What It Is... What It Was!; The Black Film Explosion of the '70s in Words and Pictures

by Gerald Martinez, Denise Chávez, Andres Chavez

An entertaining, full-color survey of the best films of the so-called "Blaxploitation" genre of the 1970s presents captivating interviews with the films' stars and reproduces the distinctive film posters of the period. Original. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Film

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not so much a film history as a collection of commentary by people who were involved in the "blacksploitation" films of the 1970s (a term everyone interviewed hates) — Isaac Hayes, Melvin van Peebles, Pam Grier and others — and fans including John Singleton, Samuel L. Jackson and Ice T. For illustrations we have poster art and lots of it (there's also a discussion of how posters then differed from posters now).
If you're into 1970s film, black films or black 1970s films, this is well worth reading.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

simply the best book on the black films of the 70s