Black Eye (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Feb 11, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Jack ArnoldRelease Date(s)
1974 (December 31, 2024)Studio(s)
Pat Rooney Productions/Jerry Buss Presentations (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: F
Review
Not bad, Black Eye (1974) was marketed chiefly to African-American audiences as a blaxploitation picture, but it’s really a detective thriller whose protagonist (Fred Williamson) just happens to be black. Blaxploitation iconography (and stereotypes) are minimized and are on the sidelines when they occur. (Shooting title of the picture: Stone.) It’s no great addition to either genre, but competently made by director Jack Arnold, and it features a fascinatingly peculiar, offbeat cast.
As a former silent movie star is laid to rest, antiques collector Talbot (Cyril Delevanti) wants the dead man’s silver-capped walking stick left atop his coffin, but Venice-based prostitute Vera (Nancy Fisher) beats him to it. Later that evening, steely-eyed Chess (Frank Ashmore) turns up, pretending to be a John, but instead murders Vera and steals the walking stick. The murder attracts the attention of ex-cop Shep Stone (Williamson), whose girlfriend, Cynthia (Teresa Graves), lives downstairs from the murdered woman. She’s having an affair with fashion designer Francis (Rosemary Forsyth). The nonjudgmental frankness about that lesbian relationship is refreshing but plays little part in the main story.
Later, Dole (Richard Anderson) hires Stone to locate his missing adult daughter, Amy. Stone quickly discovers a link between Vera’s murder and Amy’s disappearance, which leads him to various eccentric suspects, including Talbot and Francis; shady Reverend Avery (Larry D. Mann), who runs a highly suspect “church” for runaways (one of whom is played by Belinda Balaski, in her film debut); and Max Majors (Bret Morrison), a porno movie producer.
The script by Mark Haggard and Jim Martin, from Jeff Jacks’s novel Murder on the Wild Side, is routine, sort of a variation of The Maltese Falcon, that walking stick substituting for the elusive black bird. The blaxploitation elements are slight, like having Stone booted off the force for strangling a pusher, he having lost his sister to addiction. To be clear, the script doesn’t make clear whether Stone is actually a licensed private eye or just works this case while on temporary suspension. In any case, director Arnold makes good use of westside Los Angeles locations, mostly in Venice, Santa Monica, and Marina Del Rey. It couldn’t have cost more than $1 million to make; producer Pat Rooney even took out an ad in The Hollywood Reporter thanking Arnold for his “speed and efficiency.”
More interesting is the cast. Second-billed Rosemary Forsyth (The War Lord) has a relatively small role but Cyril Delevanti’s is unexpectedly large. Seemingly born ancient, Delevanti had been an actor since the 1910s and in movies from 1931, and later a frequent presence on American television, on shows like The Twilight Zone. Though 85 at the time of Black Eye, Delevanti has a surprisingly beefy, even physical part and his acting is as good as ever. (Trivia: Delevanti was father-in-law to serial director Ford Beebe, who was just one year younger.) Delevanti died soon after.
Bushy-browed Larry D. Mann was a prolific character actor, often playing scowling Sydney Greenstreet types, but he’s probably better remembered today for his voice work, particularly as Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Bret Morrison, by contrast, appeared onscreen in just three feature films, but was famous as the voice of “The Shadow” on radio for many years, and he acted in and supervised the dubbing of innumerable foreign movies for American release, especially those of Italian and Japanese origin. His voice is also instantly recognizable as the wonderfully lurid and portentous narrator of the classic trailer for Night of the Living Dead (1968).
Warner Archive’s Region-Free Blu-ray of Black Eye is another winner, a very nearly flawless presentation of this 1.85:1 color title, complete with its original Warner Communications logo. The image is sharp with accurate color; contrast is excellent. The DTS-HD Master Audio (2.0 mono) is likewise terrific for what it is, and optional English subtitles are provided.
Disappointingly, there are no extra features, not even a trailer. Considering Williamson, Forsyth, and Jack Arnold’s daughter Susan (who resembles her father and has a small but significant role) are all still living (Susan Arnold later enjoyed a major career as a producer and studio executive), this would seem a missed opportunity.
Black Eye is relatively minor but somewhat interesting for its cast, for the manner in which is eschews blaxploitation clichés, and for Warner Archive’s excellent transfer. Recommended.
- Stuart Galbraith IV