DETROIT – Netflix is doing a fantastic job with original films lately. The newest release features veteran comedian Eddie Murphy playing the main lead in the bio-pic, “Dolemite Is My Name”. This film focuses on the life of the struggling comedy act of Rudy Ray Moore better known as Dolemite. This movie follows the rise of this blue comedian from a nobody to a rising underground sensation to the big screen.
Rudy Ray Moore lived in Los Angeles and worked in clubs as a dancer, comedian, singer and was a hit with the people. He had a day job at Dolphin’s Hollywood Record store when he ran across a street bum named Rico who used to stand on the corner reciting humorous rhymes. Moore befriends the hobo and gives him food, liquor and a bit of weed to record all of his stories. This was the genesis for Rudy Ray Moore’s act. He ends up polishing his act and preps it up for an audience.
I had the chance to meet Rudy Ray Moore in the early 90’s while living in Metro Detroit. He had come to the Magic Stick in Detroit and brought with him a rare print of the film, “Dolemite”. He stuck around after the screening to answer questions. I was also gifted a tape of his stand up comedy for Christmas one year and accidentally got it stuck in the tape player of my moms car. This tape player would start and stop randomly and you never knew when it was going to come on. Thankfully the tape never played while my mother drove the car. Her ears would have caught on fire with Moore’s obscene observations and sexual jokes. I finally got the tape out one day by using a screwdriver.
Rudy Ray Moore told foul mouthed jokes. The F bomb was tossed around freely with no cares to who it may offend. Moore’s kindhearted aunt gives him the money to launch a comedy record. This came after his failure as a music act. She believes in him enough to get something together. One has to really admire Rudy’s entrepreneurial spirit and his ability to get knocked around and get back up again. This was entertainment created for his own people, the Black community, and they devoured it. In fact, the early recordings of the Dolemite experience was done in someones living room. It was recorded with people laughing in the audience to simulate a real nightclub. I would assume that these early recordings, tapes and records would be collectors items today.
The jokes were so foul that he couldn’t sell them through a record label. Nobody would touch it so Rudy went ahead and printed up his own copies. The records were sold under the counter to a growing group of fans. He was a party favorite and he often went too far. Rudy Ray Moore was an acquired taste. He wasn’t for everybody. With his character Dolemite he was able to convey the ultimate Black stereotype of his day. He was cool, crude, stylish and ultra funky. He was larger than life and his following grew from the records to the nightclub stage. Dolemite dressed like a pimp with rhinestones, bell bottoms and a white fur coat. He carried a cane and had rhymes for every situation. His clothes were over the top and sent a clear message to people before they reached shouting distance. He wore a wig and played a character that people wanted to be around.
This act eventually was so big that he took a gamble and brought it to the silver screen. The movie, “Dolemite” was an underground hit and was the beginning of a new genre called Blaxploitation. This movies inspired others like it including, “Slaughter”, “The Black Godfather”, “Superfly”, and “Shaft”. They would show the social injustice against working class black people and showboat the fashion and culture of its time. They were apologetically in vogue in its time and spoke to a new generation of film goers that mainstream Hollywood did not understand. These were films for the people by the people.
Getting the Dolemite character to the big screen proved to be another hurdle. The industry wasn’t ready for him and he Moore had to do the picture by himself. This meant he had to shoot the film, get a studio, and hire a makeshift crew with limited funds. Rudy finds an old hotel with no electricity and this is where they shot the interiors for the finished film. The hotel is in very poor condition with rotting floors and is in disrepair. It takes a lot of teamwork to get this project off the ground and running. Rudy hires a talented screenwriter who has a traditional play background. There are some creative differences but the end results are central themes around police corruption, pimps, prostitutes, mobsters, hustlers, and girls that know Kung Fu.
What they end up with is an underground hit. The finished film was released in 1975 and it inspired sequels including, “The Human Tornado”, “Petey Wheatstraw The Devil’s Son In Law” and, “The Avenging Disco Godfather”. This movie is an epic ride and there are some great cameos in here by Snoop Dog, Craig Robinson, and Chris Rock.
DOLEMITE IS MY NAME!!
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