Solomon King

source: Solomon King

Sal Watts is a CIA-trained detective-killer. When agents of rebel Richard Scarso kill Princess Claudia Russo, who is Watts' live-in girlfriend, he shoots a bunch of random people who try to kill him. This vanity project by writer-director-star Watts seems to concentrate on the luxurious lifestyle of the owner of Mr. Sal's Fashion store, with shots of Lincoln broughams and of Maseratis with their trident marque clearly centered. Watts can't manage a decent line reading at the start, and most of the cast is similarly obscure. The technical credits -- editing, cameramen, and such -- are professionally managed, although often without much panache; this was often their first credits. In an industry where you can't get a job without credentials, and can't get credentials without a job, even a stinker like this is something for your resume.

A villainous Middle-eastern Prince, who plans on killing the rightful King and the beautiful Princess, taking over the country, and denying America much-needed oil finds himself opposed by ex-Green Beret, ex-CIA, über-efficient and sartorially-splendid brother Solomon King (Sal Watts). The long thought lost Black action-pic has an interesting history, primarily being the love-child of star and west-coast fashion maven Watts but unfortunately neither he nor his co-starring brother ("Little Jamie" Watts) have the screen presence to carry a feature-length film. In addition to some amateurish acting (I thought at first that the opening scene was going to be a 'film-within-a-film' joke), the production features a stale and predictable storyline, some terribly choreographed fight scenes, the occasional unconvincing 'special effect', and an abundance of tame but clumsy love-scenes. On the plus side, there are some nice cars (notably King's Maserati Ghibli), a funky soundtrack, lots of too-ugly-to-be-believed '70's outfits, and a genial Blaxploitation-light vibe. The extant version (recently show-cased on TCM) is a restoration from damaged originals and some of the scenes suffer from blurry shots, poorly synched sound, or choppy cuts, but otherwise is reasonably watchable for fans of the genre despite lacking the spirit and groove of classic Blaxploitation (such as 1973's 'Superfly').

Solomon King (Sal Watts) is the coolest cat in town and trained in special ops. His ex-lover Princess Oneeba and his brother are on the run after the CIA supported the overthrow of her country and her elderly father, the King. The princess is assassinated and Solomon seeks revenge. This is pretty simple blaxploitation action thriller. The ultimate big bad is an Arab sheik. I'm not sure if I like that. It would be more compelling to make the CIA the big bad. They are the man after all. The production is relatively standard for a low rent blaxploitation. There is plenty of gun fire, but the blood looks fake and the staging is stiff. In the end, this is a second tier marginal blaxploitation film.

Sal Watts wasn't a movie star. He came from poverty and racism in Mississippi to California where he launched the Sal/Wa and Marsel record labels to showcase the music of local black performers, hosted local music show Soul Is, had several restaurants and owned Mr. Sal's Fashion Stores, where he sold clothing made by local black fashion designers. Then, in 1974, while Hollywood was making blacksploitation often with white directors and writers, Sal was the director, writer, producer and star of Solomon King. Sal's widow Belinda Burton-Watts said, "Sal was an extraordinary man who remained humble throughout his life and just wanted equality for all. He loved all people and wanted to live in a world that treated people fairly. He would be grateful to know that his film will see the light of day once more." This film was lost for decades with only a faded print in the UCLA Film & TV Archive. Dennis Bartok, who runs Deaf Crocodile with Craig Rogers, found the rare soundtrack that was released on Watts' own label. Once he learned more about the film, he had to save it. After several years of searching for rights and elements, he and Craig finally connected with Sal's wife and collaborator, Belinda who manages his estate. They took the UCLA print, did a 4K restoration and matched it with the score and soundtrack elements that had been in a closet for decades. Shot with a cast of mostly non-professional actors, all wearing clothes from Watts's store, Watts himself is Solomon King, an ex-CIA operative/ex-Green Beret/nightclub owner whose Middle Eastern lover Princess Oneeba (Claudia Russo) gets killed, just as he uncovers a global conspiracy and heads off to a castle to cut the head off the snake that is Prince Hassan (Richard Scarso). It's synchronicity that Scarso is in this - as well as Louis Zito - as they were also in another movie made to cash in on a trend yet one that made a more honest film in the genre, Duke Mitchell's Massacre Mafia Style. Both Watts and Mitchell came from worlds outside of Hollywood yet had dreams of being part of it and did it on their terms. Sure, the world didn't know when these films got made but decades later, their work was rediscovered. This ends with King getting his old army buddies together and using grenades when they could have just used knives but hey, if you have firepower, use it. Then go explore all the amazing clubs of 1974 throughout Oakland and rock out to that soundtrack. Thousands were spent to make this real again, hours of hard work, but the joy I felt watching it meant that it was all so very well spent.

