| Black Shampoo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Greydon Clark |
| Written by | Greydon Clark Alvin Fast[1] |
| Produced by | Alvin Fast |
| Starring | John Daniels Tanya Boyd Joe Ortiz Skip E. Lowe |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey[1] |
| Edited by | Earl Watson |
| Music by | Gerald Lee |
| Distributed by | Dimension Pictures[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50,000[1] |
Black Shampoo is an American exploitation film directed by Greydon Clark. Released in 1976, the comedy film is considered an example of the blaxploitation and sexploitation subgenres of exploitation film. Produced on a budget of $50,000,[1] the film stars John Daniels as Jonathan Knight, an African American businessman and hairdresser who frequently has sex with his predominantly white female clients, and Tanya Boyd as Brenda, Jonathan's secretary and girlfriend, who was previously in a relationship with a white mob boss, who, out of jealousy towards his ex's new lover, begins to regularly send goons to trash Jonathan's hair salon.[2] The violence escalates as the film progresses.
Clark purposely did not want to make a film that featured character archetypes that typically led blaxploitation films, such as pimps, private detectives or drug dealers, and set out to make a film in which an African American businessman was the lead, instead of more stereotypical blaxploitation characters. The screenplay, written by Clark and Alvin Fast, was described by Clark as a mix of comedy, sex and violence.[1] Clark drew inspiration from the 1975 film Shampoo; the film is observed to be an example of a common form of blaxploitation filmmaking in which a previous popular film starring a predominantly white cast is imitated with a predominantly African American cast.[3] The characters of Jonathan and Brenda have been analyzed as examples of black characters whose blackness is perceived as a commodity by their white lovers, while Jonathan is seen as a Mandingo archetype.[2]