: Jim Brown, Judy
Pace, Roland Bob Harris.
Synopsis: Everybody is after the money stolen by Hook before he ended up in prison,
including the villainous head guard Capt. Stambell.
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 4
[Title transcribed from item]
The Soul of Nigger
Charley
1973
Note
Director: Larry G. Spangler; Writers: Harold Stone, Larry G. Spangler; Staring:
Fred Williamson, D'Urville Martin, Denise Nicholas.
Synopsis: After the end of the Civil War, Charley fights against a group of
Southern soldiers seeking to reignite the Confederacy.
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 5
Soul to Soul
1971
Note
Director: Denis Sanders; Staring: Willie Bobo, Roberta Flack, Eddie Harris.
Synopsis: Footage of a concert held in Ghana to celebrate the 14th anniversary of
the independence of that country.
Box 2, Folder 2, Item 6
Sounder
1972
Note
Director: Martin Ritt; Writers: Lonne Elder III, William H. Armstrong; Staring:
Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks.
Synopsis: The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes
of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing
food.
Box 2, Folder 3
So-Sw titled posters
1973-1976
Box 2, Folder 3, Item 1
Sparkle
1976
Note
Director: Sam O'Steen; Writers: Joel Schumacher, Howard Rosenman; Staring: Philip
Michael Thomas, Irene Cara, Lonette McKee.
Synopsis: Three sisters form a singing group in 1950s Harlem, but success threatens
to ruin their relationship forever.
Box 2, Folder 3, Item 2
Sugar Hill
1974
Note
Director: Paul Maslansky; Writers: Tim Kelly, Don Pedro Colley; Staring: Marki Bey,
Robert Quarry, Don Pedro Colley.
Synopsis: When her boyfriend is murdered by mobsters, Sugar Hill decides not to get
mad, but BAD. She asks the voodoo priestess Mama Maitresse to summon Baron Samedi,
the Lord of the Dead, to help her gain a gruesome revenge. In exchange for Sugar's
soul, the Dark Master raises up a zombie army to do her bidding. The bad guys who
think they got away clean are about to find out that they are DEAD wrong.
Box 2, Folder 3, Item 3
Super Fly T.N.T.
1973
Note
Director: Ron O'Neal; Writers: Alex Haley, Ron O'Neal, Sig Shore; Staring: Ron
O'Neal, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheila Frazier.
Synopsis: A Harlem drug dealer and his girlfriend retire to Rome, where he joins an
African revolution.
Box 2, Folder 3, Item 4
Sweet Jesus, Preacherman
1973
Note
Director: Henning Schellerup; Writers: John Cerullo, M. Stuart Madden, Abbey
Leitch; Staring: Roger E. Mosley, William Smith, Michael Pataki.
Synopsis: A Black hit man poses as a Baptist preacher in a ghetto church. He
decides to take over the local rackets.
Box 2, Folder 4
T-W titled posters
1968-1974
Box 2, Folder 4, Item 1
The Take
1974
Note
Director: Robert Hartford-Davis; Writers: Franklin Coen, GF Newman, Del Reisman;
Staring: Billy Dee Williams, Eddie Albert, Frankie Avalon.
Synopsis: Crime fighter Terry Sneed arrives in New Mexico to help out a local
police chief - but he's already taking money from the underworld.
Box 2, Folder 4, Item 2
Thomasine & Bushrod
1974
Note
Director: Gordon Parks Jr.; Writer: Max Julien; Staring: Max Julien, Vonetta McGee,
George Murdock.
Synopsis: The exploits of 1910s bounty hunter Thomasine and bandit Bushrod who,
after rekindling their old romance, take to robbing banks to survive, stealing from
rich whites and sharing their loot with the poor on the harsh frontier.
Box 2, Folder 4, Item 3
Together Brothers
1974
Note
Director: William A. Graham; Writers: Jack DeWitt, Joe Greene; Staring: Ahmad
Nurradin, Anthony Wilson, Nelson Sims.
Synopsis: A group of ghetto kids try to find out who killed a popular police
officer.
Box 2, Folder 4, Item 4
Trouble Man
1972
Note
Director: Ivan Dixon; Writer: John D.F. Black; Staring: Robert Hooks, Paul
Winfield, Ralph Waite.
Synopsis: A neighborhood "problem solver" is framed for murder by a couple of local
crime bosses trying to get him out of the way.
Box 2, Folder 4, Item 5
Uptight
1968
Note
Director: Jules Dassin; Writers: Jules Dassin, Ruby Dee, Julian Mayfield: Staring:
Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Frank Silvera.
Synopsis: In this landmark collaboration between activist and actress Ruby Dee and
director Jules Dassin, Black revolutionaries are betrayed by one of their own. Based
on the 1935 classic "The Informer."
Box 2, Folder 4, Item 6
Watermelon Man
1970
Note
Poster consists of three sheets.
Director: Melvin Van Peebles; Writer: Herman Raucher: Staring: Godfrey Cambridge,
Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine.
Synopsis: Jeff Gerber, a racist white man, wakes up one morning to discover that he
has become black.
Series 2:
Director photographs
1971-2000 and undated
Scope and Contents
25 press photographs of noteworthy Black directors and filmmakers from 1971-2000.
Box 3, Folder 1
B-F director last names
1972-1998
Box 3, Folder 2
H-La director last names
1971-1996 and undated
Box 3, Folder 2, Item 1
Hughes, Albert and Allen
1993
Box 3, Folder 3
Le-Ra director last names
1971-2000 and undated
Box 3, Folder 3, Item 2
McHenry, Doug and Jackson, George
1994
Box 3, Folder 4
Ri-W director last names
1971-1994 and undated