This movie was made during the "Shaft" and "Superfly" era. This was the flip side to the now infamous movie, "The Mack" Both were filmed in Oakland, California. "Solomon King" premiered to a sold out black-tie only crowd at the beautiful and famous "Paramount Theater" located in Downtown Oakland. With all the recent releases of the movies from "70's, this movie should get a "Second Coming" like all others. I made a cameo appearance in this film almost 30 years ago. I was only 9.

A villainous Middle-eastern Prince, who plans on killing the rightful King and the beautiful Princess, taking over the country, and denying America much-needed oil finds himself opposed by ex-Green Beret, ex-CIA, über-efficient and sartorially-splendid brother Solomon King (Sal Watts). The long thought lost Black action-pic has an interesting history, primarily being the love-child of star and west-coast fashion maven Watts but unfortunately neither he nor his co-starring brother ("Little Jamie" Watts) have the screen presence to carry a feature-length film. In addition to some amateurish acting (I thought at first that the opening scene was going to be a 'film-within-a-film' joke), the production features a stale and predictable storyline, some terribly choreographed fight scenes, the occasional unconvincing 'special effect', and an abundance of tame but clumsy love-scenes. On the plus side, there are some nice cars (notably King's Maserati Ghibli), a funky soundtrack, lots of too-ugly-to-be-believed '70's outfits, and a genial Blaxploitation-light vibe. The extant version (recently show-cased on TCM) is a restoration from damaged originals and some of the scenes suffer from blurry shots, poorly synched sound, or choppy cuts, but otherwise is reasonably watchable for fans of the genre despite lacking the spirit and groove of classic Blaxploitation (such as 1973's 'Superfly').

source: Solomon King

Solomon King (Sal Watts) is the coolest cat in town and trained in special ops. His ex-lover Princess Oneeba and his brother are on the run after the CIA supported the overthrow of her country and her elderly father, the King. The princess is assassinated and Solomon seeks revenge. This is pretty simple blaxploitation action thriller. The ultimate big bad is an Arab sheik. I'm not sure if I like that. It would be more compelling to make the CIA the big bad. They are the man after all. The production is relatively standard for a low rent blaxploitation. There is plenty of gun fire, but the blood looks fake and the staging is stiff. In the end, this is a second tier marginal blaxploitation film.

A villainous Middle-eastern Prince, who plans on killing the rightful King and the beautiful Princess, taking over the country, and denying America much-needed oil finds himself opposed by ex-Green Beret, ex-CIA, über-efficient and sartorially-splendid bother Solomon King (Sal Watts). The long thought lost Black action-pic has an interesting history, primarily being the love-child of star and west-coast fashion maven Watts but unfortunately neither he nor his co-starring brother "Little Jamie" Watts have the screen presence to carry a feature-length film. In addition to some amateurish acting (I thought at first that the opening scene was going to be a 'film-within-a-film' joke), the production features a stale and predictable storyline, some terribly choreographed fight scenes, the occasional unconvincing 'special effect', and an abundance of tame but clumsy love-scenes. On the plus side, there are some nice cars (notably King's Maserati Ghibli), a funky soundtrack, lots of too-ugly-to-be-believed '70's outfits, and a genial Blaxploitation-light vibe. The extant version (recently show-cased on TCM) is a restoration from damaged originals and some of the scenes suffer from blurry shots, poorly synched sound, or choppy cuts, but otherwise is reasonably watchable for fans of the genre despite lacking the spirit and groove of classic Blaxploitation (such as 1973's 'Superfly').