Directed by Bill Braeme
Written by Fredricka DeCosta
Starring Frank DeKova, Paul Harris , Frances
Also known as BABY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES, A terrible
title if there ever was one, deals with the Italian Mob wanting to cut in on
Pasha’s (Paul Harris) number running. The head of the family Big Tony (Frank
DeKova) warns Pasha that he has a man on
the inside and knows everything. Pasha tells him to get stuffed and lets his
assassin Serene (Don Edmonson) kill one of Big Tony’s flunkies.
Sweetman (Reginald Farmer) is Pasha’s number one number
runner and soon it becomes obvious that LA is going to become a blood bath if
something isn’t done. And, to make matters worse, it’s an election year and the
mayor has decided that number running will be his crusade to win the election.
Forget about the drugs and prostitution. People gambling must be stopped.
JIVE TURKEY is a slice of blaxploitation from the 70s. Loud
suits, jive talking and some of the bloodier murders I’ve seen in this kind of
picture. Serene kills two hitmen by drugging them and bashing their faces in
with her high heels. Pasha destroys a thugs face with the butt of his gun and
blood spurts covering everything. At the end when the stool pigeon gets gunned
down in a phone booth the red is literally everywhere.
In the beginning it does say it is based on fact and things
have been changed to protect the innocent, but there aren’t really any
innocents in this movie. Every character is bad and sort of get what’s coming
to them in the end.
If you think you’ve seen all te blaxploitation out there and
have never heard of this low budget semi classic, you should definitely give it
a watch.
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