22. Melvin Van Peebles Part 4 - Original Baadasssss
Explicit content warning
04/21/23 • 137 min
Melvin flips Hollywood the middle-finger setting out to make his own independent movie, at a time when it was considered borderline impossible. What followed was one of the wildest stories in film history as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song survives on-set madness and impossible odds to become one of the most successful films of the decade.
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: @behindtheslatepod
TikTok: @behindtheslatepod
YouTube: @behindtheslatepodcast
Join our weekly film club: https://www.instagram.com/arroyofilmclub
Producer: Greg Kleinschmidt
Sources:
'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' by Melvin Van Peebles (1971)
'2008 Interview with Red Bull Music Academy': https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/melvin-van-peebles-dont-write-a-check-your-ass-cant-cash
'Unstoppable: Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis in Conversation': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHuW5bxVamg
'Interview with Olumide Productions': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRn9nr5qXOg
Marlon Brando Eulogy for Bobby Hutton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g05Sb9CcnE
Interview with Reelin In the Years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48FJ03-tkU
Visionary Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeRJLgAbW-4&list=PLCwE4GdJdVRLS1R8f9-G8hihJQKmePpCW&t=116s
'How To Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It)' (2005) Dir. Joe Angio
'SUBVERTING HOLLYWOOD FROM THE INSIDE OUT' by Racquel Gates: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2014.68.1.9
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Melvin flips Hollywood the middle-finger setting out to make his own independent movie, at a time when it was considered borderline impossible. What followed was one of the wildest stories in film history as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song survives on-set madness and impossible odds to become one of the most successful films of the decade.
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: @behindtheslatepod
TikTok: @behindtheslatepod
YouTube: @behindtheslatepodcast
Join our weekly film club: https://www.instagram.com/arroyofilmclub
Producer: Greg Kleinschmidt
Sources:
'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' by Melvin Van Peebles (1971)
'2008 Interview with Red Bull Music Academy': https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/melvin-van-peebles-dont-write-a-check-your-ass-cant-cash
'Unstoppable: Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis in Conversation': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHuW5bxVamg
'Interview with Olumide Productions': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRn9nr5qXOg
Marlon Brando Eulogy for Bobby Hutton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g05Sb9CcnE
Interview with Reelin In the Years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48FJ03-tkU
Visionary Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeRJLgAbW-4&list=PLCwE4GdJdVRLS1R8f9-G8hihJQKmePpCW&t=116s
'How To Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It)' (2005) Dir. Joe Angio
'SUBVERTING HOLLYWOOD FROM THE INSIDE OUT' by Racquel Gates: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2014.68.1.9
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
21. Melvin Van Peebles Part 3 - Paint the Orange
Fresh off his triumphant homecoming at the 1967 San Francisco International Film Festival, Melvin Van Peebles finds himself in a very different America than the one he left in 1959. There are protests against the Vietnam war, a growing counter culture culminating in the ‘Summer of Love’, and The Civil Rights Movement evolving into cries of Black Power. Soaking up this chaos like a sponge, Melvin combines global politics, street conversations, and his favorite 1880's French Singer to create the worlds first hip-hop album, ‘Brer Soul’. From there, he goes to Hollywood for his first and only studio film, ‘Watermelon Man’. Facing oppressive studio oversight, Melvin uses every trick at his disposal to subvert Hollywood's racist pass from the inside out.
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: @behindtheslatepod
TikTok: @behindtheslatepod
YouTube: @behindtheslatepodcast
Join our weekly film club: https://www.instagram.com/arroyofilmclub
Producer: Greg Kleinschmidt
Sources:
'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' by Melvin Van Peebles (1971)
'2008 Interview with Red Bull Music Academy': https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/melvin-van-peebles-dont-write-a-check-your-ass-cant-cash
'Unstoppable: Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis in Conversation': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHuW5bxVamg
'Interview with Olumide Productions': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRn9nr5qXOg
Marlon Brando Eulogy for Bobby Hutton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g05Sb9CcnE
Interview with Reelin In the Years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48FJ03-tkU
Visionary Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeRJLgAbW-4&list=PLCwE4GdJdVRLS1R8f9-G8hihJQKmePpCW&t=116s
'How To Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It)' (2005) Dir. Joe Angio
'SUBVERTING HOLLYWOOD FROM THE INSIDE OUT' by Racquel Gates: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2014.68.1.9
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
23. Don't Sleep on Sweetback with Amy Abugo Ongiri
Have you watched 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' and need to talk about it? We feel you.
That's why Aaron is once again joined by Dr. Amy Abugo Ongiri, film historian, Director of Ethnic Studies at the University of Portland, and author of the book: “Spectacular Blackness: The Cultural Politics of the Black Power Movement and the Search for a Black Aesthetic". Join us as we talk about Sweetback, how it related to the Black Power and Black Art Movements, and it's legacy on both Blaxploitation and black representation to this day!
Amy Ongiri on Instagram: @daughterofthedust
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: @behindtheslatepod
TikTok: @behindtheslatepod
YouTube: @behindtheslatepodcast
Producer: Greg Kleinschmidt
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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