Friday Foster (1975)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Arthur Marks

Writers:

Orville H. Hampton (screenplay)
Arthur Marks (story)

Release Date:

1 August 1977 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Thank God - - It's Friday! She's out to score for more of what you love her for!

Plot:

Friday Foster, an ex-model magazine photographer, goes to Los Angeles International airport to photograph the arrival of Blake Tarr...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Photographer | Professional Hit | Washington D.C. | Political

Cast

Pam Grier	...	Friday Foster
Yaphet Kotto	...	Colt Hawkins
Godfrey Cambridge	...	Ford Malotte
Thalmus Rasulala	...	Blake Tarr
Eartha Kitt	...	Madame Rena
Jim Backus	...	Enos Griffith
Scatman Crothers	...	Noble Franklin
Ted Lange	...	Fancy Dexter
Tierre Turner	...	Cleve
Paul Benjamin	...	Sen. David Lee Hart
Jason Bernard	...	Charles Foley
Ed Cambridge	...	Lt. Jake Wayne (as Edmund Cambridge)
Julius Harris	...	Monk Riley
Rosalind Miles	...	Clorils Boston
Carl Weathers	...	Yarbro

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

"Friday Foster" was based on a newspaper comic strip that debuted January 18, 1970 by writer Jim Lawrence and artist Jorje Longeron. It was the first mainstream comic strip with a black lead character. The movie gives a "thank you" credit to Chicago Tribune Syndication which licensed the comic strip to newspapers. Ironically, by the time the movie was released in 1975, the comic strip was no more, having ended the previous year.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Even though the plot is set in February (the finale takes place on St. Valentine's Day), the trees in the Washington D.C. scenes are all green and no one is wearing winter clothes.

Quotes:

Ford Malotte: [to Friday] Take my advice stay out of it. Get laid have a baby or something.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jackie Brown: How It Went Down (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

FRIDAY

Pretty lightweight action movie

Based on a comic strip, this movie was colorful and believable as one. Pam Grier as a fashion photographer getting mixed up in romance and intrigue sounds like a great idea but this movie never pulls it off. All I can recommend is the off the wall supporting cast. Not by casting unusual actors but the parts these actors play. With the exception of Eartha Kitt and Scatman Crothers playing what one would expect, the others play characters that they would not be known for in later years. Take Ted Lange: remembered for the happy go-lucky Issac on "The Love Boat", here he is the stereotypical pimp with the clothes and dialogue to match. Yaphet Kotto, is the comic sidekick; I don't think I have ever seen him smile as much as he did in this movie. Carl Weathers as the silent killer is also a little strange. Jim Backus gets prominent billing and he is in the movie for just two minutes! Well, it's a fast 90 minutes and there are worse things to watch.