The Guy from Harlem

1977 Action 86 minutes Directed by Rene Martinez Jr.

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About The Guy from Harlem

Al Connors, a private detective who left Harlem for Miami, is hired by the CIA to guard Mrs. Ashanti, wife of an African head of state, after a leak inside the agency. Men working for a crime boss called Big Daddy come after her, and Connors moves her. He then takes a second case, the kidnapping of Harry De Bauld's daughter Wanda, and ends it by killing Big Daddy in a fight.

Cast & crew

More about The Guy from Harlem

Rene Martinez Jr. directed. International Cinema Inc. distributed it in September 1977. It was also released as The Good Guy from Harlem. The story is set in Miami hotels, gyms, and a shack on the edge of the city.

Themes

  • A bodyguard job that turns romantic
  • A kidnapping tied to the same boss
  • A fight to the death with Big Daddy
  • private detective
  • Miami
  • CIA
  • kidnapping
  • Big Daddy

Reviews

Jim Reed, writing in Connect Savannah on August 12, 2015, called the fistfights clumsy and the camerawork shoddy, and said the picture still held his attention.

Preservation

A copy is on the Internet Archive, and another is on Wikimedia Commons.

Notes

  • Loye Hawkins plays Al Connors. Patricia Fulton plays Mrs. Ashanti. Cathy Davis plays Wanda.
  • Wayne Crawford plays Big Daddy, credited as Scott Lawrence.
  • RiffTrax riffed the film in 2012. Kevin Murphy later named that episode one of his five favorites.

Scenes

  • Connors moves Mrs. Ashanti after hotel staff turn out to be Big Daddy's men.
  • He kills Big Daddy at the end of a grappling fight while Wanda watches.

Also available

  • Internet Archive (TheGuyFromHarlem)
  • Wikimedia Commons (The Guy From Harlem (1977) by Rene Martinez, Jr.webm)