By Richard Harland Smith
Three the Hard Way
Brief Synopsis
Three martial arts experts take on a racist group out to destroy the African-American race.
Cast & Crew
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Gordon Parks
Director
Jim Brown
Jimmy Lait
Fred Williamson
Jagger Daniels
Jim Kelly
Mister Keyes
Fred Cash
Impressions Member
Sam Gooden
Impressions Member
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Action
Adventure
Crime
Release Date
1974
Production Company
Goldwyn Sound Facility
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 33m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (DeLuxe)
Synopsis
A secret white racist organization plans to poison the water supplies of Detroit, D.C., and L.A. with a serum that exterminates blacks, but not whites--that is until a karate chopping, soul brother trio gets hip to what's going down.
Director
Gordon Parks
Director
Cast
Jim Brown
Jimmy Lait
Fred Williamson
Jagger Daniels
Jim Kelly
Mister Keyes
Fred Cash
Impressions Member
Sam Gooden
Impressions Member
Ralph Johnson
Impressions Member
Reggie Torian
Impressions Member
Jay Robinson
Monroe Feather
Charles Mcgregor
Charley
Howard Platt
Keep
Richard Angarola
Dr Fortrero
David Chow
Link
Marian Collier
Eva
Junero Jennings
House
Alex Rocco
Lieutenant D Nisco
Corbin Bernsen
Boy
Renie Radich
Girl
Janice Carroll
Nurse
Angelyn Chester
Chicago Girl
Norman Evans
New York Cop
Pamela Serpe
Countess
Marie O'henry
Princess
Irene Tsu
Empress
Robert Cleaves
Doctor
Roberta Collins
Lait'S Secretary
Lance Taylor
Pool Player
Jeanne Bell
Polly
Victor Brandt
Guard
Mario Roccuzzo
Guard
Don Gazzaniga
Guard
Crew
Maria Luisa Alcaraz
Production Coordinator
Eugene Anderson
Assistant Director
Lucien Ballard
Director Of Photography
Eric Bercovici
Screenwriter
Alan Bernard
Sound Recording Mixer
Harry Bernsen
Producer
Leon Chooluck
Associate Producer
Leon Chooluck
Production Manager
Joe Lombardi
Special Effects
Jerry Ludwig
Screenwriter
Hal Needham
Stunt Coordinator
Webster C Phillips
Makeup
William Platt
Costumes
Carl Prager
Music Supervisor
Lowrell Simon
Songs
Robert Swink
Editor
Richard Tufo
Music; Music Director
Richard Tufo
Songs
Bill Varney
Sound Rerecording Mixer
Dianne Young
Production Liaison
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Action
Adventure
Crime
Release Date
1974
Production Company
Goldwyn Sound Facility
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 33m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (DeLuxe)
Articles
Three the Hard Way
Sold to moviegoers as "the biggest black action picture ever made," Three the Hard Way (1974) was a bid by Allied Artists to form a Blaxploitation super-group in Jim Brown from Slaughter (1972), Fred Williamson from Hammer (1972), and Jim Kelly from Black Belt Jones (1974). With a higher than average budget and location shooting slated for Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., Three the Hard Way was entrusted to Gordon Parks, Jr., son of Shaft (1971) director Gordon Parks, whose own feature film directorial debut, Super Fly (1972), had earned $25 million back from an investment of $500,000. The script keeps its protagonists on the side of righteousness - solid citizens all (a record producer, an entrepreneur, and a martial arts expert, all accustomed to the finer things in life) who must pool their resources to oppose a maniacal white supremacist (Jay Robinson) poised to taint the nation's water supply with a toxin lethal to Afro-Americans. Upping the ante of automatic weapon fire, explosions, and car chases, Three the Hard Way remains raw enough to preserve its street cred; though the film made back its $1.8 million budget during its first week in cinemas, the film was less a harbinger of bigger things than a turn on Blaxploitation's downward arc. Brown, Williamson, and Kelly would reunite one more time, albeit in Spain, for the Euro-western Take a Hard Ride (1975).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Three the Hard Way
Sold to moviegoers as "the biggest black action picture ever made," Three the Hard Way (1974) was a bid by Allied Artists to form a Blaxploitation super-group in Jim Brown from Slaughter (1972), Fred Williamson from Hammer (1972), and Jim Kelly from Black Belt Jones (1974). With a higher than average budget and location shooting slated for Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., Three the Hard Way was entrusted to Gordon Parks, Jr., son of Shaft (1971) director Gordon Parks, whose own feature film directorial debut, Super Fly (1972), had earned $25 million back from an investment of $500,000. The script keeps its protagonists on the side of righteousness - solid citizens all (a record producer, an entrepreneur, and a martial arts expert, all accustomed to the finer things in life) who must pool their resources to oppose a maniacal white supremacist (Jay Robinson) poised to taint the nation's water supply with a toxin lethal to Afro-Americans. Upping the ante of automatic weapon fire, explosions, and car chases, Three the Hard Way remains raw enough to preserve its street cred; though the film made back its $1.8 million budget during its first week in cinemas, the film was less a harbinger of bigger things than a turn on Blaxploitation's downward arc. Brown, Williamson, and Kelly would reunite one more time, albeit in Spain, for the Euro-western Take a Hard Ride (1975).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1974
Released in United States 1995
Released in United States on Video June 29, 1989
Released in United States on Video November 23, 1987
Released in United States 1974
Released in United States 1995 (Shown in New York City (Film Forum) as part of program "Blaxploitation, Baby!" June 23 - August 10, 1995.)
Released in United States on Video November 23, 1987
Released in United States on Video June 29, 1989 (Victory)
