The Mack (1973) on Netflix
Goldie comes home to Oakland after five years in prison and sets out to make his name as a pimp. A kingpin and two corrupt detectives take an interest.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.6/103,631 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes60%
Trailer
Plot summary
Goldie comes back to Oakland after five years in state prison. He sets out to earn money and power as a pimp. His brother Olinga works with Black Nationalists who want drugs and violence out of the community. Goldie brings in Slim as his partner and Lulu as his head prostitute and assembles a team of women. The heroin kingpin Fatman, whom Goldie served before prison, and two corrupt detectives, Hank and Jed, notice his rise. Fatman wants him back in the small time, and the detectives want him to call off his brother.
Cast
- Terrible Tomas Himself
- Ted Wardas Himself
- Frank Wardas Himself
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Mack (1973)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Frank Ward was shot and killed in his Rolls-Royce about halfway through production, and rumors that the Black Panthers were behind his death forced the cast and crew to relocate to safer areas for filming.
- According to director Michael Campus, the film's original script was written by Bobby Poole, a San Quentin inmate, on prison toilet paper before it was developed into a finished screenplay.
- Director Campus met real Oakland pimp and drug dealer Frank Ward while staying in the city for two months, and based Max Julien's character Goldie on him; Campus needed Ward's permission because many scenes were filmed in Ward's territory.
- Distributors limited the release to about twenty mostly Black communities and avoided white neighborhoods, believing the film would do better in Black areas, yet director Michael Campus said it still outgrossed The Godfather in the cities where it played.
- Black Panther members threw bottles and trash cans from rooftops during filming, so a deal was struck with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, who were put in charge of providing extras.
- Dr. Dre sampled the film's soundtrack cut Brother's Gonna Work It Out for Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat on his album The Chronic.
