5 Questions: Truck Turner
Hollywood’s Blaxploitation Era created many stars. Names like Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Pam Grier and Jim Kelly immediately come to mind. But in 1974 another man would add his name to that list, that man was Isaac Hayes.
Known primarily as a composer at the time, Isaac Hayes had two films that were released in 1974. First was Tough Guys along with Fred Williamson in the spring of that year. Then over the summer came Truck Turner.
Truck Turner boasted an impressive supporting cast that included Nichelle Nichols, Dick Miller, Charles Cyphers, Scatman Crothers and the incomparable Yaphet Kotto. Truck Turner was a great vehicle for the inexperienced Isaac Hayes who would go on to have an acting career that spanned over three decades and had Hayes playing everything from The Duke in Escape from New York to voicing Chef on South Park.
There may be no questioning how important Truck Turner was to the career of Isaac Hayes, but after a recent viewing of the film, I did have my share of questions…
1. Why does the music sound like a watered down version of the “Theme from Shaft”?
In addition to playing the titular role of Mac “Truck” Turner, Issac Hayes also composed and performed the music for the film. Hayes first made a name for himself in Hollywood when he served as the composer on the 1971 film Shaft starring Richard Roundtree. The “Theme from Shaft” is one of the most iconic action anthems ever and certainly the funkiest, so we don’t blame Hayes for trying to go back to what brought him to the dance in the first place.
2. How many Trekkies deposited the visuals of Nichelle Nichols in Truck Turner into their spank banks?
Nichelle Nichols, most famous for her role as Uhura on Star Trek, plays the venomous vixen Dorinda. After Truck Turner kills her man Gator while collecting the bounty on him, Dorinda vows revenge on the skip tracer and puts a hit out on him. Nichols wears some rather provocative dresses that show an ample amount of side boob and under boob through out the movie. There were many a Trekkie watching with their phasers set on stun after watching Truck Turner!
3. Does Truck Turner feature the worst hit men in motion picture history?
You would think with the kind of money Dorinda was offering the man who took out Truck Turner that you’d get some well qualified assassins looking to cash in. Instead Truck Turner features some of the worst shots in motion picture history. Turner is right out in the open, but nobody can manage to shoot him? I don’t think some of these guys could hit the broad side of a barn.
Bonus question, were any of those responsible for writing Truck Turner lactose intolerant? There were two instances where shots were fired and a bottle of milk ended up being collateral damage.
4. Has Yaphet Kotto ever looked cooler than he did as Harvard Blue?
Yaphet Kotto is a personal favorite of mine, I could spend entire evenings watching his films. But while I can rave about his performances without reservation, his wardrobe in his films often leaves a lot to be desired. The skin tight jump suit didn’t flatter Yaphet the same way it did Arnold or Maria Conchita Alonso in The Running Man. What about the “I just rolled out of bed” look he sported for most of Eye of the Tiger? And I don’t even want to talk about his bathing suit in Sharks’ Treasure.
But in Truck Turner Yaphet’s Harvard Blue is the epitome of a sharp dressed man. When we first lay eyes on Harvard Blue he has on a white suit with black trim, and appropriately enough his shirt is blue, his shoes are blue and his hat is blue. The scene where we are introduced to Harvard Blue takes place at Gator’s funeral, which is ironic because if I were Yaphet Kotto this is what I would want to be wearing at my own funeral.
5. What is the deal with these pictures?
Were these part of some promotional campaign for the movie? Were these pictures in the newspaper to promote the movie? Were these prototypes for some Truck Turner trading cards? Or was this Most Wanted shot actually one of the lobby cards? And finally why are these shots the IMDb profile photos for Paul Harris (he played Gator), Tara Strohmeier (she played Turnpike), Lisa Farringer (she played Annette) and Cheryl Sampson (she played Taffy)?
